Belgrade (Travel and first few days)

Departure

We were supposed to leave Courtenay on July 29th, however, due to delays we were pushed back. This worked out just fine, as Brooke got to spend some extra time with family and friends prior to the move. We spent a lot of the time at Old House Hotel, and had friends over to swim and hang out.  

Saturday, August 13th was our fly-out date, we left around 2:30PM and were in the air and at airports for around 20 hours. Everything went smooth, with one short delay in Munich and one lost bag (which we should get back next week). We had heard so many current stories of delays, cancellations, and lots of lost luggage, so having only a couple hiccups was great. As long as we get the bag back that is, as it has a lot of Brookes's favorite bedroom decor in it (I have faith it will come back to us).

We had a small layover in Vancouver (time for some final Tim Hortons and sites of Canada). We then had a 3-hour layover in Munich Germany and then a final 1 1/2-hour flight to Belgrade. We were excited to find out that we can get back to Munich in 1 1/2 hours, as it's on our must-see list!

My favorite was the views on the final leg from Munich to Belgrade and knowing we were so close to our final destination. 

We all did great, Brooke had a few complaints but nothing crazy. She stayed busy watching shows and listening to music. Our longest flight (around 9 hours), was in Premium Economy, so we had lots of shows and movies to choose from. 

Danube

Arrival

The initial arrival wasn't as smooth as we would have liked. Graham's phone fell out of his pocket, so we had to wait for everyone to unload, prior to the crew going back to find it. It was found! Then we had a lost duffle bag of Brooke's favorite things, she was not a happy camper. When we went to pickup our rental vehicle, nobody was at the Kiosk, crap. They did eventually show up (after a phone call and long wait time). The surroundings at the airport weren't nice and Brooke's initial images of Belgrade were lots of loud birds, clouds of cigarette smoke, high traffic, heat, honking cars, and garbage on the ground (if it was a quick get the car and go I am sure she wouldn't have noticed). We were all looking at each other thinking "what have we done". Brooke made comments about why would you move me from Canada to this..... Uhoh, not the best start, but I was optimistic that "this is only just the airport, not a reflection of the city".

Half an hour or so later, we had the keys to our rental and Graham followed a fellow home that met us at the airport. They took all our luggage and directed us to our new apartment. He did warn us about the traffic there, people like to honk, are quite aggressive, and don't always signal, yeah, another great introduction to Belgrade! Graham was a champ and drove well, especially after 25 hours or more of very little sleep (maybe 1 hour). He has driven in traffic like this before, so figured it out in no time. It was crazy and exciting at the same time. 

We arrived at our new place, and WOW, what a nice place to be. We feel very lucky. It's outside of the main town, so quiet, part of nature, across from a Beli Dvor (white palace), and has a great living space. If you are interested in information on the palace, you can get information here.

We have two full bathrooms (Brooke is excited to make one her own), another half bathroom, 3 bedrooms, lovely living space and patio, and more. The key points we enjoy are:

- patio views

- shutters that close with the push of a button

- spacious

- lots of nice wood

- tons of natural lighting

- safe area

- great office/working space

- tons of storage

- the deck is a good size to allow for a future BBQ

- and more.. Just overall a lovely place to call home for a couple of years

Love Birds like to come by daily

Upon arrival, we met a family from America right away. They were very nice and offered assistance if we needed it. We have also met another family across the hall the Dad is from Sweden, Mom from Brazil, and two kids that speak English and Portuguese. There are others to meet, but that will come with time.

By this time it was around 6PM, we had some snacks that were left to us in the fridge, went for a small walk, relaxed, and went to bed. Even though the apartment was nice, I did have worries of the fact that we were again in a country where we didn't know the language, was the city itself going to be nice & safe, and will Brooke be okay!

First Few Days

It is now Thursday, August 18th, and below are some highlights:

- Jetlag only lasted 1 day or so, even for Brooke (actually she was over it the quickest)

- We have settled into the home. We still have our personal items on the route from home (they will arrive via air and sea, these are items such as bedding, main kitchen items, home decor, Christmas decor, and winter clothing), but that's not a concern as the Embassy has leant us day to day items until they arrive

- Graham is having no problem navigating the roads

- Graham is loving work, it is about a 10-minute drive currently and will be longer in the Fall. His coworkers are very kind and helpful. 

- The drive into the Embassy is a bit odd, as you need to drive onto the busy pedestrian sidewalk, open the gate and go in, hard to explain but it felt weird driving in the first time, felt like we were in a movie.

- Brooke is still a bit weary but overall she is happy to go for walks to the store, buy new items (such as sunglasses, flip-flops, bathroom decor, new candies, new pops, and other items), relax in her room and help out around the home. 

We visited a restaurant, that took us on a very interesting route through back pathways and up hills/stairs. Cool walk, for the Autumn, but was a bad call to do in 30+ degree summer heat. Oh well, the restaurant was very nice, big open patio, nice views, and good food. We learned that the wait staff here take their job very seriously and most take courses and do this as a career. They were very professional, well dressed, kind and attentive  (i.e., they would stand back and look around while not doing something, and wait for someone to call them). I got to try a menu item that was top of my list to taste called Sopska Salata with cheese (so tasty!).

During a visit to the Embassy, we walked around for 2 hours. Brooke and I found a Starbucks (which was on Brooke's list to find ASAP), she also found a store that sells fidgets and small nicknack toys (Brookes' favorite), and explored the area. It is a mix of decrepit concrete buildings, new concrete buildings, and new glass buildings. Quite a variety and interesting to see the new and old. We felt very safe walking around, the Ambassador had actually mentioned to Graham that he has no problem letting his girls walk around on their own (same age as Brooke), as he finds it very safe and easy to navigate.

A very cool highlight is that the Ambassadors daughter will be in the same school and grade as Brooke. They have invited us over for a visit this weekend and offered to have their driver take Brooke to and from school each day, AMAZING! We haven't fully made friends yet, as our priority was to get over jet lag and get comfortable, however, I think this new connection will be great. We also go to the school tomorrow to get shown around prior to the start of school, Brooke will meet a girl name Lucy (the Principals daughter who is also in her class and likes art). We also have a tentive hang out time with 2 girls that live across the hall. 

The school that Brooke will attend sounds great! We have spoken to others that have had kids there, and they provide rave reviews. You can learn more about the International School of Belgrade here. The key reasons we chose it are that it has small class sizes, it is well known/respected, has a strong focus on the students, lots of options of arts and music, and more. 

A couple of Jackie's funny experiences so far (I am sure more will come):

- I purchased an item I thought was apple juice, but it turned out to be a fizzy apple juice (not what I was craving), it reminded me to translate labels AND also to check for percentages on the bottle (to make sure I don't accidentally purchase a boozy cider for Brooke, they are often right beside other nonalcoholic drinks :)

- I bought what I thought was milk and it turned out to be yogurt (I did the same thing in Japan), this was a good mix-up, as it turned out to be very good and will be nice to drink on its own and in smoothies

- I went to a cafe, got a beer, the fellow opened it and THEN said cash only, ahhhh, I didn't have cash yet. Luckily, I was right beside the Embassy, so Graham came to save the day with some cash. The fellow didn't seem to mind and was very friendly..

I will leave it here for now and hop back on in a few days (August 18th, 2022)