LAZY AFTERNOON

It is a long, busy, hot ride out of Belgrade (it has been an unusual 30+ degrees Celcius...and temperatures are climbing every day). Finally I roll into Sremski Karlovci as it is getting dark. I have carp for dinner in the local tavern, which soon fills up with villagers, visitors and a group of musicians who play the traditional 4-string tambura, and in the midst of the party fun I start talking to Mika, a silversmith and world traveller from nearby Novi Sad. She and her partner Sacha invite me over to their friend Ivan's cabin on the other side of the Danube for a Saturday afternoon of cooking, eating, drinking, talking, and spending time with all those who have hand-built shacks on the river shore.

The next day starts off with a supply shopping stop at the winery (no fancy schmanzy happenings here, just choose your fave juice and then plastic bottles get filled with a hose.) After a quick boat trip across the Danube we get to a small community of artists, fishermen, village folk: a place where lovers of the good life have built semi-permanent camps with outdoor kitchens and lots of hangout space. We cook, eat and drink. We talk about Serbia and about the world. We cheer to this peaceful community on the Danube.