Full-length trousers (not pants) required

Deep into the void of a passion for archaeology (although no-one can really say which type of archaeology) we find ourselves driven to the Danube Gorges, but now that we are here we're just gonna call it Djerdap. And I do realize that first sentence couldn't have been tackier. It's the 2nd of July and there are 7 girls studying in Cardiff that find themselves separated from the rest of the group, consisting conveniently of all the male students. But it's completely fine, that way we get more time for getting to know the vibe of the place. Staying at a motel/ guest house, with a view of the Danube (and what a view it is), we've woken up for a day of going around, visiting “eponymous” sites and trying to find a cave, that we might eventually dig at (if we ever find it). The sunny day started late. Well, late for what you would imagine a day on an archaeological dig starts. First we're heading into town (that is Donji Milanovac) for first of the many breakfast, made of bureks that we're gonna have. If you are British and reading this, there is only one thing I can say to you- You need to try burek! The delicious marriage between cheese and dough has never been more perfect. As first time go, this was somewhat awkward. I am talking about archaeological firsts times, don't get me wrong. Where are we? What is this? Why are these people staring at us? What is this? Then we're back to the cars. Habit is the mother of all comfort, so Aruna, Kate and I go to Jelena's car, where we were the day before. The rest of the girls ride with our dig leader – the big boss. And this is all I am ever going to write about the person leading this dig (or am I?). We head to the Lepenski Vir museum. Note to reader: If you don't what that is, it's a shame! Well, normal non-archaeologists would consider it vaguely intriguing. It's an Early Neolithic site, showing traces of elaborate architecture and social system. So this is kind of a big deal. And for a person such as myself, who has read most of the not-that extensive literature for South-Eastern European Prehistory in the Arts and Social Studies library at Cardiff (I'm not proud of it, this is a subtle hint for my department), I should say this was exciting. Seeing the trapezoidal houses in the landscape of the whole settlement moved from it's original site- this was a treat. What happened to the group next is something I will not share with you. Mostly because it was a special treat for us girls, and all I can say is we got to visit the site of Vlasac as well- a Mesolithic site in Djerdap (just bear with me). This exciting event lead to the last activity of the day- find the impossible cave. A short drive west from Lepenski Vir the cars stopped and it was walking from there- up hill, in the search for THE cave, although from what I hear there's loads of them. We didn't find it. What we did find was a couple of snakes eating a salamander on the path, a very slippery slope and a rock falling on Jelena's knee, barely missing her head. Or maybe the rock found us on that one. We didn't find a cave but we did find a few trees with fresh fruit on them, oh how I love those trees. About two hours after waiting for our dig leader to find that cave ( we ladies waited in the cars) we got back to our lovely place on the Danube for an evening of shared meal and all sorts of uncomfortable, semi-comfortable and UN-comfortable convos. You forget how bizarre it is to get to know people. It's 11 pm and I am writing this after THE filling in of context sheets talk. A few misogynistic remarks, a lot of laughs and two puppies this evening are enough to bring the finish to this first day. We hear are male co-students are gonna come along soon enough. What are girls ever supposed to do without boys doing all the heavy-lifting for them! Right?! So this is it- it's a beginning, maybe an epilogue and it's something. Oh, and remember when you read this to get your pants of seriousness down. This is never gonna be about the digging itself, it's gonna be about the vibe.