Dare to eat me!

Last Sunday, which was another gorgeous Indian Summer day, my son and I drove to Kovačica (Ko-VAH-cheet-sa), a village about a half an hour from Belgrade. This predominantly ethnically Slovak village is known throughout the world for its naïve (self-taught) painters. The tradition was started in 1939 and advanced in the 1950’s when several peasants took to painting scenes from their daily lives. Neither of us paints, but we did put our artistic talents to work on the Wiener Schnitzel my son ordered for lunch by rearranging the fries. Maybe I should have saved this one for Halloween.

Skywatch Friday--The Victor in the Tree

The statue "The Victor” commemorates the Serbian victory over the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I. With its pedestal, this bronze statue in Kalemegdan Park rises over 14 meters. The statue was created by the famous Ivan Meštrović over 75 years ago, and was originally intended to stand on one of the largest streets downtown. Because he was naked (The Victor, not Meštrović!), The Victor was deemed an affront to public morality and moved to the park where he overlooked the Sava and Danube toward the great plain beyond. Now this plain has become New Belgrade, and I thought he might feel shy, so I've hidden him in this treetop...

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Happy Birthday to my little girl....

Today my daughter is....older than she was yesterday! Because she's living in the U.S. and can't celebrate with her brother and me, we gathered together some of her childhood friends. The little fellow in the blue pyjamas is Edward, named after a friend's son who was born about the time she received the doll as a present. Edward was/is much loved; his left eye doesn't close anymore, and his body bears marks of a bout with a ball point pen. The little Cabbage Patch girl in the middle (ashamed to say I have forgotten her name...) was selected because my daughter liked her lips. On the right is Hospital Baby, dating from the time when my daughter was hospitalized for bronchopneumonia when she was only two. The only doll she could take with her was one that could be washed easily. Edward is holding my daughter's favorite spoon, which used to be mine when I was little. They're all sitting on a small patchwork I made for her when she was born. Each patch tells a tale, too. Happy, happy birthday to my little baby. Mama and big brother love you, and we know your father is looking over you too, with love.

ABC Wednesday "N" is for "newlyweds"

A few days ago I posted a photo of the town of Vršac (VUR-shots) seen from a hill overlooking the city. At the lovely hotel on top where I went to walk around, I came upon a wedding in full swing, and caught these newlyweds posing for one of their first photos together as man and wife. My photo's from a different angle, to be sure! For another bigger wedding photo in Belgrade, see here .

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Let there be music!

A Sunday or two ago I came upon these two musicians who were warming up to play for the bride and groom and their friends and family, who were about to exit Belgrade's main church. Musicians like these hang around churches when weddings take place, hoping to earn a few dinars, and perhaps be invited to play more tunes at the wedding reception.

Fungi art!

Yesterday Belgrade's Mycological Society held its annual mushroom and fungi show. Mushroom and fungi lovers from all over Serbia came to display and admire collections of commonplace and rare mushrooms. Unlike the recent Honey Show, there was no sampling allowed! Pictured above is something I had never seen before: fungi art! Not artwork made out of fungi, but art on fungi. The artist takes tree fungus, boils and dries it, preps the now hard-as-rock surface, then uses oil paint to create the religious scenes you see here. To own a piece of this very original artwork, be prepared to hand over from 50 to 120 euros. And you thought mushrooms were only for eating!

Evening mist over Vršac

The name of town of Vršac (VUR-shots) is derived from the Slavic word vrh (hard to pronounce, but it's something like "vurh"), meaning "summit." The town, about an hour's drive from Belgrade, lies on the bed of the former Pannonian Sea, today known as the Pannonian Plain in Central Europe Ottoman Turks destroyed the town in the 16th century, but it was soon rebuilt. In 1594, Serbs from the region started a large uprising against Ottoman rule, and Vršac region was center of this uprising. Later this area fell under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and of now is part of Serbia. The town lies at the foot of part of the Pannonian Mountains, and is known for its good wine.

New shoes, new wine

Caught this little fellow the other day in Vršac (VUR-shots), a town about an hour or so from Belgrade toward the Romanian border. He's in a shoe store, as you can see, and is also loaded with bottles of locally produced wine. The sign in front of him invites passers-by to a wine-tasting. As for prices of the shoes, you can count about 60 dinars for $1.00 or about 73 dinars for one euro.

Skywatch Friday--Moon over the Danube

I've been inspired by Louis la Vache in San Francisco (http://bayphoto.blogspot.com/), who's been taking some moon shots recently. I'm not good at this, but have promised myself to practice every time there's a full moon. We'll see how good I get eventually. In the photo you see my over-exposed moon shining on Belgrade's main church and the Danube.

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One of us

Walking along the bank of the Sava recently and enjoying our Indian Summer, I had the pleasure to meet Marjan (MAHR-yahn), a fellow photographer, who's doing here what probably a lot of us would like to do. I certainly would, but never seem to get myself organized, with all my other daily obligations. He sells his tastefully framed and well-composed photographs for 1500 dinars, which is about $30.00, and says he manages to sell a couple each time he comes down to the riverside. The sign on the left is for his telescope that he's going to set up at twilight so that for 20 dinars a peek, folks can see the moon, Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, which he says will be visible.

ABC Wednesday "M" is for "Memories"

This post is dedicated to a Serbian gentleman who recently wrote to me through my blog. I was very touched by his email. He grew up here, but his parents wished a better life for him, and bought him a ticket to the US when he finished high school in the mid-sixties. Off he went, never to return. He sent me the top photo of a corner in Belgrade that was dear to him, and asked me to photograph it now, and so I did. There are very few changes. Here is part of what he wrote to me in his email:

"...The day before I had to go, I came out on street on which I grew up, and went to the nearest corner where I spent perhaps more time in my life then that I did in school, or at home, or anywhere else. That was the corner where I and my friends were growing up, day after day, year after year. Everything was happening there. The corner was at the intersection of street called Lenjingradska (now renamed Petrogradska) and a street named Topolska... My house was less than half a block away from that corner, but most of my childhood and adolescence, and of many friends who lived in neighboring houses, was developing on that corner. That was the safest place in the world for us, from which we launched our fantasies, our dreams, our plans for the future, our self-assertion, our sense of positive regard for each other, and everything else which those early phases of life bring. By now, most of us are all gone from that place. Some have died, some just disappeared without a trace.That day, not believing that all of that was coming to an end, I borrowed a camera from a friend and went to that corner to take a picture of it. It was still early in the day, before noon, women were going to and coming back from the market, and kids younger than me were still in school. I stood across the corner on which we used to gather, and took a picture of it, but then stood there for almost an hour, trying to remember everything about it, the smell of the air, the sounds of people walking by, the very essence of the world in which I lived until then..."

So, dear sir, I have dedicated this "Memories" post to you. I wish you well.

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