War

I take it back.  I DO remember Serbia---or at least Kosovo and war and misery and all the rest.  I found one childrens book at the library which looks like it's going to gloss over the latest calamities, but everything else is heavy on the war theme.  Traveling around like this brings home just how much war and waste there is in the world.  So stupid.  And Serbia looks simply gorgeous.  In at least one area people who are born there tend to stay as they inherit family farms and businesses that have been going for 300 years.

Belgrade--The White City

Welcome to Serbia!  I'm back more or less refreshed from taking the month of August off from my travels and am excited to be in Serbia.  This is the kind of place that I like best---that is, I know NOTHING about it!  Sounds gorgeous though.  The capital, Belgrade, is called "The White City" and all roads supposedly lead to it.  The city sits on the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers.  This is the center of Bohemia--whatever that means--perhaps a wild and gypsyish lifestyle? All I can think of is the Holmes story, "A Scandal in Bohemia."  Today calls for a trip to the library and a peek at the Holmes story--though I suspect it has nothing to do with modern day Serbia.

Out of Energy

Hello!

      We're taking a temporary break from our travels--watch for the next country in September.

Failed hike with schnitzel

Bummer--the idea to "hike Liechstenstein" has been postponed--maybe we'll try again in October?  I found a series of hikes that equal exactly 15 miles.  The problem was that it was 90 degrees and I'm more out of shape than I gave myself credit for.  Dave and I tried the first hike--a three mile round trip to waterfall canyon.  I've DONE this hike and it wasn't that bad before!  This time it was that bad.  I was dizzy and breathing hard and a little bit sick.  Dave tells me I was bright red (which is normal for me, but I guess this time was worse).  We made it to the first bridge which I don't think is even half-way and rested there for a good half-hour before coming back down.  Oh well, it's a lovely place to rest.  Huge butterflies, a beautiful stream cascading down the mountain and a squirrel on our left.  Not quite a bavarian feel to it because I don't associate Europe with boiling heat although I don't know why--it was plenty hot when we really were in Liechtenstein.   Anyway, I made it down the trail and avoided a trip to the emergency room so it's all good except I feel like a major wimp. 

As it happened, we were in Salt Lake on the last day of July.  One of the major attractions of the city is Siegfried's Deli which serves real German food and smells like my grandparent's house.  I had schnitzel, spaetzle and red cabbage and we all shared a piece of black forest cake.  Not a bad way to end a virtual trip.

Bus--yawn--ness

I did finally find another book with something about Liechstenstein, 7 smallest European countries and their secrets.   Apparently Liechstenstein is quite the business powerhouse.  The book claims the Liechtensteiners are probably the richest of all European people.  Normally, I don't care much about business, but I did like this.  The way they make it work over there is that the business headquarters are located in Liechtenstein--anything ugly like a factory or even a skyscraper is put in some other country--leaving Liechtenstein untouched and fairytale like.  Obviously this means that somebody somewhere is stuck with the ugly stuff, but I like the idea that at least somewhere in the world a people values beauty over the convenience of having your warehouse right next door.

Muehle

Little country, little blog entries I guess.  Our hike has been temporarily postponed due to crazy hot weather and some scheduling conflicts--not to mention my left knee.   Soon for sure!  When we spent a few hours in the real Liechtenstein, one of our favorite things were the giant chess and giant muehle games laid out downtown for anyone to play.   Muehle is one of those ancient games with probably a million variations--you might know it as Nine Men's Morris.  Fun game--well worth looking up.  I love it because I used to play it with my German grandmother when I was young.  It's a strategy game and I NEVER once beat Omi.   Catherine was 10 years old when we went to Liechtenstein and she impressed one of the little old ladies there when she began playing on the giant Muehle board--obviously knowing what she was doing.  As I recall she beat me too.  hey.....

Heavy Books and Hiking

The library let us down a bit where Liechtenstein is concerned.  I only found one mention in a Switzerland travel guide.  However, I WAS able to order a book of artistic masterpieces collected by the princes of the country.  The book is bound in green cloth and weighs about 40 pounds.  It looks magnificent on the coffee table.  I did browse through it once and the masterpieces are indeed, masterful--but it's just too darn heavy and imposing for lighthearted flipping through.  No matter!  I have cooked up another scheme to explore Liechtenstein.  Since the whole country is only 15 miles long, I thought we could "hike" the country.  What we'll probably do is a series of three hikes that total 15 miles over 2 days.  None of us are hikers or campers, and it is the middle of July, but  ignorance is the backbone of adventure--so I'm not seeing any problem with this scheme today.