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.

URBAN BIKER

 Gettiing warmer here and bikers are out at night....

MLINCI (MLEEN-tsee)

 Yes, these are noodles, with the exception of the pack on the left. That contains what are called 'mlinci' (MLEEN-tsee) here. To describe them as a cross  between a pasta and matzoh cracker would be pretty accurate. They're usually made with a cream sauce and baked. Not so much to my liking, but each to his own. I'm more inclined to pig out on the other noodle standing at attention beside the mlinci.

ĆEVAPČIĆI- (cheh-VAHP-chee-chee!)

 Everyone who has been to my region of the world, with the exception of vegetarians of course, loves ĆEVAPČIĆI, a tasty homemade grilled sausage. This tasty Serbian-style version uses ground pork, beef, and lamb. I got hungry yesterday while downtown and treated myself to them along with a Coke...because 'things go better with Coca Cola..." 😜

A LOCAL GIRL..

 Another photo from my photo safari to Ivanovo. This girl is wearing typical attire of this village in the Vojvodina district of Serbia. Ivanovo boasts a mix of ethnicities that you can read about RIGHT HERE.

POSING IN IVANOVO

 A local photo club organizes a photo safari once a year in a little village about 40 kms from here. Very low key, fun, back to nature. Some local people, usually young ones, don ethnic dress and will pose for photographers if asked. I didn't ask, but sneaked a shot when a girl was posing beside this bread oven.

THEME DAY--MAY --SMALL!

 Last July I moved into a new apartment smaller than the one I had. I downsized  in a major way and got rid of a lot of items that did not 'bring me joy'.  Each one of the above does bring me joy in their own way, and so do other larger items I've kept, but since the theme today is 'small,' there you go.

See what other City Daily Photo bloggers have done with this theme on THEME DAY.