A dog's life

For the last ABC Wednesday I posted "H" for houseboats. Here's part of a boat/cafe along the Sava river in New Belgrade. The pipe you see supplies the boat with fresh water. The boat's guard dog seems happy since his owners were considerate enough to cut another hole in his dog house on the end opposite his entrance door so that he could watch passers-by on the quay. Click on the photo to see him closer; he won't bite.

Where'd the hot weather go?

This past weekend was downright chilly! Yesterday the weather widget on my blog read 10 degrees Celsius, a 20-degree or so drop from this summer's high temperatures. I bundled up and headed for the flea market near me where I had to do some shopping (main flea market here is usually all new stuff), and covered my camera with a plastic bag....

Welcome to Airport City!

Airport City Belgrade, located in New Belgrade, is a complex of 12 glass buildings used for office and retail space. I live not far away. The complex is situated on the site of the old Belgrade airport, which was built before WWII, and later destroyed by the Germans in 1944. Because parking is so difficult in the older parts of the city, many foreign and local businesses like the pictured UniCredit Bank and Telenor are seeking office space across the Danube in New Belgrade.

Note: I was checking out USElaine's http://willitsdailyphoto.blogspot.com/ yesterday, as I often do, and saw that she has been blogging for a half a year. More power to her. Then, since a little bell went off in my head, I checked "Yankee" and see that my first post was on March 14th, so I am also a half-year blogger!

The fungus among-us

Mushrooms or toadstools? The term "toadstool" is nowadays usually used in storytelling when referring to poisonous or suspect mushrooms, so I guess these could be either. I photographed them in late July while visiting "Little War Island," one of the islands on the Danube here. (There's a 'Great War Island', too.) The island used to be significantly larger before WWII, and when construction of New Belgrade began in 1948, the sand from the island was transported to the mainland by large conveyor belts to cover the swamp on which the new city was to be built, and of course therefore reduced the size of the island. What's left of the island is basically a thin strip of land, less than 300 meters long and 60 meters wide. The island is an ecologically protected site, but tours are available and there is also a small beach for swimmers and sun lovers.

Sky Watch Friday--the road to Belgrade

Belgrade, or "Beograd," as it is known here, means "white city." Here is the White City under a lavender sky, viewed from the Belgrade-Niš highway as we returned from a trip the other week.

For more Sky Watch posts, check out: http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Have faith.

"Have faith!" is what I thought when I saw this fellow repairing something under his truck. I sure hope he has a good jack or a super-strong guardian angel. This photo is from last fall, but he still parks his truck near our apartment building.

ABC Wednesday---"H" is for "houseboat"

Many Belgraders have weekend homes, small or large, in the nearby countryside, or perhaps a family home in a village farther away. Those who don't often opt for a houseboat, which provides escape from the city especially during the summer, even though you don't have to go far at all. At the present time, there are regulations (safety, sanitary, docking fees, etc.) but like many other laws here, they're often ignored until someone really checks. Not sure of the status of these very different riverside pieces of paradise, but they're second homes to some people! Which one would you like?

To post an ABC Wednesday photo, see: http://mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/

Ouch!

Took this photo about a year ago in Novi Sad, a city 70 kms to the north of Belgrade, where my husband grew up. Recently my kids and I took a trip up there in his honor a few days after his funeral. Ivan (my husband) and I had laughed hard at this sign, and we remarked that it didn't seem to be worded to bring in business. But the tattoo and piercing parlor is still there, so I guess that shows how much we knew about advertising! (This sign is in English, and the one behind it is partly in Italian; signs in foreign languages here are "in.")

Another protest

This photo dates from the end of July during a protest held by the Serbian Radical Party to protest the sending of war criminal Radovan Karadžić to The Hague. Aside from the actual protestors, these events are often attended by groups of unruly young people looking for a "good time," i.e. wreaking havoc and causing millions of dinars in damage to public property. Indeed, the terra cotta feet I'd posted on August 27th and similar art creations which were on display on the pedestrian street, Knez Mihailova, made handy projectiles.

Sit on a slice

A cool slice of watermelon is indeed refreshing, but I'm not sure that it would be refreshing to sit on this bench (indentation for sitting on side facing the river), at least in the heat. This bench is one of many that appeared along the Danube on both the Old and New Belgrade sides. Some are shaped like feet, some like hands, and some cute pink ones like little ears.

Eight heads

On Thursday I mentioned that the facades of many of Belgrade's old buildings are deteriorating, and this is a case in point. This is a detail of what must have been a wealthy family's home over a century ago, for this head is one of eight that appear to represent the home's owners, now long gone. They're not the ordinary stylized heads for decorative purposes that one usually sees. After WWII, private homes were seized by the communist government and, for example, the original owners were forced to live in reduced quarters and the other living spaces given to others. Nowadays, descendants of many such formerly private home owners are trying to have the property returned to them.