I haven’t been able to post this week because I needed to pay for the internet bill at my house. Here is a picture of Ocean from last Saturday. We took the family to the boys’ basketball game, which we lost in overtime!
Sunday morning we had the chance to go to Ada Ciganlija and ride bikes before heading off to two parties. While Nadia was grocery shopping, I took the boys and snapped this photo in front of the “western gate” or Genex Towers in New Belgrade. I love the post-apocalypse / space age look and feel to the building.
Ollie looking scared and Owen with even less teeth
We get invited to many birthday parties from the classmates of our children. We rarely go because with our hectic schedules, when we get some time away from school, we prefer to be alone as a family.
We made an exception Sunday as you can see above. The Serbs really know how to throw a party! Serbia is a south Slavic nation and has more in common with southern Europe lifestyles, than northern Europe lifestyles. They emphasize good times and family and there is more disorganization like Spain and Italy, than say Austria or Switzerland. That is a big generalization and it is not a comment on the entire population, but that is the trend I have observed.
The party was at a place called “The Jungle” and there are many childrens’ birthday party places in Belgrade. The children above are watching a magician on stage. See if you can spot Owen!
The hosts care as much as the comfort of the adults as children. There were probably 60 adults at the party and about 50 children. As you can see above, there is a nice cafe/banquet style seating for adults behind the children. The hosts had a really nice buffet and an open bar. The building was large, with separate rooms for a disco and play land.
Jungle Employees Entertain the Children in the Disco
The Jungle provided supervision for the children in the playland and did music activities with them in the disco. Quite an operation, that makes it easy for parents to hold a party. The downside I imagine would be cost, as I saw plenty of bottles of wine and food being consumed. Overall we had a nice time. We have a lot in common with the other school families with young children.
Belgrade is known for its night life. This is about as close as I get to the partying scene!
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