This may well be the best place in America to celebrate Nikola Tesla's Serbian heritage. For those of you not in the know, there is only one way to celebrate Nikola Tesla's heritage, and that is by listening to a Serbian anthem in 7/4 time. On autorepeat. An anthem whose only recognizable word to those not fluent in Serbian, is "Tesla." Drinking on a Sunday afternoon can be a slow way to get your day started, but the owner is there to boost morale. "Nikola Tesla!" he shouts, pumping his fist into the air. "Serbia!" Occasionally the Serbian anthology CD would slip into track 2, a jovial polka, until the owner slaps his slouching bartender on the back. "Nikola Tesla!" Barkeep dutifully repeats track one, sits back upright and earnestly offers us another drink. There's also an espresso machine here. The espresso is really, really good. You're not supposed to find good espresso in a depressed, post-industrial Iowan backwater like Waterloo. "Nikola Tesla!" the owner shouts. "Serbia!" One hour and forty five minutes later, the ode to Nikola Tesla is still playing on autorepeat, but by then I had the courage (Miller Lite) and my friend the caffeine (several espressos) to finally get us out of this wonderful ethnic dive.
This may well be the best place in America to celebrate Nikola Tesla's Serbian heritage. For those of you not in the know, there is only one way to celebrate Nikola Tesla's heritage, and that is by listening to a Serbian anthem in 7/4 time. On autorepeat. An anthem whose only recognizable word to those not fluent in Serbian, is "Tesla." Drinking on a Sunday afternoon can be a slow way to get your day started, but the owner is there to boost morale. "Nikola Tesla!" he shouts, pumping his fist into the air. "Serbia!" Occasionally the Serbian anthology CD would slip into track 2, a jovial polka, until the owner slaps his slouching bartender on the back. "Nikola Tesla!" Barkeep dutifully repeats track one, sits back upright and earnestly offers us another drink. There's also an espresso machine here. The espresso is really, really good. You're not supposed to find good espresso in a depressed, post-industrial Iowan backwater like Waterloo. "Nikola Tesla!" the owner shouts. "Serbia!" One hour and forty five minutes later, the ode to Nikola Tesla is still playing on autorepeat, but by then I had the courage (Miller Lite) and my friend the caffeine (several espressos) to finally get us out of this wonderful ethnic dive.
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