Saturday, July 4, 2009

July 4th in Serbia

Today, July 4th, is our last full day of pilgrimage in Serbia, and we began the day as usual with prayers on the bus, praying for our nation and for the people of the monasteries we have visited and for all in monastic life.  Our first stop of the day was at Manasija Monastery, also known as Resava, a monastery with grandiose fortification and built in the Morava style.
After this visit, we began making our way back toward Belgrade, stopping for a really nice lunch - here's Fr. Djokan, once again, translating everyone's lunch order...

Shelley - this pic is for you...remember what we were thinking???
We stopped in the town of Topola, and saw the Mausoleum church of St. George, which contains a family crypt of the Serbian Royal family Karadjordjevic - these pictures don't do justice to the beautiful mosaics.

There was also a film crew that wanted to interview Fr. Wright, Fr. Djokan, and Zorka (a world lit professor and well known Serbian author) for a program/report on our joint pilgrimage.  Fr. Wright spoke with ecumenical eloquence, as always!
Then it was back on the bus for our final drive back to Belgrade - and rainbows appeared again.  A double one this time!
Fr. Djokan and Zorka having fun on the bus...
We made a quick stop at the St. Sava Cathedral under construction so that Fr. Wright could see it (since he was not with us on the first day we visited), but it was already closed.  But at least he and Ljuba had a photo op out front!
For our last night together, we were treated to dinner at a traditional Serbian restaurant, complete with live music and our own gift giving.  
A grand time was had by everyone, which put us back at the hotel late.  This was toughest on Shelley, who had to get up at 4am for her 7am flight to Rome, but what a great way for us to end our time together, sharing a meal, gifts, and festive music.

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