Hey everybody – since I last talked to you I spent two more nights with my buddies Alex and Stefan in Durmitor National Park, Montenegro. On Thursday evening, the boys put on a free BBQ for all the guests and it was killer. I was supposed to play a concert, along with Rem, but shortly after the BBQ it started to pour rain. But instead of cancelling it, we improvised and set up in the stairway just outside the common area of the hostel. It was less than ideal, but we still had a lot of people hanging out and watching and everybody seemed to have a good time with the music!

The next day the weather was back to being beautiful, so me and a Dutch guy I met at the hostel named Reuben decided to go check out one of the shorter hikes in the park. 10 minutes of driving and about 20 minutes of steep hiking got us to these views:

Later on that evening, the boys asked me to play again for the guests and since the weather was good we were able to do it outside. It was fun, but I missed having Rem around to take turns with. Overall, I was well received on Friday night and I even sold a couple of CD’s to a guy from Sweden and a gal from Norway.

Friday night, Reuben and I were the last men standing at the hostel so we decided to go out to party with the Montenegrins. Stefan and Alex cautioned against it because evidently there are some hotheads in town, but we weren’t too worried about it. In the end, it turned out to be a wild night of Serbian language folk music and everybody treated us well!

On Saturday, it was time to get moving towards Serbia. I had a great time with the Stefan and Alex, but Serbia is one of the countries I’ve most been looking forward to visit because I hadn’t been there yet, and it is sort of off the beaten path for Americans. I told them I would be back in about two weeks when I’m making my way back south towards Greece, and we are all looking forward to seeing each other again then!

On Saturday, I made my way to Nova Varos, Serbia, where I stayed with a really nice couple at an Airbnb. The husband even invited me downstairs to his bar for a few games of pool. They were really nice and gave me a lot of tips on places to visit and different Serbian foods to eat.

This morning, I got up and headed to Uvac canyon. Uvac was said to have a great view of the a meandering river and is also home to a type of bird called the griffon vulture, and they soar directly over you at the viewpoint. Getting to it was a nightmare of unmarked, unpaved roads – but it was an incredible sight once I finally was able to find it.

After taking in the view from Uvac, I made my way for 2 more hours to my home for the night of Kraljevo. I saw some more great scenery of the countryside on the way. I also stopped at the peaceful and ancient Zica monastery just outside of town. Upon arrival at my Airbnb, the lady who owned it recommended a small restaurant for me to get one of the items my friends from last night recommended, which is called Karadjordjeva schnitzel. It was like a rolled meat that is bread and fried and filled with a buttery substance. It was pretty good, but not as good as the veal I had last night.

Tonight, I just had a stroll around the old town here in Kraljevo. I considered setting up to busk, but saw a family band in the best spot and didn’t feel the need to try to steal their thunder. I’m tired tonight anyways.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Tomorrow I’ll be headed the third biggest city of Serbia, Nic, for two nights. Talk to you soon!