// SERBIA

// SERBIA I entered Serbia during the height of the Covid pandemic. I'd been in lockdown many months in Turkey, and felt cabin fever setting in. Serbia became the first European country to open up to American travelers, so I booked a flight as soon as the airports in Istanbul reopened. The political situation turned out to be rather precarious in Serbia—though I can't really complain as it was the reason I was allowed to enter, the reason Serbia was open to visitors when the rest of Europe had their borders firmly shut. To win an election, the ruling party simply declared Covid defeated and eased all restrictions, including entry for foreigners like myself. After winning the election, no doubt due in part to their impressive handling of the Covid situation, the government admitted they had lied, that Covid was, in actuality, over-running the hospitals, and that a super lock down was being instituted. This did not go over well; there was open fighting with security forces in the streets, buildings went up in flames, at one point protestors stormed and took over the parliament building—and in the end the government backed down. Despite all this, Serbia turned out to be a real gem, as the photos below will hopefully show.