STILL RACING AND WINNING

I bought the Rubik's Race game several years ago for my granddaughter when she was around nine. Now she is still playing and honestly, unbeatable. Adults have tried, kids her age have tried (Grandma has tried....), and now her younger brother (9) is trying. But she is incredibly fast. The game is based on the popular Rubik's cube.  

You can read all about RUBIK'S RACE right here!  It is available just about everywhere. You will not regret it....but you might be disturbed you can't solve it before your kid partner does.

A fellow blogger, ROKINON LTD read a former post of mine about it and bought one. I think he'll agree that it is quite a challenge,

A CAMEL AND TWO BUDDIES

 A flashback to my recent trip to India. I need to replenish my stock of Belgrade photos, but the holidays are getting in the way.

While editing my India photos, I cropped this photo to get the green parrot and the camel, but lo and  behold, there's another bird buddy there that I had not noticed when I too the photo. It is also very unusual that the white feathers on the bird perfectly align along the camel's neck to look like they're part of the wall.

SVETI NIKOLA'S DAY

 

According to the Serbian Orthodox church calendar, today is Saint Nicholas's Day. It is a very popular 'slava' and it is said that half of Serbian Orthodox believers have this feast day and the other hslf attends. This is a lean slava, so here are my meatless 'prebranac' (pray-brah-nahts) or baked beans.

GRANDPA AND GRANDSONS

 Another black and white from Jaisalmer, India. This man saw me, but smiled before I took his photo, and did not strike a pose. Natural!

MANY BAD APPLES...

 

The saying goes that "One bad apple spoils the whole barrel." To alter this a bit, here it seems that many bad apples did not spoil one apple (the yellow one on the left. It really wasn't spoiled. I turned it over, then returned it to its original position.)

THE JEWELRY SELLER

 Still editing photos from my trip to India, a country that literally bursts with color. However, I like this one 100% better in black and white.

UPSIDE DOWN

 Last of my 'bored at the border' photos, taken while endlessly waiting at the Serbian-Romanian border. A reflection of a nearby tree on the roof of the car beside our bus.

WET ASBESTOS

 Another landmark bites the dust, joining several iconic restaurants and cafes here in Belgrade. It will sorely be missed. Actually, the structure would have come down faster, but eco groups alerted the public that if proper precautions were not taken, a large amount of asbestos would be released. You can see a 'proper precaution' being carried out here. There is one person with a firehose squirting water on the place where the excavator is demolishing a section of the hotel. Ha. So now we have wet asbestos.

Here is A LITTLE BLURB about the hotel 'back in the day'. 

VRSAC GRAPE WINDOW

 Vrsac is known for its fine wine. If you want to know more, have a look at THIS LINK. Of course you can always just stroll around the town, admiring some of its SECESSIONIST AND BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE. This facade is a favorite of mine.

See the grapes?

STILL THROUGH A BUS WINDOW

 If you've been reading me, I waited along with 30+ other people at the Serbian/Romanian border for our bus to get its turn. Endless wait, so a group of us took a minivan and turned back...after a three-hour wait.

This lady couldn't take it and exited three times for a puff. 

THROUGH A BUS WINDOW

 Another shot from my failed bus trip to Romania (soooo many buses at the border, would have waited for many hours). Not to make the entire trip a failure, I did get a few shots. This is one!

VINKO LOZIC OF VRSAC

 During my three-hour wandering in Vrsac (near the Romanian border) last Saturday, I came across this statue of Vinko Lozic (VEENko LOWzeech), a ictional character and dear to the hearts of people from this region. Here's what Wiki says about him:A monument to Vinko Lozić, a humorous character by Jovan Sterija Popović, who has the role of mayor during the "Grape Harvest Days" festival. 

This area is known for its quality wine.

THE BELLED BULL OF VRSAC

 Went on a road trip the other day and spent several hours in the lovely town of VRSAC (vur-SHATS). In front of the town's largest hotel stands this bull. I have no clue, and I did ask, why he has been (pardon the pun) emBELLished with a bell instead of part of his privates.

UNUČIĆI --oo-NEW-chee-chee

"UNUČIĆI" means little grandsons.  But not always. It is also slang for miniature bottles of strong alcohol (vodka here), just enough for a few nips. Sadly, these bottles were discarded here and not in a bin.

MUSTACHE MAN

 Couldn't resist posting this photo of a door guard at MEHRANGARH FORT in Jodhpur. I loved his mustache. Not a Belgrade post, I know, but I am lacking just now in current photos.

NOT THANKSGIVING, BUT SORT OF....

 Today in the US families are celebrating Thanksgiving. No matter how hard times are, one can always find at least one thing to be thankful for. Because today is not a holiday here  in Serbia, I will celebrate with family on Saturday.

In the meantime, above is a photo of 'English-speaking women married to Serbs,' and we have been getting together at least since the 70s. There is now a whole new generation or two of us, but we are the Founding Mothers, ha.  This was at Hotel Majestic Downtown, still standing, though many landmark hotels and restaurants have been 'modernized'.

Somehow I got the seat at the head of the table!

A WALK IN THE WOODS

 Forest not far from Belgrade. Went birding there with a friend; no birds to speak of, but the woods were still lovely.

SUNSET

 

A beautiful urban sunset over New Belgrade. The 'smoke' from the stacks on the left is actually just steam from the heating plant. Gettin' nippy!

PICKLED RED ONIONS

 

My grandmother used to make these around Thanksgiving and now so have I.  Great as a tart side, in salads, or in a leftover turkey sandwich. Easy recipe! Look online.

SPRING FLOWERS YEAR-ROUND

 

My 93-year-old former colleague and travel buddy loves flowers. In her garden in the soring and summer, flowers burst with color. Results of her green thumb have been captured by her granddaughter, who painted a selection on her heater.

ARCHIVE DIPPING

 No current photos so I am posting this one as a follow-up to my recent trip (#7) to India. I did go back to Dharamsala where I met the Dalai Lama in 2019, but he was not available and anyway I hadn't booked an appointment. 

This little stuffie on my guest room couch is supposed to be Buddha. I added the glasses and I think Buddha now looks like High Holiness the Dalai Lama. One in the same anyway; Buddha is in us.

STARKNESS

 I thought it was more recent, but apparently Belgrade's BRUTALIST ARCHITURE (sorry, 'ARCHITECTURE'; can't fix the spelling) dates as far back as 1948 (actually, I date that far back, too...) although the apartment buildings in the above photo date from the 1960s. They look pretty grim here facing a couryard that no one ever uses and plants have never seen, but the apartments were built to last and have withstood the test of time. 

PEACEFUL--kind of

 A utility boat of some sort floats carefree on the Danube...ignoring the fact that about 200 meters downstream (60s era hotel) Hotel Yugoslavia is fast being demolished. No one is paying any attention to the fact that no demolishers have taken any care to do this safely. Asbestos is being released in the air and it does not go away.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

 It is cabbage and pickling season!  Time to buy a huge plastic barrel, set it up on your terrace, fill it with 20+ heads of cabbage, cover in brine, and wait (not so very long) for it to pickle. Then you're set for a variety of dishes from cabbage rolls to sauerkraut.

MISTAKENLY BOMBED??

 

This beautiful (my opinion) building is the Chinese Cultural Center in New Belgrade. It stands on the site of the former Chinese Embassy that was bombed a US bomber in the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999.

NATO sources said it was an 'accident'and that  they had intended to strike a suspected arms-supply facility. Where that is/ was is unclear to me.

Their excuse was that they were using outdated maps. Oh, please...all that high-tech precision bombing and they had old maps? Oh, please....

END OF AN ERA

 

What is to be....

Another Belgrade landmark bites the dust, joining some iconic cafés, a bridge, and a couple other places cherished by locals.

Read more about this hotel RIGHT HERE. When I first came to Belgrade in early 1977, we lived just across the street. Now it is being torn down to build a huge apartment tower (or perhaps two...) with another hotel in there somewhere....

IRIŠKI TELEVISION TOWER

 

The Iriški television tower stands on a forest area called Fruška Gora near Novi Sad. Yesterday my son's family and I went on a short hike through the forest, then for lunch at a nearby hotel/restaurant.

You can see that although the tower still serves its purpose, it has been damaged. Here's why:  "The tower was built in 1975 and its lower basket was partly destroyed during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Sources estimate that the tower was hit by over 50 missiles.The damage was estimated to be at 11.5 million dollars."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

It had to happen, I guess. Way too early, especially when Serbian Christmas doesn't take place until January 7th, as per Orthodox church calendar. Santa comes here on New Year's Eve. 

BACK....

Back in Belgrade. Was missing burek while in India and now I am missing India!

 

CROSS-CULTURE BREAKFAST

 

Have been in India one week. I brought my hostess some ajvar, which she found goes very well on a chapati.

URBAN GOAT

 

Perhaps not a sight you'd come acroos within city limits, but a family of Roma live in the woods on this lot with chickens, geese, and a nanny goat. The latter is tethered here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 It was my daughter-in-law's birthday yesterday and her mother had this absolutely scrumptious cake made. Nuts, bananas, chocolate, whipped cream... Not light by any means, but hey, birthdays come but once a year.

BACK TO WET

After a long dry spell, we're back to wet for the next few days. I am not sorry, nor is  this snail.
 

SIDEWALK ART

 

These little mosaics have been appearing on sidewalks around town.

GO GREEN

 

 You can have your picture taken with this green fellow for 200 dinars or just under $2.00. I opted out, but he is cute.

C'EST LA VIE

 About 2 weeks ago I bought four cute bowls. Each had a few French words inside: Bonjour, Merci, Bon appétit, and C'est la vie. Guess which one I broke...

TREEHOUSE

 I always wanted a treehouse as a kid. Maybe it's not too late.

STICK-TO-YOUR-RIBS BREAKFAST

 

Yummy breakfast on a cool fall day, which yesterday was. Hot corn flour mush with goat cheese and a drizzle of red pepper oil. I wasn't hungry again until dinner. 

PEARS

 

I didn't pick one but they sure looked good.

FUNKY CAFÉ IN THE WOODS

 In a more remote section of Fruška Gora National Park near Novi Sad (70 kms from Belgrade), some enterprising individual has set up a funky retro café with all kinds of memorabilia, including old Italian Fiat 500s, Yugos, or parts, usually transformed into seats or tables. (The motorcycle here is a guest's, so don't sit on it...)

RETURNING

 Returning home today from Novi Sad, a city about 70 kms from Belgrade, where I have been visiting a friend. This entire train was a work of art!

PREPARING....

 Not Belgrade, as you can probably guess. I have forgotten the name of this heritate hotel, a former palace, somewhere in Rajasthan, I believe... I need to go through my jillions of photos from India to find it.

This fellow was setting up tables, chairs, and tons of flowers for an upcoming wedding.

I'll be going back to India for a month in October.

WE KNEW YOU WHEN.....

NOVAK DJOKOVIC hardly needs any introduction to those familiar with the world tennis scene. Most recently he won the Olympic Gold Medal for tennis. 

My family met Novak long ago. in 2005 (and my daughter in the lower right met him in 2013). I can't say we are close friends or even if he would recognize us. In 2005, I had just finished 8 rounds of chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkins' Lymphoma and Novak, a rising star, was selected to give us survivors a 'diploma'.  These were presented in Kalemegdan Park beside the statue called The Victor and, unlike now, not too many people other than relatives and friends were there, unlike now when crowds follow him everywhere.

I put together here a very bad collage....need to do better.

SERBIAN DESERT PART 2

 The other day I showed your a local schoolyard's young pine trees planted as a class project.....and never adequately watered. Brittle, dry as bone; so sad. Here is a field not far from me. Also very dry, but grass always has a way of coming back. This field, right smack in an urban area, is home to hedgehogs, rabbits, and strangely enough even pheasants. I fear that the field will not be around long. Urbanization, trying to eliminate green areas everywhere, has been working top speed.

SKYWATCH -rooftop

 

Another shot frim my friend's roofstop terrace.

See other skies on SKYWATCH.

SHAMEFUL

For several years, and perhaps even longer, my children's ex-primary school (and now the one where my grandchildren go), has had various projects to teach children respect for nature, beautifying the environment, and similar. Most of these have failed miserably.

In the above photo you can see that pine trees were planted before the summer holiday, with the intention that each class would care for, i.e. water during the holidays and after. 

The failure of this particular project broke my heart for several reasons:  No teacher/school authority/environmental adviser seems to have paid any attention to the fact that sandy dry soil (and this part of New Belgrade was built  on sand and marsh (buildings still standing since the early Sixties) is NOT where pine trees grow in nature. Just as bad, they were planted in full sun, and we know how hot and dry this summer was. Also, it is not enough to ask children to faithfully water the trees; someone needs to supervise this project, especially since these were planted not long before the summer holiday when people go on vacation. 

Every day I pass by the schoolyard on my dog walks. Yesterday (and school begins today) I wrote a  letter to the director of the school summing up my thoughts and reprimanding the school for apparently 'just fulfilling a duty' and not following up.

I will give them two weeks to answer, and then a modified version goes to the public newspaper. I don't expect miracles, but at least I know I have in some small way made the authorities aware of the problem. I also plan  on sending by mail a letter to the school...someone may have just pressed 'delete'. And yes, they could toss the paper letter too.
 

SEPTEMBER THEME DAY--BRIDGES

 A view from New Belgrade toward the old town, which isn't visible here. French President Macron has come and gone, hence the French flags.

See other bridges on CITY DAILY PHOTO THEME DAY.

THE GREAT SERBIAN DESERT

 

Not yet a desert, but if the current climate holds for a few more years, I may never wear heavy clothes here again. Temperatures have been in the 90s for a long time now.