KOTH - the soviet market was over in Novi Beograd but I missed the hi rises you mentioned. I saw some shots after goggling it, crazy stuff. Also, I don't think there is an original hair color in this shot:
Rico Rommheim - City felt fine, I got the impression that the mafia had their hand in a lot of businesses. I don't recall it being that cheap but it was certainly less expensive than Western Europe.
Omaharocks - I was there during the week and think I missed some of the nightlife. There is an area in the city called Silicone Alley with a lot of bars and clubs. Diskojoe found a photo of the type of patrons and namesake of the street.
NYbyWAYofGA - Definitely, though the amount of girls wearing minnie mouse t-shirts was ridiculous.
Pallo - I was using a Canon 7D. I just recently upgraded to a 5D mk III so the 7D will probably be getting sold here soon.
Surrealplaces - I had zero experience with Cyrillic when I arrived. However, after a few days of translating signs and remembering my greek alphabet from science classes I started to get the hang of things.
Pi = P, H = N, after understanding the letter shifts, things make a lot more sense. Almost all the young people I met spoke English, they are probably used to both alphabets.
Everyone else, thanks for the comments, glad you liked the thread.