THEME DAY-bakeries

This bakery on a busy main street downtown is very popular. There's a line at just about any time during the day.  It's not near me, but I had some business in the vicinity and indulged.  Well-worth the line.

 Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

REFLECTIONS WEEKEND--Eat here in confidence

I haven't tried this place yet, but the name sure intrigues me.... No health issues for sure; the pizzeria used to be a pharmacy!

See other reflections at James'Weekend Reflections

Ram-rod straight

This Bassett Hound was sitting up sooo straight for his treat at the Queen Anne pet shop All the Best,
where not long ago Kim of Seattle Daily Photo took this photo. Even better, I ran into Kim herself there!

I bought Bibi a braided buffalo jerky treat....

ABC WEDNESDAY--"K" is for "knick-knack"

It's times like this when I am happy I do not collect things anymore. I think the older we get, the more we downsize. I used to collect teapots in odd shapes, and still have a few, but it's downsize, downsize for me now.

But these knick-knacks are cute....

How about you? Do you collect something?

See more J's at ABC WEDNESDAY.

Am trying not to collect stuff now while in the US for several months.

Old hat, new hat

It's definitely wintry out now; cold, sleet, rain, and a teeny bit of snow. Do you like these hats? This shop has been around (and has not changed) since I arrived in Belgrade 33+ years ago. Of course these are newer hats, but their style remains the same.

Which one do you like?

It takes time to be beautiful

Near where I live there's a dog groomer who works late at night in the basement in an apartment building. He may work in the daytime, too, but I never pass that way then. He's got a jazzy salon and a fluffy clientele. I love to peek through the window at them.....and sneak a photo....

Reflections Weekend...Oblivious...

Gosh, what to say? This window washer is concentrating so hard on cleaning the windows that he doesn't even notice the ladies behind him want to lend him a hand...and an arm....

These mannequins remind me of their New Belgrade cousins I photographed here a while back.

Check out other reflections at Newtown Daily Photo.

ABC Wednesday "M" is for "meat"

Serbs are BIG meat eaters. This window display shows you several kinds of dried and smoked meats, along with a small selection of fresh meat below. The stuff hanging in the plastic bag is a kind of shredded 'cracklings', or 'cvartci" (CHVART-see) or fried pork rinds. You can buy them in small pieces or shredded, the latter being called 'duvan cvarci" (DOO-van CHVART-see) or 'tobacco cracklings', since the shredded meat resembles shredded tobacco.

Check out other M's on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall....Reflections Weekend

Walking back home the other evening I came across these gilded mirrors in a store window. For once I managed to stay out of the reflections!

Check out other reflections on Reflections Weekend.

The pigs that did not go to market

Aren't these cute? They caught my eye the other day in a gallery not far from Kalemegdan Park. These little porkers and many more in the gallery are posing in various exercise positions. I couldn't even decide which one I would buy if I were in the 'market' for a pig.

ABC Wednesday "E" is for "erotic"

I can see a couple of items here that would fall into the 'erotic' category. Maybe you would like to buy something to combine with the sandals I showed yesterday....

See other E's on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Reflections Weekend--The Yellow Fiat

I came across this car in a gallery window downtown. It is a Fiat, year unknown to me. There were a couple of other cars inside, but I couldn't go in since the gallery was closed. I like the contrast between the old Fiat and the newer cars reflected in the glass.

See more reflections on James' Reflections Weekend.

ABC WEDNESDAY--'B' is for "Bust a heel?"

Okay, I know that's not good English, but I needed a 'B,' because I wanted to post this photo. There sure aren't many of these specialty stores around, though there are still lots of shoe repair shops in Belgrade.

See anything you could use?

Join ABC WEDNESDAY!

Doha, Venice, Paris

Greetings from Qatar! Contrary to what it might seem in the photo, I am not in Paris or Venice. This photo was taken in the Villagio Mall in Doha, which is designed like an Italian city, perhaps even Venice, since there is a canal running through part of it and you can take a gondola ride! These two gentlemen are enjoying a coffee at Paul, a French bakery serving all kinds of breads and other foods. My friends and I had a cream of mushroom soup in a bread bowl.

The trompe l'oeil 'houses' painted on the walls above the shops are enhanced by a blue sky with clouds. My friends tell me that locals and expats spend hours here, especially in the summer, when it is so hot. Right now, it's quite pleasant, windy, and I slept with socks on...

All the news that's fit to print

"All the news that's fit to print" is the motto of the New York Times. Not sure if the text on this bra and panties was taken from the NYT, and I wonder if anyone will take the time to read it.

"Minjoni" for Katarina in Canada

Today's photo fulfills a request from Katarina in Canada, who wrote the following to me:

"I am a Belgrader by birth who has been living in Canada since the age of 9. I love your blog and read it almost every day! One of the things I miss the most about Belgrade is minjoni, and the Petkovic pastry shop on Takovska (number 18, I think) makes the best ones!! The little pastel-coloured fondant squares in the little crinkle papers bring back so many memories to me and I make sure to have them every time I go back to BGD..."

I was more than happy to oblige Katarina, and as you see, I bit into one (just for the sake of art, of course, so you could see the inside...), and by the time you read this, the 'petits fours' called minjoni (MEEN-yo-nee) here, will be history. I've eaten these little cakes before here in Belgrade, but Petkovic's bakery really does make good ones. They're not overly sweet, and the crust is just crunchy enough.... (Minjoni most probably got their name from the French word "mignon," meaning cute, or in the sense of filet mignon, "dainty.")

Anyone have any other requests???

Inside the antique shop....

Still homebound, so this is a photo of a short while ago, taken through the window of an antique shop one evening. It's times like this when I realize how much I appreciate old things, the kind I always think I'll get rid of, but never do. Seeing them here in an antique shop is sad for me. Did some of their owners pass away, and their children didn't want 'old stuff,' or have some of them had to sell their treasures to round out small pensions? In this photo I can recognize a wall clock very similar to one we have, and ditto for one fo the chandeliers.

See anything you like?

Theme Day--Contrast

Too common a scene in major cities. An old woman, who has fallen asleep while begging, sits in front of a fashionable window display.


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Koo-koo-ROO-zah!

I did a double-take when I walked pass this gourmet popcorn shop at 215 Pike Street in Seattle. "Kukuruz" is the Serbian word for 'corn.,' and perhaps in a couple of other Slavic languages. Googling gave me this information .

Sounds good!

The Health Food Shop

Even though Serbia prides itself on its wonderful fresh produce, health food stores are becoming very popular here. In such stores you can find all kinds of extracts, grains, soy products, and most of what you'd find in such stores elsewhere. I've always been surprised though that you can also find all kinds of junk foods, like candies and sugary cookies. In this photo you can see what I mean. An entire window is almost entirely devoted to several kinds of hard candies, jelly candies, and lots of cookies. On the top are jars of chocolate coated hazelnuts, candied almonds, and mocha balls, I think. Amongst all this you can see several kinds of dried fruit, including one that has become really popular now: cranberries! They're the dried kind, imported mainly from Canada, and are really good.