WEEKEND REFLECTION--Olivera

Meet Olivera, who occasionally plays on Knez Mihailova street. Don't you love her guitar?
Spring is slowly coming...it's warm, but few buds yet on the tree reflected in the window behind her.

See other reflections at James' Weekend Reflection.

SKYWATCH --the sitter on the wall

Sitting and texting on a wall.

See other skies at SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

Just walking...

Many older people I see strolling along do so with their hands clutched behind their backs.

ABC WEDNESDAY--'K' is for 'kickin' it.'

We've had warm weather a bit and as soon as the temperatures rise, the people are in the park.... Each to his own preferred activity: Kickin' it like the man on the bench, or simply reading like the man in the background. I guess he's kickin' it in his own way.

See other K's at ABC WEDNESDAY.

One last stab

From early fall to late spring and sometimes like now a bit beyond, villagers come to Belgrade to sell wool sweaters, socks, and caps. They're wonderfully warm, and generally not so expensive. They make great souvenirs. This man is trying one last time, or so I imagine, to sell his wares rather than keep them for next year.

The town of Sirogojno (SEE-ro-goy-no) is famous for its fabulous sweaters. Unlike this man's, they're quite pricey, but just about everyone I know who lives here for a while has splurged on one, this writer included. Here's a link.

Sweet and tart

It's been warm and so I treated myself to a lemonade, instead of my usual cappuccino. Look at all that sugar! I actually don't put sugar in my lemonade at all, so back it went when the waiter cleared the table.

Bought the snowdrops from the man I posted a few days ago.

SUNDAY Bridges--The Serbian Minister of Defense...He Who Opens Bridges!

As nearly every week, I was having coffee (this time outdoors, hurrah) with some friends, and who should stroll by but Dragan Šutanovac, Serbian Minister of Defense. He's the one waving at me in the first photo and the one on the right in the second, still smiling. The gentleman in the lavender tie is the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Dmitar Salamatin.

And what does this have to do with bridges, you might ask?

Last year Mr. Šutanovac opened a bridge in Mazarac, Serbia, and also one in Svilajnac, which you can read about here and here.

Check out more bridge posts at Louis La Vache's SUNDAY BRIDGES.

WEEKEND REFLECTION--the water glass

Not Perrier or even any sparkling water; just ordinary tap bubbles.

See other reflections at James' WEEKEND REFLECTION.

SKYWATCH --Sit on an ear

Kalemegdan's famous statue, seen from the (ahem) rear. There was a gray sky to view if you chose to sit on one of these ear-shaped benches, donated to parks around Belgrade by Telenor, the mobile phone folks. You can see a watermelon to sit on right here.

Check out other skies at SKYWATCH.

Dry-docked

A little color today. This boat is being spiffed up for spring. I would love to have seen how they put it up on those barrels.

ABC WEDNESDAY "J" is for "Jump into spring"

"Jumping" into spring is what I've been waiting so long to do. Not a cold weather fan anymore. I just couldn't resist buying snowdrops from this springishly dressed man.... Two bunches for 100 dinars, which is about $1.25.

See other "J's" at ABC Wednesday.

Chimney Cakes

Have you ever eaten chimney cakes? I've seen them being made at village fairs in northern Serbia near the Hungarian border and also last November in Prague. They're good... Sweet dough is wrapped around a wooden cylinder and then either baked or fried (baked here), then coated with your favorite topping...chocolate, hazelnut, walnut, cinnamon...or a combination of those.

Miss Representation

Last week I went to see a showing of Miss Representation, a documentary film shown courtesy of the American Corner here in Belgrade and followed by a panel/audience discussion. This film deals with how women are portrayed in the media....and readers, it's getting worse, not better. I highly recommend this documentary if it is shown in your area. If you click on the above link, you'll see that you can even arrange for a showing in your area.

SUNDAY BRIDGES--The Military Museum

Kalemegdan Park also houses a large indoor and outdoor military museum. Not of the least interest to me, but I needed a bridge for Louis La Vache's SUNDAY BRIDGES!

That cute little black dog doesn't look too interested either....

WEEKEND REFLECTION--glasses

Pretty much every Tuesday I have coffee with friends at a cafe downtown. While waiting for them to show, I snapped these glasses. You're never bored with your camera...

See other reflections at James' WEEKEND REFLECTION.

Flying by....

Blackbird flying by. Note the lightning rod on the steeple.

See other skies at SKYWATCH.

A walk by the river

Went for a walk last Sunday along the Tamiš River in Pančevo. The background is the color of the water, under an overcast day.

ABC WEDNESDAY "I" is for "invitation"

Today is Yankee in Belgrade's fourth anniversary. Okay, here comes the cliché: "Seems like only yesterday..."

This blog post is an invitation for you to help yourself to these cupcakes from my former school's bake sale last spring. Go on--nothing gets stale in cyberspace.

See other i's at Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC WEDNESDAY.

Tic-tac-toe Café

Except for the extra person on the upper left, these people seated at an outdoor café reminded me of a game of tic-tac-toe. While I was seated upstairs and indoors, no one came to occupy the empty space on the lower right.

"You painted for nothing...."

It's so disrespectful to deface property like in the above photo. The sign reads "You painted for nothing", which in Serbian is written as below, first in the Cyrillic alphabet and then the Latin one:

ЏАБE СТЕ КРЕЧИЛИ

DŽABE STE KREČILI

I think the writer should spend or have spent a little more time in school....he/she has mixed up both alphabets. Most of the writing is in the Cyrillic alphabet, and the letter for the R should be a P.

SUNDAY BRIDGES--black and white

Belgrade's newest bridge, the Bridge Over Ada, has something in common with the Eiffel Tower....you can see it from just about anywhere in the city.

See other bridges on Louis La Vache's Sunday Bridges.

WEEKEND REFLECTION--the railroad station

Sorry, have to use an archived photo. I've recently finished a very long and time-consuming project, which left me not much time in the past few weeks (the final rush!) to take many photos.

You can see Belgrade's main railroad station reflected in my rear-view mirror.

See other reflections at James' WEEKEND REFLECTION.

SKYWATCH--clouds over New Belgrade

Many clouds, setting sun...

See more skies at SKYWATCH.

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day and if you are of the 'weaker sex' (ha), you may get flowers or a present today. This is a woman who works at an open market near me selling plastic products and clothes 'dryers' like I showed you before and that you can see partially behind her.

And while she's taking a break, she's reading a recipe magazine.

ABC WEDNESDAY "H" is for "hat and hair"

Some wear hats, some only wear their hair!

See other H's at ABC WEDNESDAY.

Shadows

Took this the other day when it was sunny....oh, how pleased I am that spring is around the corner....

I like this photo, but I think it might be a bit 'busy'....too many details. What do you think?

"Face to Face"

Here are four young people who are selling Liceulice, a street newspaper dedicated to the "destigmatization of miniority groups". Each issue costs 100 dinars (just over a dollar) and half of that money goes to the seller. If you'd like to read more about Liceulice (Face-to-face), you can do so right here, but only if you can read Serbian.

P.S. The word 'lice' (face) in title of this magazine, if you look at its cover, is face-to-face. Liceulice could also be a play on words, i.e. "Face of the street" = "lice ulice."

Sunday Bridges--Three for One

Three for one on today's post, thanks to my fellow Belgrade photographer, Vuk Tosic, whose work you can see at www.vuktosic.com The three bridges above are from near to far the Old Railway Bridge, Gazela Bridge, and the newest Bridge Over Ada.

See other bridges at Louis La Vache's SUNDAY BRIDGES.

WEEKEND REFLECTION--Can Alice be far behind?

Ah, the White Rabbit. Or maybe just a white rabbit. I know it's really the latter, since this little fellow was shown to you before with his owner, who takes him for a walk (and here I guess a run) every day.

Didn't see any blond, long-haired little girl in hot pursuit. Just the reflection of the lady in the door.

See other reflections at James' WEEKEND REFLECTION.

SKYWATCH FRIDAY--just pretty

Nothing special. Just pretty.

See other skies at SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

Theme Day: Electricity--the building behind....

A while ago it was too cold, too snowy, too wet to tromp around at night for photos, so I played Peeping Tom. Was thwarted, though, since no one was around. But I wonder who lives in this apartment with the (seemingly) yellow terrace?

And are they keeping their lights on for someone to come home? Someone who'd have to climb up the side of the building?

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