Roast lamb

I try not to think of little white wooly creatures when I devour, on a rare occasion, I must admit, roast lamb. My son took me out to dinner about a week ago at a new ethno restaurant called Pahuljica or "Snowflake." Ethno restaurants, serving home-cooked, 'like Grandma used to make' dishes, are the in thing now among Belgraders and tourists flock to them. This roast lamb was served over potatoes that had been roasted below the entire lamb, absorbing its juices. Added were a red roast pepper below, and a fresh green one on top. Sorry the photo is a little blurry....my hands wanted to hold the knife and fork, not the camera.....


If you read Serbian, check out the restaurant at this link. If you don't, have a look at the photos right here, but you won't see any food....I'll go back...

Have you hugged a turtle today?

Forget those warm, fuzzy teddy bears--turtles are the ones to hug, or so it seems from this photo. I took this photo with my zoom while enjoying an afternoon of reasonably and unseasonably warm weather at an outdoor cafe. I was too lazy to get up and see what was written on the turtle's shell when he ambled off in the other direction...out of zoom range.

SKYWATCH FRIDAY--GRAY SKY

Not a pretty sky in comparison with what most Skywatchers show, but although I changed this photo to black and white, it didn't look too much different in the color version. It was a chilly, gray morning...

To see other skies, probably in color, have a look at SKYWATCH

Drawing on the window....

The other day I had the opportunity to chaperone two kindergarten classes from our school on a trip to the Ethnographic Museum. The 25 or so kids were much better behaved than some of the older classes I'd helped before...and so, so interested in everything in the museum and out.

This little girl, the daughter of a colleague of mine, was happily puffing on the window and drawing little pictures....

ABC WEDNESDAY-R is for Reputation

It's not an obvious R here, but 'na dobrom glasu' means 'a good reputation,' and is also a play on words for this billboard advertising Fitosept, a throat lozenge. 'Dobrom glasu' can also mean 'a good voice,' which is what you will allegedly get back if you suck on Fitosept.

P.S. I don't think you have to balance the lozenge like that.... ;)

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'Opanci'

I photographed these opanci (OH-pahn-tsee) that I showed you once before here at the Ethnographic Museum downtown. Please click on that link, for there are some wonderful photographs of the exhibits inside. A museum not to miss should you come to Belgrade.

downtown.

Vasa Čarapić

Vasa Čarapić (VA-sah CHAR-ah-peech) was a famous general born in 1770 on Avala mountain, which overlooks Belgrade. He died in 1806 in the struggle for the liberation of Belgrade from the Turks. His last name comes from the word čarapa, which means 'sock,' and the story goes that one of his ancestors accidentally killed a Turk's dog, and in compensation, the Turk demanded a large sum of money. The money was collected and sent to him not in a sack, but in a sock.

I like how his cape is echoed by the roll-down blinds on the windows of the building behind him.

Does your last name mean anything?

Moving van

This car is a moving van wannabe, with the sofa balancing precariously on its roof, and a washing machine stuffed into the trunk. Watch out for those speed bumps!

All the news that's fit to print

"All the news that's fit to print" is the motto of the New York Times. Not sure if the text on this bra and panties was taken from the NYT, and I wonder if anyone will take the time to read it.

SKYWATCH FRIDAY--Pink streaks!

Days are getting shorter and shorter... Recently from inside a restaurant I snapped this photo of the trails two airplanes had left on the violet sky.

Join SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

Things go better with Coca-cola!

...or should that be "Cars go better with Coke?" I had to pull over at a distance from this parked car last weekend to take this photo. The gas and motor oil on the roof reminded me so much of how gasoline was sold during the sanctions imposed on then Yugoslavia, and the subsequent bombing of Serbia. Gasoline was more than scarce, and was smuggled in from neighboring countries. It was possible to buy it as you see it here, by the Coke bottle, but more often such bottles were advertisements that more of the brew was available in larger quantities. Gasoline 'merchants' even provided home delivery, and people kept large canisters on their porches. This made me very uneasy, since Serbs smoke big time, and often flick cigarette butts off their balconies...

This lady (yep, a lady's sitting in there) probably has a steady clientele. By the way, I hadn't realized gasoline is pretty much colorless, and it's the additives that give it color. Don't know what the red one is.