Urban composition à la Mondrian

This urban composition I photographed down a passageway reminded me of Piet Mondrian's (1874-1944) style that he dubbed Neo-Plasticism, which basically consisted of a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the use of the three primary colors. At one point, he even set up his studio to express the principles of his style, tacking up large rectangular placards, each in a single color or neutral hue. Smaller colored paper squares and rectangles accented the walls. I like the way the person who lives here put mesh over the window and the little air vent...to keep out bugs? By the way, Wikipedia points out that an anagram of the artist's name reveals, "I paint modern." That's spooky!

Why is this man smiling?

If you read his shirt, you'll see why. Or maybe you think he shouldn't be smiling. In any case, our friend Ljubomir (LYOO-bo-meer) is the creator and organizer of the annual World Testicle Cooking Championship, which takes place from June 20th to the 22nd this year just outside of Gornji Milanovac (GOR-nyee-mee-lahn o-vahts), about two hours' drive from Belgrade. The Championship is strictly a cook-off, with none of the raunchiness that often accompanies similar competitions. About 10,000 participants from all over the world (yes, even Australia) are expected this year. Check out the site on the banner for info in English. So, if you're planning a trip to Serbia, pop on down to Gornji Milanovac and have a ball.

Something I like and something I don't.

I don't have a sweet tooth on a regular basis, but from time to time, my body screams,"Sugar!" and I gotta have it. On the left is "krem pita," which literally translated means "cream pie." It's got a delicate bottom and top crust, and a semi-firm, not-too-sweet cream filling. The drink is called "boza." Boza is a cold drink made from fermented grain (here it's made with corn flour) and has a slightly acidic sweet flavor. It is a drink of great antiquity, first originating in Mesopotamia 8000-9000 years ago, but today's best boza is said to be made according to an Albanian recipe. Some make a boza "spritzer" by adding lemonade, but in either case, it's not a favorite of mine. It does however contain a lot of vitamins, especially vitamin B, and is reputed to increase breast size....

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."