Beauty underfoot.

There are hundreds if not thousands of plain or embellished manhole covers in our cities, but few people think of them as art, thoughAmazon.com offers a book about them. Belgrade's sewer system is 103 years old, and was laid out by Serbian engineers with the help of German, Austrian, Hungarian, and French experts. On this cover you can see some of Belgrade's landmarks like the statue of The Victor shown in earlier posts. By the way, why are we still calling them "manhole" covers when we live in such a PC world? "Personhole?" I don't think so. I think PC can go too far sometimes!

A "dinar" for her thoughts...

Like many European cities, it's really difficult to find a parking space in downtown Belgrade, so I always take the bus across the river to the center. One-ride tickets cost 29 dinars (about 53 cents) if you buy them at a kiosk, but more if you buy them in the bus. Working people and students can buy monthly passes. In any case, I am continually fascinated by people's faces. I stared at this lady's pensive expression for nearly the whole ride, and she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice my snapping her picture as I held my camera on my knees. What's she thinking of?

Read any good books lately?

Here's another way people here avoid paying fees or rent for a real stand or little shop: they lay out all their wares on the hood (bonnet for you Brits!) and roof of their car! This person, who is from out of Belgrade as you can tell by the GL (Gnjilane, a small town in Eastern Kosovo) on his license plate, has quite a selection for young and old. He can also hightail it when the inspectors come, but I think he'd better remove the books from his windshield....

Keychains!

I've posted this photo sideways so you won't get a crooked neck or have to tilt your computer screen! These are keychains with some Serbian guy/girl first names or nicknames. Some aren't so popular, like Glorija, but others like Katarina and Dejan are. Girls' names are often for (sweet!) fruits, like "Jagoda," (YAH-go-da) which means "strawberry." "Joca" ( YOHT-sa) is short for "Jovan," "Gaga" is short for "Dragana," and "Goca" (GOHT-sa) is short for Gordana," also pictured here. I could buy the "David" one for my cousin and the "Dejan" one for my son. My daughter and I, who have Latin-based names, can never find ours here.

Serbia moves forward!

Yesterday Serbia's parliamentary elections took place, and it had all come down to a very simple choice: forwards or backwards, i.e. forward toward the European Union or back to the isolationism of the '90's. This little Belgrade sparrow, complete with his little šajkača (SHY-kah-cha) a typical Serbian hat, is pleased to announce that citizens voted to move forward. I took this photo fairly early this a.m., as a new day dawned on Serbia.

Passing the time

Caught these two young Serbian Orthodox priests the other day not far from Belgrade's large park, Kalemegdan, and the capital's busy walking street, Knez Mihailova. The one closest to us was passing the time in a traditional fashion, deeply absorbed in a book, while the other was text-messaging, possibly even to his wife, for except for bishops who are required to remain celibate, the Orthodox Church has always allowed priests and deacons to be married, provided the marriage takes place before ordination. In general it is preferable for parish priests to be married as they often act as council to married couples and thus can draw on their own experience. NOTE!! Thanks to Abe of http://brookvilledailyphoto.blogspot.com, who noticed that BOTH priests are using cell phones. I guess the reader is either intentionally hiding his phone to appear more "serious," or else he's just answering or texting like anyone else!

Pump 'em up!

Buildings (see yesterday's post) aren't the only things that need a lift sometimes. The sign above this bra says, "with a pump," and sure enough, if you click on the photo, you'll see the little pump that comes with this piece of lingerie. It's an imported item, or so it seems, since the instructions are in English...

Traces of the past

Belgrade's face bears the traces of its history, just as wrinkles on our faces reveal much about our lives. Though proud of its past, it's apparent from building and renovation going on all over that the city wants to give itself a face lift, a little nip/tuck here and there. In this photo you can see three different styles. Modern may be functional and slick, but I still like the detail that used to be given to facades, and the flowers that were added here as a bit of "make-up."

Sister soul

While out walking the dog and scouting for photos yesterday, I came across this lady walking through a field in New Belgrade. Veronika explained that she photographs "everything," and is especially interested in graffiti, which unfortunately covers just about anything here that doesn't move. Yesterday though, she was photographing wildflowers and taking home the small bouquet that you see here. I told her about my blog and all of our blogs, so she may be checking you out. How nice for me---she let me take her photo without my having to resort to a "belly shot." Thank you, Veronika!

Still good for more kilometers

It's the shoes, I think, that are still good for some more kilometers, not the baby carriage that's seen better days. See anything you like? :<)

Two for one today!

I just had to post both these photos today. The first one is one of my "belly shots," taken waist level so the subject won't know I'm snapping away. This little lady is selling violets and a vegetable that I don't know the name of in English, so if anyone does, please tell me! (It's not spinach and it isn't chard.) The poster reads, "Kosovo is Serbia." I bought all her violets and all of the "zelje," (ZEL-yay) as it's known here, which is good steamed, and then you add crushed garlic and sour cream; yum. I persuaded her to let me take her portrait, but as soon as I pointed the camera at her, she put on her mug shot expression. The man selling shoelaces next to her managed to tease her so I could get a smile! (I took his photo a bit earlier on through another "belly shot"!)