Back in Belgrade

I returned from Belgrade on Friday. I was there since last Sunday afternoon, primarily for the purpose of meeting with my bishop.

I stayed at the University of Belgrade's Theological School, which I love. Every time I go I'm more and more convinced that this is the new "place to be" for Orthodox theology. I also got a chance to refresh the little Serbian I learned over the summer. In the top photo, you can see my Serbian teacher from the summer. The weather was lovely during my whole stay, and that afternoon we met on the famous Knez Mihailova pedestrian walkway (the oldest in Europe).

Another afternoon I met with my friend Milana, a Serbian girl who teaches Greek in Belgrade. During our walk around the city, we stopped in one of Belgrade's many beautiful green places (Thessaloniki really misses these). From there, we had a view over to the Parliament (second photo), formerly the federal parliament for all of Yugoslavia. The third photo is another green area we passed on our way over to the Patriarchate, where we met some friends who work at there.

The bottom photo is of the icon on the outside of the church at the Theological School, which is probably my favorite church. The students keep the full cycle of services there and use all the different musical traditions. I love being there--of course, I may be biased since I was ordained there. : )