Hotel Moscow's Specialty

In Belgrade there's a famous hotel, the Hotel Moskva, or Hotel Moscow, which is 100 years old this year. I'll be posting a photo one of these days, but for the moment, there's a big construction crane behind it, and it would be quite a job to photoshop it out.... It is the only hotel of this name outside Russia, and has witnessed numerous tumultuous events. I love to sit in its newly-renovated but still old-style coffee shop, and my husband and I occasionally have dinner in the restaurant. The other night we did, or sort of, since we asked to sit outside on the terrace. This is my husband's dessert (honest--I had chocolate ice cream), and it's the hotel's specialty called Moskva Šnit (MOSK-vah SHNEET), which translates as Moscow Piece (of cake). I'll be happy to post the recipe soon under my comments for this photo, but I'm warning you.....it calls for 16 eggs!

"R" is for "ringlšpil"

Decided to participate in Mrs. Nesbitt's "ABC Wednesday" this week. "Ringlšpil" is the Serbian phonetic equivalent of the German word for "merry-go-round." There are many words in Serbian borrowed from German and French, not to mention the hundreds of words that came into the language during the Turks' 500-year stay, which began in 1389. This merry-go-round, photographed quite early in the morning, is awaiting its first little customers.

Beware: No lifeguard on duty yet.

It's hot here now, but Belgrade's beach on Ada Ciganlija, a large island in the Sava river, commonly known as Gypsy Island, isn't officially open yet. Didn't seem to matter much to this family, especially Mom who wanted to cool off after a 7-km bike ride around the lake. Junior looks bored, and Dad has conked out. Unfortunately, two days ago a 13 year-old boy who had gone swimming with two siblings, but without their parents' knowledge, drowned. The sign reads "Dunav" (Danube), the name of an insurance company...

Urban composition à la Mondrian

This urban composition I photographed down a passageway reminded me of Piet Mondrian's (1874-1944) style that he dubbed Neo-Plasticism, which basically consisted of a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the use of the three primary colors. At one point, he even set up his studio to express the principles of his style, tacking up large rectangular placards, each in a single color or neutral hue. Smaller colored paper squares and rectangles accented the walls. I like the way the person who lives here put mesh over the window and the little air vent...to keep out bugs? By the way, Wikipedia points out that an anagram of the artist's name reveals, "I paint modern." That's spooky!

Why is this man smiling?

If you read his shirt, you'll see why. Or maybe you think he shouldn't be smiling. In any case, our friend Ljubomir (LYOO-bo-meer) is the creator and organizer of the annual World Testicle Cooking Championship, which takes place from June 20th to the 22nd this year just outside of Gornji Milanovac (GOR-nyee-mee-lahn o-vahts), about two hours' drive from Belgrade. The Championship is strictly a cook-off, with none of the raunchiness that often accompanies similar competitions. About 10,000 participants from all over the world (yes, even Australia) are expected this year. Check out the site on the banner for info in English. So, if you're planning a trip to Serbia, pop on down to Gornji Milanovac and have a ball.

Something I like and something I don't.

I don't have a sweet tooth on a regular basis, but from time to time, my body screams,"Sugar!" and I gotta have it. On the left is "krem pita," which literally translated means "cream pie." It's got a delicate bottom and top crust, and a semi-firm, not-too-sweet cream filling. The drink is called "boza." Boza is a cold drink made from fermented grain (here it's made with corn flour) and has a slightly acidic sweet flavor. It is a drink of great antiquity, first originating in Mesopotamia 8000-9000 years ago, but today's best boza is said to be made according to an Albanian recipe. Some make a boza "spritzer" by adding lemonade, but in either case, it's not a favorite of mine. It does however contain a lot of vitamins, especially vitamin B, and is reputed to increase breast size....

Beauty underfoot.

There are hundreds if not thousands of plain or embellished manhole covers in our cities, but few people think of them as art, thoughAmazon.com offers a book about them. Belgrade's sewer system is 103 years old, and was laid out by Serbian engineers with the help of German, Austrian, Hungarian, and French experts. On this cover you can see some of Belgrade's landmarks like the statue of The Victor shown in earlier posts. By the way, why are we still calling them "manhole" covers when we live in such a PC world? "Personhole?" I don't think so. I think PC can go too far sometimes!

A "dinar" for her thoughts...

Like many European cities, it's really difficult to find a parking space in downtown Belgrade, so I always take the bus across the river to the center. One-ride tickets cost 29 dinars (about 53 cents) if you buy them at a kiosk, but more if you buy them in the bus. Working people and students can buy monthly passes. In any case, I am continually fascinated by people's faces. I stared at this lady's pensive expression for nearly the whole ride, and she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice my snapping her picture as I held my camera on my knees. What's she thinking of?

Read any good books lately?

Here's another way people here avoid paying fees or rent for a real stand or little shop: they lay out all their wares on the hood (bonnet for you Brits!) and roof of their car! This person, who is from out of Belgrade as you can tell by the GL (Gnjilane, a small town in Eastern Kosovo) on his license plate, has quite a selection for young and old. He can also hightail it when the inspectors come, but I think he'd better remove the books from his windshield....

Keychains!

I've posted this photo sideways so you won't get a crooked neck or have to tilt your computer screen! These are keychains with some Serbian guy/girl first names or nicknames. Some aren't so popular, like Glorija, but others like Katarina and Dejan are. Girls' names are often for (sweet!) fruits, like "Jagoda," (YAH-go-da) which means "strawberry." "Joca" ( YOHT-sa) is short for "Jovan," "Gaga" is short for "Dragana," and "Goca" (GOHT-sa) is short for Gordana," also pictured here. I could buy the "David" one for my cousin and the "Dejan" one for my son. My daughter and I, who have Latin-based names, can never find ours here.

Serbia moves forward!

Yesterday Serbia's parliamentary elections took place, and it had all come down to a very simple choice: forwards or backwards, i.e. forward toward the European Union or back to the isolationism of the '90's. This little Belgrade sparrow, complete with his little šajkača (SHY-kah-cha) a typical Serbian hat, is pleased to announce that citizens voted to move forward. I took this photo fairly early this a.m., as a new day dawned on Serbia.