Today we were off again after breakfast with Dragan, Cvita's son-in-law. He seems to have taken a liking for us and John in particular as he speaks in English with him. He always brings his 2 younger boys to save his wife the worry of constantly looking after them. Dragan has today and tomorrow as paid leave from work as he is donating blood this afternoon. A nice way to encourage people to donate blood.

Dragan is the ultimate host. He wanted to take us to visit another of his relatives (2nd cousin) who makes and sells rakija for a living. Dragan wanted us to select 2 bottles (which he paid for with his own home-made olive oil) to take home as a gift from him.

The one big problem with this was we had to try the rakija to find the ones that we liked. This meant tasting spirits at 9am in the morning. The rakija is 40% alcohol and there were about 6 different varieties. Needless to say that we found our preferred 2 varieties but felt quite tipsy by the end of the tasting. So we headed off to a restaurant to have a strong coffee in order to sober up. This restaurant had its own cellar that housed all the local wines, so customers could choose their preferred wine to accompany their meal. This establishment also had hotel rooms and served breakfast where customers could sample local produce as well; these included a huge variety of home-made jams and preserves.

I love the whole concept of offering local produce to guests and visitors as these showcase what Ilok really has to offer.

It's actually amazing how many of the people in Ilok have created a living by making and selling their own produce, which is of extremely high quality. There is a real pride in this place and the locals really support each other.

Time has run out today for being a tourist. I am off to help Cvita make a 12 layer birthday cake for her grandson's birthday celebration on Saturday.