Thoughts on Bulgaria

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We had a very nice few days in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia visiting with friends. We were hosted by Bill and Kalina Mays and they showed us the best of Sofia. The picture above is from lunch at Kalina’s parents apartment. They prepared a traditional Bulgarian meal, as with all Balkan countries, it was heavy with meat. We also sampled Hristo’s homemade rakija and I learned the origin of the Šopska Salad, which is from Bulgaria. We were quite satiated and were touched by the warm hospitality. 

Owen is pictured in the hip downtown of Sofia

We were very impressed with Sofia and the city had a positive vibe, similar to Belgrade. In many ways, Bulgaria is very similar to Serbia and it could have easily been part of Yugoslavia. The Bulgars call the Macedonians brothers and they share pretty much the same language. Serbia should have closer relations to Bulgaria, as they share the same religion, a Cyrillic script, and I understood much of what was said and the Bulgars understood my Serbian. 

A good feature of the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe is plenty of public space and Sofia has many parks. The communists put people in small apartments and the city planners put in a lot of common, public space like parks and plazas. Today if makes cities like Belgrade and Sofia have many green areas spread throughout the city and enhances the community feel. 

The Russian Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia

Bill and Kalina not only treated us to fine dining and drinks, but they were tour guides for the important museums and churches of the city. Above is the main cathedral of Sofia, and it was built in honor of the Russians and others who helped the Bulgars repel the Turks. The Turks were here for a long time as well! 

I would like to thank Bill, Kalina, and their beautiful daughter Maggie for a wonderful visit! We hope to meet up again in the spring here in Belgrade. 

 

 

Merry Christmas from the Kralovecs!

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I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and best wishes for peace and joy during the holiday season.

As you can see in the photo, Christmas is for children and the Nerf guns and Ferbie that Santa brought were big hits! They were up early on Christmas morning. The weather has been unseasonably warm with temperatures in the 50s (13 C) and sunny skies. Ocean, Ollie and I went for a bike ride yesterday at Ada Ciganlja.

Nadia was a superstar chef and Christmas-spirit promoter with a perfectly prepared 10-kilogram, special ordered turkey from Jagodina. We had friends over last night for a big Christmas dinner. Today we are traveling again to visit friends in Bulgaria.

The Beauty Beneath Budapest

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Most of the city of Budapest is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its beautiful architecture of the time of the Hapsburgs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But it has another beauty underneath, the geology. The Romans and then the Turks settled here because of the geothermal, mineral-rich waters which bubble up from an extensive cave system under the city. The dolomite and limestone hills of Buda, are full of not only thermal springs, but an extensive cave system. In the 1930s, the city was known as the “City of Baths” and before modern medicine, people came from all around to soak in the medicinal waters.

Yesterday we toured the Palvolgyi Cave and swam in the spa of the Gellert Hotel. The hotel is beautiful, being fully restored to its Art Nouveau architecture style in 2008. The lobby alone is worth visiting and walking through the hotel and in the baths is truly breath taking. The kids enjoyed the 36 degree waters looking over the city last night. The baths are not as crowded as the Szechenyi, but lack the whirlpool and have less outdoor pools.  It was fun to go from the hot pool to the cold tub and back.

We took the tour of the Palvolgyi Cave and the kids really enjoyed going through the narrow passages of the limestone. They did a nice job of stairs, ladders, and lighting to make it accessible to the public. It would be an adventure to do a more extensive tour of the many cave systems nearby, and someday when the kids are a bit older, that would be a good experience for us.

Ollie on the cliffs outside the cave

Today is our last day in Budapest before heading back to Belgrade to celebrate Christmas. It was a relaxing way to start the holidays.

Christmas Holidays: Farewell To Europe

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Kralovec Family at the Christmas Market

Since this is our final winter in Europe we are going to be visiting several countries this Christmas holiday. We are in Budapest, Hungary this weekend, one of our favorite places in central Europe. We are renting an apartment near Christmas market. I am very happy to be on vacation and focusing on my family and relaxing instead of working and the usual hectic pace of school and taking care of the kids.

I like the mulled wine (Forralt Bor) at the market and Nadia loves seeing all of the crafts for sale. To fight off the sub-zero temperatures, we went to the Szechenyi Thermal Bath last night. There are several hot spring baths in the city and the Hungarians frequent these to warm the body’s core. It really is relaxing and very easy to do. We took the subway to the city park where the baths are located and in 10 minutes, were floating in 37 degree natural spring water. I was surprised to learn there are many natural hot springs in the city, which being away from a geological active area, there would be numerous geothermal water sources. I highly recommend a visit.

A frigid Danube!

I am hoping for snow! Temperatures have been below zero Celsius all week, but only fog and no precipitation.

The kids really like the Christmas favorite Kurtos, a roasted rolled sweet bread that they serve in the streets.

A Christmas Tradition: Winter Shows

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Oliver Bustin’ a Move

One of the traditional activities of the holiday season are musical performances. This year all three of our children had roles in the huge, International School of Belgrade’s Lower School, “A Menu for December” performance. The event had over 150 students on stage and was well attended by parents and family. Oliver, above, was with the third graders and they were featured in a jazz-type dance number.

Owen on the Guitar

Owen played guitar for the song “La Bamba” and he also had a small speaking part. The fifth graders had to carry the show and they spent a lot of time helping the Early Childhood students. Ocean played a fairy-butterfly and was a leader for her group, as her teacher, Ms. Ana said in this video.

Finally, Nadia also got into the act with her singing in the International Choir of Belgrade. The Canadian Embassy of Belgrade organizes a 70-strong choir of expatriates. They performed in the Serbian Army House (Vojske Dom) in Belgrade in a charity concert. The proceeds went to the the Union of the Blind of Serbia.

 

Happy Birthday Owen

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My eldest son Owen turned 11 years old on Friday and he celebrated by having two friends some over on Saturday for a sleepover. We played table tennis and tetherball at the school, ate lunch at the Intergalactic Diner in New Belgrade (Owen and his friends and family are pictured in front of an abandoned building near the diner), went to see latest movie in the Lord of the Rings series and finished with a Chinese dinner.

It was a great day for me, just to spend time with him and the kids. He is a really positive, funny, smart, boy and I am very proud of him.

Below is a picture of the basketball team I am coaching. Owen and Oliver are on the team and it is pure joy to be working with them and the kids. We practice a couple of times a week and have played two game so far against KK Sava. I’ll be blogging more about the team this winter. I can’t wait for our uniforms to be ready.

 

Peter II of Yugoslavia

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This week I took our students once again to the Serbian Royal Palace to take part in the Crown Princess Catherine’s “Children Helping Children” Christmas Gift Drive. The Serbian Royal Family, although they are not officially part of the Serbian government, do live at the palace and serve as goodwill ambassadors of Serbia to the world. They also do a lot of charity work. We were given a tour of the palace and got to meet both the Crown Prince Alexander II and their grandson. This was my second tour of the palace as I went and saw it last spring.

One of the interesting stories of the tour was this portrait of the last king of Yugoslavia, King Peter Karađorđević. The painting was from 1934, shortly after Peter took over from his father, Alexander I following his assassination in Marseille during a state visit. It must have been quite a shock for him to lose his father and become king. Because of being so young, he didn’t take over and his older cousin ran the country. He finally took over from his cousin in a coup de ‘etat in 1941, but fled when the Nazis occupied Belgrade. He ended up living in the USA for many years and died in 1970. He was finally repatriated to Serbia this year, with his remains being buried in Oplenac last May. The painting was found in a shop in Paris years after WWII, as it was part of the works of art that were looted by the Nazis from the palace during the occupation.

Below is a video of the opening of the Crown Prince Alexander’s II speech to us. He is the son of Peter II.

I am fundamentally opposed to monarchies and the idea that a family should be treated better than anyone else. It is ridiculous if you consider in today’s world, we still have kings and queens. It is a big waste of tax money! I guess if the monarchy brings in tourist dollars like England, or can somehow pay for itself, then I can tolerate them. Is the Serbian Royal Family worth it? Does the charity work they do and the good will they bring towards Serbia worth the upkeep of the palace? I don’t know enough about their finances.

The palace and grounds are beautiful and it does make a nice afternoon for tourists. There is a lot of history in the place and Serbians should be proud. I would feel better about royalty if instead of being hereditary, the king could be selected by a panel of experts of someone worthy of the position and who would do a good job of promoting Serbian and helping the disadvantaged of the nation. Usually in families it is hit or miss with each generation. I also wonder what the future holds for the Karadjordjevic family. What will they be like in 50-100 years?

 

 

European Cross Country Running Championships

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Today we went to the European Cross Country Championships which took place in Friendship Park here in Belgrade. I went with my children and fellow running enthusiast, Michael Daws. It was quite exciting running back and forth in the middle of the loop. The course allowed the spectators to follow the action. We only came for the last race of the day, the men’s seniors, and watched the Spanish-Ethiopian runner, Alemayehu Bezabeh, win his second cross country championship in a time of 29 minutes and 11 seconds. He has quite a story, starting as an illegal immigrant, living on the streets, making due with prize money from races. He was granted Spanish citizenship because of his running ability. He recently came back from a blood doping ban. He easily won the race today with no one even close.

Alemayehu Bezabeh pulling away in the Men’s 10 kilometer Cross Country Final

The second place finisher was Kenyan Polat Kemboi Arikan, running for Turkey. The first “European” was the scrappy Brit, Andy Vernon, who came from behind to take the bronze medal, but a full 34 seconds behind the winner.

Owen Does His Usain Bolt Impression

It was a fantastic event and we were all inspired to run! The pace these guys run at is amazing and with a 29:11 time in a 10 kilometer is really fast. I usually run them around 42 – 45 minutes.

Red Star Basketball Game

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On Thursday evening I attended the Red Star Belgrade versus Tel Aviv Maccabi Elektra Euroleague Basketball game. The first round game was held in the famous Pionir Hall, in my opinion, the best venue to watch a basketball game anywhere. My Israeli friends invited me to attend the game in the Maccabi fan section and as you can see by the security in front of the section, we were well protected from the rabid Red Star fans.

Red Star, after being behind the entire game by 10-15 points, came back in the fourth quarter and had a couple of opportunities to win the game in the final moments, but lost. The crowd was so loud and the game very back and forth with both teams making great plays, it was a thoroughly entertaining evening. It was interesting being in the “enemy” section. I did not feel threatened and there was much good natured back and forth between the Maccabi fans and Red Star fans. We had to wait about 30 minutes after the game finished to walk out, and I got to my car and home without incident.

Serbia loves basketball and I highly recommend the Pionir Hall basketball experience! You will not forget it.

A Christmas Tree Adventure

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This weekend we went on our annual trek to buy a Christmas tree. We go to a farm about 20 kilometers outside of Belgrade in the Šumadija region, near the Avala Mountain. It is a tree farm in the village of Žuče. We have gone there for several years and you can get a tree for about 1, 200 RSD (10 Euros).

We buy the roots and all and carry it away in a pot instead of cutting the tree. We later find a spot to plant it.  The guys at the farm are very helpful and will dig it up, wrap the roots, and tie the branches for easier transport. The kids love going too because they can run around and play hide and seek.

We got off to a late start because of car trouble. I was filling the tires with air and the valve on the tire snapped in half. Luckily, I was with friends and the great mechanics of Anđelković Garage are in the neighborhood. They sent Jovan over and he saved the day by replacing the valve. We gave him a round of applause.

With the pot the tree is quite big and my friend Michael and I had a difficult time getting it up the steps and in the house. It was worth it however, because the decorated tree looks perfect and Nadia did a great job of decorating the house with poinsettias and Christmas decorations. This is our last Christmas in Europe and so we are going to enjoy it.

Now we just need snow! It is in the forecast, and tonight it is 1C so I am hoping for some of the white stuff when I wake up.

A big thanks go to Damian, Susie, Michael, and Brooke for their help and Miloš and Boško from the school.