Category: Family Journal

An archive of our family’s daily life.

Kralovecs Visit Trieste, Italy

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Nadia with the Kids on the Seaside

After leaving Slovenija, we stopped for the night in Trieste, Italy. It was our first time to Italy and we wanted to see a bit of the Adriatic before heading back to Belgrade. We had a really nice time at the Hotel Riviera Maximillian.  The city itself was nice, although we spent most of the time near our hotel which was outside of town. The Hotel is a good spot. There is a beautiful walk along the coast from the hotel to several restaurants and Maximillian’s Villa.  One downside is Italy is expensive compared to Belgrade and Slovenija.

The Italians were a bit offended when I spoke Spanish to them. I thought they would appreciate the fellow Romantic language, but they all insisted on English. Nadia heard that they do not want to be compared with the Spanish and look down upon them. It was interesting to learn about the city’s history around World War II. At the end of the war, the city and surrounding area was made a “free state” and US troops came in a occupied the city while it was decided who would get it.  Yugoslavia got the southern part of the free state and Italy received the city and its environs. The US troops after World War II, were stationed in his villa near our hotel for almost 10 years.

Trieste for a long time was the main port for the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and the Hapsburg Maximillian spent much time designing the villa located near our hotel. Max left Trieste to claim the throne of Mexico. The Hapsburgs were trying to spread their monarchy (mafia) to the New World. Max was eventually captured by the Republican forces and executed.

Today the city is still a crossroads of Slavic (Slovenians), German (Austrians), and the majority Italians. I wouldn’t go back because there are better places to see in Italy, but it was so close and a new country, we decided to visit. We didn’t see the plaza downtown and some of the historic buildings.

Below is a picture of our hotel that I took from Max’s Villa. You can see the concrete pillar which is the elevator of the hotel leading down to their beach.

Skiing Trip to Kranjska Gora, Slovenija

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We had a fantastic two days of skiing at the Kranjska Gora Ski Center in Slovenija. It was the perfect place for beginners with short lines, several intermediate runs, and an excellent ski school. There was plenty for the kids to do besides skiing, with a toboggan run, playgrounds, etc. The highlight was Owen, Oliver, and I making our historic first run together down a major mountain. We all took the tow rope up together and came down. The boys absolutely loved skiing and wanted to do more. I really enjoyed it and my skiing is much better after last year’s initial trip. Nadia was an champion taking care of Ocean and Oliver, getting them set up with lessons and occupied while I was with Owen.

The Next Lindsey Vonn?
Oliver with his teacher

Family Journal: Trip to Slovenija

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Nadia finally came home on Tuesday afternoon. We were all very happy to see her!!! I had a busy but wonderful time watching the three kids by myself for 5 entire days. We really reconnected after 5 weeks of school. We had plans to go to Mokra Gora, a small village in eastern Serbia, but we found out there is no snow there and the ski hill is closed due a competition. We decided to go to Bled, Slovenia, a small, picturesque village in the Julian Alps instead. We left at 8:00 PM on Tuesday and arrived 6 hours later in Slovenia.

I forgot to bring the cord for my camera so I’ll have to upload the photos when I get back to Belgrade. It is snowing as I write this and we are ready to go to breakfast and head up to the ski hill. Yesterday we unpacked and went swimming in the Ziva Wellness Center. I have to go now, but I’ll be blogging more later about Slovenija (Slovenia in English). It is a former part of Yugoslavia and we were last here in January of 2009.

 

 

Single Parenthood Continues

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The Kids Interpret the Works of Travanov

Nadia’s flight was delayed coming out of Dubai yesterday. She was forced to spend the night in Istanbul and she will be coming back today in the afternoon. We were all disappointed not to see her on Valentine’s Day.

What to do with young children in miserable weather conditions? Temperatures are hovering around freezing and Belgrade is at its ugliest in February. There are only patches of snow, brown grass, mud and water everywhere make it difficult to do anything with my kids outside. After running some errands in the morning, I took them to the Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Belgrade. There is an exhibition by Belgrade artist Srba Travanov showing this month. As you can see if you follow the links provided, the guy looks like your typical European Av ant Gard artist. It reminds me of the Saturday Night Live parodies by Mike Myer, playing the character Dieter. The boys enjoyed the exhibition. They are very interested in form and function and for each piece, they made up what it would do. Travanov took old technological tools (typewriters, manual oil pumps, pencil sharpeners and made works of art out of them. He is also into the old petroleum derricks. His interview on the museum’s website is hilarious.

It is called the “salon” – room, because the museum does have a beautiful entire building in New Belgrade that can hold up to 5,000 pieces of art. Unfortunately, it has been closed for “renovation” since I arrived three years ago. Can someone put some money into the place to get it done. It would be good for the cultural life of the city as well as another tourist attraction. I wonder what the politics or economics are behind the scenes of this museum.

In the afternoon we did the Delta City Megamarathon. Delta City is one of the large shopping malls in the city. We did bowling, movie (Disney’s Rapunzel “Tangled”, which was excellent by the way in the classic Disney way), and food court. After a bath and reading books, they all kissed me good night and went to bed. Once again, an amazing day with my children. They are my Austrian Alps for this Ski Week holiday.

 

 

 

 

Visit to Mount Avala

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Yesterday we visited Avala, a mountain located in the outskirts of Belgrade. It is about 1,600 feet (500 meters) high and it is the highest point of the forested Šumadija region just south of the city. Because of its height, it has always been a strategic point and people naturally gravitated to it. Both the Romans and the Turks established fortresses there. The Serbian royal family and government also used the area through the years for various activities, like hiking, hotel, children’s clean air refuge, communications towers, etc.

Today it is still a preserved area with some interested things to see. The photo above is taken from the top of the newly completed tower. On April 29, 1999, NATO destroyed the tower as part of their attacks on the Milosevic-led Yugoslavian government. The purpose was hinder Milosevic’s use of the media, as the tower was used to broadcast the national television station. It didn’t stop the broadcast however because the station was broadcasted through many different stations. A big waste of money! Not only in the bombing raid, but also in the fundraising for construction of the new tower.

The kids were excited to go up to the top. Ocean was most enthused about handing the ticket to the lady at the elevator. The views over Šumadija were impressive. There is supposed to be a restaurant on the top but it was not open I guess. The attendant told me that between 500 and 2,500 people a day visit the tower.

I was annoyed to learn that the big monument on the mountain to the Unknown Soldier, built after World War I, was put over the ruins of a Turkish fortress. The strategic mountain must be rich in archeological history, but this has not been studied or developed. The medieval Serbs called the fortified city on top Žrnov. It was later taken over by the Turks. The Ottoman general, Gazi Porča, renamed it Havala, meaning obstacle or barrier. I guess it was a barrier against tribes from the south heading into Belgrade. Below is a picture I found in the Wikicommons of the remains of his fort. The monument is beautiful, but they could have preserved and improved the fortress AND build a monument. I would have preferred a center for Ottoman and Roman studies with the sites excavated, rather than monument.

Zrnov Fortress
Oliver In Front of the Tower

There are a couple of other monuments on the mountain. One is dedicated to the Soviet military. A plane crashed in 1964 full of World War II veterans. They were going to Belgrade’s 20th anniversary of its liberation from the Germans. I want to see the Memorial Gardens in the nearby village of Jajinci. The Nazis used the area as a “killing fields” and over 80,000 Yugoslav were executed and/or buried there.

We got some popcorn and played “hide-and-seek” in the gardens around the monument. As we climbed on the monument, the marble is chipped in places. Owen was fascinated to learn that it was from flying shrapnel from NATO bombing raid 11 years ago. The kids slept in the car on the way home. It makes a good day trip any time of the year. We’ve gone several times and the kids always enjoy it.

I completed my second full day as a single dad. Nadia gets home today and we’ll head out to the airport this afternoon to pick her up. After Avala, I did some shopping while the kids slept in the car and we hung out at home. We have a sauna and hot tub in our apartment building. The steamy sauna was refreshing way to brighten up a cold February night.

Finding a Work-Life Balance

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A few days ago I watched a Ted.com talk by author Nigel Marsh. He wrote a couple of books about finding a balance in our lives between work and family – “Fat, Forty, and Fired” and “Overworked & Underlaid.“

His ideas resonated with me and I feel that when I get busy at work with consecutive 10+ hour days, I am missing something. He didn’t come up with any formulas, but his main message was to make small choices. He described a call from his wife asking him to leave work early to pick up his son from school. She was busy with the other three children and needed some help with the kids. Marsh went picked up his son and they hung out in the park and went for a bite to eat. He finished the night by reading his son a story and putting him to bed. His son said this was the best day of his life.

I try to keep in mind that my children and wife for that matter, are so precious that if I can make any small choices to find a bit more time with them, the better. I am not a business or bank executive like Mr. Marsh was, and I am blessed that education is a profession that is more family-friendly than most professions, but there are times when I feel out of balance. Work demands overtake time spent with my children, time spent renewing the relationship with my wife, and time spent taking care of my personal health and fitness and well-being.

I spent an entire day yesterday with my three children. Nadia is out of city on a conference and I have all three. We survived day number 2 in fine style, although I did lose my patience a couple of times. Owen is shown above at the Guitar Art Festival Expo at the Continental Hotel. He plays the guitar and I wanted to encourage him and the other two to play music. Ollie loves the drums. Hopefully after the basketball season is over, I can learn the piano and my dream of a family band can be realized. I’m looking for stuff to do at home that doesn’t include a screen! Owen wants an electric guitar and Ollie wants a drum set, and I want a keyboard. We’ll see where this goes…

Ocean - Tata doesn't know how to brush girls' hair (sorry Nadia)

When I am in charge of the kids, I prefer doing stuff rather than just sitting at home. It makes it easier for me and the boys instead of me scrambling around trying to keep the house clean and nothing gets broken. In the morning we went to the school’s bubble and played tennis and basketball. In the late afternoon after a hike around our new neighborhood, we went and saw “Medved Yogi – Yogi Bear” and ate a pizza at Vapiano. The weather is cold and the melting snow makes everything wet and muddy, so the more we can do indoors, the better.

It was great to hang out with the kids all day and I have another one today. Our neighborhood, Dedinje, means “old man’s hill” and below is the view from top of the hill looking east into the suburbs of Belgrade.

Owen and Bill Go to the Belgrade Philharmonic

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With Nadia at an Educational Conference in Dubai until Monday, I have a full weekend with the kids. We are starting the Ski Week Holiday also on Monday so I’ll have more time to blog.

We started the holiday last night by playing some pick up basketball at the school with the teachers. Owen and I then went to Kolorac Hall in downtown Belgrade to watch the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. We have season tickets for the “New Years Cycle” which is a series of six concerts having the theme of New Year. Last night it was the theme was Chinese New Year, which the actual date happened earlier this month. It is the year of the Rabbit.

The concert last night featured a Chinese pianist named Haochen Zhang. The first piece was aptly a piano concerto and the big Steinway was in the center of the stage. Zhang came out and played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto Number 1. Zhang made it look easy. The highlight for me was introducing Owen to the orchestra and the different instruments and Tchaikovsky. He did fall asleep in the second movement, but did get to get the feeling of it. The theater was warm (In Serbia in the winter, everyone cranks the heat because they are afraid of cold drafts causing sicknesses.) and cozy.

The video above is Zhang playing a Chinese folk song which I’ve heard before in some movie. I really like the song and if any reader of my blog knows the name of it, please send it my way.

Cold Weather Continues in Belgrade

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The View of the ISB High School Campus from the Roof

It continues to be very cold and “wintery” in Belgrade this week. Temperatures are down to -9 C (16 F) and we have light snow and fog daily. It is a bit depressing for many, but I like it. As long as one is dressed appropriately, it is quite comfortable outside.  Nadia was sick yesterday with the flu, so I took the boys home from school. We went shopping and then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. It was so nice to spend time with the little guys. With my job, I am usually working until 6:00 PM, so it was a treat to spend an extra 3 hours with them. I should try to do that more often.

I’ve been quite busy at school, especially with basketball. My team won on Tuesday, so that puts us at 4 wins and 4 losses for the season. We are coming together in anticipation for the CEESA tourney next month. I also am putting in what little spare time I have in settling in our new apartment. We still have some things in boxes that need to be rearranged.

Small Country

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Nadia and i after shortly after we got married, moved to Australia. I began teaching and the Aussie students loved to hear my American accent and asked if I knew the various Hollywood celebrities they saw on TV and movies. I laughed because I didn’t think they realized that the USA had over 300 million people and I was from Michigan, a long way from Los Angeles. Australia has a population of 18 miillion, and I guess an ordinary citizen’s chances of meeting or getting to know a celebrity like Nicole Kidman, was higher than mine. By the way, one of my first substitute teaching jobs when I moved to Australia, was at the actor Heath Ledger’s old school, the Guildford Grammar School.

Serbia is even smaller than Australia, and the capital city, Belgrade, has a population of 1.5 million in the metro area. Working in the richest private school in the city and living in the most expensive neighborhood, it is easy to meet the “celebrities” of Serbia. Last weekend, our middle school girls’ basketball team hosted a local basketball club. On the visiting club team was the daugher to Serbian President, Boris Tadic. He can be seen in the crowd in the photo above. He is the grey-haired gentleman with the white-striped jacket. He also lives just a few houses down from our new apartment. One nice thing about him is that he is a former high school psychology teacher.

In my time here in Serbia, I have met many of “rich and famous” and it is interesting to see their lifestyle up close.

The People I Work With Everyday

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ISB Administration Team - 2011

I am fortunate to work with outstanding people. I’ve really enjoyed the professional sharing, support, and camaradarie of the administration team at our school.  We’ve all had different experiences in education and are from different parts of the US and the world. This diversity of experiences and backgrounds has really helped me improve and grow as an educator. I appreciate the support, honest feedback, and trust we have.

From left to right are school director Eric Sands, lower school principal Tim Moynihan, IT director “Bane” Nikolic, Business Manager Zhana Hasanovic, yours truly, and MS Coordinator, Mark Noonan.