The town of Arilje (in Serbia) sponsored the IWC for at visit to their lovely city. A busload of us made the trip and we thoroughly enjoyed the day. We started off with a meet and greet at the courthouse, where we met the Mayor. We learned that Arilje is famous for growing raspberries and that it exports around the world 90% of the raspberries it grows. After that we visited the centuries-old town church where the local priest spoke with us. Then we were treated to an outdoor reception with food and drink. From there we visited three of the local businesses, a sportswear factory (Miteks), a maker of freeze-dried friut and chocolate candies (Green Village), and a manufacturer of lingerie and sleepwear (Extreme Intimo). After those interesting visitis we ended up at a beautiful restaurant overlooking a river with bubbling rapids. We were greeted by a band playing traditional music and of course we had to dance. The city treated us to wonderful meal, with more music and dancing. It was a very special day and we are looking forward to another visit to Arilje in the future. Many thanks go to the Mayor and his gracious staff for their hospitality. We also would like to thank the Diplomatic Association of Serbia, which provided our bus transportation.
