Dovidenja!

That is "goodbye" in Serbian. This will be my last post from Beograd. My baka and I leave on Tuesday afternoon and I'm not looking forward to it. I have been crossing my fingers that she changes her mind and extends the trip, but I don't think that is going to happen.

The last two days have been really busy. I met with Ana yesterday (saturday) and she took me to some of Serbia's markets. While I did find some great things, I was hoping that the markets would be similar to others that I have been to in the US with hand made crafts and unique gifts.

After the open market, we went to the Chinese market. I don't think it will be on my list for my next visit, but I was glad to have went. Ana wears a pair of pants that I adore and she told me that I could buy whatever colors I wanted in the market. Turns out that particular style of pants is so popular that they are all sold out. Oh well, it was definately an experience that I won't soon forget.

We made it home just in time to get ready for dinner. Boshko was playing at a nice restaurant downtown and we were going to spend the evening there. We all got dressed up and ventured downtown, Yovanna and Bojan joined us shortly after along with two other family friends. I started the night drinking a few shots of slivovitca while everyone drank rakije. One of the family friends kept ordering bottles of wine so we never went thirsty.

While I was inpressed with the appetizers and the ambiance of the place, the main course left a lot to be disired; I was glad that I shared my meal with baka. Boshko and his two friends played all night and we all had a great time. Boshko even played a song for my mom, Tamo Dileko. Boshko comes off as pretty tough, but at one point he struggled to keep the beat with the rest of the musicians as a very polite gentleman introduced himself to me and paid me one of the best compliments I've ever recieved. It was nice to know that Boshko was looking out for me.

We got to bed late and then awoke a few hours later to get ready for our day in Novi Sad. Ana and I left the house and drove to Novi Beograd (new Beograd) to pick up her sister and then we drove 1.5 hours to Novi Sad. Well, we made a quick stop at a monastery near Novi Sad first. I can't remember the name, but it was beautiful. Ana told one of the monks that my deda was a Priest along with the fact that some of my cousins were baptized there. This was enough to warrent a private tour of a small church that is only used in the winter. It was beautifully painted and I really appreciated getting to go "behind the scenes."

We then got back in the car and drove to Novi Sad. It is a small city, about 250,000 and hosts the EXIT music festival every summer. My Lonely Planet book describes it as "Beograd on Valium," because it is so relaxed. I agree. The city was so beautiful and no one was in a hurry. Ana took us around the City Center and we walked along pedestrian streets, into different cafe's and into churches where I saw the first of 3 weddings for the day (no kidding). The second wedding was taking pictures in a local park and the third one was in the next city we visited.

After having 2 iced Nescafes we continuted walking for a bit, had some lunch and, according to Ana, had "Novi Sad's best ice cream. We then got in the car and headed to Sremski Karlovici.

Sremski Karlovici is a very small city but has both the oldest Orthodox Thological School and the oldest high school in Serbia. We visited the City Center and walked around. We were lucky enough to see a third wedding just ending. The best man was throwing coin money around and Ana had us each pick up a coin as it is a symbol of good luck in Serbia. We also picked up a few Hungarian pastries at a local market and then headed to a cafe that overlooked the Danube. Once the sun started setting, we decided to head back to Beograd. It was such a wonderful day. The two cities looked so European to me; Beograd is great, but I don't notice the pre-communist buildings like I notice the large, concrete structures that were buit after world war II. I'm so happy Ana took me out today.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. My baka and I are going to do some shopping. She hasn't gotten to go out as much as I have and we are going to spend some time together before having lunch with Draga. We will probably spend tomorrow evening at the house getting all packed up.

I really wish this trip didn't have to come to an end. I've finally gotten able to form a few sentences in Serbian and I am well aquainted with Beograd. I've already started a list of things I want to do for the next visit, hopefully it's soon.

Lakunoch from Serbia (sweet dreams).

Ciao,
Anna