Serbs are BIG meat eaters. This window display shows you several kinds of dried and smoked meats, along with a small selection of fresh meat below. The stuff hanging in the plastic bag is a kind of shredded 'cracklings', or 'cvartci" (CHVART-see) or fried pork rinds. You can buy them in small pieces or shredded, the latter being called 'duvan cvarci" (DOO-van CHVART-see) or 'tobacco cracklings', since the shredded meat resembles shredded tobacco.
These little pins, or 'znacke' (ZNACH-kay), used to be so popular to collect. When I first came here in 1977, you could find people selling them or trading them on the street. I came across a fellow selling these Tito-era pins, along with all kinds of others, on Knez Mihailova, Belgrade's pedestrian street. I asked him if I could take a photo, and he said, "Okay, as long as you're not an inspector," which of course I was not. Many street vendors don't pay the tax to have a stand and often just conveniently pack up and disappear when they see or are told an inspector is coming.
Yesterday a Gay Pride parade was held in Belgrade. A few years back, things turned very nasty, with several participants being beaten up by indignant citizens (a euphemism I'm using for 'huligani' or hooligans, as they're called here.) Last year when members of the Gay Pride movement wanted to march, they were told that the police could not ensure their safety...lame excuse. This year, the City of Belgrade made every effort for a peaceful parade to take place, with the aim to tell the world that all minorities are respected here, and assigned around 5000 police to make sure things went smoothly. The parade itself did go smoothly. However, since in every society there are people who are just waiting for any excuse to smash windows, overturn garbage bins, create general unrest, and provoke the police into using tear gas, some such incidents did take place. In the above photo you see part of a cordon of special police who have blocked off two main streets to vehicle traffic. (taken from my window)
The shadow of the wooden footbridge over Kalemegdan's tennis courts, a photoblogger's shadow, and that of her little dog's head.
If there's anything worse than returning to your car and finding a ticket, it's finding two tickets. Downtown Belgrade is divided into several parking zones. If you live in one, you can pay a monthly fee to park for unlimited hours. Otherwise, you need to pay per hour. Zones are one hour, two hours, or three hours. If you don't pay, apparently like this Deux Chevaux owner didn't, you'll find a parking ticket or two...or three....tucked under your windshield wiper... 
Stefan Lazarević (1374 – 19 July 1427) was ruler of the Serbian Despotate between 1389 and 1427. He was the son and heir to Prince Lazar, who died at the Battle of Kosovo against the Turks in 1389. Despot Stefan was a poet and a moderniser and his reign and personal literary works are sometimes associated with early signs of the Renaissance in Serbian lands, and he is credited with having introduced knightly tournaments, modern battle tactics, and firearms to Serbia. The title 'despot' has the meaning of 'Byzantine prince and ruler,' and does not carry the negative connotation it has in English.
This statue to him stands in Kalemegdan Park.
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So, can you tell me the story behind these two gold slippers tossed aside next to this tree, with a chain that leads to....?
Sometimes you look through your lens and something or somebody's staring right back at you. In this collage you see (and they see you!) a billy goat, a woman looking out her window, Prince Michael as wall art, and a praying mantis....not sure where her mate is, but I think he might not be around anymore....
This elderly lady was walking in Tasmajdan Park last Sunday and I was intrigued by her shoes. They seem to have heels and soles which are atypical of what older ladies usually wear; they looked quite stylish to me.
Last Saturday I joined a group of teachers and students from the school where I work on a hike near Valjevo, a town about an hour and a half south of Belgrade. We hiked for twelve kilometers through the woods, over hill and dale, and finally reached an ethno house where we were served local specialties, including homemade cranberry juice as you see above. Hiking a little further brought us to the Celija (CHEL-lee-ya) convent, located on the bank of the River Gradac, and its new church, seen above, is nearly completed. The nun is hauling water to a nearby garden. According to one legend, King Dragutin (1276-1282) was its benefactor, but others say it was built in the late 14th or 15th century at the time of King Stefan Lazarevic.
Had lunch on a houseboat (next to this one) the other Sunday and snapped this photo of the main support for the new bridge that will connect two distant areas of Belgrade. I showed you the access road a few weeks ago.
