We had a nice weekend with plenty of sunshine. Oliver is shown above at our school’s Welcome Back Picnic. After the picnic, we attended a pool party and the kids really enjoyed their friends and the swimming. There is something about the different mediums of water and air that kids just can’t get enough of. For adults, like me, I prefer about 10 minutes in the pool to refresh myself, but the kids can stay in a pool all day long. We had a lot of laughs and it was pleasurable watching them have so much fun! Thanks to Krina for the great photos.
We dropped off Ocean yesterday at her school for the first day of classes. Ocean is attending a local international nursery school in the neighborhood of the school Nadia and I work at. Unfortunately, she doesn’t make the age cut-off for our school for the Pre-Kinder program. It would have been nice for her to go to our school, but this is a pretty good alternative.
They have rented a beautiful “villa” in the neighborhood of Senjak, about 500 meters from our school. As you can see from the photos, it is really nice and she will enjoy it. Ocean will only be going 3 days per week. She was so excited and didn’t cry when Nadia left, so i guess the whole thing was a success. She has been watching her brothers go to school, so yesterday was finally her turn.
Another school year started Monday, our fourth in Belgrade. The boys were excited and I can’t believe how fast they are growing up. Owen is in third grade and Oliver is in first grade. Ocean starts next week at the International Nursery School of Belgrade.
Kosutnjak Pool
This week has been extremely hot, with temperatures even reaching 40C. We went to the pool on Tuesday and it was totally packed. I think that is what is so unusual about the public pool. In the US, public pools are not as popular as they are here as most people have their own pools in their homes. It is also nice to see a city of generally fit people comfortable with their bodies. Belgraders walk a lot and do not eat excessively and it sure show.
We also did an updated version of the “first day of school” photos my parents used to take of me and my brothers. We were always leaning up against the door frame next to the fridge in our kitchen. Owen and Oliver are shown below in the same kind of pose we did when we were kids.
Sunday we had a perfect summer day in the “dog days” of August. The weather has been very hot and so we began the day with a refreshing swim at the Kosutnjak Public Pool. We then drove out to the village of Beli Potok, located on the slopes of Mount Avala, just south of Belgrade. We ate at the Stari Majdan (Old Mine) restaurant. As you can see, they provided plenty of food. The restaurant is in an old quarry and is oddly shaped. The compound has two artificial turf tennis courts as a bonus. We played a set after lunch. The views overlooking Šumadija, the hilly, forested region were spectacular. I recommend a visit, especially if you are visiting Avala.
Stari Majdan Came Through with a Delicious Lunch
On the way home we bought a ripe watermelon (lubenica) and played volleyball with the kids in the back yard. Nothing better than a juicy watermelon on a plastic chair in the middle of the yard on a super hot day. It was the last day of summer holidays so we put the kids to bed a bit earlier than usual. It is soothing to listen to the crickets in the evening from the window of our balcony. Ah, the days of summer…
Ocean notices the plums
Also loved the huge vats of šliva (plums) they had on display at the restaurant. The plums are used to make the Serbian national drink, šlivavica, a distilled alcoholic beverage made from plums. Distilled beverages from a variety of fruits are very popular in the Balkans and are called rakijas in general. My favorites are the rakijas flavored with honey and walnuts. I wonder how many bottles they can get from one of these vats.
I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of having two big rivers in Belgrade. I took the photo above with the panorama function of my camera. We took the new teachers on a boat cruise. This area is called “usce” and it means “confluence” in Serbian. This is where the Danube (Dunav) and Sava Rivers meet here in Belgrade. Near that spot, there is a large hill where the city was first settled. On the hill is the fort of Kalamegdan. From the fort to the right of the photo, the city spreads down the banks.It would be fun to have a boat to explore around a bit.
Oliver in Action at The Novak Tennis Centar
We played at the Novak Tennis Centar near the river. Nadia and I enjoyed playing despite having to control three kids. Oliver was running around with the clay court grooming equipment, etc. We need to find a tennis court that has a playground close by.
The river has many restaurants, bars, and clubs. Below is a typical example of a good fish restaurant near to where our boat docked.
We’ve been very busy getting ready for the first day of school tomorrow.
Ocean is shown in front of a statue of Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis star and current world’s number one men’s tennis player. He got the statue from the Master’s Championship in Beijing last year. It is in the style of the terracotta warriors from the famous archeological site.
We visited the Novak Tennis Center in downtown Belgrade last night. The family with the help of the city has created a tennis center that can host an ATP tourney as well as become a tennis academy. We looked around and will book a court for later this week. They had some reasonable prices and the club seemed very nice. I’ll do a blog post when we play.
Cashing in on his fame - Novak Tennis Center Pro Shop
Djokovic won the Roger’s Cup last night in Montreal, Canada. He raised his record to an amazing 53-1 this year. That is a 98% winning percentage and he is on pace to beat the best single season record ever of 82-3 set by John McEnroe. His 43 consecutive wins to start the season was the most since the ATP era began in 1990. Only Ivan Lendl (44) and Guillermo Vilas (46) have had longer streaks. Federer’s longest streak was 41 and Nadal’s was 32 wins.
The Roger’s Cup victory was his fifth “Master’s” series, also a record in a single season. The Master’s series are tournaments that all the top-ranked players must play and are worth more points and money on the tour. Djokovic skipped the Master’s tourney in Monte Carlo because of a knee injury, otherwise he probably would have had six. He is playing in the Cincinati Masters this week. Besides the Master’s wins, he also won two majors, the Australian and Wimbledon. The US Open begins at the end of this month. Novak also has accumulated almost 8 million dollars in prize money this year and is heading towards the record of Rafael Nadal, who won over 10 million in one season.
I don’t think that his season is getting enough attention. I hope he can finish out the season undefeated, it would be a remarkable feat.
Last night we visited Lido Beach in Zemun. It is located on the northern tip of “Great War Island” (Veliko – big Ratno – war Ostrvo – island). The island is situated at the spot where the Danube River (Dunav in Serbian) splits into its tributary, the Sava River. The island gets its name from the numerous armies that use the island as a launching pad for attacks on the city. The Turks, Serbs, and Austro-Hungarians all used it and the Serbian Army still has a presence on the island today.
In the summer, the city of Belgrade, with the help from the Serbian army, they make a pontoon bridge from the island to the suburb of Zemun. I wanted to check it out so we took the family over last night. There is a small beach on the northern point of the island, called “Lido Beach,” named after the Lido sandbar in Venice, Italy. Of course it was a body of water, so I had to jump in. The kids took off their shoes and splashed in the water a bit. Ocean loved the sand. We will probably head back there sometime. It is much like Ada Ciganlija, but the currents are a bit faster. The island is also a big bird sanctuary so I should try to do some birdwatching.
The View from Lido Beach at Sunset
There have been numerous attempts to develop the island. The Danube occasionally floods it in the spring, which is good for stopping people from putting hotels on it! It is a large green area in the city as you can see from the ariel view. It is supposed to be quite popular swimming beach and they do have a life guard, a couple of restaurants, and two volleyball nets.
Earlier this week Belgrade experienced a heat wave. We headed down to “Sport Island,” or Ada Ciganlija as it is named to go for a bike ride and swim. Oliver made the 8 kilometer+ loop around the lake. There were lots of other people there, too. The heat wave broke on Tuesday and today, Wednesday, it was just perfect!
I’ve been busy with getting ready for the upcoming school year. The New Teacher Orientation begins at the school tomorrow. Nadia and the kids are keeping busy with heading over to the Kosutnjak Pool, playing tennis, and enjoying our garden.
The above video was taken earlier this week before the start of the Partizan versus Genk (Belgium) soccer game. We live in Dedinje and strangely, the two big soccer clubs in Belgrade, Partizan and Red Star, both have their stadiums in the neighborhood, very close to one another. We can hear the singing and chanting of the fans. Last week there were two European Club Championship games. The first was Partizan in a qualifying match for the Champions League. They outplayed the visiting Genk team, but because a defender barely touched the ball with his forearm in the penalty box, Genk got a penalty to tie the game and they won on aggregate goals. The touch didn’t affect play, but the result of the penalty was Partizan was knocked out of the Champions League. That is what I dislike about soccer. Despite being the better team, because of a bad luck, Partizan lost on a penalty that was so slight, but the penalty for it was a goal for the other team.
In the second match of the week. my club Red Star defeated Ventspils of Latvia, 7-1. Red Star moved on to the next round of the Europa League, which is the level just below the Champions League. Both games were completely sold out here in Belgrade. This would not have happened in either Belgium or Latvia and it shows the passion and dedication of the Belgrade fans for sports.
I am still annoyed that the Serbian League doesn’t get its act together and form a regional league like they do for basketball. The current league has the two big clubs, Partizan and Red Star, and one other team from Novi Sad that have a chance to win the league. With Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Bosnia having two teams each, it would be so much more competitive.
Red Star now plays Rennais from the French League in the next round. They have to fight through several rounds even to get to the start of the competition, so I don’t have my hopes up. We’ll see how they do against the French side. They looked great against the Latvian side and i am hoping with the Russian gas company (Gazprom) sponsoring the team and new coach, that Red Star can finally overtake Partizan in the league and continue through the Europa Cup.
I am finally back from my trip to the USA. It was great to see my family (Dad, brothers, aunts, uncles, and nephews) and get a chance to help around the house a bit. But 10 days away from my nuclear family was a bit too much. I learned a lot in the Vermont course and it will make me a better school leader.
Above is a photo of Owen. We spent my last day before I left at the BioCenter Guembe. It was a perfect day and I just can’t get over how fast the kids are growing. Owen looks like a “dude” now.
On a side note, while I was waiting in Miami for the night flight to Bolivia, across the street from the hotel was a Venezuelan restaurant/bar. I went over for the afternoon to enjoy an arepa and a chicha. Best of all, I met the Polar Beer Distributor who was there preparing for the big Venezuela versus Paraguay Copa America semifinal game. We drank a few beers and he gave me some Polar soccer souvenirs to give to my kids. I lived a long time in Venezuela and have fond memories of my time there. It was good to reconnect with the country.
I end this post with a photo of the incredible sunset I experienced in Michigan. It was just after a thunderstorm and it was the brightest orange I’ve ever seen. Absolutely breath-taking and this photo is untouched by photoshop!
Bill's Blog 
