Bottled water and soft drinks, both domestic and imported, are available in hotels and stores. Tap water should be boiled. Hospitality Plus Hospitality in Eastern Europe is legendary. Meals can last for hours, with animated conversation, jokes, music, and singing, and guests are expected to join in. When invited to a home, guests always bring gifts.
Flowers are always appropriate.
Odd numbers only though, and be careful about red roses, which are considered a sign of affection. In many homes it is customary to remove shoes when entering from a dirty street, especially in winter, and guests may be offered slippers. Foreign guests may be told that it is not necessary to remove their shoes, but hosts will welcome it if they do. By tradition, toasts are not made with nonalcoholic drinks or water. However, American teetotalers have been known to raise their glasses in a toast, and East Europeans will accept this as another strange custom of the visitors from across the Atlantic.