Thursday I laid low and stayed in bed much of the day. I had been wanting an easy slow day for a while but much prefer to choose to take it easy rather than getting sick and being
forced to. In any case, I was extremely grateful to have a comfortable place to recover. The beds in this country tend to be quite firm but I like that. And I enjoy the European arrangement of having a bottom sheet and a duvet rather than the American style of bedsheets. And I was immensely grateful that I felt considerably better by dinner time. When I woke Friday I felt ok except for some leftover soreness in my neck and the hangover feeling I get after a migraine.
Even before I got sick Jim and I were planning on telling Dragan that we did not want to go with them to Niš on Friday because it’s an hour and 45 minute drive each way and they were going to be gone all day. Given that we had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us on Sunday we didn’t want to spend more time in the car on Friday. We went to Niš on our last trip and while we found it interesting we had no great desire to go again. Zorica needed to go to Niš for a hearing to get approved for continued disability payments for her injury, as well as to get an appointment for consultation regarding another surgery.
So they left at 8 Friday morning and Jim and I had a leisurely time at the house. Eventually we walked over the river (where the weirdest sounding frogs are always ‘singing’) into town, straight through the city and directly up the hill in the park on the other side of town. We had a pleasant walk through the wooded park and Jim stopped at the various exercise stations and did pull-ups and leg exercises. I used the Merlin app to identify the birds we were hearing, most of which are birds we don’t have in Seattle.
We wandered through the city on the way home, taking photos and saying hello to the many many stray dogs wandering around or sleeping on the sidewalks.
The roads and sidewalks in this city, like in every town we’ve been to in the Balkans, is not pedestrian friendly even though there are way more pedestrians than in most U.S. towns and cities! When there are sidewalks at all they are never smooth or in good shape. Even the most able bodied walkers must watch out for all sorts of random hazards in addition to often needing to walk in the street to get around cars parked on the sidewalks. Interestingly, despite the fact that so many drivers speed and drive unpredictably, they DO seem to stop for pedestrians who step out into the road to cross. But they don’t stop unless you assertively step out in front of them.
Zajačar has dozens of spring-fed fountains scattered all around town, some in the oddest places! Apparently the water is tested regularly and is usually of high quality but occasionally certain minerals increase in the water making it less good. We never were clear about what the bad minerals are or how often they show up. But people drink the spring water regularly and prefer it to the tap water. We agree it tastes great.
I’ve mentioned this before but another thing I like over here is that people post death announcements on poles, walls, trees and anywhere they can attach them. These are found in towns, villages and cities of all sizes.
Another thing we see on roads of all sizes in cities, towns, villages and even on busy main roads is tractors, almost always very old and slow. Local drivers aggressively pass the tractors without little regard for oncoming cars. Luckily Jim is more careful.
Once home we hung out for a bit then walked back to the city for early dinner at the Two Brothers restaurant where we ate once on our last trip. On our way back into town when we were walking down a residential street lined with Yugoslavia era ugly apartment buildings we passed a guy on the stoop waiting for his unleashed French bulldog to do his business. The dog ignored me when I walked by but suddenly growled and charged at Jim’s leg ready to bite him. Jim jumped out of the way and luckily the dog didn’t follow him, but the owner did nothing other than to half-heartedly berate the dog. We were grateful Jim didn’t get bit, but Jim was really mad at the irresponsible owner!
Dinner was good and the walk home pleasant. I think we walked over 9 miles that day.
Dragan had to work the night shift so when we got home we gave Zorica our leftover chicken, talked briefly, then went upstairs.
Saturday we had breakfast together, then they taught us how to play a game called Tok (meaning, flow). Tok is like a more complicated Parcheesi, played in teams, but instead of using dice you use playing cards and various cards allow a player to do various things. I caught on quicker than Jim and Dragan and I won the first game. After playing a couple games we all took a walk up the hill behind their house on a rutted muddy road. As is true of many or most roads over here, this road wound through hilly green countryside past orchards, big gardens, and old houses.
Dragan had been at work all night and wanted a couple hours of sleep so we parted ways then met up again later in the afternoon, had ‘lunch’ then played more Tok until dinner time when we ate and finished the night with more Tok. Dragan made delicious heart shaped waffles for dessert. Being a game person I didn’t mind playing so many rounds but Jim could have been happy to have just played a couple. But we both really enjoyed just hanging out playing this game despite our lack of shared language. We liked that Dragan told us Serbian jokes, and that by this time we could all tease each other a little bit. They are such warm people.
Sunday morning Jim cooked eggs for all of us,t hen we went upstairs to clean and pack. We were all sorry to part ways. They gave us 2 liters of their family’s rakija as a parting gift. We gave them some more small gifts. They said next time we come maybe we can meet somewhere. We’d like that.
What a wonderful week!
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