Family Journal: Saturday September 20, 2008 “Kalenić pijaca

Saturday morning I awoke early and went for a run at Ada Ciganlija (Sport Island). Mike Harvey invited me to come down as a running group meets there every Saturday. Mike works for the US Aid mission here that is helping Serbia go forward from communism and the war into the EU and a better life for all its citizens. We ran the loop around the lake which is about 7 kilometers (4 miles) I liked running with others and not having a jogging stroller and I hope to get the chance to do it more often. Thanks to Nadia for watching the kids and giving me a bit of free time!

We then headed off for shopping down town. We first went to the US Embassy Commissary. The commissary is a store on the second floor of the embassy that carries US products that you can’t get in Serbia. They only accept US dollars, but there is no sales tax (18% in Serbia) which makes it much cheaper than in the stores in Belgrade. We bought waffles, ziploc bags, cream of tartar, etc

The Kralovec family savors its processed food goodies outside the Embassy.

We next went to the Kalenić pijaca located near the St. Sava’s cathedral. “Pijaca” is the Serb word for market and the Kalenić is the largest open air market in the city. Laurence Mitchell in the Bradt guide book describes it, “the spirit of the Serbian countryside transposed to the city.” There are hundreds of stalls with fruits and vegetables, manned by really old ladies in the long dresses and head scarves. They look like the old Italian women in my hometown of Caspian that we used to see in church when I was growing up. It is a very nice atmosphere and beside produce, there are flowers, homemade pasta, meat, fresh ground coffee, etc. Nadia was inspired to make a potato and leek soup and hummus. We had lunch at a nearby Хлеб shop.

We finished up our adventure at a nice park near the Slavija circle, which is the epicenter of traffic in Belgrade. Ocean went down the slide by her self and the boys had much needed running around time. Saturday evening was spent enjoying a delicious meal by Nadia and watching parts of Will Farrell’s “Blades of Glory,” one of my all-time favorite movies.