THE DINOSAURS ARE HERE TO STAY

 Kalemegdan is one of my favorite places to walk. Full of history, well laid-out, great views of the confluence of the rivers Sava and Danube.

A number of years back this exhibit of dinosaurs was set up. I thought it was temporary, but it has expanded.  Kalemegdan Park is becoming Jurassic Park. 

It was foggy...

 'twas foggy the other night....and a bit mysterious....

Looking up

 In general, at least for this Pollyanna, things seem to be looking up, at least here. Vaccines are being distributed, I got my first dose, so maybe there is a teeny-tiny glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

More literally, however, looking up is good. You find some beautiful facades, made easier to see now because the trees have no leaves yet. 

Click on photo to enlarge and see the detail.

THEME DAY--SMILES

 Flashback to Jaipur, India, 2010... Three friends and I caught the night train from Jodhpur to Jaipur one chilly December night. Do to a mess-up, the first-class tickets we had reserved were non-existent, for reasons we never figured out. It was either Unreserved General Class (below second class) or wait for morning and try to sort it out.

We decided to go Unreserved General Class, which is usually taken by workers and poorer folk traveling from city to city. We were a motley crew: one of us was tall and  thin with red hair, another plumper with long, curly blond hair, one with darker short hair, and me, who at the time had short brown hair and was the oldest.

We ran down the platform and boarded the train just in time. No one was in the first compartment except these six guys, who were whooping it up and at first didn't see us. Suddenly, one of them saw us, and the shocked expression on his face made the others turn in our direction. We smiled, and settled ourselves down in one open compartment with very hard wooden benches which would be our beds for that night. All six came and sat just across, commenting in their language I can only imagine what, and still grinning sweetly ear-to-ear.  One friend had some sweets and they gladly accepted.

Then I pulled out my camera, which brought more comments. Like most Indians, they seemed to want their photo taken for nothing more than just seeing themselves on the screen.  Of course I obliged, and they were thrilled.

What a sweet group they were.

See other Smiles on City Daily Photo Theme Day.

BLACK AND WHITE WEEKEND--in the tub

 My youngest grandson is a charmer and a ham.  Isn't it obvious?  :>) 

See more black and white photos  on BLACK AND WHITE WEEKEND

SKYWATCH--on top of Kalemegdan Park

 Just off to the right stands the statue of The Victor that I have shown you many times before.  The building visible is now the building for The Protection of Monuments in Kalemegdan.

See more skies on SKYWATCH.

ONE OF MANY GATES

Just a photo of one of the many smaller gates that lead down into lower Kalemegdan toward New Belgrade across the river.
 

POLITIKA NEWSPAPER

 Politika news paper is Belgrade's oldest newspaper. The company was founded in 1904 by journalist Vladislav Ribikar and its first edition appeared on January 25th of that year.  It is still in circulation today.

The bottom photo shows you the original building where you can just about (in this photo) make out the word Politika, and the top one, is the building to its left that houses the newspaper offices today.

TWO FLAGS

 The top flag is the Serbian flag, flying proudly over the Serbian Academy of Arts.  The one with the red star is the Yugoslav flag, which flew over Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1992 until the country broke apart. 

Somebody still wishes it were together, I guess!

MONDAY MURALS--Under the Old Railway Bridge

 Just what the title says.  The old railroad station is not being used anymore, but the bridge still carries trams and cars. The area below the bridge along the Sava River is becoming posh. The area is not finished, if such a thing ever is, but is a constant challenge for muralists.

See other murals on MONDAY MURALS.

SKYWATCH--waiting for the sunset

 A woman (a Muslim by her dress) stares across the river toward New Belgrade, awaiting the sunset.

See other skies on SKYWATCH.