ABC Wednesday: Vandals or virtuosos?

While walking along the Sava a couple weeks ago, I saw these young guys painting a wall white. How nice, I thought, and went over closer to congratulate them on their civic pride. However, when I drew closer, the one really was merely creating a new "canvas," while the other was testing his spray paint cans to decorate the new surface with their own graffiti. Last Wednesday while checking out my citymates' Belgrade blogs, I saw that Vlada at http://fotkapofotka.blogspot.com/ had posted a photo of them too, taken a bit later that same day (May 28th), so check out the "vandals' or virtuosos'" work.

The four C's or S's...

Here is part of a wall on the stairs of Belgrade's new sports arena, and shadows cast below. You can see that the pattern is made up of four Cyrillic alphabet C's, which actually represent the letter S. They stand for Serbia's slogan and popular motto "Само слога Србина спасава/Samo sloga Srbina spasava" or "Only Unity Saves the Serbs," which also is used as a cry against foreign domination and national disunity. This pattern is also displayed on the Serbian cross and on the Serbian national coat of arms. The origin of this symbol is of the Byzantine coat of arms where four stylized Greek letters "Β" stood for the imperial motto "Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileusin" or "King of kings, ruling over kings," in Greek.

Rainbow colors and more

Couldn't resist these bright colors at a shoelace stand, where the seller will also give you a shoeshine if need be.

Old car, new car.

This was a quick shot out the window (we were driving slowly....) on a trip out of town the other day. The billboard is advertising a "Champion Offer" by Ford, whereas the car below is advertising a mechanical, bodywork, and painting shop. The choice is yours!

Linden tea, anyone?

These are linden tree blossoms, and their heady, sweet fragrance is intoxicating. There are many different species of linden trees, but the flower is the part that is most frequently used in medical preparations. Linden has been used in European folk medicine for centuries for a wide range of health conditions, and is used by some cultures to treat anxiety, although no clinical trials have confirmed its effectiveness. Some trials indicate that linden tea can help people with mild gallbladder problems, upset stomach or dyspepsia, and gastrocardiac syndrome. When taken as a hot tea, linden flowers induce a mild fever, possibly helping to increase the immune system's ability to fight infections. The fever also causes sweating to cool the body off. Tea time!

Top chefs!

Caught these chefs taking a bit of fresh air on top of Belgrade's Hotel Slavija. Looks like they're looking at a sign advertising a cooking school, maybe the one they attend?

Winning smile, winning girl.

I was going to keep this for ABC Wednesday next week (W for 'winner'), but was too impatient. My husband took this photo on Tuesday inside Belgrade's City Hall where a reception was held for 21 year-old Ana Ivanovic, who won her first Grand Slam at the French Open this year at Roland Garros in Paris, making her the Number One women's tennis player in the world. When you consider that Serbia also currently has major players as Jelena Jankovic, Novak Djokovic, and Janko Tipsarevic, that's not bad for such a small country. In any case, bravo to Ana, who is not only a winner, but a gracious beauty.

ABC Wednesday. "U" is for "unusual"

Couldn't resist posting these two photos today, both taken about two months ago. Colorful, to say the least! The young girl has her hair attached with what at first looked like long stringbeans, while the lady, who appears to belong to one of Belgrade's many minority groups, fascinated me with her varigated patterns.

Who's there?

Often when walking Bibi we get barked at by dogs on the other side of fences, behind gates, and even from terraces. This little guy was very quiet, and had Bibi not stopped to sniff his nose, I wouldn't have noticed him....or her.

Truncated trees Part II

In an earlier post here http://yankee-in-belgrade.blogspot.com/2008/04/truncated-trees.html , I had shown how the city annually chops off its sycamore trees along some major boulevards, since their branches often interfere with trolley lines. This photo was taken about two weeks ago, and you can see the new little branches are coming right back! They grow very fast, and this same tree is sporting new tufts in addition to these.

Midriff bulge

This kiosk stands on Belgrade's walking street, Knez Mihailova, and as you see, is a source of information for concerts and other cultural activities. Its midriff expands over weeks and months (sound familiar for some of us?) and every now and then it undergoes tummy reduction "surgery" to restore its waistline. You'd be surprised how many layers are removed!