Waiting for a handout

I caught sight of this little fellow who was staring intently up at a window on a building on the left. I imagine someone throws him a morsel from time to time. I whistled to him, and he posed for the photo. This lot just off the center of Belgrade, and is a real eyesore. Real estate prices being what they are, I imagine the City is holding out for top price. Note the old and new architecture behind. Hotel Moskva is just behind the brick building on the right.

(Please drop by tomorrow for Yankee's one-year anniversary...)

Poppy Seed Cake

Having grown up in the US, I remember the poppy seed rolls that my grandfather used to bring home to accompany our Sunday dinner. That was the extent of my poppy seed experience. Here in Belgrade, they're put to a different use in the form of poppy seed cake roll like the one pictured above. Sometimes raisins are added, too. My husband LOVED this cake very much, but I never acquired a taste for it, since poppy seeds for me are for dinner rolls, not sweets.

This is a Happy Birthday photo is for my very, very good friend, Marianne, who is now in New York, but who, dare I hope, will return to Belgrade in the not-too-far-off future. Marianne and I weathered many storms here, including the NATO bombing of 1999, and she has been a faithful friend.

Enjoy your cake, Marianne. This cake comes from your favorite shop, and I even made you a Turkish coffee, but it's cut off on the photo.... Come on over and get the real thing.

(And all of you come back on Saturday for Yankee's one-year anniversary!)

ABC Wednesday "H' for "houseboats again"

I keep reading in a number of people's blogs that spring has arrived in their area, but it's slow in coming here in Belgrade. Okay, I know it's not supposed to officially arrive until the 20/21st, but still. This is a photo of two houseboats on the Sava that won't be visible from where I took them once the trees get leaves. I want color! Green!

I posted another ABC Wednesday about houseboats right here .

Join ABC Wednesday at Mrs. Nesbitt's .

Layers of past and present

This bulletin board hangs on a wall on a street downtown. I love the collage that was unintentionally created here. There are advertisements, some old, some new, for a ballet school for little girls, jazz ballet, schoolbooks, and a vocational school to become a waiter/waitress, locksmith, carpenter, and other trades.

The Orient Express Passed Through Belgrade!

Cynthia, over at MuseSwings , is inviting everyone today on a trip on the Orient Express!

The original route of this luxury train began its first run on October 4, 1883, from Paris to Giurgiu in Romania via Munich and Vienna, then passengers were ferried across the Danube to continue their trip to Istanbul.

In 1885, another route began operations, this time reaching Istanbul via rail from Vienna to Belgrade and Niš, carriage to Plovdiv, and rail again to Istanbul. By 1962, the Orient Express had stopped running, and was replaced by a slower service called the Direct Orient Express, which ran daily cars from Paris to Belgrade, and twice weekly services from Paris to Istanbul and Athens.

The locomotive above didn't belong to the Orient Express, but to a retired steam engine train that now serves as a cafe in the town of Pančevo, 15 kilometers northeast of Belgrade. The windmill behind is a restaurant, where I photographed this soup last November 23rd.

International Women's Day

International (Working) Woman's Day (IWD) is marked on March 8 every year. It's a global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women, though honestly I'd never heard of it before I came here. It began as a political event, but soon became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. All over Belgrade and in other towns in Serbia, men and children will be buying flowers, chocolates, or chintzy trinkets for the ladies in their lives.

Most women I know don't care for this holiday, but hey, it's nice to get flowers.

The women in my photo have a hard life---not a tractor, not to mention a man, in sight.

P.S. See the railroad tracks? Stop by tomorrow and see where they take you.

Looking for spring

A young couple looks out over the Danube toward Great War island. The winter barrenness will soon disappear, and Mother Nature will dress herself in shades of green.

Moskva, Mimosa, and Mailbox!

I posted something about Hotel Moskva here , and just recently mentioned it here. I took this photo through a window of a department store across the street a few days ago. Belgrade still looks pretty gray, but you can see a mimosa seller on the lower left of this photo, right next to another mailbox I found!

About the hotel: Hotel Moskva is a four star hotel and the only hotel in Belgrade that has no room or apartment number 13. It has had over 36 million visitors in the past 100 years, including celebrities like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Yves Montand, Robert de Niro, Jean-Paul Sartre, Miloš Forman, Yasser Arafat, Ray Charles, Richard Nixon, and Rebecca West, to name a few.

Check it out on Youtube ! And check out Marie's and many other Postcard Friday postings by clicking here .

Through the rear window

When being driven somewhere and finding myself in the back seat of a car alone with my camera, I do what most people (read 'City Daily Photo Bloggers) do: I take photos out the window. I forgot that I had my camera on manual when I snapped this, but I like it anyway. In the window on the right you can see one of Belgrade's pink buses...they're not all pink; sometimes it depends where they come from, since some were received through donations from nearby countries. Adds a touch of color anyway!

ABC Wednesday "G" is for "gloves"

A street cleaner was undoubtedly taking a break and left his gloves on his dustbin cart. This photo reminds me of my grandfather, who used to do the same with his garden gloves. After mowing the lawn, he'd leave them on the mower's handles. I remember too that when he fell asleep while reading in his armchair in the living room, my grandmother would gently remove the book, and his hands would stay in the 'holding a book' position until he woke up, sometimes because I'd be giggling so hard.

Join ABC Wednesday by clicking here .

A caramel Bibi

Last Sunday a friend and I paid another visit to Katja , the lady with nearly 300 dogs at last count. Katja has been working with a French friend of mine to help her home these dogs in Europe, and has had some success so far. Approximately 10 of her dogs leave each month for new homes in primarily France, Belgium, and Germany, and the nicest part is, these are very often dogs with some sort of handicap. The plan is for Katja not to accept any more dogs, and to home the ones she has. Unfortunately, Katja often wakes up to new dogs that have been thrown over her fence, tied to her front gate, or abandoned as puppies in a box.

Bibi came from this place, and I couldn't help but notice a resemblance between caramel-colored "Nena" in the upper photo and Bibi.

I've posted more photos of the dogs on Flickr and I hope you can connect to the link. If not, contact me through my email under my profile. If you're interested in helping Katja, write me there as well, and I will put you in contact with my friend (French, English, and Serbian-speaking.)