Reflections

While walking along the Sava River the other day, I did a series on reflections in the water of floating restaurants. This one is my favorite...abstract art!

Composition In Blue and Brown

I liked the color combination on these oil drums standing on a floating restaurant, and the matching rowboat.

Two Red Heads

Which lady is wearing a hat? Shame on me; that's not nice. But I have always wondered why many women choose this bright, bright red for a hair color.

Upside down in the mirror

It's quite common here for Roma (gypsies) of all ages, from the very youngest to adults, to beg for a few coins while cars are stopped at traffic lights. Some are quite imaginative with their begging, like this young boy who did a handstand, hoping to elicit some sympathy.

Spring Cleaning

I've decided not to wait any longer for good spring weather and to take Muse Swings' advice about spring cleaning. She'd asked several bloggers for cleaning suggestions. I hate to clean windows, as you remember from this post . Why should I when I can hire a cute team of facade fixers like these who just might be persuaded to do windows for me? Regular cleaning ladies charge about 300 dinars an hour (about $4.38), which isn't ruinous, but I think these guys are cuter, even if I have to pay a little more....

Three Crosses, Same Faith

There are three different crosses on this photo. In addition to the familiar Latin cross in the foreground, a patriarchal cross rises from one of the blue domes of the little Russian church behind St. Marko's church in Tašmajdan Park. The patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main one, so that both crossbars are near the top. Sometimes the patriarchal cross has a short, slanted crosspiece near its foot. A Latin cross with three 'buds' is called a budded cross, and you can see one on the top of Saint Marko's dome. To view an optical illusion among Saint Marko's arches, click here.

ABC Wednesday "J" is for "Jugoexport"

The 'j' in Jugoexport is pronounced as a 'Y'. Be that as it may, Jugoexport is one of the most renowned fashion houses in the country, and is now experiencing its renaissance on the domestic market. This is a close-up of part of its sign that stands atop its building just off of Belgrade's pedestrian street, Knez Mihailova.

In terms of real estate value, the property in and around Knez Mihailova Street is among the most expensive in Belgrade. In late November 2007, the 485 square meter parcel belonging to Jugoexport was sold for €15 million, which works out to some €32,000 per square meter.

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Ten years later....

Today (actually later tonight, my time) marks the 10th anniversary of the NATO bombing of Serbia. The top photo was one I took from my back porch after my husband and I had been awakened by several rolling, thunderous explosions that rocked our bedroom. This photo is only one of many I took either downtown or else from my front or rear porch as the bombing continued over 78 days.

In the bottom photo, you can see that much has changed. I no longer have a direct view on the entire plant, but now there are auto dealerships, an exposition hall, apartment buildings, and business headquarters across the way. How times have changed...

Remember this post of mine?

Spring is here...but it's still cold.

I'm still waiting for spring to be really here. It's still darn cold out. This flower lady looks like she'd like to go home, but she's still got quite a few narcissus and daffodils to sell. Brrr.

At Eye Level

Visitors here are always surprised that quite often it's easy to see hard-core magazines and DVDs displayed right out in the open. At least this vendor has made some sort of effort (?) to arrange his wares at the eye level of the prospective customer. Cartoons are pretty much at the bottom, then come ordinary movies and pop music dvds, then at the top, something for adults like this gentleman who had no idea I was taking his photo.

The Health Food Shop

Even though Serbia prides itself on its wonderful fresh produce, health food stores are becoming very popular here. In such stores you can find all kinds of extracts, grains, soy products, and most of what you'd find in such stores elsewhere. I've always been surprised though that you can also find all kinds of junk foods, like candies and sugary cookies. In this photo you can see what I mean. An entire window is almost entirely devoted to several kinds of hard candies, jelly candies, and lots of cookies. On the top are jars of chocolate coated hazelnuts, candied almonds, and mocha balls, I think. Amongst all this you can see several kinds of dried fruit, including one that has become really popular now: cranberries! They're the dried kind, imported mainly from Canada, and are really good.

Question Mark Cafe

"Znak Pitanja" or "Question Mark,"constructed in Balkan style by Greek craftsmen, is the oldest Belgrade restaurant, and was built in about 1820 for Prince Miloš Obrenović. His brother-in law opened a restaurant with his own name over the door, the "Ećim Tomina". His heirs sold it in 1878, and its name was changed to "At the Shepherd's". Then in 1892 it became "At the Cathedral," since Belgrade's main cathedral is just across the street. This name had to be immediately removed, because it did not comply either with local regulations or with the views of the Cathedral authorities. As a temporary solution until another name could be chosen, the owner put up a sign with a question mark on it, which has stuck to this day. (The 'Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie" sign is of course not its real address; I imagine this souvenir sign was brought back from Paris.)

The "?" was a favorite of mine for quite a while, but I hadn't been back for many years until the other evening. Though inside it is practically untouched since I first came to Belgrade, the service and food were terrible, far from what they once were. It left me with a big question mark in my head: "Why didn't I choose another restaurant?" Definitely now a tourist trap, so if you come to Belgrade, let me know, and I'll point out another place for you to go!

If you enlarge the menu, you'll see that the Question Mark does serve some local specialties: enjoy the translations of the 5th, 6th, and 7th items...

Stefan Uroš Dušan IV's Code of Laws

Stefan Uroš Dušan IV (c.1308 – 20 December1355), now called Dušan the Mighty, was King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (from 16 April 1345). Under his rule, Serbia reached its territorial peak and the Serbian Empire was one of the larger states in Europe at the time. Apart from significant territorial gains, in 1349 and 1354 he made and enforced Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws. He is also the only ruler from the house of Nemanjić (a medieval Serbian ruling dynasty) who has not been canonized as a saint. Dušan was also noted as a man of gigantic proportions, and according to Papal ambassadors, he was the tallest man of his time, estimated at close to seven feet tall. Today he would be on Serbia's national basketball team, and we hope, still mighty.

Stefan, Uroš, and Dušan (STAY-fahn, OO-rush, DOO-shahn) are still popular names for Serbian boys.


To paraphrase the inscription on the base of the statue, it reads, "All judges (must) judge according to the law, and not out of fear of the Emperor," which is Law Number 172 in Dušan's Code.

ABC Wednesday "I" is for 'incongruous'

Stefan Nemanja (1109 – 1199) was a Medieval Serb nobleman. He established control over the territories of neighboring Serb states, and unified them into a single state. He founded the Nemanjić dynasty and became recognized as an Orthodox Christian Saint (Simeon) after numerous miracles following his death.

This photo shows the Church of Saint Simeon currently under construction in New Belgrade.

"Incongruous" indeed, with the juxtaposition of posters for the group Slipknot's upcoming visit to Belgrade. "All hope is gone," say they, but churches claim that there's always hope.

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The Munching of the Green!

It's Saint Patrick's Day, a holiday that will be celebrated in many cities around the world where there's a considerable number of Irish. In Belgrade there's an Irish Pub, and I've heard they've planned festivities for the beer-drinking crowd, though few Serbs know who Saint Patrick was. Spring still hasn't shown us much green, so I decided to go out and buy myself some. Pictured above are two kinds of greens I like a lot. The long, thin ones are called zelje (ZELL-yeh) and are often used to wrap around seasoned meat and rice, then covered with a broth and baked. Serve with thick yogurt! The smaller leaves will actually grow much larger (not these; I ate them), and are usually cooked/steamed and served with sour cream and garlic. They're called blitve (BLEET-veh). I think they're called collards in English, and I honestly don't know what zelje are. I've Googled, but nothing looks quite right. Help?

Saint Mark's Church Optical IIllusion

St. Mark's Church was built from 1931 to 1940 on the site of an older church (1835). It was designed in the Serbo-Byzantine style by architects, Petar and Branko Krstić. At the south end of the church there is a sarcophagus with the remains of the Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan (he'll be coming up on this blog in a couple of days).St. Mark's Church is home to one of the most valuable collections of Serbian 18th and 19th century icons.

I took this photo outside at night because I liked the light on the arches. When I changed it into black and white, I realized the light and dark form an optical illusion. Stare at it a bit....

Franklin College in Belgrade!

What better way to spend my one-year blog anniversary yesterday than to spend a couple of hours with a delightful group of American students from Franklin College , located in Lugano, Switzerland? The students were on an academic tour of parts of the former Yugoslavia, where they'd not only seen sights, but attended lectures related to their majors. Naturally, the highlight was a lecture by yours truly (ha, ha), who enlightened them on the Cultural Differences Between Serbs and Americans. I truly enjoyed every minute of being with them, and I hope they did, too. (Oh, and by the way, the lecture was at Hotel Moskva !)

My One-year Blog Anniversary

Yes, it's been one year since I first posted my number one entry at Yankee-in-Belgrade. Many things have transpired in my life since then, good and bad, but among the good are you, my many cyberfriends I've met through this blog and visiting others. In your honor, I invite you to have a glass of (cyber) wine on me.

This is my very, very first photo I took way back in 1973 with a screw-mount Praktica SLR camera I bought while living in Paris. My former boss helped me choose it, after I kept bugging him by showing him photos in magazines and saying, "I want a camera that can do this!" I loved my little Praktica and miss it. I was a complete novice when I got it; I'd take a photo (film, remember?), jot down the aperture, speed, and distance, then compare the results when I got either the contact sheet (remember those?) or the photos. Would you believe I even snipped individual negatives, thinking it was easier than keeping them on the strip??

This photo was taken in my apartment in Montmartre the same afternoon I bought the camera. I only had bread and wine (Paris!), and quickly put together this still life. (You can see that I didn't "do windows" at the time...)

Here's to you!!

Waiting for a handout

I caught sight of this little fellow who was staring intently up at a window on a building on the left. I imagine someone throws him a morsel from time to time. I whistled to him, and he posed for the photo. This lot just off the center of Belgrade, and is a real eyesore. Real estate prices being what they are, I imagine the City is holding out for top price. Note the old and new architecture behind. Hotel Moskva is just behind the brick building on the right.

(Please drop by tomorrow for Yankee's one-year anniversary...)

Poppy Seed Cake

Having grown up in the US, I remember the poppy seed rolls that my grandfather used to bring home to accompany our Sunday dinner. That was the extent of my poppy seed experience. Here in Belgrade, they're put to a different use in the form of poppy seed cake roll like the one pictured above. Sometimes raisins are added, too. My husband LOVED this cake very much, but I never acquired a taste for it, since poppy seeds for me are for dinner rolls, not sweets.

This is a Happy Birthday photo is for my very, very good friend, Marianne, who is now in New York, but who, dare I hope, will return to Belgrade in the not-too-far-off future. Marianne and I weathered many storms here, including the NATO bombing of 1999, and she has been a faithful friend.

Enjoy your cake, Marianne. This cake comes from your favorite shop, and I even made you a Turkish coffee, but it's cut off on the photo.... Come on over and get the real thing.

(And all of you come back on Saturday for Yankee's one-year anniversary!)

ABC Wednesday "H' for "houseboats again"

I keep reading in a number of people's blogs that spring has arrived in their area, but it's slow in coming here in Belgrade. Okay, I know it's not supposed to officially arrive until the 20/21st, but still. This is a photo of two houseboats on the Sava that won't be visible from where I took them once the trees get leaves. I want color! Green!

I posted another ABC Wednesday about houseboats right here .

Join ABC Wednesday at Mrs. Nesbitt's .

Layers of past and present

This bulletin board hangs on a wall on a street downtown. I love the collage that was unintentionally created here. There are advertisements, some old, some new, for a ballet school for little girls, jazz ballet, schoolbooks, and a vocational school to become a waiter/waitress, locksmith, carpenter, and other trades.

The Orient Express Passed Through Belgrade!

Cynthia, over at MuseSwings , is inviting everyone today on a trip on the Orient Express!

The original route of this luxury train began its first run on October 4, 1883, from Paris to Giurgiu in Romania via Munich and Vienna, then passengers were ferried across the Danube to continue their trip to Istanbul.

In 1885, another route began operations, this time reaching Istanbul via rail from Vienna to Belgrade and Niš, carriage to Plovdiv, and rail again to Istanbul. By 1962, the Orient Express had stopped running, and was replaced by a slower service called the Direct Orient Express, which ran daily cars from Paris to Belgrade, and twice weekly services from Paris to Istanbul and Athens.

The locomotive above didn't belong to the Orient Express, but to a retired steam engine train that now serves as a cafe in the town of Pančevo, 15 kilometers northeast of Belgrade. The windmill behind is a restaurant, where I photographed this soup last November 23rd.

International Women's Day

International (Working) Woman's Day (IWD) is marked on March 8 every year. It's a global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women, though honestly I'd never heard of it before I came here. It began as a political event, but soon became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. All over Belgrade and in other towns in Serbia, men and children will be buying flowers, chocolates, or chintzy trinkets for the ladies in their lives.

Most women I know don't care for this holiday, but hey, it's nice to get flowers.

The women in my photo have a hard life---not a tractor, not to mention a man, in sight.

P.S. See the railroad tracks? Stop by tomorrow and see where they take you.

Looking for spring

A young couple looks out over the Danube toward Great War island. The winter barrenness will soon disappear, and Mother Nature will dress herself in shades of green.

Moskva, Mimosa, and Mailbox!

I posted something about Hotel Moskva here , and just recently mentioned it here. I took this photo through a window of a department store across the street a few days ago. Belgrade still looks pretty gray, but you can see a mimosa seller on the lower left of this photo, right next to another mailbox I found!

About the hotel: Hotel Moskva is a four star hotel and the only hotel in Belgrade that has no room or apartment number 13. It has had over 36 million visitors in the past 100 years, including celebrities like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Yves Montand, Robert de Niro, Jean-Paul Sartre, Miloš Forman, Yasser Arafat, Ray Charles, Richard Nixon, and Rebecca West, to name a few.

Check it out on Youtube ! And check out Marie's and many other Postcard Friday postings by clicking here .

Through the rear window

When being driven somewhere and finding myself in the back seat of a car alone with my camera, I do what most people (read 'City Daily Photo Bloggers) do: I take photos out the window. I forgot that I had my camera on manual when I snapped this, but I like it anyway. In the window on the right you can see one of Belgrade's pink buses...they're not all pink; sometimes it depends where they come from, since some were received through donations from nearby countries. Adds a touch of color anyway!

ABC Wednesday "G" is for "gloves"

A street cleaner was undoubtedly taking a break and left his gloves on his dustbin cart. This photo reminds me of my grandfather, who used to do the same with his garden gloves. After mowing the lawn, he'd leave them on the mower's handles. I remember too that when he fell asleep while reading in his armchair in the living room, my grandmother would gently remove the book, and his hands would stay in the 'holding a book' position until he woke up, sometimes because I'd be giggling so hard.

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A caramel Bibi

Last Sunday a friend and I paid another visit to Katja , the lady with nearly 300 dogs at last count. Katja has been working with a French friend of mine to help her home these dogs in Europe, and has had some success so far. Approximately 10 of her dogs leave each month for new homes in primarily France, Belgium, and Germany, and the nicest part is, these are very often dogs with some sort of handicap. The plan is for Katja not to accept any more dogs, and to home the ones she has. Unfortunately, Katja often wakes up to new dogs that have been thrown over her fence, tied to her front gate, or abandoned as puppies in a box.

Bibi came from this place, and I couldn't help but notice a resemblance between caramel-colored "Nena" in the upper photo and Bibi.

I've posted more photos of the dogs on Flickr and I hope you can connect to the link. If not, contact me through my email under my profile. If you're interested in helping Katja, write me there as well, and I will put you in contact with my friend (French, English, and Serbian-speaking.)

A bagel by any other name...

...is not a bagel, it is probably a djevrek (JEV-rek), at least here in Belgrade. Here in the photo you can see a plain bagel (Yes, there is a real New York bagel shop here now, run by a Serb who lived in the Big Apple!), a sesame seed covered djevrek, and a thinner 'cocktail' djevrek'. Like the bagel, the two djevrek (actually 'djevreci' in the plural) shown here are boiled, but there exists another thicker kind that is baked like a bread and has a bread-like consistency. Djevreci

are eaten for a snack or for breakfast with yogurt. They don't keep well, and any leftover ones you can use for ring toss!

This photo is for Anci, who wrote to say she misses them...

March Theme Day "Glass" Živeli! (Cheers!)

Serbs love their rakija (RAH-kee-yuh) or brandy, which is usually made from plums, although it can be made from other fruit, such as quince or pears. I photographed a pear here, for it's not the season for plums, and so I couldn't find any for my photo. Here you can see an assortment of rakija glasses and a carafe. The two tall glasses on the left in front of the pear are

the most classic ones. Živeli! (ZHEE-veh-lee!) or Cheers!

P.S. I took this photo with my macro lens, my latest piece of 'glass'.

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