Home Away from Home - Serbia!

A month or so ago, I got the sudden news that one of my good friends from Serbia was not only pregnant, but also was going to have a shotgun wedding in Belgrade. As I had recently been itching to get out of town, I was probably one of the first RSVP's. Because I am taking a full month when I go home to Chicago in December, I could only afford to take 5 days for this trip... which then I later found out I could have actually ended up staying for a whopping 5 days more (grrrrrrrr! Stupid moon and not knowing when it will be fully full. What am I talking about? After the one month of the holy month of Ramadan, they wait for the fullest day of the moon, and then starts the "eid" celebration - i.e. we get 3-4 days extra off work. So basically it was earlier presumed to be sometime next week, hence I got my tickets as is, but darn it, I came back to work 2 days and then have 4 days off... doing nothing. Don't get me started how angry I am that I could have easily stayed longer. Boooo!).

Anyhoo, of course I was looking forward to the trip, but I had an even better time than I ever could have imagined and it was not only JUST what I needed, but even more than I expected.

As a reminder, my dad grew up in Belgrade and has many close friends that still live there. My mom spent some of her youth there in between her time in Russia, and has a best friend Vesna, who married Slobodan. They have been best friends for 50+ years and they are both truly wonderful people and I love both of them dearly. They were as excited about my visit there as I was. They have a beautiful peaceful weekend home in Grocka, by the countryside surrounded by hills and the Danube River. As another reminder, what am I lacking here in Dubai? A lot of things, but most especially NATURE and fresh fruits/foods. What did I get there? Nature and fresh fruits/foods. I spent 2 and a half days there and it was paradise for me. They really treated me like a princess... I almost felt bad because they are twice my age and I should be serving and catering to them, but nevertheless, I enjoyed the VIP treatment. We talked and talked and talked, I hardly moved from this lawn chair to FINALLY get some sun, and ate and ate and ate fresh fruits and food. They have a garden and by some miracle, my favorite fruit PEACHES was in full bloom and it would be no surprise if I ate dozens during those few days. They were sooo sooo delicious and succulent, I don't even have words to describe it! I was in HEAVEN! Besides the lovely company, the FRESH AIR, it was CLEAR blue skies the whole time I was there (and beyond!). I saw stars!!! And just breathing the fresh air, I immediately felt rejuvenated and refreshed. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice! Here are a few pics:

We got a kick out of finding a "Africa" restaurant in Belgrade

View from their terrace

Slobo picking grapes from their garden

After sun, fun, eating (and more eating), it was time to head back to Belgrade to get out of my pajama's and lounge wear and get dressed up for my friend Sashka's wedding. And, in case you can't tell from the pics, she is 5 months preggos. :-) This was an intimate wedding with only 50ish guests at a beautiful Italian restaurant. We occupied the outside terrace (yea! Fresh air and beautiful weather!), and... what I enjoyed the most, was the "staro gradski" music.... shall I translate to "old school?" Hahah. Everyone was a bit relieved it wasn't "narodi" music, the local gypsy music that can get pretty intense sometimes. Instead, this was wonderful traditional music. It created a perfect ambiance and although I was probably the only one that didn't recognize any songs, most people sang along at some point. It was wonderful live music and surprisingly, there was only a couple of outbursts of "kola," the local dance former Jugoslavs do. Here are a few pics: 

Ahh.... good company, lots of good food, and lots of fun.

Next came my last full day which consisted of a flurry of visiting more close family friends. That too I truly enjoyed and although it was too short with some (you know who you are!), I am really happy and glad that I got to see them. I again had more food and good company:

Somehow between the socializing and eating (haha), I did some quality shopping. The dollar is fairly strong in Belgrade, even compared to when I was there 2 years ago, and honestly, if I brought a bigger suitcase, I would have stuffed it as much as I did this one. There were fab-u-lous deals, and I bought shoes and some dresses that literally would be at least 5 times more expensive here in Dubai.

Soo... to sum up my trip, it was AWESOME! Just being with loved ones, being in our apartment that we have there and all the family memories, was too nice. It really hit me how difficult it can be sometimes to be so far away from people that are close to me and I really needed this love and care. And of course, just being in a European city where streets are packed with people, and to be in a vibrant, cultural city was amazing to me. Belgrade isn't known to have the cleanest air of them all, but compared to Dubai, I might have well been in Greenland or something, and I enjoyed that as well. :-)

I left Belgrade and arrived in Dubai with a heavy heart and I have to say am suffering from post-travel blues, big time. Sigh. Now I have 4 days ahead of quiet time, a lot of my friends are out of town, and... well, we'll see where the weekend takes me! It's the finale of Ramadan, the celebration of Eid, and hey, can't complain about having 4 full days off (after having 5 days off, ha ha).