I spent three weeks in Belgrade. Two and a half weeks in the city centre and four days in a sweet little apartment out in a small neighbourhood called Kumodraz, which no-one has ever heard of (for good reason).
Here I frockiled away my days in the local Maxi supermarket, trying to think of 101 different ways to cook what is essentially just a patty of beef and laughing amiably at the stray dogs and old crazy neighbourhood man talking to himself and drinking beer well before a time in the day it is ever deemed appropriate.
Now, what I loved about Belgrade (apart from some of the cute cafes and restaurants we found) is that whether you are staying in a hostel or in an apartment, there is usually always a TV with cable channels, even in the individual dorm rooms and private bedrooms, not just the common room.
I don’t normally bother with the TV. I get my fix of any shows I want to catch up on online in an evening before I go to bed and, after all, I’m always telling myself that I shouldn’t be watching the TV because I’m travelling the world and should be in a constant state of marvelled wonder, for goodness sakes. (If anyone has actually achieved a constant state of awed wonder while travelling non-stop for several months on end, I’d like to hear from them about how they did it. Please, contact me through my blog and reach out.) Anyway, what else does one do when they’re stuck out in Kumodraz with nothing to do but laugh at the crazy old neighbourhood drunk? Channel-hop on the TV of course.
It was at this point that I made a discovery – the TLC Channel. Sitting right there between Serbian 24 Hour Kitchen and constant repeats of CSI.
Apparently TLC has been going in the US for quite some time now, but we don’t have it in the UK. We do have equally as tacky channels filled with just as much junk, but not this particular channel. I immediately got sucked in.
My week nights started to revolve around the scheduling of my new favourite shows (Long Island Medium and The Next Great Baker, if you must know). I started to know all of the Serbian commercials and jingles off by heart, including an incredibly annoying one for foam banana sweets. I would run in from the kitchen while cooking shouting “What just happened?? What did she say??” with a dripping spoon in my hand, like a crazed lunatic.
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It was only after a moment of madness when I found myself watching the same episode of Soul Food Family twice that I realised the madness had to stop.
I gradually started to rebuild my life, piece by piece. I ventured out of the hostel and apartment again, visited restaurants and watched sunsets (all the while singing the jingle for Bananica, but that’s not the point). I opened my eyes to how cool Belgrade was, despite its relatively low profile. I did some of the “travelly” stuff I should be doing while, you know, travelling the world.
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I’m not going to lie and say that I’m completely cured. Now that I’m in Novi Sad in a hostel room with no TV, I find myself running past coffee shops showing live shows on their television sets, shouting “24 Hour Kitchen is on!!!”
It’s going to take time to rebuild my life. I’ve come to terms with that fact. But I can’t handle that Jamie Oliver and his delicious goodness was cruelly snatched away from me in such a heartless and untimely manner.
Maybe I’ll head back to Belgrade again soon, if only to watch episodes of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding I already watched two years ago. Because sometimes the greatest addictions are the hardest to overcome.
TLC Show photo credit: TLC
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