soaking up serbia

What's the best way to soak up some sun in Serbia, you might ask?

Take a bike ride along the Sava and Danube Rivers! The volunteer team and I were provided the opportunity for a bike tour of Beograd as they concluded their last days in Serbia. If I had a map, you'd be impressed how much we biked. But believe me when I say, we biked a lot! Along the way were a few stops for bits of history. We learned that Kalemegdan Fortress has been apart of more than 100 wars, a lone tower was a wedding dowry, and about the various government buildings seen throughout the changing figureheads.

We took a break and loaded a boat to cross the Danube River to our friend's friend's little beach shack. How did we cross the river? In a jon boat. How many of us? 12 plus our friend plus two others. Total of 15. I had the privilege of sitting on the floor of the boat and the honor to be centimeters away from being in the river. No joke nor exaggeration. The boat kept dropping further down with each new person loading. Let's just say we asked for two trips but was assured one would do just fine.

Literally inches away

We then relaxed for the next 2 hours as we waited for our lunch to be prepared and cooked by Serbia's "Jamie Oliver" as our friend called him. The group got to munch on fish soup for their first time. It was hilarious to see their reactions to the whole fish chunks in their soups. hahaha I must have looked like such last year.

Serbia's Jamie Oliver is the shirtless guy

Their final day was spent touring Sveti Sava (mentioned in an earlier post) and learning the history of the temple. The most interesting tidbit learned was about the word 'Balkan.'  Serbia and its surrounding countries are the Balkans. 'Bal' means love, happiness, fun. 'Kan' means war, revenge, hatred. Complete polar opposites but accurate depiction of this land. Thus the recent movie, In the Land of Blood and Honey produced by A. Jolie is an accurate name for the Balkans.

Largest Orthodox church in Europe

Got to meet Darko at lunch

He then went on to challenge us to petition to our Father that this area would be filled with more Bal and an overwhelming joy that can only be provided by Him. May you join us in this petition.