I found this old picture of Oliver. He turned 5 yesterday and we celebrated with a party at school, a dinner at a restaurant of his choice, and he went to the store and chose a gift.
We reminisced on that frightful night 5 years ago when he was born. He was a month early and our doctor was not in town. Nadia ended up giving birth by emergency c-section in a clinic we never heard of before that night. We are thankful everything went well and today, we cherish our wonderful Ollie, who has brought so much joy, exasperation, and laughter to our lives. Happy Birthday Oliver. We love you!!!!!!!!
This weekend the second annual Serbia Open begins with qualifying rounds. It is an official stop on the ATP tour. The tourney is a minor event, as it is used by the players as a warm-up to the culmination of the clay court season, the French Open. It is squeezed between the Grand Slam French Open, and two Masters Series events, the clay court tourneys in Monte Carlo and Rome. Because of the length of the ATP season and the other events occuring simultaneously, most of the top players skip it.
I called it last year the Novak Djokovic Open and it looks to be the same this year. The field does look a bit stronger and there are a couple of players that could possibly stop Novak from defending his title. The top-ranked player after Novak is ATP #22 Tommy Robredo, who has eight clay court titles in his career. USA players John Isner and Sam Querrey will be playing. I guess those guys enjoyed Serbia for the Davis Cup and wanted to come back. There are a few other names I recognize in the draw, Ivo Karlovic, the 6-10 Croat, Frenchman Richard Gasquet, and of course, the other ranked Serbian players.
Djokovic this weekend is playing the quarterfinals in the Rome Masters series. He takes on Fernando Verdasco today. He is an emotional, inconsistent player so you never know how he will do. He is very patriotic and loves playing at home and will be tough to beat. I have a feeling however, that someone will manage to upset him and ruin the party. I hope to take the family to one of the games. We went to the finals last year but I’ll try for one of the earlier rounds this year. We shall see if Novak can do it again. I enjoyed watching big John Isner play in the Davis Cup last month and I hope he can advance far into the tourney.
Yesterday’s NBL final was an amazing game with a fantastic finish. Partizan won in overtime by 1 point on a 3/4 length shot with 0.6 seconds on the clock. It came immediately after a three pointer by their opponents, Cibona, from Zagreb, that put Cibona up by two. It was so unexpected that the television feed missed the shot. The only view we had live was that of the Partizan players celebrating and a highlight from a floor camera, blocked by a coach on the sideline, showing Kezman’s miracle heave. You have to see it to believe it. I embedded the youtube.com video of the final moments below. Even if you don’t understand Serbian, the clip will give you goosebumps!
The NBL is a regional league made up countries from Yugoslavia. It is also known as the Adriatic Basketball Association. Partizan was playing host, Cibona, in Zagreb, Croatia. Cibona was the top seed going into this weekend’s final four. They thought they had the game won, until literally, the last second. Partizan on May 7th and 9th plays in the EuroLeague Final Four in Paris. They are also play in the Serbian Superliga which is still going on. It is quite an accomplishment for a team with such a small payroll to get to the finals in the European Club Championship. They play giants Olimpiacos of Greece and possibly Barcelona. I am looking forward to watching the games. Quite a few Serbian friends will be attending the games in Paris.
Saturday we went on a hike to the beautiful Beljanica mountain. It is a 1,892 meter (6,200 feet) ridge located in the Resava region of Serbia. It is 152 kilometers (94 miles) south-east of Belgrade. A group of community members from the school made the 14 kilometer hike after touring the Resava Cava (Resavska Pećina). It was a fantastic day.
I was proud of both Owen and Oliver as they made it to the summit and back. It was a long day as we left the cave around 11:00 AM and didn’t return to the car until after 8:00 PM. We finished up the night at a country restaurant that had delicious, Resava River trout and homemade bread. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. The boys were tough, especially as we strained our way through a steep stand of Beech trees. The slope felt almost vertical, but they made it fun, playing with sticks and leaves on the way up and back down.
Looking Down At the Beech Forest From the Karst Peaks of Beljanica
Beljanica means “Little Whitey” in English and it refers to the limestone (karst) ridges you see in the photo above. Karst topography is formed with the dissolution of limestone rock. Many caves are formed in these areas and the large Resava cave is impressive. They have the cave well-lit for visitors and the kids loved it.
The Tour Guide Explains the Formation of the Cave in the Main Chamber
We didn’t see much wildlife. Only a small snake, some tadpoles, and plenty of wildflowers. The initial part of the hike went along by the river and through small farms with peasant sheep herders. I want to explore the region more. There is a nice waterfalls and monastery that we didn’t have time to see. It would also be good to spend a bit more time up at the top and walk along the ridges, as there were several to be explored. It was cold at the top and, we headed back without much time at the top. The boys slept soundly on the ride home.
Owen fills his water bottle from Martin in a well.
I would like to thank our fearless trip leader, Liberozo Sapundžić and his son Luka. They are two great men and had much patience with the group. Thanks for sharing your love of nature and expertise with the Serbian wilderness! I would love to return the favor in my beloved Upper Peninsula of Michigan someday.
For those non-native English speakers, it sounds like “frickin'” which is a non-vulgar way of saying a vulgar word. Frikom, is pronounced in Serbian, “freekohm” but we say it a bit differently when we ask the kids, “Who wants a Frikam ice cream?” and they all shout, “me!!!!” Hilarious.
Owen is shown above holding the sign of all the different kinds of ice cream bars the company produces. They are from Croatia and besides ice cream, they also produce frozen berries which we eat all winter. Delicious. There colorful tents are seen in many places in Belgrade. There are lots of ice cream/refreshments/cigarette/newspaper stands on the sidewalks of busy intersections. The one below is next to a Maxi supermarket in Senjak. Owen and Ollie’s favorite is the Classic King. I bought the Frikom version of the “orange sherbet push-ups” for the kids over the weekend. They are not quite the soft ice cream I remember eating as a child, but they are a pretty good orange/pineapple mix.
The Pushup of My Childhood
Frikom is also getting into the World Cup spirit. They produced a set of cards and a special “soccer” ice cream bar. The advertisement below features Nikola Žigić, the big 6 foot 8 inches striker on the Serbian national team. He regularly plays for Valencia in the Spanish league. He is Ollie’s favorite player because he is so tall.
Yesterday we ran the half marathon in the 23rd annual Belgrade Marathon. Nadia and I had the goal of completing the half marathon (21 kilometers which is about 13 miles) and we did it. We ran together and finished the route in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 55 seconds. Above is the International School of Belgrade group and we are proud to say that we all finished the race. It was nice to have a group of students, parents, and teachers to support each other and along with the 3,000 other people running the half and full marathons, it was an exhilrating and exhausting morning. Once again, the Belgrade sun was shining brightly which made the sights all the more beautiful. We set the goal last year after we tried the 22 nd Belgrade Marathon. The last 5 kilometers were tough on both of us. For me personally, I find that now the limiting factor in my speed and distance is my legs and joints, it used to be my lungs. That is age starting to kick in.
I don’t think we are going to step it up again next year and do the full marathon, but you never know… Oh, and by the way, as we were finishing the half marathon, we watched the Kenyans finishing the full marathon. Wow.
Yesterday Nadia attended a CPR / First Aid Training course so I had the three kids all day by myself. It was a wonderful day! It was a perfect, spring sunny day and so we went over to a nearby school for some tennis. They have a large cement wall and cement basketball court which is perfect for the kids. For the first time, Owen and Oliver played more against each other than against me. You can go to my flickr.com page to see the video.
Ollie Hits the Ball
The day included basketball in the back yard, purchasing fruits and veggies from Mali Kalenic, a speciality natural grocer, lunch at McDonald’s and then a nap and yard work before Mom got home.
Nadia and I are both excited for today’s Belgrade Marathon! Nadia has a bad cold however, and I hope she can make it. Weather conditions look perfect again today, so it should be a beautiful run through our beloved Belgrade! I’ll try to get some photos today of the run.
Ocean Samples the 2008 vintage Euphoria dessert wine
We visited the Aleksandrovic Winery last week in Vinca, a small village next to Topola in Serbia’s Šumadija region. I have not been to too many wineries here in Serbia yet, but the cellar had the nicest facilities I have seen yet. There is a beautiful wine bar on the ground floor connected to a huge restaurant, and in the basement, there are many large oak barrels. They obviously have invested lots of money into the place.
In their promotional video and website (link above), they tell the history of the winery. The name Vinca comes from the Latin (Roman) wine, as the area has been a place of wine production for a long time. The winery is located a the bottom of the Oplenac hill, the estate of King Petar I, that I blogged about yesterday. The Aleksandrovic family produced wine there for the Serbian royalty for over 100 years. The winery was abandoned after WWII during the communist era of Yugoslavia.
The family began developing the winery again about 10 years ago. The signature wine of the cellar is “Triumph” a mix of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and Riesling grape varieties. The recipe for that wine was sent from Canada by the former royal cellar master who fled the country after WWII. The winery is unusual in that they only most of their wines are mixtures of grape varieties. Even the few pure (100%) wines with only one variety, they give a name to them like Harizma (Chardonnay), Varijanta (Black Muscat), etc. The wines we sampled were all pretty good and we bought 4 bottles. They also have home delivery service which is an excellent idea. It takes about an hour to drive from Belgrade to the cellar.
Grape Vines of the Aleksandrovic Winery at the bottom of Oplenac
We are heading back to work today after a restful holiday. We stayed in Belgrade and just enjoyed time with the kids and doing things around the house. It is always great to reconnect with the kids and Nadia and I as a couple. School gets hectic for all of us and it is just nice to have the luxury of free time with each other.
Family Poses on King Petar's Grounds in Topola, Serbia
We did manage to make a couple of day trips into the Sumadija region of central Serbia. “Shoomadeeaaa” is located just south of Belgrade and it is a region of farms, rolling hills, pastures, orchards, and forests. It is the traditional heartland of Serbia at the time of Ottoman occupation. We visited a winery and toured the grounds of King Petar I, who was the King of “Yugoslavia” in the early 1900’s. He had a house near the village of Topola. It was a beautiful sunset and with perfect lighting and trees, we took some photos of the family.
Bill's Blog 