Serbia

If Romania could be dubbed the ambitious older child, ready to embrace each new experience and Bulgaria the compromising middle child, I might consider Serbia to be the rebellious youngest member of the family. Serbians seemed excited to entertain, happy for a laugh, and ready for a fight when needed. A local T shirt read, "I can't keep calm, I'm Serbian". The Serbians are a proud people- not afraid to stand their ground but also able to have a good time. The center of Belgrade has a huge, manmade lake that offers all manner of entertainment from a zipline, a waterski course, nude bathers, picnic and playground areas for families and a great bike trail circling it all. The day we were there the cool temperatures precluded water based activities but we enjoyed touring the area on bicycle. 

Of course the Serbians also have a rich history. Mo favorite stop in the country was a visit to the 18th century Petrovaradin Fortress at Novi Sad.  The fortress is perched on a hillside overlooking the Danube. It's particularly well known for over 10 miles of tunnels that wind through the hillside underneath the fortress allowing military forces the opportunity to defend the fortress through small arrowslits along the walls of the tunnels and boobytraps on the hillside that could be activated from within the tunnels. We were told that each soldier worked only in one small segment of the tunnel complex such that a captured soldier would not be able to disclose a sufficient map of the tunnel complex to do the enemy much good.