November 23, 2008 – Bill's Blog

The New Ride “Edelweiss”

November 23, 2008November 23, 2008billkralovec

We drove quite a bit this weekend with our car. Great to have some freedom! The car is a sweet 1996 Honda Odyssey that we bought from the Swiss Ambassador, hence the name “Edelweiss”. It has an Edelweiss sticker on the front passenger side hood and I think we’ll keep it.

The car is in excellent condition as the Swiss take good care of their cars. We are happy with the space and comfort of the car. With three kids, we needed something that we can all fit in. We hope it is a good car for us. It cost $6,800 and cars are generally more expensive in Europe than in the USA.

A nice aspect of working at ISB is we get diplomatic plates and status. The “CD” sticker indicates Corps Diplomatic and the 144 M on the black and yellow plates indicate we are part of the USA mission. The US Embassy has been very nice to us here. They allow us to shop in their commissary, invite us to many functions, and we get the diplomatic plates.

Today Nadia and I are not feeling that great, Nadia worse than me. Tough to be sick with kids. All I feel like doing tonight is a bit of school work, read a book, and go to bed. We have to feed, bathe, and put the kids to bed however. We ate lunch in Zemun, I had a great fresh water river fish while Ocean at a lot of pasta. There was a light dusting of snow that collected on windows of cars and so I taught the boys how to make a snow ball. We also went to Delta City Mall to by a GPS so I can figure out where to go. Belgrade is a big city and we need it.

Ready for another week of work! Happy that basketball is starting!

Genex Tower

November 23, 2008November 23, 2008billkralovec

This cool looking building is one of the landmarks we use to find our way around New Belgrade. I took this photo from the highway entering Belgrade from the airport. We call it the “Zepter” building because of the advertising sign on the left, but it is actually called the Genex Tower. The official name is “Western City Gate” and it is the first thing one notices upon entry to the city.

Genex was a state-owned company dealing in foreign trade and tourism. They also built the Intercontinental Hotel in Belgrade and a hotel in Kaponik, a ski resort in southern Serbia. The tower was completed in 1980, the last year of Tito’s rule in Communist Yugoslavia. On the left side are 30 floors of residential apartments and on the right side are 26 floors of offices. The bridge and tower between the two buildings serves as a restaurant which we will have to eat in. It is not one of the projects featured on their web site however. They have done many engineering projects in Serbia and eastern Europe.

While researching the building, I learned that it is designed in the architectural style called Brutilism. The name comes from the French and refers to raw concrete. The style flourished in the 1950’s – 1970’s. Critics think that it is alien and out of touch with the local landscape and culture. It is the dominate architectural style of New Belgrade. Brutilism was also associated with socialist, Utopian ideals, hence the use here.

I like the look. This is my first time in Eastern Europe and I have never seen a place that looks like New Belgrade before. After WWII, the communists drained the swamps on the other side of the river and built many Brutalist buildings. Over half a million people now live in New Belgrade. I like going over because it is spread out and feels more like the USA with wide streets. I want to learn more about New Belgrade and the buildings and you will see future posts on the subject.

Underneath the Towers (courtesy of Wikicommons)

Family Journal: November 22, 2008 – Shopping

November 23, 2008November 23, 2008billkralovec

It was a shopping Saturday as we ventured out in our new car yesterday. Despite the cold weather, we were warm and comfortable in our car, a 1996 Honda Odyssey. After 4 months of taxis and buses, it was a welcome change and instilled us with a sense of freedom. We drove around Belgrade Saturday morning and eventually ended up at the US Embassy Commissary. Nadia picked up her order of turkey, 2 hams, yams, and cranberries. She also bought three baskets full of that good old American processed “food” that we can’t live without. Lucky Charms, Tostitos, fruit roll-ups, and Mac & Chees. Long shelf lives, packed with preservatives, and a good helping of corn syrup…

We then drove to the largest supermarket in Belgrade, Tiempo. It is like a Sam’s Club or one of those big warehouse bulk shopping places in the US. As you can see from above, we stocked up on everything. We finished our shopping day by going to Galerija Podova and buying a carpet for our basement. We have transformed a room in the basement as a guest room. We are anticipating more visitors over the holidays and want to make it nice for them. It also gives us another room for the kids to play in.

Nadia’s ear was bothering her and she is still battling a cold. She went to the clinic last night while I watched the kids. Went to bed early.