Trip of a lifetime! (part 1)

B and I just had the opportunity of a lifetime to go and visit my parents in their mission in Serbia and then tour the rest of their mission and dip our toes into Italy for a few days.  I’m going to break the trip down into days and areas that we visited to try and get a grasp on the whole experience.  I still feel a little as if it was all a dream, probably a little of that has to do with the jet lag I am still feeling after getting home.

Serbia

Flying to Serbia isn’t the most convenient and after flying for 24 hours we touched down in Belgrade to what looked like a depressed forgotten Soviet city with rows and rows of tenement housing but also a city surrounded by endless fields of corn and tobacco and other things.   As we exited the airport and saw my parents it was such a great feeling and such a familiar one.  We immediately embraced and I couldn’t help but feel at home even in Serbia and I realized the eternal nature of families in that lobby of a rundown Serbian airport.  I realized that in some small way this familiarity, this joy and contentment I was feeling was just a small taste of how I would one day feel as I saw my eternal parents for the first time and feel their arms wrap around me and pull me close.  Let me tell you I look forward to that day but for the meantime this was the next best thing!
 

Sremska Mitrovica

Sremska is about an hour outside of Belgrade through endless fields and flat expanse.  The town stretches along the riverfront with the main square or downtown a few blocks from the water.  It reminds me so much of an aging actress that you know was once a beauty queen but has fallen into disrepair and can’t quite rise to the occasion as it once could.  Mom and dad live in the center of it all with views from their patio showing the church steeples and domes from the town center.  Mom and dad live on the 3^rd floor of a walk-up that is anything but convenient when you need to go up and down several times a day.  Once you reach their place it is rather comfortable and nice, especially by Serbian standards. I told my mom that even though she didn't decorate the place or have much of a choice the house suited her with its walls filled with artwork.

Later that night we took a walk down by the river and ate at one of the nicer restaurants in town.  The clouds parted on our walk and the sun shown down on us almost as if heaven was blessing this moment or maybe that is just what we selfishly thought.  

On Saturday we took a drive with my parents to see a little bit more of Serbia visiting Nova Sad and Belgrade.  Nova Sad was like any other city although we drove through the old town and could imagine stepping back within the walls of the fort in this old city right on the river.  Belgrade was interesting.  We got lost for a time but it actually gave us a good view of the city.  What I was amazed at is you have beautiful ornate buildings across from bombed out Soviet type structures that they preserve and protect in order to remind the Serbians what America (NATO) did to them in the last war...no wonder they hate and mistrust us with a government feeding them lies in the form of architecture. 

We then made our way to the Sava Temple which is a basilica which they have been working on for the past 40 years and ranks in the top 10 largest church buildings in the world.  Sounds like a long time but remember the Salt Lake Temple took that same amount of time to finish.  The outside is beautiful

And the inside will be as well but for now it is still a hollow concrete shell.   

In a way it reminds me a little of Serbia as a whole.  A country that puts on a good front and wants to be seen by the world as powerful and complete while truly it is still trying to figure out who it is on the inside.  Luckily my parents are blessed enough to be working with people who have figured it out and slowly are helping others to find out who they truly are and helping them change from the inside out.

Speaking of those great people we were privileged enough to be able to join my parents on Sunday in their little branch and realized as you always do how the church is the church wherever you go (although they only go for 2 hours rather then 3...how do we get that same thing started in the States?).  We sang in English as they sang in Serbian all of which was music to God's ears.  B and I had been asked to speak because being such a small branch they all speak a lot so we thought this would give them a break.  What we didn't account for was the fact that they would be translating for us and really not get much of a break after all.  It was so wonderful to meet these wonderful people who are taking such care of my parents and to be able to personally thank them for their love and care.  After sacrament people lined up to take photos with B and I as if we were Disney characters at Disneyland.  Everyone commented on how tall B is and thankfully didn't comment on how wide I am.  Between B and my talks we had a musical number performed by Ada and her sister (the two closest to me in the photo below).  They sang Child's Prayer acapella and in Serbian, of course, and I have never heard it performed more beautiful and will never forget the spirit it brought into the chapel.  I will never hear that song again without thinking of that moment. 

This is Duska and her husband.  Duska translated for B and was one of two who translated the Book of Mormon into Serbian. 

This is George, the branch President and his wife and one of his sons.  George is Duska's brother and he translated for me and was the other person, along with Duska, who translated the Book of Mormon into Serbian.

Before leaving Sremska we visited the local market that puts our farmers market to shame.  Stall after stall was heaped with local produce.  B's eyes seemed to dialate with a grin spreading across her face as we walked among the vendors and where we saw fresh produce she was seeing the possibilities.  She was already canning in her mind plum jams and blanched peaches.

 
Slovenia
We traveled on Monday from Serbia, through Croatia, on to Slovenia.  Now Serbia and Croatia are beautiful with Serbia looking much like Idaho Falls with farms and rivers and greener then Utah but not super lush but Slovenia is incredible.  As soon as you cross the border into Slovenia the landscape changes to lush green hills and mountains covered in pines with what seems like a church perched on every peak to watch over the sleepy village that stretched out before it.  We had our camera's up trying to capture these scenes with little success wishing our eyes could be cameras.

Ljubljana (pronounced Lubeiana)

  This city won me over.  There is a bridge in Ljublana, one of many where lovers come and write their names on a padlock and lock it to the bridge throwing the key into the river below as a symbol of the love never breaking.  Although I didn't have a lock Ljublana safely sealed itself in my heart throwing away the key forever. 

 We walked in awe around the beauty that is Ljubljana with every building appearing to be a palace surrounding hidden cobblestone streets crossing back and forth over the slow moving river. 

In Ljubljana there are several bridges that cross the river with many of them being pedestrian bridges.  This one is the triple bridge and enters off the main square.  You can see the castle looming above the picturesque town below. 

Upon crossing over the bridge we made our way to the Ljubljana Cathedral and from the outside it looks very unassuming with no grand decor just a stuccoed yellow facade.  We actually walked past the main doors and had to come back to enter.  Upon entering your breath is actually taken away as you behold what has to be one of the most beautiful interiors I have ever seen.

The ceiling is painted with fresco that could rival the Sistine Chapel.  Unlike most cathedrals that appear dark and foreboding, light pours in from high windows bathing the parishioners in celestial light that only emphasizes the gold leafing that covers almost every surface.  It truly was a site to behold.  What I loved most about Ljubljana was that everywhere you walked you would find hidden jems of architecture, fountains or street culture.  Like this photo that shows a secret alley where shoes have been tossed over wire strung between two buildings.  We didn't find out the story behind this tradition but loved it all the same.  

Lake Bled

 After seeing the beauty of Ljubljana we set off expectations high for Slovenia and headed into the Austrian Alps to Lake Bled.  Lake Bled is a sleepy little town tucked among lush forested hills on the banks of one of the most beautiful lakes you can imagine.  The dense forests seemed to sigh with delight in being blessed to grow in such a beautiful place their breath forming mist that would lazily rise from the trees forming heavy clouds above.  

We couldn't go out on the lake as we planned because it was raining so we decided to go up to the castle that loomed high above the lake for a better view.

 and we got it!

Predjama
We were sad to be leaving Slovenia after witnessing such beauty but had one more stop before parting ways with Slovenia and my parents for a few days as we ventured into Italy.  We stopped at Predjama Castle which was built in 1274 as a stronghold and was never conquered.  The castle itself was built half in and half out of the cave behind it with fresh water running into the cave from below and secret tunnels that lead to surrounding villages where they could get supplies when held under siege.  It was an amazing site.

 

Italy

Our parents drove us to Trieste, Italy and had to part ways as they couldn't leave their mission to travel with us.  Driving in Europe up to this point had been an adventure, mainly because I wasn't the one stressed out behind the wheel as my dad did all the driving.  He was amazing and would look at a map and then away he would go the map now folded in his mind with worn corners and used edges.  Trieste was beautiful but what a descent from the hills above to the ocean below.  This city clings to the cliffs high above the Adriatic Sea, its fingernails digging into the rock to prevent it from sliding into the clear water far below.  We gave our hugs and B and I began our solo journey into Italy via train.  B stopped to use the restroom and was shocked to find squat toilets in a fairly modern train station...luckily I didn't need to go because I don't know if I could squat and not fall over which would be a story all on its own.  

I loved seeing the countryside of Italy from the train.  To be honest the Italian countryside looks very similar to Serbia with a better reputation.  It was field after field but, unlike Serbian corn fields, it was row after row of grape arbors lined up much like a battalion lining up in formation to salute our passing train with ancient brick farmhouses standing in as their generals.  We arrived in Venice or rather Mestre, across the bay from Venice and checked in excited about what lay ahead of us.   

Venice (Part 1)

We arrived in Mestre with a few hours to kill and decided to run over to Venice (a quick 10 min ride) for dinner and to explore a little bit.  This was our first view of Venice coming out of the train station.

We wondered along the waterfront and down to a cafe where we dined on Pizza and Calzone and couldn't believe we were in Italy.

 Mind you this is where the waiter told me that "a big fat guy like me should be able to eat everything" when we didn't finish our HUGE portions.  Gotta love the Italians but screw it! I wasn't going to let it get to me and still planned on eating Gelato every chance I got (and I did).  Somehow I had no problem finishing every bite of it.

Florence

To understand my visit to Florence you need to understand that I have literally dreamed about visiting Florence for decades.  As I studied architecture and art history Florence has always been where the Renaissance is attributed to have begun and I never thought that I would be able to actually set foot in this place and here I was.  The entire day I wondered around in a sort of shock that my very own eyes were seeing up close these buildings and sculptures that I had so longed to see.  It still feels very much like a dream.  Upon leaving the train station we headed for the Duomo which is awe inspiring (meaning when you first catch your first glimpse as in this photo below you can't help but let your jaw drop a little and take a step back in awe)

 

Now mind you the crowds around the Duomo are daunting.  Imagine bus load after bus load of Asian tourists following a guide who had a purple umbrella or handkerchief on a stick held high above their head leading them to inevitably cut off your path and many of your views.  This being said as I came around the corner and beheld her in all her glory I couldn't help but sigh in contentment. 

Then the moment I had been waiting decades for happened.  I turned to see the gold doors on the baptistry that started it all...the Rennasiance, my obsession with Florence and my studying architecture.  I am not ashamed to say that my eyes filled with tears, yes even as I was jostled by droves of tourists around me, and I simply looked at B with shock that I was here...I was here.

We wondered around the Duomo looking at it's beauty and the skill.

Let the shopping begin. This is something else I have been looking forward to ever since a friend told me about their ties.  It is much like a farmers market with fruit and vegetables being replaced by ties and scarves and tacky boxer shorts.

Roughly 35 ties later, a custom tailored leather jacket for B and several scarves we were loaded down with bags but content and ready to explore the rest of the city.  

We saw Santa Croce, burial place of famous Italians like Michelangelo and Galileo among others.  Construction was begun in 1294.

 We visited Ponte Vecchio which was completed in 1345 after having been previously destroyed in floods and now houses beautiful, but expensive, jewelery shops.

 The second time tears sprang to my eyes was as we entered the Piazza Signora and I laid my eyes on the Palazzo Vecchio the old town hall of Florence during the Medici days.  Again shock is the best way for me to explain what I was feeling.   

We ended our stay in Florence with full hearts and tired feet and boarded a train back to Venice.  Sad to leave Florence but so grateful that this dream of mine came true and that I was blessed enough to share it with my beautiful B.

Trip of a lifetime....to be continued...