And here we are! March is arriving, and in March—Bryan. A “meeting” after five months of messaging and Skype, and that feeling that we’ve known each other for a hundred years—perhaps because of the same kind of ‘madness’ and the shared dream of pedaling around the world.

Since, of course, his luggage was lost somewhere at Munich Airport (they often lose luggage there), he arrived with just a carry-on, so I compassionately called him my “poor American.” But he held up well until they found the first bag with his clothes, and a day later the second one with the bicycle.

In the meantime, he sampled sarma made with sauerkraut, got hooked on cheese burek and Serbian coffee, so he’s showing all the predispositions to fall madly in love with Serbia—and, of course, with one Serbian woman. And Serbia, a small but proud country, responds with dignity.

At Kalemegdan Fortress, he was definitely thrilled by our rivers, since the largest one in Colorado is ten times smaller than the Sava. And ours, as we know, just overflow. I didn’t get the impression that the fortress itself particularly impressed him, but we spent quite some time in the Ethnographic Museum, exploring the permanent exhibition as well as the newly opened exhibition on traditional folk costumes from Kosovo and Metohija.

The greatest excitement was caused by my explanation of why half the city rides public transport without tickets and the methods for avoiding ticket inspectors. He showed an enviable talent for spotting approaching danger in the form of the yellow-clad inspectors, so for now we haven’t recorded an encounter with them during rides—only at the stops.
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