SURE, WHY NOT? HELP YOURSELF....

 I am still angry.  I caught this woman red-handed yesterday while she was picking (stealing!) herself a bouquet of lavender from a a nearby public park. I took several shots before I called out to her and got her attention. I reprimanded her saying that the flowers were for everyone, not just for her. You can probably imagine that she didn't care at all, and kept right on picking. She did stop though when I called to her once more and got a face shot. Off she went. I wrote to the park police and I hope this lady will have her own personal 'wanted' poster...but I doubt it.

TITO'S BLUE TRAIN

 

Yesterday I visited former Marshal Josip Broz Tito's famous Blue Train, which he used to travel all over Europe. Luxurious (for the 60s), art deco, and with some adaptations for possible famous guests like Charles De Gaulle, who had a custom made bed. Hailie Selassie, Indira Gandhi, and Queen Elizabeth were only three of the heads of state who traveled on this train. Not to miss if you head this way. A real time machine.

Google Tito's Blue Train and check out Wiki.

COUNTRY HOMES

 Two homes seen on a recent road trip in the country.

SIMPLE STILL LIFE

 A still life from my day trip to Kikinda about three hours from Belgrade.  Every year they hold a pumpkin festival with all kinds of pumpkins, squash, gourds and products made from same.

You can read about the winning pumpkin BY CLICKING HERE, but for some reason, and I hope the paper corrected the error, it is written that the pumpkin weighed 716 kilos, but that was last year's winner.  This year the big boy weighed 865 kilos (around 1,907 pounds.) That's a lot of pie.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY--Manasija monastery

 Visited a friend in Despotovac, a couple of hours south of Belgrade. She took me to the 15th-century MANASIJA MONASTERY, beautifully restored thanks to UNESCO.

This is a sneak phone shot.  See other shadows on SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS--OLD AND NEW

 Like in many cities, Belgrade's downtown is rapidly changing. Buildings going up (and others out) everywhere. A 'reflection' of the times.

See other reflections on James' WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

WHAT ONCE WAS IS NO MORE

 I went to the bus station yesterday to buy a bus ticket to and from a town about three hours from here where a friend lives.  The bus station is adjacent to the former, old, beautiful train station where I arrived in 1977 from Paris.  It has been closed for quite a few years now and replaced by a brand new one in another part of town.....all this to make way for highrises you can see through the grass grown over the rails.  Just to think, the Orient Express once passed through Belgrade.

DOGS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

 There were two of these dogs, totally ignoring the 'Stay off the Flowers' sign, but they were frolicking so fast I could only capture one of them.  I envied them....

KILTS ARE IN

 I've noticed quite a few men wearing kilts recently. Honestly, they're cooler than trousers, especially if you know what they (at least Scottish men) wear underneath. 

MONDAY MURALS---CHEMISTS

 Three Serbian chemists peer down at me from a wall beside a park downtown.

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

SLIM PICKINGS

 "Slim pickings," for those of you who may not know, means that there's little success in getting something because there's not a lot of it left. Kind of like when you turn up late at a party....

This cat is very thin, whereas many city cats here are chubby.

Don't confused 'slim pickings' with the beloved movie star SLIM PICKENS, whom I especially loved in Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES.