Serbia

Heading on over to Europe, we're off to Serbia. We might actually be getting a postcard from there soon, as my college roommate just went on a six-country-tour of Europe, and she was going to try and pick us up some, so fingers crossed. 

Serbia was also up, because due to Hurricane Irma,  I had to work with things I had out of the freezer, instead of heading to the very depleted store shelves. I found some recipes that made it easy, with a few minor adjustments (who knew pita bread would be so popular during a hurricane?!? I mean, too bad the Serb's aren't big fans of five grain gluten free bread. That was easy to come by. ) 

It the simplest terms, when Yugoslavia broke up, Europe got itself five new countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and a combo of Montenegro and Serbia that clung together with Kosovo (not a UN recognized country, by the way) to be the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 2006, that partnership came to an end as well resulting in a separate Serbia and Montenegro. 

There's not a ton of tourism to be had in Serbia, so they are very welcoming to the people who go out of their way to visit (be prepared for the three kiss hellos). The capital here is Belgrade, but Emily said that was 'meh', she preferred the charming town of Novi Sad. (She also mentioned the trains were super slow). Belgrade does have it's share of nightclubs though, so there's something. Oh, and Serbia is landlocked, so their might not be beaches to go to, but you could always hit up the river-barge clubs, or Splavs. It's disco on the river. How fun! 

Our landmark isn't the Splavs though, it's Djavolja Varos, or for memory's sake 'Devil's Town'. It's one of the seven Serbian wonders, as it is one of the most attractive natural phenomenons within the Balkins. It's 202 stone formations. Ranging from 5 feet to nearly 50 meet, they are stone-capped, spindle shaped pillars, known as soil pyramids. But, Devil's Town is also home to two springs of extremely acidic and mineral rich water (ph of 1.5!). Spring lakes like them are really rare. But, they are used in spa treatments (scientists do warn against drinking it though, for you know, obvious reasons). 

Serbia is full of quaint villages, hushed monistaries, and green mountains. Beyond that, it's a country that likes to celebrate it's cultural differences. Serbia has had a difficult past, it was a Serbian who murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which result in Austria - Hungary declaring war on Serbia, setting off the first World War.  But today Serbia is on the up and hopefully EU-bound (it's one of 7 countries awaiting admission, but Kosovo is  a hang up. Germany is backing them, but some Serbs think it won't ever happen. And now with all this Brexit and instability of the Eu, who knows). 

Some other fun Serbian facts for you: 

The Genex tower in Belgrade is designed to look like a huge gate to welcome visitors, but it's often regarded as an 'ugly' example of Brutalist architecture, and called one of the strangest skyscrapers in the world. 

If you're into tennis (I'm not), you probably know Novak Djokovic. The famous Serbian has won 8 Grand Slam singles titles, and has been ranked number one in the world (he's supposedly one of the 10 greatest tennis champs, ever). 

One of Serbia's festivals in the Guca fesitval. Hundreds of brass bands compete for the chance just to perform at the festival. 

Speaking of Celebrations, at Christmas lunch, Serbs have a special type of bread they bake with a gold coin in it. Everyone tears off a piece of the bread, and whoever finds the gold coin is supposed to have good luck in the New Year. 

The boys made their Serbian postcards. 

Calib's featured the Splavs, and the Genex Towers. 

Peyton's also featured Devil's Town in addition to the Splavs and Genex Tower. 

One thing I forgot to mention was the raspberries. Serbia is the world's largest raspberry exporter, producing 95% of the global supply!  It's known as 'red gold' there. So, Hayden had some Serbian shooting them out of a cannon and into the air. Did we discuss any such thing? No, because I'm pretty sure they don't shoot their raspberries out of a cannon. But, he's 11. Imagination and all that, I suppose. 

Serbian dinner was an easy one. We had Pljeskavica (a traditional Serbian burger recipe), along with homemade fries, carrots, and of course raspberries (mixed with some blackberries, because Sprouts had them for 98 cents a package). 

Now a couple of things, in the burger patty itself we used Hungarian paprika (oh the irony! It wasn't lost on us), and it's supposed to be served on a pita like bread. But, bread (even pita) was still weirdly hard to find days after the hurricane, so pita's were out, and what I had on hand was in.  

There was also a recipe to make your own ajvar, or roasted red pepper spread. But, why do that when Trader Joes makes it so easy on you to just buy it. (And as a bonus, it's made in Bulgaria, so while not Serbia- pretty dang close). The burger is supposed to be topped with the red pepper spread, pickles and onions. We decided the onions would be best sauteed. 

This dinner earned four spoons up. 

Peyton ate half his burger and everything else on his plate, and was pretty happy. But, he wasn't a huge fan of the red pepper spread, and since he said 'that was the most Serbian thing, I probably shouldn't give it a spoons up.' But he did like it. 

The rest of us really liked it. In fact, I had only put the red pepper spread on the bottom of the bun, and we got it back out to put it on the top too. We also decided it will be awesome on grilled cheese. 

I sure like a good meat and potatoes kind of country, and Serbia really delivers there. 

We colored in Serbia, after we realized we forgot all about it at dinner. It's a lovely red color right there next to Romania, and Bosnia Herzegovina. 

That's 117 down, 76 to go! 

Next Up: Dominica (Ugh, still so many blogs to catch up on. Someone remind me not to get this far behind again!)