I get asked this question a lot. A LOT. I should be prepared by now. But this is a hard question to answer. I don't feel the same way when someone asks me what I think of New York. "It's filthy. And it smells like urine." But Belgrade? This is more complex. Except for college, … Continue reading How do you like Belgrade?
Image source: Pinterest No blog post last week, but I promise not to lapse back into my non-communicative ways. In fact, I was exploring Belgrade on your behalf. I spent the evening at the opera. It was a spur of the moment decision. I was passing the National Theater when blood red banners with 'Turandot' … Continue reading Induction of a novitiate
A bowl of wheat grass, a tray of dried fruits, and the badnjak, sure signs of Christmas in Serbia! Image credit: https://voyages.ideoz.fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Srecan-Bozic.jpg Fireworks began weeks ago to mark 'Western Christmas' and 'Western New Year', but most Eastern Orthodox Churches follow the old Julian calendar, so today is Christmas in Serbia! For the last month, our … Continue reading Христос се Роди, Сређан Божиђ!
The view from the Jahorina. Yugoslavia hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics on the hills surrounding Sarajevo. Josh and Ken spent their first full day in Sarajevo out of Sarajevo. Sarajevo is in Ken's Area of Responsibility and he's been here several times since May 2022. If Belgrade is urban-gritty, he said, Sarajevo is urban-fairytale. Ken … Continue reading Sarajevo, Part II – the long awaited sequel
Coppersmiths and caravanserais... Two platters of šerba, kahva, pink lokum, and šečer. Please nibble the sugar as you drink the coffee, don't dissolve it in your coffee... The Ashkenazi synagogue juxtaposed with the communist-era apartment building... The pseudo-Moorish library / town hall, built in 1896, then rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original... A bridge … Continue reading Where are we today?
The night of our 23rd anniversary, I leaned very close to Ken and whispered..., You tried to kill me. Ken had been plotting something for the past several weeks, but I had no idea it involved attempted homicide. He surprised me one day and told me that we were taking a trip -- just the … Continue reading Kismet and Kinetosis
We didn't join any tours in Istria, though there were plenty to choose from. During the month of October, you can join a tour to hunt truffles, harvest chestnuts, catch fish, press olive oil, or spend all day tasting wine. None of these had broad enough appeal for our family. Instead, I booked a half-day … Continue reading If you’re going to eat, EatIstria!
The best view of the amphitheater is one I cannot get. But even with my limited perspective, I can show you around a little bit. Slightly different stories have been circulated regarding the construction of the amphitheater. It was erected by the Romans between 27 BC and 68 AD.It was built by Charlemagne during in … Continue reading The Other Colosseum – Part II
Just after visiting the beautiful Adriatic coast, things went south. I missed an internet work meeting because Zoom blocked my call, I yelled at my kids for being more interested in their phones than the world around them, it took half an hour to get the Pula parking app to load, the landlord at the … Continue reading The Other Colosseum
The guidebooks say that three days in Rovinj is plenty, maybe more than plenty. They recommend a daytrip. So that's what we did. Kathleen picked Svetvinčenat (Saint Vincent), a tiny medieval town about 20 minutes east of Rovinj. There's not much to see except the castle Morosini-Grimaldi. But the castle had an escape room. An … Continue reading Escape to the Castle
There, and Pack Again 
