Give me back what's mine!

Can you imagine owning a home or property, then having it confiscated by the State? This woman most probably had parents to whom such a thing happened, and as their descendent, is protesting the fact that only Serbia has not yet adopted laws regarding the return of property that is rightfully hers. This photo was taken at yesterday's Europe Day Celebration in downtown Belgrade.

The Network for Restitution (NFR) or 'Mreza za Restituciju' as it is known here, is a non-profit citizen's group that offers support and free legal advice for Holocaust and Communist terror survivors trying to regain confiscated homes from the W.W.II era.

In Serbia, the only country in Europe that did not return to its citizens' property confiscated by the communists and the Nazis, there are around 500,000 people waiting to get their property back.

Restitution of property to the rightful owners is not just the righting of a historical wrong. When foreign investors inquire about buying land in Serbian cities, they encounter serious problems with land ownership rights.

'tis the season....

Strawberry season is starting up, and you can find more and more of these juicy berries on Belgrade markets. The imported ones have been around for a while, but the homegrown ones are soooooo sweet and juicy. I absolutely love strawberries. I eat them with just a teeny bit of sugar, or slice them over homemade shortcake. Yum. Currently, a kilo of strawberries runs around 180 dinars or about $2.50 (about $1.25 a pound). Prices will rapidly drop with the onslaught of more berries.

It's four-fifteen, honest.

Yes, it's four-fifteen, not three-twenty, as it might appear. This clock is on a tower on the fortress overlooking the Danube in Novi Sad, a city about 70 kms from Belgrade. The builders decided it was more important for passing ships to know the hour, not the minutes, so they made the long hand the hour hand. See the full view of the same clock here .

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Here comes the fuzz!

If you're looking for the cops, there aren't any in this photo. Here you see the leaves and young shoots of the White Poplar tree ('topola' in Serbian.) The young shoots are covered with whitish-grey down that eventually loosens and blows off in the wind to such an extent that sometimes it looks like it's snowing. This 'fuzz' is really annoying. It flies in your nose, in your mouth, in your plate if you're eating outdoors, and in your windows. If you're wondering why 'fuzz' is used as slang for the police, here's what Wikipedia says that the word may have arisen "as a term of contempt for police based on the use of 'fuzz' or 'fuzzy' in other items of derogatory criminal slang of the period. To be 'fuzzy' was to be unmanly, incompetent and soft. "

ABC Wednesday "P" is for "Perfume"

I'll bet you haven't seen a place like this for a while, if ever. This little shop on King Peter's Street in the Belgrade neighborhood of Dorčol (DOR-choll) makes creams, oils, face powders, hair spray, hair creams, eyeshadow, lipsticks, and perfumes. This shop has been around at least since I came to Belgrade 32 years ago, and was closed when I went by this time. I've always been curious about it...though I'm not a big user of any of the above except perhaps perfume and lipstick, I just might go back out and find out more about the store. Stay tuned.

Don't you just love all the little bottles, especially the Eiffel Tower one?

Join ABC Wednesday at: this site .

At the Snail's

This facade in Zemun has attracted me for such a long time. Originally I had just passed along the right side of this building, and had photographed the rooftop (saving that for another post). Recently, I looked up at the part facing the corner, and discovered the inscription "Kod Puža" or "At the snail's". I have no idea of the history of this building. I Googled it, but nothing, so I will have to return to ask around. It is such a beautiful facade, and I hate to see it falling apart. Notice the initial "E" on the right of the top photo. Was the original building's owner named "Escargot"? :<)

I was originally going to save this for ABC Wednesday's "P," since 'P" would not only have been for ""Puž," but also for "Pekara Petrovic" (Petrovic's bakery) written in Cyrillic below. I have a fragrant "P" for you tomorrow.

Composition in Blue

This one is for Virginia at Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo, who I believe inadvertently started a 'table and chairs' meme (I guess that's what it is; Google says a meme is "An idea that, like a gene, can replicate and evolve.) In any case, this is another contribution from me. I liked the colors and the geometric patterns.

Faculty of Drama Arts

Belgrade's Faculty of Drama Arts is a leading high education institution in the field of theater, film, radio and television, and is a part of the University of Arts. This eminent educational, artistic and cultural institution, founded in 1948, is Financed by the government of the Republic of Serbia. This is only one section of the Faculty, I believe a newer one, and I thought I'd show you how some of the students have decorated part of the facade!

For more info on the Faculty, check out this link .

Ah-CHOO!

Common ragweed, or ambrosia, as it is known here (ambrosia artemisiifolia ) is a member of the sunflower family. Curious why such a bothersome plant would be named for the food of the gods, I found out that the generic name is actually derived from the Greek'ambrotos' (άμβροτος), "immortal". In ragweed's case, this refers to its tenaciousness, which makes it hard to rid an area of these invasive weeds. Sure enough, this tall ambrosia stalk is growing in an urban area in New Belgrade. There used to be fields of it on the other side of the street you see here, but now most of that land has been developed into office space, much to the relief of local allergy sufferers. You can probably guess I'm not allergic to it, since I managed to get this close for the photo!

THEME DAY--Shadows-- 'Roses in Shadow'

This isn’t a recent photo. I took it a year and a half ago, in very dim light, at the wedding of the daughter of a close friend. I’ve made an enlargement, which hangs on my wall, and while still attractive, it lacks a bit of the luminosity that you can appreciate on your screen. Shadows and light; this is also a foreshadowing of my own daughter’s upcoming wedding in September.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Stairway into Yesteryear

Here I go again flitting into doorways. This is a stairway inside an old building (dated 1901) near the main railroad station. It must have been lovely once-upon-a-time, and I feel sad that this entrance and stairway have been so neglected. Judging by the façade of the building, I imagine that the entire structure will be razed and replaced by a more modern, but probably very impersonal apartment or office building. (I just had to use the word 'yesteryear' in the title...reminds me of the lead-in to the Lone Ranger TV show I watched as a kid.)