STANDING TALL

 During the day these beach umbrellas open like flowers, casting shade on the lounge chairs below them. At night, they stand tall at attention, as if vigilant.

SO SWEET

 Saw this couple helping an older lady into the Aegean Sea here in Greece. They were so kind and patient with her, and I envy her watermelon floatie...

THE PETROLONA PUZZLE

  The Petralona skull, discovered in 1959, disrupted beliefs as to where our ancestors came from.

Yesterday I visited the Petralona caves, located not far from where I am staying. Highly recommended. Please take the time to read or at least skim what this site says about THE. SKULL.

VAN GOGH IN GREECE

 

I think this abandoned chair is beautiful. It resembles chairs that van Gogh had painted.

SQUID!

One of my traveling companions had a birthday yesterday and she took us out to dinner. Fried squid and tzatziki.

 Delicious....

TWILIGHT

Twilight falls over the beach in Nea Kallikratia, Greece, where I am until July 2nd.
 

BUDDHA EARS

If you search 'Buddha Ears' on Google, you will find something similar to the following, explaining why the Buddha has elongated earlobes, like this Greek man who was sitting beside me at an ice cream shop.

"The Buddha is often depicted with elongated earlobes, a visual symbol representing wisdom, compassion, and the ability to hear the suffering of all beings. These long ears, sometimes adorned with earrings in depictions of the Buddha as a prince, signify his renunciation of worldly possessions and his focus on spiritual enlightenment. The symbol is also linked to the concept of "Buddha-ear," which represents the profound ability to listen and understand reality."

 

THREE TREATS

 Lemon sherbert, walnut/honey cookie, and Greek coffee here in small Greek beach town. Yum.

IN GREECE

 No more long-distance bus travel for me in tourist season! Horrendous crowds on the borders. It took 7 hours at the Serbian - Macedonian border ( the highway to Greece) and another 3+ at the Macedonian - Greek border. The sign in a coffee shop at that border was highly appropriate, now that we'd made it.

A WAITING GAME

 I left Belgrade at 9:15 p.m. last night. We are now at the Serbian/Macedonian border where we have been waiting for nearly five hours...so many people. But our turn to be checked is coming soon!

"JE SÈME À TOUT VENT"

 Since 1876, "JE SÈME À TOUT VENT" (I sow to all winds) is the motto of the French Larousse dictionary.  My blog is from Serbia, not France, but the dry weather here has made dandelions fade and be ready for a good wind to disperse their seeds.

FANCY

When I moved here from Paris in 1977, you couldn't find any 'fancy' food. The most foreign food was pizza and you had to really hint for a pizzeria. Just 'good old Serbian food' back then, and of course there's nothing wrong with that. Times change, tastes change. Above is a turkey breast stuffed with a prune set on mashed potatoes with a delicious gravy. Years ago a turkey and a prune would never have met on the same plate. No flowers either, even if they are these edible kinds.

 

SUMMER STROLL

 Summer stroll down by the Sava River which, like the Danube, intersects Belgrade.

DAY IS DONE

View of the A3-E70 highway that runs through Serbia. Ahead is the airport. Soon I will be heading to Greece in the other direction. This photo taken last evening reminds me of PETER, PAUL, AND MARY'S "DAY IS DONE".
 

KINDERGARTEN

 This is a freshy repainted wall of a local kindergarten. You can't see the whole structure here, but it is fairly large since it also includes a facility for children from age one to four, a kitchen, a spacious, well-equipped play yard, and a gymnasium. Maternity leave here in Serbia is for one year, so if parents don't have anyone else to care for a child, they may place the little one in this area. My grandchildren attended this kindergarten. The entire building is in the shape of a daisy. Cost is calculated according to a family's means. My family and I were very happy with the teachers and caregivers.

DRINKABLE AND EDIBLE

 A hot up of coffee with an edible (cookie) spoon. Slurp, crunch.

NOT A COLORING BOOK

 Although this may look like a page from a kid's coloring book, it's actually the interior of a local café cleverly painted to look like one! I'd have to resist the urge to go there with my crayons.

L'art à Belgrade

 The posts are painted with a particular design often seen here on locally-made rugs. 

I am referring to the lovely mosaic on the sidewalk which, a passer-by told me, was done by a French artist who does these here and there in countries he visits.

YELLOW

 I am  not good with tree names, at least those that I don't see often. The yellow blossoms on this tree in a neighborhood kindergarten yard struck me, pleasantly complementing the part-yellow fence and the grass that is a bit yellow because of lack of rain.

SUNSET

 Years ago, I had a photography teacher who advised our class never to take sunset photos because they're 'too easy'. But they are beautiful, so here is one from last night!

HOLLYHOCKS

 I always like to think of hollyhocks as one of the flowers of my youth in Pennsylvania and they are. When I looked them up online today, I learned that my hollyhocks belong to a different genus than the European ones above "A rose by any other name" is still a rose, and both versions are beautiful.

REALLY OLD...

 I am not good at combining photos and should really go back with my wide angle/fish eye lens to take a shot of the whole tree. Very old to be sure. At least since New Belgrade was built in the 60s and has seen much urbanism but has somehow survived. It now stands right next to the long E70 highway. 

VISITOR

 This is the first pigeon or even bird that has ever come to 'visit' me. My window was open and I think me may have been looking for a tidbit to snatch, but no...

RENOVATION

 I'm low on photos and need to get out and do more. Saw this unintentional arrangement of heavy, reinforced plastic sacks that most likely hold pieces of tile and concrete. I think someone is renovating. Not to worry. They will be picked up....but not, I hope, before I can get back with my real camera, since I took this one with my phone.

URBAN ART

 There's an amateur artist who lives near my son and me. I have never seen him, but now and then a piece of his work keeps popping up. I rather like it, even though the violet background isn't to my taste. It does however improve the otherwise drab, grey wall.

JUNE THEME DAY--SHADOWS

Keep your tractor tidy with these scraper steps to rid your shoes of mud. 

See other shadows on CITY DAILY PHOTO THEME DAYS.

WATCH OUT!

 This is a hooded crow. Black and gray and very big. Crow parents are extremely protective of their offspring. Today my dog wandered over to a fledgling crow that appeared to be alone. I knew better and called her back just before Mom swooped down, squawking furiously. She followed us... And crows remember faces, so I am doomed.

BLOCK 30

 New Belgrade, which lies across the Sava River from the older part of the city, was begun in 1948. It has of course expanded snd is now more populated than the old town.

It of course has street/boulevard names, but does not bear neighborhood names as parts of the old town does. Very uncreatively, it was divided into 72 'blocks' and inhabitants say as a general guideline 'I live in Blok 28' and so on. Here some 'artist' has labeled this section as what it is.

FIND THE GARGOYLES

 This is the Faculty of Dramatic Arts  (Fakultet Dramskih Umetnosti) here in Belgrade. If you're looking for medieval gargoyles, you won't find them. There's one visible above and to the right of the 'Y,' which in reality is a 'U' in Cyrillic. The Faculty of Dramatic Arts building was built in 1974 in the then-popular Brutalist-style:  no frills, with raw, exposed concrete.  

SPEED KNITTING

 The title I gave to this photo implies that it is some kind of race, but it is not. These are the hands of my 93-year-old Irish friend here in Belgrade (with whom I spent three + months during the pandemic. We had a  ball. She knit then, too, and made me a scarf. She has so much yarn that now she's decided to knit more and more scarves....

44 LANGUAGES....

 I'll be spending 10 days in Greece at the end of June. I don't swim nor do I enjoy just sitting on a beach, BUT I do like to relax (read: 'play') in the water. I like to don goggles and see what's below the surface. I bought a new pair today and it came with a two-sided sheet of a total of 44 languages explaining to readers of same how to put them on and take care of them.....

MORNING BREAK

 A woman in Sremski Karlovci takes a break from her grocery store.

DON'T STAND ON THE TOILET

 Not a sign you see every day, though honestly I have seen quite a few of them here and there in Serbia, and elsewhere in the world. The international ( mixed country children) school where I taught here had one posted. I imagine this is to prevent persons from countries where they are used to using a SQUAT TOILET from climbing up on the seat.

DON QUIXOTE ET AL. IN FOIL

 While in Sremski Karlovci the other day, I passed by this window. I was intrigued by the foil figures. Sign says they're not for sale!

WILTED PEONY

 It was pretty in pink, and now pretty in black and white. Peony season here is over.

HOME SWEET HOME

 This is 'Home sweet home' if you are a sparrow. A bird lover who lives near me 'built' this home from branches and twigs, since apparently sparrows love such a construction. I was only able to photograph one sparrow who was sitting on a branch; the others darted in and out too quickly.  If you can find it, you've got good eyes.

GOING UNDERGROUND

 I had to take the bus today to a doctor's appointment (routine check-up; all well!) and got off at a station I was not familiar with. It was on the opposite side of the highway to the clinic, so I had to use the underground passage which, like many here, is decorated with grafitti and tags.

SWEET ABSTRACT

 Always on the alert for photos....here's one that was in my line of view while at a cafe having coffee and a small (yes) dessert in Sremski Karlovci.

COLLECTION

 One of two windows with little figurines looking out. The modern one is obvious!

DETAILS OF THE PAST

 Another photo from a short day trip. Mementos of a bygone era.

POTTER

 A potter in his workshop in the small town of SREMSKI KARLOVCI.

PEONY LADY

 On the way back from a day trip, this lady sat across from me in the train. Multi-tasking:  holding her peony, reading a book, and checking her phone.

ROADSIDE MONUMENTS

 Belgrade's Ethnlogical Museum is a wonderful, informative place. I have been many times, but not for quite a while, and it has been improved. Featured above is a 'krajputash,' loosely translated as a roadsider. Here is what Wiki says:  (Apologies for the poor alignment.) 

 

Roadsiders are monuments placed by the side of the road, usually dedicated to fallen soldiers buried in distant countries or whose graves are unknown. They especially appeared after the First World War as a way of commemorating the victims of the family, and to remind all the inhabitants of the village and random passers-by about a life that ended prematurely.

There are most of them in western Serbia. As a rule, they have a simple shape, a rectangular section and a height between one meter and one and a half meters. On one side, an image or figure of the deceased is drawn or carved, and appropriate words of praise or thanks are carved on the sides."

NASTURTIUM

 I have a friend visiting from Poland and have little time for photos, although we are taking a short train trip to another town and I hope to thrill you with a decent one tomorrow.

This is a friend's nasturtium, which is in reality a beautiful shade of yellow, but I thought it looked good in black and white, too.

RECYCLED BEAUTY

 I've seen recycled tiles here and there about town filling in spaces where the sidewalk's surface has been damaged. Clever idea!

ICE CREAM TIME

 

Weather's warming up; time for ice cream.

URBAN PHEASANTS!

 A phone shot and if you enlarge it, it will probably be blurred.

This large field is surrounded by apartment buildings. There's even a small wooded area where a family of gypsies live, along with their two goats and chickens.

I've seen these pheasants (female is there; just hard to see) before. They are often in the wooded area, but ventured out today.

A small touch of nature.

AGE IS ONLY A NUMBER!

 My friend turned 80 yesterday!  As you can see, she's in great shape and certainly blew out these '80' candles in one puff!  She's sporting some confetti someone blasted her with. There were about 50 people there and we all had a great time. Inspirational all around, and now I'm planning my own 80th when the time comes....

"MY LOVE IS LIKE A...

 ...red red rose."

This beauty caught my eye this morning, still bearing drops of yesterday's rain.