When I arrived in Montenegro three months ago, one of the things that struck me first was how safe things felt.

What was I expecting?

Well, not a lot of armed thugs or anything. But I'd traveled enough in the former communist corners of Europe -- including past trips into the Balkans -- to notice a slightly different atmosphere than you feel in more staid places like the Netherlands or Germany. There isn't the sense of order you find in those places, and that absence piques your alertness. It's not that you are in danger at all, but you are certainly a little more aware of your surroundings.

Before coming to Montenegro, I'd last been in the Balkans -- specifically Croatia and Bosnia -- four years before. These recent months of traveling in the region has had a decidedly different feel -- Albania being a noteworthy exception.

Turns out that the United Nations is feeling pretty bullish on the Balkans as well.

The UN released a surprising report yesterday that called the Balkans perhaps Europe's safest region, saying countries like Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia boast lower numbers of murders, rapes and petty crime than western Europe.

"The Balkans is departing from an era when demagogues, secret police and thugs profited from sanctions-busting and the smuggling of people, arms, cigarettes and drugs," the report said.

The report surveyed nine countries: Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania.

The report still notes the pervasiveness of corruption and organized crime activities, however.

Of course, a fair question to ask about this report in general is: Compared to what?

After all, the UN notes -- in a major nod to the obvious, it seems to me -- that regular crimes, including homicides and rapes, "across the region are by far lower than they used to be, particularly in the beginning of the 1990s." Well duh. At the beginning of the 1990s, didn't you have widespread instability and lawlessness in places like Romania, Bulgaria and Albania as they emerged out of communism? Didn't you have a regional war that engulfed Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro in an orgy of killing and destruction that lasted nearly five years?

To compare crime rates in some of these countries now to a time when crime was the only thing that counted doesn't seem to say much. It would have been more useful for the UN to note how things have changed in, say, the last five years.

What's a country to do when two million residents vote for a man who calls himself Rodolfo Chikilicuatre and looks like an exaggerated (not to mention distorted) version of Elvis, to represent their country in this year's Eurovision?

Although condemned by the press, there is nothing that can be done but laugh and join in the "chiki chiki"!

Eurovision is one of the longest running television programs in the world. It's a singing competition where each country sends a representative; the day of the contest, all participants must sing their respective songs live as the European audience votes for the best song.

Being a continent-wide singing competition, the contest is generally taken seriously, but the Spanish people seem to have a different definition of that as they chose to send the contestant they found most absurd and hilarious. The representing song "Baila Chiki Chiki" is a rap reggaton that includes reference to politicians and to grandmothers waving knickers in the air as they dance the "chiki chiki". Go Spain!

The word is that our Spanish chiki chiki will only face competition from Ireland's rubber turkey puppet Dustin. The contest this year in on May 24 in Belgrade.

The person who posted the YouTube video of two young woman looting with glee in Belgrade described their actions thusly: "Belgrade bimbos exploit unrest to steal from smashed-up boutiques without the slightest shame. They are so greedy they even have to carry things in their teeth."

Their arms laden with clothing, bags, and other sundries (including chocolates), the two women could barely carry their booty through streets clogged with other seemingly joyful looters. Although the video is in Serbian (I assume), Reuters translates some of the dialog for us; the cameraman follows the two around, asking sarcastically if they've found their size yet. When one of the woman asks him to turn the camera off, he responds, "but you are the heroines of this protest for me." The video aired on Serbian television and has prompted scores of negative responses on YouTube. Reuters speculates that the shame of the publicity might be better punishment than being arrested. Decide for yourself:

Protesting US support of Kosovo's recent declaration of sovereignty, today Serbian rioters set fire to the facade of the US Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. Some protestors also broke into the building, which is apparently unoccupied today, except for some Marines and security personnel. The protests were eventually broken up by riot police, who sprayed tear gas into the crowd.

According to an MSNBC News story, "Doors were ripped off, set on fire and wedged in the embassy windows. Black smoke billowed from the building. Papers and chairs were thrown out of the windows. One protester climbed up to the first floor, ripped the U.S. flag off its pole and briefly put up a Serbian flag in its place."

Welcome to statehood, Kosovo. More here.

Those of us who like to show off at parties with our knowledge of world capitals apparently have another city to commit to memory: Pristina, Kosovo.

Today, the speaker of Kosovo's Parliament declared that "Kosovo is a republic-- an independent, democratic, and sovereign state," in a statement to a Parliament chamber that erupted in applause. According to an AP story, the sovereignty declaration provoked celebration throughout the capital: "[R]evelers danced in the streets, fired guns into the air and waved red and black Albanian flags in jubilation at the birth of the world's newest country."

The move is supported by the US and other Western powers, but vehemently opposed by Russia and Serbia, who lost control of Kosovo to the UN in 1999 after a civil war that killed more than 10,000 people.

About 90% of the 2 million people living in Kosovo are ethnic Albanians, and most are secular Muslims who are pro-Western, according to the LA Times. "Pristina has a main boulevard named for former President Clinton, who is revered here because he ordered the NATO airstrikes that drove out Serbian forces," the story says.

So, congrats to Kosovo on its newly-declared independence. Now what was its capital again?

More here and here.

There's The New York Times list of 53 places to go in 2008 (see post), the 40 travel tips and suggestions from London's Times (see post )and now Concierge.com has an IT List of 10 more suggestions, all with sound reasoning behind each one.

The way a destination ends up on this list is that it's had enough people show up to increase the odds that it has some sense of what travelers like, therefore it can deliver a vacation to write home about--or it's a place people have gone to for years, but has something new to offer. In the case of this list, it's luxury.

When I looked over the Concierge list, it occurred to me that there are places I'd like to go on a vacation if I had A LOT of money. Any place could be spiffy.

I've recently been in touch with a Serbian anthropologist who studies the Gypsies there. Chatting with her has given me an intriguing glimpse into everyday life and culture of these mysterious folks.

She mainly focuses on their reproductive behavior. In short, they have lots of sex and kids, and in general put less investment into each offspring. In biology, this is known as classic "r-strategy." In comparison, most humans practice (I would hope) k-strategy, which is to say, you fritter away your working life saving up for your kid's college tuition (high parental investment).

The Gypsies there are essentially forced to pursue this counter-intuitive strategy, because of high infant mortality rates. They also happen to be one of the most marginalized Gypsy groups in Europe--many drive these Citroen cars that are stripped down to just wheels and the engine, and go scrounging for scrap metal. The good news they've managed to maintain a rich culture, by marrying only within their clan and stressing their oral tradition (particularly in poetry and music).

The backdrop is dramatic--a country quickly recovering from the 1999 bombings, and moving away from its communism roots towards lucrative privatization, with GDP growth this year at 7% compared to 2% in 2003. They've even been thinking about EU membership. But like everyone else, Serbia has forgotten about the Gypsies.

Here's a BBC slideshow.

The rise of iTunes and the occasional use of LimeWire (go on, admit it...), means that we're being exposed to a wider selection of music than ever before. It's a diversity that's being reflected in a growing number of very cool music festivals from Coachella in California to Exit in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Now MelodyTrip makes it easy to locate and book tickets to the best festivals around the world. The MelodyConcierge function even provides recommendations where you should go based on your musical tastes and your budget.

Now about that rocking gypsy music festival in Bulgaria I've heard so much about...

Also check out Gadling's Massively Huge Summer Music Festival Roundup.

Thanks to mister twist on Flickr for the pic of the great Gypsy band Fanfare Ciocarlia

Did you ever see the movie Magnolia, where it rains frogs at the end?** I thought that the filmmaker was just being clever, but apparently it actually happens.

At least it does in Serbia. That's where thousands of frogs descended upon on a village of understandably terrified citizens.

"We were all wondering what it was when suddenly frogs started to fall from the sky. I thought maybe a plane carrying frogs had exploded in midair," Caja Jovanovic told Ananova.

While, at first, you might think this signals some drastic problem -- like the end of the world, for instance -- the phenomenon is apparently recognized by the scientific community. A local climatology expert, Slavisa Ignjatovic, said it happened because "A whirlwind has sucked up the frogs from a lake, the sea or some other body of water somewhere else and carried them along to Odzaci where they have fallen to the ground."

So I guess this could happen anywhere. Sure makes me want to visit Serbia, though.

**Note: if you haven't seen Magnolia, don't worry, the frog falling scene doesn't have much to do with the rest of the movie, so I haven't ruined anything for you.

[via Spluch]

There is a village in Serbia with such bum luck that they are hoping for miracles-and if not a miracle, then perhaps a statue will do. Rocky Balboa is hopefully coming to the rescue. That's the general idea anyway. As another indication of the power and far-reaching influence of Hollywood, consider this: When Bojan Marceta resident of Zitiste, the town with the no end of weather induced natural disasters recently saw the newest Rocky movie incarnation, Rocky Balboa, he thought a statue of this underdog who never quits is just the solution the town needs. A metaphor for not giving up, if you will.

I looked up Zitiste just to see where this town is and what it's dealing with. Landslides and floods abound it seems. There is one motel listed that I could find. Located just north of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and a cultural center, perhaps Zitiste's residents can hook into some tourist travel from there. If nothing else, the statue may work to keep the land from sliding.

In case you're wondering about Rocky Balboa statue history (I know I was ) here is a link to Total Rocky.com Fast Facts that gives info about where they are and why they ended up where they did.