Temporarily closed....

All good things must come to an end, albeit temporarily.  I'm traveling for a couple months and rather than fret about not having a photo for my blog or being able to post one if I do stresses me out a bit. Too conscientious, I guess!

For that reason, Yankee in Belgrade will be temporarily down until about the end of the year.  Thank you for dropping by, and see you a bit later.....

SKYWATCH--the steeple and the bridge

The steeple of Belgrade's main church with the tower of the bridge over Ada, the river island, in the background.

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

At long-last love....

During my 41 years here I've waited for many things that were just not around when I came in 1977.  Since then, I've seen the arrival of peanut butter, various ethnic foods, brown sugar, and now, da-DA, cinnamon buns.

An enterprising young man who used to live in the US,  has started makng them, and they're good....

ABC WEDNESDAY--"H" is for "happy" feet

These feet belong to a clown I've I've shown you before," but it looks like he's changed his shoes and trousers since then....

See other Hs on ABC WEDNESDAY.

No matter how hard I try....

No matter how hard I try to sneak a picture of this cat in the window across the street, he (or maybe she) always, always sees me....

MONDAY MURALS=='creative 'marketing'

These markets of one of Belgrade's main markets make a bit of creative 'market-ing'.

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY--popcorn

Girls and one boy taking a popcorn break on a very hot summer evening.

See other shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

SKYWATCH--up, up, and away

Soon I'll  be up, up, and away, off to first Montreal, then on to visit my daughter in the US.

See more skies on SKYWATCH.

The doorway to heaven?

This beautiful passageway in downtown Belgrade reminded me of what walking toward the Pearly Gates must  be like.

ABC WEDNESDAY--"G" is for "granny"

Here I am shooting people on their balconies again.  I showed you this granny a while back, and here she is again looking a bit more spruced up.

I think she needs a new pair of glasses, though.

See other Gs on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Sitting

A man taking a rest next to a statue who is always taking a rest at Belgrade's Flower Square (Cvetni Trg).

MONDAY MURALS --Father of Serbian Folklore

 VUK KARADZIC was a philologist, linguist, and more importantly, a reformer of the Serbian language. He established the 'one letter, one sound' rule, meaning that one letter could only be pronounced in one way.  If you see the letter A (either in Cyrillic or Latin representation, you know it is pronounced 'ah', and not '/ae/ or /ǝ/, for example.  For his study of Serbian songs, poetry, riddles, and tales, he is also known as the Father of Serbian Folklore. 

In the above mural, he looks like he's eyeing that bread basket... "Vuk" means "wolf", so perhaps he's as hungry as one. 

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS---near Slavija Circle

I've shown this multi-windowed building several times because of its reflections. Never caught it from this angle before.

See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

SKYWATCH--looking west

Time for me to be looking west again...soon off to see my daughter in the US.  Thia ia looking west fro my son's terrace, in the direction of Belgrade Airport.

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

Ommmm...or Quaaack....?

Look what I got as a present from my grandkids yesterday. I love my rubber duckie.

ABC WEDNESDAY--"F" is for "flowers"

You're seeing it in my header, and now here it is as a post.  These ladies found it too hot to stand, so they sat....and one with an umbrella, or rather, a parasol.

See other Fs on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Shoes under a bench

Shoes under a bench, plain and simple, though I don't know why.   The shoes are in good shape.  The writing seems to refer to a soccer match....I don't follow soccer, so it's all Greek to me.

MONDAY MURALS---another school wall

Last week I posted a mural from a high school, and here is another!  Lots around, so it seems.

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY--THE TEA SET

This is my tea set, bought in Istanbul a long time ago.  The Ottoman Empire ruled Serbia for about 500 years, so there is much influence here in food, music, and vocabulary.

No tea sets though....

See other shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

"We maintain tradition."

The furniture company "Matis" appeals to tradition-keeping.

The maidens

Not sure if this is the correct name of these statues but that's what I'm calling them. Both stand/sit in Bezistan passage  in downtown Belgrade. You may recognize the roof from this post of mine.

ABC WEDNESDAY--"E" IS FOR "EXTRA PRICE"...or "error"...

Thanks to my son for sending me this one from Makarska, Croatia, where he and his family are vacationing.

They decided not to eat at this place until next week, since this week they seem to have added an 'extra price...

See other Es on ABC WEDNESDAY.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR...

Me playing Peeping Tom again, but not really, I guess, since this lady across the way was getting a breath of fresh air after some torrential rains we'd had just over a week ago.

Now it's hot again....

MONDAY MURALS--generation 1998-1999

These murals are in surprisingly good shape, given the time gone by.  On the wall of a building next to a high school downtown.

See other murals on MONDAYMURALS.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY--Stairway to Heaven II

I posted a very similar shot of this escalator and stairway about three years ago, so this is an update, this time with a passenger...to heaven.

See other shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS--'Dobar' kafa

This reflection caught my eye the other day, not so much for the reflection itself, but for the text:  Dobar Kafa.

In Serbian, the word 'kafa' is feminine, so it should read 'dobra kafa,' or so I thought....but then who would make such a mistake?

Turns out that the company's name is Dobar....  so it seems that this is a good marketing ploy. It made me look, and I won't forget 'Dobar' kafa...or 'kafu,' since that word is femine and a direct object here, but I digress...   (wink)

See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

SKYWATCH--through Bezistan passage

This is the ceiling of a passage that runs from one main street in downtown Belgrade to a square on the other side.

Once conceived as a covered square, today it represents a muddle-shaped building with pierced pillars, unguarded premises and damaged sidewalks. The beauty of the central fountain with a bronze sculpture that was reconstructed a few years ago can not be pronounced due to the environment, and the inscription in front of the bank "Caution - falling facade", testifies that the safety of passers-by is not guaranteed.

But you do see the sky!

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

Al Pacino's 'palachinkas'

Well, I am fairly certain that actor Al Pacino isn't aware of this take-off on his name.

'Palacinka' is the Serbian word for 'crêpe,' and sounds a bit like  a turned-about pronunciation of Al's name.  

'..opasna dobra' means 'dangerously good...'

Never had them, though they look good!

AUGUST THEME DAY- MUSIC

Another summer month gone by, though it honestly seems like summer didn't quite make it this year, what with all the rain here.

That said, this photo was taken on a trip down to Djerdap (JER-dap) near the Romanian border.

This fellow is playing a gaida," a bagpipe from the Balkan/East European region.

Not as screechy as its Scottish counterpart, not to offend anyone!

See how others have interpreted today's theme on THEME DAY.

Beer...

It's hot here....and beer is popular.  Wanna grab one?  Price-wise, there are 100 dinars in one US dollar.

MONDAY MURALS== homage to Meda

Meda was a well-loved and cared-for street dog, who always hung out around this apartment building.  He lived to be sixteen and someone also cared enough to paint this for him.

The text reads, "Meda, 2001-2017.  Thanks to everyone who loved me."

P.S. "Meda" means "bear"...he was big.

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS--the old candle shop

"BOCKAP" (though not entirely visible here), is the Cyrillic spelling of 'voskar,' or candlemaker.  This shop has been around for years, and produces the best quality candles, long-burning and fragrant from the wax itself.

See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

SKYWATCH--Saint Luka's church

A sunny day over Saint Luka's church in the Rakovica neighborhood of Belgrade.

Unfortunately, it looks like there will be very cloudy skies for tonight's lunar eclipse...

See other skies, sunny or not, on SKYWATCH.

Me, too, I guess

This post is for Bob Crowe of SAINT LOUIS DAILY PHOTO, who, according to a recent Facebook posting, likes expressive t-shirts.

I've become quite the night owl myself, so I could go along with this one.

Bob?

ABC WEDNESDAY--"C" is for "chatting and canes"

Two ladies with their canes, engrossed in deep chatting ....

See other Cs on ABC WEDNESDAY.

'tis the season....

No, not THAT season, but the summer season, when fruit is at its very best. Lots of eating of fresh fruit, making jam..... 

Would you like to try some of these apricots?

MONDAY MURALS--Mona Lisa!

I suppose this can qualify as a mural, even if it is on a roll-down storefront cover.

Ah, how easy it is nowadays to duplicate great works of art...

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

SKYWATCH--swallows and a dove

Just swallows and doves on power lines!

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

No more NOLIT

NOLIT (short for Nova Literatura, or New Literature), was one of Belgrade's oldest publishing houses, founded in 1928.  This particular store had been in this place since 1958....  NOLIT was privatized in 2007 and unfortunately, is no more.

ABC WEDNESDAY: "B" is for "beach"

"Beach" may conjure up for some a much bigger body of water than the Sava River shown here, but for city dwellers, this beach in the town of Sremska Mitrovica is a godsend when temperatures soar.

See other Bs on ABC WEDNESDAY.

"Spark plug with a roof"

"A spark plug with a roof" is how some used to describe the East German Trabant, produced from 1957 to 1990.

Not sure when this one was made, but it's missing some parts....and maybe some spark plugs.

MONDAY MURALS--Ilija Bosilj's Museum

Another road trip, this time to the northern town of  Šid  (Sheed) , where we visited two museums. The mural is on the wall of the museum and home of Ilija Bosilj, (EEEL-ee-ya BO-seel-ya) a Serbian naive painter who passed away in 1972.  If you read the above link, you'll find out more about him.

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

RANT, RANT

I just absolutely positively HATE IT when people smoke (in general, I have to admit) and especially where it is clearly marked that they should not. That's what the sign says, and there is also one a bit farther down from the uncaring woman with the cigarette in her hand:  "Smoking is forbidden inside and in front of the building."

And the building is the Institute of Oncology...

I was seated on a bench by myself, waiting for my friend to finish her chemo session, when I snapped this woman.

Over a period of about 20 minutes, four people sat down next to me and pulled out cigarettes. I politely showed them the sign. One was profusely apologetic and left, whereas the others gave me looks that 'said', "I can smoke where I want," to which I replied verbally that I had been asked by the man at the reception inside to photograph persons who were smoking. (Hurrah, I always have my impressive big camera with me.)

They left....

ABC WEDNESDAY "A" is for "architecture"

Lower down, a lot of buildings here have their walls defaced by graffiti.  Higher up, however, one can really see some untouched pearls of architecture.

See other As on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Bubbles!

Who the heck doesn't like bubbles?  Whether you're young or young-at-heart, bubbles are a lot of fun. I find just blowing bubbles is sooo relaxing....

Out of commission

Not me....but my computer phone and monitor are, making life a bit more difficult. Using my little computer now.

My friend is out of commission, having fallen and seriously sprained her ankle. I am walking Roki, the Chihuahua seen here....I had never cared much for that breed before, but Roki's doing his darndest to change my mind.

SHADOWSHOT SUNDAY--a street in Bela Crkva

The charming town of Bela Crkva (White Church) has a lot to offer:  beautiful surrounding countryside, lakes, river, colorful houses, elaborately decorated buildings, ethno and fish restaurants, and of course several churches, not just a white one.

If you'd like to read more, this site will probably tell you what you want to know. See more shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS--the observer

Besides me and the fellow in the boat looking in my direction, there is another observer....see?

See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

SKYWATCH---pigeons on the market roof

This red and white checkered tile roof crowns Zeleni Venac (ZEL-eh-nee VAY-nahts) one of Belgrade's oldest (1926) outdoor and partially covered markets, right downtown.

Zeleni Venac means 'green wreath,' and is so named because it was built in the area that was previously part of the trench which surrounded nearby Kalemegdan fortress in the 18th century.  When the trench was covered, a pond was formed. As Belgrade grew around it, the pond became a popular hunting attraction (for fowls, ducks, etc.) for the inhabitants of Belgrade.

Want to read more? Read this.

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

POPCORN

I love these popcorn stands. This one, so neat and tidy, struck my eye, and was struck by my lens.