US Open

Well, bummer.  Rafael Nadal from Spain beat Novak Djokovic from Serbia in the US Open tennis final last night. Naturally I was rooting for Serbia. 

Sports-wise, I'm told that Serbia has a surprising number of players in the NBA.  Funny how things like that come about.

Monasteries

Balkantravellers.com posted these three pictures of monasteries in central Serbia. The names are Zica, Studenica and Sopocani.  They all have beautiful frescos especially the last. 

What I like though is that the names of the monasteries are so magical--straight from a fantasy novel.  Listen to this description, "After having attracted some of the most skilful artists of Byzantium and the best builders of Zeta...they financed several masterpieces of medieval architecture."  

Love it.  If I were ever transported to a real life medieval fantasy, I'm sure I would have to go to Zeta to recover the stolen treasures hidden in the monasteries of Zica, Studenica and Sopocani.

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.