Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The Whirlwind Tour of Trebinje




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After the Liturgy and the meal, we had a few hours before we had to begin the trip back to Belgrade. Deacon Zoran and his wife, a Serbian-American, kindly took us on a whirlwind tour of the area.

Even though Belgrade was very cold and snowy, the temperature in Herzegovina, near the cost, was completely different. It was sunny and (relatively) warm by comparison, and the landscape was beautiful.

Before we headed out from the monastery to visit the city of Trebinje, we first took a peak at the monastery’s winery operation, which was surprisingly extensive. (See the top photo.) They have modern top-of-the-line equipment from Italy and have a capacity of 350,000 bottles. They also make rakia (the standard Serbian hard alcohol).

Trebinje lies in a river valley with a small hill overlooking the town. A pious benefactor bought the hill and dedicated a church on top of it, with a beautiful view out across the city of Trebinje and the whole valley. The second photo is of the church and the third and fourth photos are of the view.

After that brief but pleasant excursion, we headed back to the monastery to get ready to go.

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