Meet Emran, my watch repair guy

I think that most of my friends in the US usually just buy another watch when theirs stops working. Here it's still possible to find all kinds of watch batteries and bands, and to get your watch repaired at a reasonable price. I've been taking my same watch to this little shop for years. The other day when I went in to have the band replaced, I found Emran instead of the usual older gentleman. Emran is his apprentice, and has now "graduated" to working alone. This shop is about as wide as a man's armspread, and just barely deeper. The left wall, which I couldn't get in the photo, is covered with all kinds of watch bands and spare part drawers. Emran was able to insert the little fasteners in my band without the use of the eyepiece over one eye that his boss uses. If you enlarge the photo, you can see it under the green lamp.

ABC Wednesday--"C" is for "Cute and Curled Up in a Coil"

While I was walking downtown the other day, I came across this worker reading the newspaper during his morning break. He happily agreed to let me take his photo of him "curled up chillin' inside a coil." I forgot to ask him, but I think the coils are for electrical insulation. Anybody know for sure?

Amusement Park Colors

It's been so hot here. People cool off at some of the beaches on several of Belgrade's river islands, and then perhaps enjoy an evening stroll along the river banks. In New Belgrade there's an area where there are several rides and activities children can enjoy in the cool of the evening. Here's a colorful shot of a couple of them for you---that's a bouncing castle in the background.

Back to Belgrade with plums!

It's plum season on the outdoor markets here now. I photographed these beauties yesterday when we took a little excursion outside of town. (Yes, I picked some.....) In Serbian plums are called šlive (SCHLEE-vay) and in addition to eating them fresh, city women make plum jam, plum dumplings, and plum pies out of them. Village women make the same, while their husbands make something they prefer: šlivovica (SCHLEE-vo-veet-sa), a brandy whose alcohol content varies between 25 and 70%. It's interesting that the Serbian word for 'plum' is related to the Latin līvidus, or “bluish, bruise-colored,” from which we get livid, a word synonomous with our black-and-blue when used to describe the discoloration caused by a bruise. Pretty color anyway!

Radovan's last day in Greece

We all left Corfu early one morning to arrive by sunset in Kalambaka, a small town on the plain of Thessaly. This area is known as Meteora, or "suspended rocks," for here on top of sandstone pinnacles, some of which rise 1800 feet (550 meters), are the remaining six Greek Orthodox monasteries, built from the 11th to 14th centuries. At the end of the 12th century, an asetic community of monks flocked to Meteora, and at the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire's 800-year reign over northern Greece was being increasingly threatened by Turkish raiders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly. Building the monasteries required great skill to say the least, for the stones had to be hoisted up the steep walls by rope baskets...in fact, that's the way the monks were pulled up, too. I can only wonder who the first brave monk was, since he had no one to pull him up... For more info, please refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteora Early the next morning before starting back to Serbia, we took Radovan's photo in front of some of the pinnacles. By the way, five of the remaining monasteries are inhabited by monks, and the other by nuns.
Finally we made it back to Serbia, and here is Radovan with his daughter and son-in-law in their village in Šumadija. Radovan had many tales to tell.... (By the way, the background here as well as the one where Radovan was photographed on his first day with us are from a collection of Serbian naive paintings that my husband and I have. "Naive" artists are those who have had no formal schooling.) Check out this site for photos of some Serbian naive paintings: http://homepage.mac.com/melissaenderle/Serbia/Kovacia/kovacia.html

Radovan looks at Albania

From a small town just above Kalami where we stayed in Corfu, Radovan looks across the Ionian Sea at Albania. You can see it is very close. Bibi's cell phone actually functioned through an Albanian provider. Radovan regrets that his trip is drawing to an end, but he's anxious to get back to Serbia.

Theme Day--Metal

One evening we came across this shop that sold all kinds of copper articles, from coffee grinders to incense burners. I jacked up the ISO on my camera, but still had barely enough light to shoot (Where was my tripod....?)

Radovan at the Canal d'amour

No, it's not Skywatch Friday, but I had to post this photo today, since Radovan is winding down his trip. It is a view of a cliff overlooking the Canal d'amour near Sidari in northern Corfu just before sunset. Here you can see Radovan looking longingly at the Canal d'amour, for it is said that any couple who can swim through (and presumably back!) the canal will stay together forever. Radovan, whose wife has passed on many years ago, was feeling a bit nostalgic and lonely until a local girl below caught his eye. No time for dallying though, since we had to leave Corfu the next day.

ABC Wednesday: Radovan on Vido Island, site of Blue Grave

Today "B" is for "Blue Grave," as explained further on. Here Radovan is standing in front of the Serbian Mausoleum on Vido Island, just off the coast of Corfu Town. During WWI, Corfu served as a refuge for the Serbian army that retreated there across Montenegro and Albania from Serbia which was occupied by the Austrians and Bulgarians. As a result of their long march, a large number of Serbian soldiers died from exhaustion, food shortage, and different diseases. More than 5000 of them were buried at sea (known as the Blue Grave or Plava Grobnica) near the island of Vido. A monument of thanks to the Greek nation was erected on Vido island by the grateful Serbs in the 1930s. The Greeks were not the only ones to aid the Serbs during WWI on Corfu. The French and British also came to their aid, treating the ill and wounded in their hospitals and establishing schools. Behind Radovan you can see a poster in French and two in English. This photo was taken in the Serbian House, which houses the Serbian Consulate and is also a museum about the Serbs' WWI experience on Corfu.

Radovan walks Corfu's streets

Since many of Corfu City's streets are so narrow and people live in apartments, there's limited space for drying laundry as you can see from this photo. Those living on higher floors have come up with a very colorful and practical arrangement!

And for those living on the ground floor, you can always string a line along your wall and make sure you have watchdogs on the alert!

Radovan at Lawrence Durrell's villa

We all stayed in Kalami on the island of Corfu, just across from the White House villa, as it is called where the British writer Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990) lived for several years and wrote Prospero's Cell. Neither I nor Radovan have read this book, but we did read his brother Gerald Durrell's entertaining account of the family's life on Corfu entitled My Family and Other Animals. That's the White House in the background. One day we drove into Corfu City, the island's largest town. It's a previously fortified city with a labyrinth of cobblestone streets, some too narrow for vehicular traffic. There is an attractive esplanade between the town and the citadel called "Liston," which is behind Radovan here, where upscale restaurants and European style bistros abound. The Liston was built by the French to resemble the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, but the name was given by the British, as during their rule only nobility could sit there and you needed to be "on a list" to stroll or be seated there. Radovan, being a village guy, was happy this is no longer a stipulation for visiting.