Belgrade Beer Fest and more giant produce

Two weekends ago it was Belgrade Beer Fest and even though a couple of friends told us not to get too excited, that it was nothing to write home about, we still made plans to check it out thinking of it as sort of a dress rehearsal for Oktoberfest.  Well, we liked it so much on Friday night that we decided to go back again on Saturday AND then again on Sunday.

The food stations, just two choices: Pljeskavica or Sausages

Beer Fest consisted of about 25 beer tents, including a Mexican themed one selling dos equis, corona and the like, 5 giant food stalls, a stage with local bands with the TV screen, all set-up in a ginormous field where people could walk around and visit the tents along the confluence of the two rivers (Usce).
The great surprise element - and what became the main source of fun and entertainment- was the unadvertised carnival inside the fest.  State Fair-like rides were all set up in one side of the field bringing together families, college kids and the occasional tourist.   Given, I'm pretty sure most of them were decommissioned in the US back in the early nineties and then re-sold to various second/third world countries before making it into Serbia..but nevertheless, we still rode in them.  Because really?  What are the odds that you pick the exact ride, exact seat, date and time when it's going to fall apart?  I figured that if it was my time to die, then there was nothing I could do about it.

Really fast but close to the ground, it seemed like the safest alternative

I nicknamed this one "the spaceship"  it seemed harmless, until it lifted up to the sky and started rotating like crazy

Me and Phil cheering to our survival

The 4-in-1 picture is courtesy of my new friend M. who is new to Belgrade and is clearly a more talented photographer than I am.  You might think I'm pretty fearless, but the truth is that I am a total scared-y cat when it comes to getting on those rides.  It took a lot of pleading from Phil and many hesitant looks and "waiting moments" to get me on that Speedy.  Phil and our Saturday group were way more enthusiastic; especially K. who happily rode with Phil on the spaceship and some other evil-looking ones.  We all put our foot down when it came to the whole circle-upside-down pirate ship.  It was really funny, though, that some of the rides had typical American propaganda like a cartoon of Uncle Sam and a bald eagle. 

The second highlight after the rides, was the BLUEBERRY beer.  Most of the people in our group thought it was too sweet, but we really liked it.  For me it was the perfect combination between a beer and a cocktail, not too bitter, not too sweet; not too filling but not too strong.  We spent most of our time in that tent, the Black Turtle, and then walking around a little bit through the other carnival -like games.  On Friday, my friend V proved to be really good at darts; she was able to get a pin in the bulls eye and two others on the circle right outside of it, which I was sure it would get her a semi-decent prize (except, really, there weren't any, except one ALF doll that we lobbied for to no avail), but the man just gave her a super pathetic mini-doll, the kind that you would get from a 25cent vending machine.  Then I guess he felt really bad for me, because I tried to play another game, throwing tennis balls to some tins and literally made a complete ass of myself, missing every tin.  He still gave me a consolation prize of another awful looking thing that I gave away immediately. 

V squared and our fabulous prizes

Last but not least, we are still enjoy some great produce with the last months of summer.  Here I am with a giant stack of green onions.

Greeeeen Giant!

Beyond Belgrade: Mokra Gora

When my friends K and R invited me to join them on a road trip to Mokra Gora, I had no idea what they were talking about.  I asked around at work and got very conflicting messages from, "It is definitely a must-see, you need at least 3 days" to "so not worth it, if you are going to drive 3 and a half hours, go to Budapest again".  Since they were going to go regardless, I decided to check it out for myself and come back with a full report.

The main attraction at Mokra Gora, besides the mountain scenery, is this train called the Šargan Eight, which used to be part of a "Romantic Road" route back in the pre-war days.  Now, they have reconstructed the most scenic parts and changed the original train cars to more touristy ones for a sightseeing ride through the mountain side.  The name Sargan Eight comes from the fact that if you went on a helicopter or on a plane over the tracks you would see a figure eight.  Also, according to Wikipedia, Mokra Gora are the words in Serbian for Wet Mountain.

Landscape as seen from a lookout point

Before getting on the train, we went to the other must-do nearby, a so called  "Ethnic Village", which is a nostalgic replica of what a Serbian village would have looked like back in the old days.  It was a cute little arrangement of wooden cottages that are now restaurants, shops, and tourist traps.  We had heard rumors that Johnny Depp had once filmed a movie in the area and that they had made a statue of him.  I asked one of the ladies that worked there, and it seems that the legend is true, but that they moved the statue to an unknown location because of "the construction."  I am not sure what construction she was referring to since 1.  There was whatsoever NO new construction anywhere around where we were and 2.  If anything is going to bring crazy American tourists to the middle of the Serbian countryside, it will certainly be a life-sized replica of Johnny Depp.  Oh, well.

As I was writing this, I did a quick online search and it is certainly true!

Courtesy of USA TODAY.  Full Article here

Me in front of one of the authentic houses

The Ethnic Village, old cars and everything

The train ride itself took about 2 hours, first you get on the train (we had to go standing room only, because they were all booked for seats) to the top of the mountain.  We were lucky to have gorgeous weather, and since it was the 4:20 train, the sun was pretty much gone and the scenery was beautiful.  I really enjoy train travel and I love having the wind in my face and hair while going really fast, so I was really hogging my window and had my head out for the entire ride.  Once we reached the top (in about 45 minutes), they gave us 10 minutes to get off, take pictures, and look around before boarding to go back down.  Then we kept stopping and re-boarding on the way down.  On the second stop, I think EVERY single person got an ice cream from those classic European freezers with the cardboard index.  Later, we stopped at a lookout point and finally at a cafe, where people get coffee, soft drinks or beer.  On the way back, I met a Spanish guy that is married to a Bosnian, who were spending the weekend there with their kids and her family.  He told me that they rented a house right by the tracks for 13 people for two days for only 60 Euro!

The long and winding road

Hanging out.  Literally.

So, the 36,000 dollar question:  Worth it?  I definitely enjoyed it and I am very glad I went.  If you already live in Serbia, and really like trains I'd say go for it, even if it's a long day trip.  If you have young kids and a big group, it could be fun to make it into a weekend of relaxation and nature bonding.  The drive is kind of a pain.  We left here at 9:15 and didn't get there till 1:45.  Good thing I had packed some snacks for the road.  Also, like most other attractions here in Serbia, there were NO clear road signs advertising the way, and the GPS proved to be not very trustworthy.  Getting to the main road was easy enough, but since it's nestled in the mountain ranges right by the Bosnian border, it was all curves and we kept getting stuck behind heavy trucks carrying everything from timber to live sheep.  There were times when were were doing 35 km/hr; which is less than 20 miles!   Kudos to R for his patience and excellent, one-lane-giant truck-passing skills.  If I had been the one driving, we probably would still be there.

Find me at Ada!

In my humble opinion the best, most awesome thing about Belgrade is its little beach island, Ada Ciganlija.  Neither a real lake or a real beach, Ada is this urban inlet in the middle of the city that was dug out and built as a small resort type strip in the banks of the Sava River.  Each summer, thousands of Serbian and European (and now American) tourists, sun bathe along the shores of Ada until they turn six degrees darker.  Having grown  up in a "real" island, Puerto Rico, I was a bit skeptical at first, but whoever is behind the urban planning in Ada is sheer genius.  First of all, unlike the beaches in PR, Ada's shores are chock-full of stuff to do.  There are regular bars, clubs, and restaurants; FLOATING bars, clubs and restaurants; bike paths, running tracks, paddle boats, canoes, real rowing boats (like crew), a water ski area, AND a bungee jump.  For the less adventurous/athletic types, you can just grab a beach chair or even a bed and just lounge around; you can rent a towel and an umbrella and order drinks or food.  And of course, in true Serbia fashion, you can buy just ONE drink and stay ALL day.  This is both good and bad.  It's nice if you are the one doing it, but it sucks when the best places are full and you want to grab a seat.  The "lake" is pretty clean, the water is clear and warm.  The only thing is that it's super rocky (pebbles rather) and kind of muddy.  But since it's fresh water, you don't get that gross salty feeling or the stinging in your eyes.  I am a big fan.

The Ada beach 

For the sun phobes like me

Hanging out in the water

Also, in the true European spirit, 99% of the men wear speedos. Unfortunately, you can't see that in the picture.  The one guy standing up, is in fact Canadian; hence his trunks.  All women wear bikinis, given most Serbian women are pretty hot and thin, but I have definitely seen a couple who should probably cover up.  I am the only person in the entire beach with a tankini.  I don't think tankinis exist here, but I will not wear a real bikini cause I don't think the Serbs are ready for my jelly.  Anyway, the plan is to hang out here as often as possible before the harsh winter weather comes back.

Opa!

My friend E, who used to work at the DC Jail with me, came to visit last week and we were able do a quick getaway to Greece. In my typical fashion of maximizing time away from work, we flew out Thursday night and came back at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, giving us four full glorious days of vacation.

Athens exceeded my expectations in every way. I had heard from friends who've visitied before that it could be sort of intense. Like Naples in Italy; hot, loud, chaotic, smelly, and a bit scary. I didn't feel like it was that way at all, except for the heat. The sun was definitely beating down, but everything else was great. We went to some museums, which were really nice and modern (and also provided a nice break from the heat), climbed up the actual Acropolis, wondered around the Plaka neighborhood, did the double decker bus tour and ate awesome food. E has a good Greek-American friend who hooked us up with all the "insider" tips for us, like ordering the grilled octopus at every meal and staying at the hostel, Backpackers, which ended up probably being the main source of comic relief and crazy late night laughs.

E. and I at the Acropolis.  

Since our flight came in sort of late, we didn't get into the hostel till like 11 PM.  We checked into our 3 person suite, with a private bathroom to find it sweltering hot, and with a guy in his underwear sleeping in one of the beds.  I told E "I can live with this guy   if we crank up the A/C, but if the A/C is broken, we need to get the hell out of here".  So like typical Americans, we stormed to the front desk and complained.  They told us they only had one universal remote for the A/C and that it was "somewhere in the rooms".  So we went to dinner and hoped that it would be returned by the time we were back. After dinner, still no remote and by then, Mr. Tighty-whities had woken up and was all chatty about his Greek Islands adventures the week before.  He kept rambling on about nights where he and his friends took a 100 shots, and how he was giving out "shots for all".  E. is completely silent and in my head I'm like, I am way too old for this crap.  So E and I got back downstairs and pulled the "this is unacceptable, we are not putting up with this false advertising that you have A/C, we need to talk to a manager"... and it worked!  The one nice one guy at the front desk (not to be confused with the mean one that hated us) told us to get our things and moved us to another building.  So we re-packed our bags and E. walked out to the street in the middle of the night in her pajamas.  Right away, the place looked nicer, so we had high expectations, but then when we opened the door (by then it was like 1 AM) there were 5 bunk beds in the room and everyone was sleeping.  The A/C was on, but it was still hot and stuffy.  Of course, by then I was all worked up from the trip, the moving, and the anger, so I am wide awake and sweating profusely. We stumbled around, shushing and gigling and had to split up and take two top bunks.  Then we realize we don't have towels. I just decide to shower and put on my pajamas on top of my soaking wet body, thinking that that would help me cool down.  This whole time we are bumping into things and trying really hard to whisper and not wake everyone else up.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I laid down and tried to go to sleep.  Then I woke up two hours later with this couple who came in at 3 AM,  TURNED THE LIGHTS ON,  and proceeded to take their sweet time getting their stuff ready.  I was livid and ready to scream, but held out.  Good thing I did, because by the next morning, word had spread abut our little adventure and complaints, so when we checked out of that room, they hooked us up with a private apartment, just for the two of us.  So after the first night from hell, we were livin' it up in our condo.  Of course, after they were super nice to us, we somehow proceeded to become "those girls" and had to bother the front desk one thousand times with issues that were legitimately not our fault like "we can't turn the light on, we didn't get towels, the key doesn't work".  I think they were really relieved to see us go.

Getting up there in the heat was a major accomplishment

It also definitely didn't help that we kept bumping into our "friends", the light turners everywhere we went.  At one point one of them (they were from New Jersey) comes up to us and says "see you in the room later" and E was like sure...little did they know that we had been upgraded to first class living.

The next day in Athens was a combination of awe and sweltering heat.  I had not been that hot since India.  My feet were swollen and every step took a huge amount of effort.  We tried to wait till the sun was down for the actual climbing up to the Acropolis, but they closed at 7, so at 5 PM, we took the leap and walked all the way up there.  The views were really amazing and we were able to take some good pictures of the back, as the front was being blocked by a giant crane.

When we had planned the trip, E and I agreed that you can't say you've done Greece unless you've gone to an island.  I let her pick the island and so at noon the next day, we were on our way to Agistri on board the flying dolphin, which I was super excited about.  Turns out the dolphin was sold out for the way back and we had to settle on the ferry which took an extra hour.  I had high expectations for the dolphin, and I was terribly disappointed.  First of all, it didn't have an outdoor deck, so you were stuck inside, where it was really stuffy and gross, and then it took forever anyway.  But at last we made it to Agistri, the unknown island that is not in any map and was clearly not our hostel's manager's favorite;  his exact words were "If I was going to be in Greece for only a week and could only choose one island, I would never choose Agistri".  Maybe he just wants to keep it a secret?

Totally over-hyped--the Flying Dolphin

Agistri was perfect. It was small, not crowded, with awesome, crystal colored waters, the typical white and blue greek island architecture, plenty of places to eat and drink and just overall felt authentic and not super touristy.  Obvioulsy, everyone there were tourists, but we were definitely the only Americans, which was cool.  We had the best meal of the trip there, more grilled octopus and some saganaki, which I'd never had; but it's basically really good fried cheese.  We spent time in the sun and the sand, but we were literally getting roasted, so then we just spent like 6 hours in the water, which was wonderfully refreshing and clean, but really salty.  I think that salt dried up my knee wound and now its almost cured! 

The beach at Agistri

You know they built this church just so that tourists could take pics

Going native

At night we went to this club that promised "sexy dancers and shots for all" mostly because we were curious to see how wild and crazy were the Greeks when partying.  Total disappointment.  WE were the sexy ladies and there were definitely no shots for all.  The "VIP Party" was more like your typical DC Lounge on any given weeknight.  No dancing, no craziness; this actually worked to our favor, as we got a seat at the bar and proceeded to recount every funny story from our jail.  We were even undercharged for our drinks!  The next morning we took the ferry back to Athens and it was soo much better than the dolphin.  It makes me wonder why people take the dolphin at all!  It's more expensive and way uglier and more uncomfortable.  The cool thing about the ferry, besides the outdoor deck, was that you can take your car, scooter or dog on it. No questions asked.  Then, when you dock, they open the giant, spaceship-like door and it becomes sheer madness.  Cars, scooters and people run to the front in a mass exodus kind of frenzy.  I couldnt' help but notice this really cute fat pug with no leash that was frantically trying to catch up with this lady, who I assume was his owner.  She was paying exactly zero attention to him, and she was manuvering the crowd like a pro, cutting in line in front of others, making her way to the front.  Poor fatty was jumping over suitcases and tripping over people trying to keep up.. It was really funny.

Fatty--i wanted to take him home with me so bad.

Finally, we made it back to our hostel from heaven/hell and we were so worn out and tired that we didn't feel like finding a real Greek resturant. Next to our hostel, this fish head grill promised the "best burgers in Europe" so I talked Ellen into getting one.  After all, I hadn't had a real authentic American-style burger since we left DC and was really craving it.  It definitely did not disappoint. I got the Texas style one, complete with cheddar cheese, bbq sauce and an onion ring!  I was in heaven.

We spent our last day riding the double decker bus and exploring the archeological museum, where, weirdly enough, they don't allow people to "pose" with the artifacts.  They actually have a rule that says that you may not immitate the statues or sculptures or make faces or gestures while taking a picture with their artifacts.  E and I were able to sneak in a funny one when they weren't looking, but we did see several people get scolded for disobeying. Why would they do that? It just makes people want to fool around even more.  Our last night, we ended up taking a long walk around the Acropolis and finding a good place to have our last grilled octopus and buying some souvenirs along the strip.  I think we did our share to stimulate the Greek economy.

The famous grilled octopus

June

Summer is in full swing and with it, 90 degree weather and long days where it doesn't get dark untill 9.  I was never a summer girl; in DC, I would much prefer fall or winter, to the awful humidity and intense sun.  Here, though, summer has the advantage of awesome produce.  I have mentioned the strawberries, which are now almost gone, but this past Saturday, I went to the market and got instead cherries, white and red, raspberries (they are finally here!) and some peaches; along with the tallest stems of asparagus I have ever seen and a round squash. 

My after work snack

First the celery and now the asparagus, not sure what they use as fertilizer, but it works!

This is totally random, but I wanted to share it out there and get some thoughts.  At our last Embassy gathering, I noticed that someone had served the potato chips with salsa, and the tortilla chips, which were at another table, with french onion dip.  I mentioned it to the guy in charge, a Serb, and he was like, So what?  I just raised my eyebrow and gave him the "isn't it obvious?" look.  As other Americans showed up, they noticed too, and they eventually switched out the dips, because in our heads, it just wasn't right. It's really interesting how most things in our lives are just a matter of conditioning.

Two weekends ago, we took my mom to Budapest.  This time we did a small stop right outside the city to this Memento Park, a sort of museum place where they brought a lot of the statues that were taken down after the split with the Soviets.  The place was really neat and the statues pretty impressive. Plus they had all this cool communist propaganda stuff in the gift shop.  Phil got a Tshirt and a poster.

So solemn

This was my fave, but the sun made it impossible to get a decent picture 

The second highlight of our trip was that my mom got to do the fish massage.  Now, if you don't know what that is, it's this huge tank full of little fishes that eat all the dried out skin on your feet.  When you go, you dunk your feet in the tank and they all come swimming like crazy and start nibbling.  Afterwards, your feet are soft and smooth, like a baby's.  I got it done in Thailand and for me, it was like torture.  Once my feet were in, the lady had to literally hold me down and restrain me because what I really wanted to do was yank my leg out of the water as fast as humanly possible  while swerving it around yelling, m@therf*&^s"!  I am an extremely ticklish person.

My mom, unlike her daughter, has a lot of class

The last news update is that Phil FINALLY made his teenage dream come true. We saw Marilyn Manson in concert last Saturday night at the Belgrade Arena. It was muuuch tamer than I imagined. Marilyn has definitely gotten old, along with his fans. He has  put on weight, so either he's off the coke or he's settled into middle age and suburban living. I only saw two, of what I would call "freaks". A girl with a long black cape and the Hot Topic platform boots, along with the makeup and hair and lingerie type top, and another girl with a tattoo of a skeleton. Like an X-ray. You could "see" her ribs, spine, etc. Creepy.

Phil rocking out to MM, 12 years too late

If you don't know who Marilyn Manson is, I dare you to watch the video below and not feel sorry for:

 1.  Me-- who had to endure listening to his music during my looong and painful high school years

2. His mother. Who knew that sweet baby Brian was going to go to the dark side?

3. Everyone else at that concert who has ears.

Restaurant Reviews

I realized that I don't really give props or recommend places, so I will share three restaurants that have become my new staples in Belgrade.

1. Botako Pizza - http://www.pizzabotako.rs/mapa.php/ Nevesinje 6

The best pizza in Belgrade, hands down. They make the crust in front of you, rolling the outer edges inwards and add a bit of olive oil and spices. The menu has little drawings of all the toppings, so you don't need to know the words, and they can do half a pizza in one style, the rest in another. Their pastas are also really really good. A large pizza is about 12 dollars and can easily feed 3 regular people, or 2 Americans, or 4 Serbs. They have wine, beer and porn magazines next to the bathroom. What else could a customer want?

2. Mala Fabrika Ukusa - http://www.malafabrikaukusa.com/ Nebojsina 49a

The best Ayvar I've had in Belgrade so far; it is so good, last time I was there, I asked for an extra one to take home. This is the kind of place you want to go with more than 3 people because they have big portions of meat, ready for sharing. One of them is called "Gypsy Dance" and it's got all the Serbian specialties, like cevapi and others. Plus some pork chops, fried potatoes (not french fries) and sausages. The place itself is really cool, because it's meant to look like an old farm house. They have outdoor seating, which is ideal because in Serbia, you can still smoke inside, which I hate. They also have really good salads and desserts. Last time I was there, we ordered a dessert called "Alchemy" and it was literally brought to us with liquid nitrogen to quickly set this magical caramel on top of a souffle. WOW. Soo good. A four course meal here runs for about 25 to 30 bucks per person, depending on the amount of wine you get.

3. Comunale - Karađorđeva 2-4

 I couldn't find their website, but this place is probably the most well known from the list because it's in the more touristy area of town. In front of the Sava river, in old Belgrade, there is a street full of restaurants, a club, and a spa, overlooking New Belgrade on the other side of the river. Most restaurants are pretty good. I haven't been to all of them, because whenever I go, Comunale calls. I am a HUGE fan of meat and cheese platters, and this place takes it to a whole new level. They have an appetizer called Antipasto Comunale and you can get the small or the large, which serves 2 or 4 people. It is PHENOMENAL. It brings, the freshest cold-cuts, marinated veggies and cheese I've had in my life. The cheese is just little blocks of Parmesan, but the meats are prosciutto, bologna, salami and sopressata. So good! The veggies are the best part. Dripping in delicious olive oil and some magical marinade, they are a different assortment every time. I have seen olives, asparagus, beets, carrots, onions, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, different kinds of mushrooms, and more. They also serve pizzas and pastas. I like the pastas. The pizzas are good, but nothing to write home (or in a blog) about. Ideally, I would go here just for the platter and dessert. Phil swears they make the best Tiramisu in the entire world. I don't like coffee, so I can't say.

So there you have it. My first three restaurant reviews. If you come to Serbia by yourself, this is what I would recommend. If you come visit Phil and I, most likely we'll take you to at least one of them.  This Wednesday, we are expecting visitor #3!!!

The pretty one, the badass one, and the one with the accident

One of my new(er) quests is to visit all former Yugoslav Republics while we are here.  Except I guess for Kosovo, mostly because we are not allowed, and also because a lot of Serbs consider Kosovo to still be a part of Serbia.  This political stance is something that I know very little about and stay away from discussing.  For those in need of a quick refresher course, the countries that used to form the Republic of Yugoslavia were Serbia (check), Montenegro (check), Slovenia (check), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo (depends on who you ask).

I went to Montenegro three weeks ago via a really short flight to Tivat and then an easy cab ride to Kotor Bay.  The old town of Kotor is designated a UNESCO heritage site and I am a sucker for all things UNESCO.  It definitely did not disappoint.  Even though I was there for barely 48 hours, it was plenty.  My friend L and I climbed up the citadel to see the church and the amazing views of the bay.  We hung out by the shore and had really good and cheap mussles (6 Euro for a big bowl of them!--Amazing!).  The next day we rented a scooter and went riding around the bay into another little town called Perast.  It was soo fun, the breeze in our hair, the sun shining, the beautiful bay next to us, all peaceful and quiet with almost no other tourists.  We parked the bikes and took a little boat to an island, then we had another awesome mussles lunch.

L and I in Kotor Bay

The mussles

Then of course, when everything is too perfect, lightning strikes, and I took a bad curve and we fell off the bike.  It's really weird how people react to things, my first instinct was to immediately get up and act like nothing happened.  "I'm fine, it's fine, let's go" and my friend was more in the "over my dead body will I ever get back on that bike", plus she took one look at my poor knee, which basically had a hole in it the size of a melon baller/small ice cream scoop and said "you need a hospital".  So we flagged down a nice man who took us to the most rural, trusting, hospital I've ever been in; no receptionist, no gloves, 23 Euro for an X-ray and the patching up was pure alcohol being poured inside the wound for cleaning and disinfecting. About 45 minutes later, we are out and when we walked out to the parking lot, of course! our good samaritan was still there, waiting for us!!  So I was adamant that we had to go get the bike to return it and my friend was just as determined not to get on it ever again, so we decided I would drive the bike back to Kotor while she rode in the car with the nice man.  We got back to the place, where they charged me 100 Euro for the damage (and they never realized that there was a small part missing that fell down and then my friend abandoned in the car).  When I come out from the rental place to the parking lot, I find out that the guy was totally hitting on my friend, "have coffee with me, let's go to dinner".  She was like, no thanks, HERE IS SOME MONEY.  He didn't want to take the money, but he did ask us to tell everyone how nice people from Montenegro are.  So here it is.  The story of the accident and the testament that thinking of both the doctor and the good samaritan, my experience with Montenegrians has been excellent.  Also, my knee is doing much better now, thank you.

The bay

Last weekend, my mom was visiting, so we went to Slovenia, also known as "the pretty one" of the former republics.  It really was, at least naturally, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.  We spent one day in Ljubljana, the capital, one day in Bled, which is right out of a fairy tale with an unnaturaly blue lake and a small island on the lake, and the last day we did a day trip/tour to the Prodjama Castle and the Postonja Caves.  Definitely recommend it and definitely can be done in 3 days.  The caves were so cool that the pictures don't really do them justice.  They are enormous and it's really really cold in there.  Plus, you get to ride this little train in for more than 2 kilometers, and unlike the US where you would need a seat belt and there would be a waiver to sign, etc. Here, it was like ride at your own risk. So the train flew by these rocks and you could really lose a limb or worse, your head, if you stood up or put your arm out..but there were no signs or rules, just a wild ride into a wild cave.  Also, even though there was a fake tour, you could basically just go at your own pace and if we had wanted to chill in the cave all day, we totally could have done so.  No questions asked, no pushing, no rush. 

The church and the lake--Bled

The Prodjama castle

The Prodjama castle was a large castle built on a hill, upon a cave, and the cave was used to store food and water in case of an attack, so it had a secret entrance on the top for people to climb in and out and then it was also connected to the castle.  Really neat stuff.  I booked the tour through a company I found on the Lonely Planet website and it worked out great, except we were the only ones on the tour and our guide sort of smelled and had no concept of personal space.  He spoke so close to me at one point that I was afraid he was going to try to kiss me.  Or maybe I'm just too American, but I need at least a foot to be comfortable. He picked us up on a BMW and drove us through the back roads of Slovenia, which are unbelievably cute and just pristine.  Not a speck of dirt, dust or trash. Just pine trees, blue skies, windy roads, houses with the old school roof tops and the ocassional car or tractor. 

Then it was back to Serbia, which I nicknamed "the badass one" by the definition I found on Urban Dictionary.com 

Badass:  Infinitely cool, über awesome, hardcore to the extreme.

Say what you will about Bruce Lee or Chuck Noris, Tsutomu Yamaguchi is, hands down, the most badass example of a badass ever to walk the earth: Tsutomu Yamaguchi was the only known survivor of BOTH atomic blasts. He died at age 93 on January 6, 2010.

This to me is the epitomy of Belgrade, after all that the country has been through, they are still going strong and the peoples' spirit is very much alive.  Seldom have I seen  a place where its citizens are so patriotic and love their country with such passion.  Well, maybe in Puerto Rico.  Now that the weather is warm people have started to party and be outside at all times of the day into the night. You can feel the energy in the streets.  Also, the strawberries are out by the crates.  First they would sell you a tiny little basket for 300 dinars, then, a week later, the same basket for 250, then 200, and now they just give you a whole kilo for 200.  My mom just loves strawberries so every day she's been going to the market to buy us a kilo.  Last night, I made homemade strawberry ice cream, but I got greedy and I guess I put way too many strawberries so the whole thing started spilling out of the machine and created a big mess.  But it was wonderful.  I want to make ice cream sandwiches for dessert and I'll probably use the Plazmas for it. I think it'll be a great combination and could potentially become a new Serbian tradition.