Spring is here and the weather is warmer, on and off, anyway. This photo was taken on an 'on' day, along the Sava River, where I happened upon this fisherman. I've always wanted to wear a hat like this....and this fellow had the nerve. A very practical and 'kooky' solution to sun protection.
...and to the little boy on the right, who shares a birthday with him! This is my 3rd grade English as an Additional Language class (the 3rd grade is bigger; these are just the kids who come to me.) Their current theme unit is on 'expression,' and what better way than to learn about van Gogh, who expressed himself so well through his paintings? I invited a stand-in for Vincent, who would have been 147 today. The little doll is part of a series called Little Thinkers that you can read about by clicking on that link. They're fun gifts...and Vincent has a removable ear...
Don't park where you're not supposed to. I am actually pleased that Belgrade is stepping up with removal and ticketing of illegally parked cars. It's quite costly though, for the thoughtless driver. Having your car released can cost around 12,000 dinars or about $150.00, which is quite a chunk out of someone's local salary. The fellow on the left is having his car written up, but he may get out of paying a towing fee, unlike the unfortunate Audi's owner, who is nowhere in sight.
The streets below Branko's Bridge were once quite attractive, and I hope their allure will be restored. I was pleasantly surprised to see this 'empty' building; only the facade remains. In other cities in Europe, it's a fairly common practice to restore/renovate old buildings inside and keep the facade. Here, that's usually not so, but it looks like someone has that intention for this old building.
A hand-held shot, hence the blur. When the moon is like this, just a sliver, I call it a 'fingernail' moon, and wonder if anyone else does.
Time to 'fess up. Who hasn't dreamed of living in a penthouse, surrounded by famous names?
While walking in Zemun (ZAY-moon), a nearby municipality of Belgrade, I came upon this old door with several glass panes. Actually, there had been several glass panes, but the others were completely gone, and all that remained of this one was some jagged, very old glass. I liked shapes and textures, so I took a photo for you to see, too.
Here's a car you don't see every day, or at least I don't. This Rolls Royce, with a Belgrade license plate, made quite a few heads turn (and my camera click) as it eased its way down a very busy boulevard. Its tinted windows prevented me from seeing who was in there, but whoever it was wasn't interested in driving over to the McDonald's across the street.
Hurrah! Spring arrived like clockwork (BTW, we haven't set out clocks ahead yet, though...) and the last few days have been gorgeous. People have been out and around all weekend, walking by the river, walking their dogs, playing ball, sitting in cafes, and soaking up the rays. Even these mannequins were tired of modeling indoors at Belgrade's Chinese market, and slipped out to soak up a few rays. Better get that sunblock.
Hmmm...maybe those birds you saw last Friday were swans, not crows or geese. One seems to have landed on this chair beside a dumpster.
Here is a shot of The Eternal Flame that you can read about here and here. In this photo I took three days ago, you see the tip of the tower reflected in a puddle created by recently melted snow. The days since there have been very spring-like...no surprise; it's officially spring today! Hurrah! Where's the color??
Not an original title, but that's just what this is. At first I thought the birds were crows, but they're rather large, so I think they may be gulls. I used my 200mm on this shot, so I can't be sure.
This statue stands (or sits!) outside the Faculty of Engineering in Belgrade. Nikola Tesla
Nope, no blankets for sale! Is that what you thought? So did I at first, when I saw this sign on on a wall of Hotel Jugoslavija that you can read somewhat outdated information about right here. I'd just walked passed another sign on a floating restaurant that read 'Fine Dinning,' so I figured the same poor speller made this sign for 'blankets' and forgot the 'l'.
I see a lot of these posters for lost dogs. This one says little Rista, a miniature pinscher, was hit by a car, got scared, and ran off. He had no collar, and most people here don't know that some dogs may have microchips with their i.d. embedded. It's required by law now and low-cost microchipping is available, but many owners don't have their dog chipped, for whatever reason.
Meet Stevo Radelic, a Serbian refugee who has been living just outside of Belgrade now ever since he lost his home in Croatia at the beginning of Yugoslavia's break-up. He's made a new life for himself, although a difficult one, creating works of art from pieces of oak. Some wood he finds himself; other times clients bring him a pieces to turn into an artwork. He often comes to town on special days (here he had come for International Women's Day on March 8th) to try to sell what he's made. Prices range according to size and amount of work. The piece on the right, for example, costs 50 euros.
I couldn't resist this 'face' under a frozen puddle I saw the other day. The bubbles look like two eyes.... Come to think of it, I hope there WASN'T something under there....
Well, guess what the weather is...again. I decided to take advantage of the snow to make my friend Marianne in NYC some cupcakes for her birthday. Lo-cal for sure.
It's still darn cold out there and I couldn't relish lying on the sidewalk or muddy ground....so I opted for a Bibi at Home shot. A little fuzzy, but she kept moving...
I'm really amazed by some shoes nowadays and wonder if I ever would have succombed to fashion to buy a pair with such high heels. They seem like a twisted ankle just waiting to happen.
...minus three Celsius! That's what it really was this morning when I got up. I took this photo last Sunday from Branko's Bridge that I've featured several times. The Sava and Danube Rivers are currently very high, due to melting snow, and in this photo you can see what is actually a modern-shaped cement bench on the quay, part of which is submerged. The improvised walkway behind it leads to one of Belgrade's floating restaurants. Where you now see water you would normally find a grassy area that extends to the sidewalk next to the river.
A chain of S.O.S. Markets opened about a year ago in Belgrade, with the intention of helping citizens with low incomes to save money on groceries. There are several of them around town. This one, with its "S.O.S. Market" sign in Cyrillic, stands beside a green market downtown, next to a 'Pekara" (bakery), whose sign is also in Cyrillic.
I don't know if there was a message in this bottle, but doubt it, since it appears empty. This green wine bottle floats on the quay on the Sava River in New Belgrade. Recent rains and melting snow have made the water levels rise and cover part of the sidewalk.
Well, when I uploaded this photo, it came as a surprise to me. First of all, the moon was photographed with my new 70-300mm VR lens that I was trying out. It is a hand-held shot, obviously taken at night. Instead of making minor adjustments with Photoshop on my big computer, I was using my little ASUS computer using GIMP, an image manipulation that my Linux-operating ASUS uses. All this while watching a bit of TV. I hardly ever use GIMP, so I think what happened is that when I adjusted one of the filters for light or dark, somehow that mysterious 'spaceship' light got thrown in. I must have inadvertently clicked on something else, too. I only saw it when I uploaded the photo to my blog, but I left it, since I kind of like it, even if it isn't natural....unless it really IS a spaceship.
The City of Belgrade is becoming more strict in regards to illegal parking. Here a policeman is writing a ticket for a vehicle parked on the sidewalk just out of the photo to the left. In the background you can see some taller monuments in Belgrade's Jewish Cemetery that you can read more about right here.
It's fairly rare to see a Deux-Chevaux model like this green and white one, even in France anymore. This one has the little half-windows that you can stick your arm out of like this fellow did. I was unable to see if the doors open 'backwards,' i.e. the hinges would be where the door handles usually are on other cars. This car is really well taken care of, and quite peppy. I love Deux-Chevaux.
What was behind Nikola Pasic the other day? As some readers guessed, it was a very large inflatable, newly-designed bottle of Lav (lion) beer which you can see right here. In this photo you can see the old brown bottle and label, for try as I might, I couldn't find the new green bottle in the stores yet. Murphy's Law will have it that I will find it tomorrow, but in the meantime, just check the 'right here' link above! I went back yesterday to see if the great big bottle was still there, but alas, it had wandered off. 
This is a passageway in downtown Belgrade that leads from the Zeleni Venac market under a major street with several exits. This passageway is usually jam-packed with what I call 'pack and run' sellers, who carry their merchandise in large bags and display it on cardboard boxes. They're always on the alert for the police, and once I was caught in the midst of a stampede of exiting sellers. This photo was taken on a rainy day, which you can probably guess at by the wet floor where people have walked, and I imagine the sellers thought business wouldn't be good.But this street musician remains hopeful.
Weather permitting, I take my dog for a looong walk along the Danube in New Belgrade toward Old Belgrade. In this photo you can see, from ...
