"Belgrade is the world!"

From April 16th to the 19th Belgrade is holding its annual celebration "Days of Belgrade." This year, the theme is "Belgrade is the World," and so the city has been divided into four compass points, each celebrating in a different way on one of the four days. For example, the western part of the city (New Belgrade) has been deemed "California/Hollywood," and the Faculty of Drama there organized a day-long film program. There was a best Hollywood star look-alike competition, and the winner won win a trip to Hollywood for two. Not sure yet who it was!

This big globe floats over Slavija Circle downtown. The Circle is home to the first McDonald's ever built in Eastern Europe, which was behind me in this photo. You've seen one anyway, right?

Shocking colors and shocking news!

It's still very chilly here and so this lady is all bundled up. But she's probably warmed by the sizzling news inside her scandal newspaper (click on the photo...) She's selling shoelaces in shocking colors, too, plus hairclips, barrettes, and insoles. Above you can see packages of those foam hair curlers, too.

Hand-painted ties!

Not like me to post such unusual shoes yesterday and not do a posting for the guys! This little hand-painted silk tie store downtown has been around for years, so the ties must sell! I have no idea what the TA on the cow one means, but the one on the right says in Cyrillic "Christ is risen" (It's an Easter tie!), and the brown one shows a little Belgrade sparrow, the city's symbol.

Bunny shoes

I'm not sure any fashionable young girl would wear these bunny shoes, but aren't they just too cute? Since Serbian Orthodox Easter isn't until April 27th, I'm going to ask the Bunny for a pair...but, whoops, there is no Easter Bunny here. Oh, well. Back to my Birkenstocks.

Dine at Pectopah Byk!

Some of you may have a hankering for some of that yummy food I posted yesterday, so if in Belgrade, choose perhaps the "Pectopah Byk." No, wait, that's "Restoran Vuk"! (RES-toe-rahn vook). Just another little Cyrillic trap for foreigners, many of whom believe that there's a chain of restaurants called "pectopah"! "P" in Cyrillic is "R" in the Latin alphabet, "E" is "E," "C" is "S", "T" and "O" are just what they look like, then the P=R again, a simple "A,", then finally the "H" is an "N"! Simple as one, two, 2/987 to the n-th power. Oh, yes: "B" is "V," "Y" is "U," and "K" is just that. And finally, the person for whom the restaurant is named is Vuk Karadžić, 1787 -1864, who standardized the old Cyrillic alphabet to make one letter stand for only one sound, therefore the alphabet is phonetic. So if you do learn the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, you'll be able to pronounce anything...then you have to learn what it means.

Who said "cholesterol"?

Serbia is a meat-eater's paradise. On Saturday my husband and I went on a road trip with a friend, and this was her lunch. It's a grilled hamburger stuffed with ham and cheese, and topped with two generous dollops of kajmak (rhymes with 'hijack'), which is made from skimming layers of cream off milk. Kajmak is used like butter to spread on bread or to cook with, and of course, to add an extra dose of cholesterol to your red meat! (Notice the spring onion. Serbs love to crunch 'em.)

Branches like hands or hands like branches?

Is this statue in the garden around the Yugoslav Drama Theater imitating the tree's branches, or is the tree mimicking the statue? You decide!

Waiting for the games to begin

This tiny sparrow has shown up early for the "Universiade," an international sport competition organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) under the sponsorship of the International Olympic Committee. This competition brings together student sportsmen and sportswomen. In 2009, this international sports festival will be held in Belgrade from July 1st to the 12th. Since the sparrow is already the symbol of Belgrade, our little friend will be the Universiade's mascot! Why such a little bird? Simply because the sparrow is capable of flying higher and further than much bigger birds, and like the sparrow, little Serbia hopes to fly higher and farther than its competitors!

On paper or online?

Most people in Belgrade read their news the traditional way---through a newspaper, like the fellow in the background. Though there are lots of laptops around, most folks use them for business, and it's still pretty unusual to see someone just sitting and reading the news on the Net. (I peeked; that's what he was doing!) Notice he's placed some newspaper (Has he read it...?) between him and his seat. Serbs are REALLY careful not to catch cold....

No job too big!

Need some dental work? Not sure if I'd be tempted to try this Center for Implantology and Laser Application in Oral Medicine, though this sign sure is an eye-catcher.

The Roma Recycle

Yesterday, April 8th, was International Roma Day. "Roma" isn't the city, but rather the name for the ethnic group most of us call gypsies. It was a day dedicated to call attention to respect for the human rights of the Roma. Roma are the largest minority in Europe, where they often face violence, police brutality and systematic discrimination in education, employment, and housing, particularly in post-communist countries. Persecution of Roma is a continuing problem and monitoring through intergovernmental organizations can improve the human rights of Roma minorities across Europe. In this picture, several Roma are carting back treasures they've found either for their own use or to resell.