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.

TRACES...

 Smoking is alive and well here and its traces linger on this coffee shop tablecloth.

PAMPERED PUSS

 This kitty is making a fashion statement.

WELCOME!

 Had lunch with my son yesterday at a local restaurant. The greeter was happy to see us. No idea of the story behind this unfortunate wolf.

MUCH-LOVED, BUT FORGOTTEN

 A much-loved (by its appearance) teddy sits on a bench in the park....loved, but forgotten.

WASTED WATER

 You would think that the extreme heat here (and elsewhere in the world) would alert people to save water. Alas, no, we are too selfish and abuse its availability. This tap in a local park is in a lamentable state. Its better-looking faucet was removed because kids would put balloons on the end, fill them with water, and throw the balloons at each other. Sounds like fun, and  is, but they were not educated to pick up the burst balloons, which were scattered around for 'someone else' to pick up, or worse, for birds to swallow them. In the latter case, the popped and stringy rubber can get caught in a bird's or other animals digestive track and kill them. So, dare I say rightfully, the park people turned off the water and removed the taps. Not to be outdone, some enterprising parent of older kid fashioned a new tap, which is very hard to turn on and off, and often runs all the time. It saddens me to see water wasted.

JUST ONE YEAR OLDER

 Just noticed that the coffee I buy came into being just one year before I arrived in Belgrade. 

DOG-TIRED

 The 'L' on the first word and the 'ST' on the last are cut off because I couldn't frame the photo well. The words on this pet shop window mean Love, Friendship, and Responsibility. The dog, unfortunately, is a stray, but appears well-fed.

URBAN ABSTRACT

 

Abstract in red and yellow; that's it.

G.O.A.T.

 G.O.A.T. spells 'goat,' but this billboard pays homage to Novak Djoković, the tennis player whose wins make him the world' s Greatest Of All Time. Note the flag neck scarf and the tennis ball.

RETURN FROM VACATION

 This plane is heading to Belgrade from a southernly direction, perhaps from Greece, where probably some of its passengers spent their vacation. Not me, alas; I am going to India in a couple of months.

PEOPLE, NOT PROFIT!

Thanks to my friend Gorana for this photo, taken last evening at a huge march of people protesting the goverment's allowing Rio Tinto, a mining company, to destroy acres of land to extract lithium.

The sign reads "For a foreign country and profit, you would betray your country. Ask the people."

 

TOO HOT TO SIT

 Yesterday I showed a lucky frog lounging in the water. No such luck for any strollers todat. Too hot to sit.

WHERE I'D LIKE TO BE

 Would love to immerse myself in cool water like this frog.  (Forgot to credit my son for this photo!)

LOST

 Some child lost his toy. I remember as a child losing Whitey, my beloved small stuffed dog, in a movie theater about 12 miles from our house. My grandfather drove back and retrieved it. I was ever grateful. Hope this little guy makes it home.

I'D MOVE IN

 I posted this place quite a number of years ago when I lived not very far away. On a recent visit to my old 'hood, I was pleased to see it still standing. Don't know the details, but when it would be fixed up, this villa would shine. I would live therr.

THIS IS NOT A PUB (Apolgies to Magritte's 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe')

 Another expat in Belgrade, Andrew L., posted this in a local group, wondering what the P.U.B. stands for, since it does not look like a pub! I was curious, too, since I have often noticed the P.U.B but have been more interested in t he wooden dome above and behind it. A reader answered about the P.U.B., that it is an acronym for a long-gone Czech bank.

As for the dome, it is much more part of the building than it looks, but what EXACTLY it is, I cannot find. It was used in part of a 1967 Yugoslav film entitled "The Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator" starring Eva Ras.

THE WATCHER

 I had a feeling I was being watched, and there she is.

FORGOTTEN

 Early this morning I came across this golden purse on a playground bench in a park where I walk my dog and her 'cousin' that I am pupsitting. Vintage chic. There was none one nearby. Curiosity got the best of me and I figured if I found any ID, I'd find the owner.

Nothing inside at all except a pack of cigarettes. This same purse was still there when I walked the dogs around 8 p.m.

LIKE MY NEW HAIRDO?

 That seems to be what this ewe is asking. She's sporting a curly mohawk.

GRAZING RAM

 On my weekend trip recently, my friends' rural garden was invaded by a flock of sheep and a couple of rams.  Chomp, chomp.

IN GOOD HANDS

 I took a short bus trip a few days back to visit some friends. This particular bus route involves a winding drive through big hills. Road was good, though there were some blind curves.

I got a kick out of the icons...so many. I wonder if the driver and passengers ever prayed to them.  The blue heart reads "To the best driver".  Someone was thankful.

MURAL

After having the lunch I showed you yesterday, we took a walk alon the river. There was no explanation on this mural, but it recalled similar ones on Belgrade streets, which are dedicated to (mainly) young people no longer with us.

FISH LUNCH BY THE DANUBE

 

It was a young relative's birthday yesterday and we went for a delicious fish lunch upstream on the Danube. The top photo shows pike, and the bottom one features two sterlet. Sterlet is now my favorite fish.

YOU'VE MISSED YOUR LAST CHANCE

 Belgrade's iconic cafe, Poslednja Shansa (Last Chance), has  been bought out and is now closed for renovation. It's been bought by a person who for sure will not respect its history and its part in Belgrade's heritage. It was opened in the Sixties and was home to writers, tourists, visitors, and others who enjoyed its class and absence of loud music....Notice the Mondrian-style motif in the bar. Mondrian had a comeback in the mid-sixties, so his inspiration was noticeable here. I doubt that the designn will endure, and for sure those yellow and white tiles in the other photo will disappear.

PEEKING OVER THE FENCE PART TWO

 Wow....I remembered having taken a photo of this artist's yard downtown, and when I looked it up, it was waaaaay back in 2009. Here is THAT PHOTO. Seems like he or she is still painting....

HOT, HOT PINK

 If it weren't hot enough here in Belgrade (been close to or just above 100 degrees Fahrenheit/39 C for quite a while. I took this photo about a month ago when temps were not so high, but this woman really loves hot pink.

ATTACK MOON

 That was my first thought when I saw this moon very close (at least from my angle) to the high-rise across the street. 

NATURE'S ARTWORK

 

It's been super-hot the last week and there are more scorching days to come.

About 10 days ago, we had two days of torrential rain, which left this runoff pattern in the sand under a bridge. Quite lovely, I think.

MUSHROOMS!

 

Here in stores you usually find 'champignons de Paris, ' oyster mushrooms, or shitake mushrooms, but the selection is expanding, even if one has to buy from a street seller who picks them and loads them into the trunk of his car.

A BIRTHDAY

 

Went to a landmark birthday party yesterday. This cake was spectacular in appearance both inside and out. Didn't get a chance to take a photo of its smooth, pure-white exterior, but when cut it was eben more attractive. Layers of thin, yellow cake, cheeries, nuts, and light pudding. NOT sweet at all! I loved it. 

POET AND LAUNDRY

 Bust of 19th century Montenegrin poet Njegoš Petrović. With laundry. 😆

100 YEARS AGO....

 

This is well worth the read. It is the last page of a Bride's book, given to grandmother on her wedding day, September 10th, 1923. My mother was born nearly a year later on June 21st.

Read through it and tell me what you think.

SOUNDPROOFING? PROBABLY NOT...

 Hmmmm....I have heard of egg cartons being used as an inexpensive way to soundproof walls, but they need to be placed all over and close together. This passage between two buildings has some artsy patterns on the sidewalls, so I am thinking the cartons are just for decoration.

GAZPACHO

 One tends to think more of thick beef or chicken soups, sarma, lots of roast meat, and potato dishes when thinking of food from this part of the world. However, over the last 25 years or so, more international dishes are on the menu. This absolutely delicious gazpacho, spiced just right, and with garnishes of basil, small chunks of feta cheese, and cubes of watermelon really hit the spot on a 95-degree day.

FAN...OR PARASOL?

 There are many impromptu street sellers in this underground passage downtown. Here's one of them. The lady in the pink in the mirror was watching me take this shot... 

FILMS NOIRS

 This long sidewalk that runs along entrances to apartment buildings in New Belgrade reminded me of a scene from a 'film noir'. That said, quite a few crime films are shot in this area.

TO EACH HIS OWN

 One creature alert, one texting, and one, well, just dog-tired.

FRESHLY LAUNDERED

 Seen today in the yard around my building.