Serbs hike like they ski, in reverse – straight up the mountain through the trees! At least this delightful Serb does: Mika, Irena’s long-time dear friend and boss, who I met skiing here in 2004.

But first, another story…

Jim and Sydney (their cat) and I headed for Tara Planina National Park (about 4 hours south of Belgrade) in the brand new car – a dark eggplant Nissan small SUV (Qashqai) – and planned to meet Irena and Mika in Mika’s car up the road, coming directly from work.

Jim and I were cruising along with the traffic, and failed to notice a speed trap (common here) until it was too late – Jim was going 80kph in a 50kph zone, so he got pulled over. (more…)

Thursday morning we drove about one hour north to a ship-building yard in Zrenjenin to introduce Jim’s very close friend, Milan, to the manager regarding a business opportunity. (Do any of you news hounds recognize “Zrenjenin”? – see my last post for this trip, when I get it done!) They build inland chemical tanker and container ships and barges that ply the rivers of Europe.

After a slide show on the business, we were taken on a tour of the shipyard, and had to put on bright orange jumpsuits, hard shoes, and hardhats for safety – what a hoot! We went quickly through most of the construction area, from the huge hangar where they build the hull, stern, and bow (each separately) of the ships, to the outdoor assembly where they begin to put together the upper decks (more…)

Hello once again from beautiful Belgrade, Srbija! This 3rd trip here is so different from my first two, which were in winter to ski. (In 2004 we skied for a week in Kopaonik National Park, about 300k southeast of Belgrade – a fairy wonderland of deep, new snow, A-frames, and deep forest on the mountaintop. In 2008 we drove from Belgrade through Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia, then across the middle of Italy, stopping in Venice, Verona, and Turin before skiing for a week in Val d’Isere, France.) So I finally get to see this city and country not as cold and grey-brown from dirty snow. As I flew into Belgrade, the view was breathtaking – lush fields and valleys of every color green imaginable, dotted, then saturated with terracotta orange roofs everywhere, trees in bloom, and accented by the two great rivers that meet in Belgrade (kiss, as the locals say) – the Danube and the Sava. (more…)