Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Legit Mexican?

Well no. This is Serbia after all. However, we've found a new place (Nachos) that is actually pretty darn close. Much closer than our previous restaurant. This is also Connor's last week before leaving for boarding school, so I took him to lunch. Danielle was also there. Her participation was kind of sad though. I invited her without realizing that she was fasting. She accepted the invitation and ended up having to watch us eat. She did enjoy some sort of smoothie/shake thing though. So I guess it all works out. We also got to laugh with our waiter who spoke to us in a different language every time he came to our table. We never knew if it was going to be English or Serbian. All in all, a great experience. Very Serb too. It was not far from the location of the car bombing earlier in the summer. (Which should tell you who frequents this neighborhood.) There were also three restaurants side by side. All of them obviously owned by the same person, just themed differently. There were also a lot of tourists. Including a couple wearing a Michigan shirt and a Texas Tech shirt. I hope they weren't expecting actual Mexican. The place isn't far from quite a few hostels, so there were a lot of internationals.

Those Chicken Fajitas look pretty great right? They were basically. They did this weird thing were they cut all of my tortillas in half though. The guacamole was more of a mix of avocado and sour cream, still good. The salsa was better on things instead of as a dip. That other little bowl is a tiny bit of beans. Thats Danielle's shake thing in the background.

Connor had an enchilada. That was how his plate came, with a tiny garnish of beans. No rice in sight.

We were excited anyway.

Monday, August 27, 2012

So in Greece

we had this work thing. Basically every available worker in Europe came to Greece for a work conference. I'm not sure who thought going to one of the most beautiful places in the world would make people want to work, but I'm not the one in charge. I just get to go enjoy it all. It was a week of great fellowship with old and new friends (some of whom I haven't seen since training), challenging and refreshing sermons (in English with no translation) from J.D. Greear, blistering heat (olive trees offer surprisingly little shade), and a time for emotional healing with the Lord. It came at a great time and I left feeling more refreshed than I had been in months. We had to leave Kristina in Belgrade, but she did a great job of holding down the fort. I didn't take many photos, I was actually working. Here are a few though.

Waiting at the gate, well at the first (false) gate. Connor played his guitar for a while and I ate some chips. We're pros at waiting.

This would be the gate for the International Airport.

So uh, the Serbian is "Welcome to beautiful Serbia"...the English is kinda close. I guess.

In my hotel, I could buy tongues for a pretty fair price.

Chocolate bread. Breakfast of Champions.

The hotel that 75% of the people stayed at and where we had all our meetings had this fabulous pool.

It was like a lazy river, without the river part. It was spectacular and huge. My hotel's pool was smaller, but I had a condo that I shared with two other girls. AND a klima that blew cold air directly over my bed. Unheard of in Serbia. I could've stayed there forever.

The main hotel made doughnuts all day long. You poured honey and sugar on them. 

There was this weird dwarf like seating arrangement.

With a painted woodsy mural.

The sea out back of my hotel.

Part of it had sea grass. So you had to swim in the right part of it.

I managed to get a little bit of color. We had a few breaks, not for long though. One day I'll get back and actually vacation in Greece.

A better view of the lazy-non-river pool. Parts of it were shallow and then it gradually got deeper. It also had a middle island that the bridges connected to the main poolside.

Heading back to the airport. Hoping for a less turbulent trip this time. The landing in Greece was one of the worst I have ever experienced. Almost everyone was sick when they got off.

And off we go, heading back to Belgrade.

Greece was an interesting place from the plane. 

Greece is one of my all time favorite places. I look forward to any opportunity to visit. Even one that involves work. The Greek woman that ran my hotel's gift shop had actually been a nanny to a family in Baton Rouge. Imagine that! Such a small world. She was fabulous and sold me some wonderful pottery. I'm a sucker for Greek pottery.