ABC Wednesday--'A' is for 'Almost alike'

These windows reminded me of those 'Can you find ten differences?' drawings you sometimes see in newspapers.
Join ABC WEDNESDAY for a lot of fun.

Wheat berry with whipped cream....

My apologies to the reader whose email I have most likely accidentally deleted. He or she asked me for a photo of a ground chestnut with whipped cream sweet. I never eat that, so I am hoping that he/she will be happy with today's photo. It is wheat berry with whipped cream, accompanied by a cappuccino. I've shown you wheat berry (in Serbian 'Žito,' pronounced 'ZHEE-to) sprouted before, and once before that. Žito is a healthy treat, with only a little sugar (okay, there's the whipped cream...), nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground walnuts.

Winter foods

This is a typical scene on a Belgrade market in the winter. Here you see garlic and parsnips in front of some homemade products. From left to right there are pickled hot peppers, tomato sauce, horseradish in various sizes, and figs and ajvar, a spread made of ground roasted red peppers, garlic, and eggplant. The garlic is marked 20 dinars (about 30 cents) a kilo (roughly two pounds.) NOTE: Oops. A goof on my part--the garlic is 20 dinars a piece, not a kilo. I didn't read the fine print.... Still not a bad price!

Oilcloth

Oilcloth is heavy cotton or linen cloth with a linseed oil coating to make it waterproof. Oilcloth has long been a favorite of mine for kitchen tables. I was very pleased when I first moved here in the 70's that it was easy to find on any market, and it still is. There's always quite a variety of patterns and colors to choose from.

Which one do you like?

Purple chessmen

I've shown you chessplayers once or twice before like on the street, but these gentlemen in Kalemegdan Park are true enthusiasts. Check out the little cushion under the man in beige pants' derriere (Serbs have a mortal fear of catching cold), and it appears that the man with the bandaged hand is particularly concerned about the safety of his bag that he has draped over his arm.

And dig those purple chess pieces....

River deep and rowboat high

Apologies to Phil Spector for paraphrasing his 1966 hit by Ike and Tina Turner, but that's just what came to mind when I saw how high the Sava River was yesterday. All that snow we'd had melted and so, here's the result.

Join SKYWATCH!

The yappy dog in the window

While walking on the street below with my four-legged companion, this little guy (or gal, not sure) barked its head off. It was fairly early on a Sunday morning, so I'm sure his/her barking wasn't appreciated...

ABC Wednesday "Z" is for "zima"

"Zima" (ZEE-ma) means "winter," and it's not over yet! I came across these beautifully embroidered gloves last Sunday in Kalemegdan Park where there are lots of souvenir sellers. It was then a bit warmer and sunny, but as they say here when it's sunny and sort of warm in the winter, "The sun has teeth."

I like the darker gloves with the purple flowers. Which pair would you choose?

Join ABC WEDNESDAY!

And now, by special request....

In December I received an email request from a father in California, whose daughter is currently living and working in Belgrade. He and his wife wanted a few photos of Kapetan Mišina (KAH-pay-tahn MEE-shee-na) street where she lives, so California Parents, this is for you!

Ugly art

I am not sure I should have entitled this post like I did, since undoubtedly this artwork is to someone's taste...but not to mine. Here you can choose your sign of the zodiac, and even a clock in the shape of Serbia, and of course there's that blazing orange canvas behind the artist....

See anything you like?

Pastel pink

Just peeking down a passageway...saw these pastel pink squares and rectangles.