Belgrade

Haven't written in about 2 weeks! We have been just going, going, going and going...we arrived in Belgrade and met our host after walking in circles trying to find his place for about an hour! Lol! That's the way things go for us. Belgrade, Serbia has a lot of crazy history! Even in the last 20 years they have been through a lot. Knowing that and knowing how much the US was involved in the conflict and the injuries sustained both physically to the country and mentally, it was a very awkward feeling coming to this country. We were very hesitant to speak English very loudly, as to not attract attention to ourselves. We got over that after a few days but we were still cautious. Many people liked us and were friendly even after they knew we were American but after our issues in Slovenia, with so many people putting us down for being American, we were a bit reserved with how loud we spoke and who we told we were American to.

Our host was really cool! He met us at his home after we finally found it and we had a nice night with just relaxing. We did go out to a typical Serbian restaurant. The food was awesome!! We had something called čevapi. It is pork mixed with some secret spices and sauces and grilled...the combination creates something that you just want to stay and eat forever! With a cold beer, you can't go wrong with that meal!! It's to bad you can only find čevapi in this part of the world, in the Balcanes. I'm sure in other countries but it has to be the best here!

In Belgrade you can see new buildings and old buildings and new architecture and old architecture. Most of the variety comes from what had to be repaired after each war. Belgrade has been bombed and destroyed over 40 times, that was a crazy fact to learn. The people were very kind and welcoming. Our host brought us all over the city the first day and we saw so much! The second day I went on a free walking tour and learned a few more things and even won some free Rakia. Rakia is the local alcohol in the Balcanes. Every country we went to claimed it as originally being from there so I'm still not sure where it is from! Lol! It's compareable to absinthe though but its a bit lighter and comes in numerous flavors. I answered the following question correctly: how many zeros does the largest bill have on the ex-yugoslavian Bill have? Just so happens my host had taught me that the day before! It's 11 and its kind of a random question but I won and got to drink some Rakia!

Danielle and I spent the next day on our own. She went with our host to a park and into the forest outside Belgrade. I spent the day in the city, exploring and meeting some people I had met the day before on the tour.

I am going to start linking my photo albums from Facebook and Picasa to my blogs so everyone can see pictures too! 

Enjoy! Love you all and miss you!! Xoxo