How do you like Belgrade?

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?

Христос се Роди, Сређан Божиђ!

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!

Sarajevo, Part II – the long awaited sequel

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

Where are we today?

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?