Oliver is posing in the classic “Kralovec” family first day of school photo. My parents used to take a photo of us every year in front of our door my home with us leaning against the wall.
It was an historic day for our family as it was the first time all five of us went to the same school. My daughter Ocean was finally old enough to attend ISB and started Pre-Kindergarten today. The kids were all excited and Nadia and I were excited to get them all ready and out the door on time.
No matter how many years I am in education, the first day of school always holds a bit of nerves and excitement. It was a great day today.
A photo of a representation of the majority of the play in last night’s game. Short passing in the middle of the field, far away from the goal.
I have given up hope that soccer would be a pastime I can enjoy with my children. Once again, I sat through a 0-0 draw, with few chances from either team. Last Wednesday night, Serbia hosted Ireland in a friendly match as preparation for the upcoming World Cup Qualifying play starting next month.
Both Ireland and Serbia are those average small country European teams that usually don’t escape the first round of major tournaments and recently they have not performed all that great. Ireland lost three consecutive games in June’s Euro Cup and Serbia is 0-4 in their latest exhibition matches. The stadium was half full and the small contingent of Irish fans were making more noise than Serbian fans for most of the game. It was perfect however, for taking my boys.
Red Star stadium has a great atmosphere but they have a long way to go to make the experience a truly enjoyable one. The seats were hard plastic and many broken, the bathrooms are an absolute disaster, and there is no replays on the scoreboard screen. I don’t know how long it will take to get wireless internet.
I guess my main issue with soccer is it is too hard to score. No one on the field in the game could take the ball and manuever around a defender to take a shot at the goal. Instead it was the endless pass backwards to maintain possession and then as they try to set up a perfect shot in front of the goal, they got the ball stolen by a defender. This happened as the “attacker” play-acts and falls, desperate to get a penalty kick because it is so difficult to score in normal play. It has been 180 minutes plus of me watching this “ticky-tack” Spanish style possession play but without any real talent to drive and score. Don’t they understand that one needs to shoot the ball at the goal, regardless of the angle or distance if they want to score. The more shots that the goalkeeper has to stop, the greater the chance of scoring.
At least I got to spend time with my boys and ordering hot dogs and cokes kept them occupied through the whole game. I told myself I am swearing off going to the stadium as it is a waste of my time to be bored watch guys play keep-away. Will I change my mind for the World Cup Qualifiers?
Last weekend we went across the border to Timisoara, Romania to do some school shopping. It is only about a 1 and 1/2 hour or 2 hour drive away and has much better shopping than Belgrade. They have more products and many more deals. We went to the big Ilius Mall and we found many clothes for the kids and I also bought some work pants and shirts. I even found Moleskin® notebooks at a really cool book store. I think we liked the shopping so much because we dropped the kids off at the playland in the mall and had a relaxed time. We also did some grocery shopping at the Real supermarket and stocked up on high processed sugary breakfast cereals for the kids. The city is the fourth-largest city Romania with a population around 300,000 people. The 1989 revolution against the communist regime started in the city and it has more of an Austrian-Hungarian feel than the rest of Romania.
I strongly recommend Timisoara for Belgraders looking for a weekend get-away. Besides the shopping, we made a stop at the Banat Village Museum. The “Banat” is the region covering eastern Romania, western Hungary and northern Serbia. The museum is located in a park setting with examples of old homesteads from the different ethnic groups and time periods. It is nothing flashy, but is a nice spot for kids to run around. They had a great little pond, where the kids threw rocks and chased dragonflies.
Hanging out at the pond at the Banat Village Museum in Timisoara
Update (August 13, 2012) – In the return match, Red Star defeated Omonia 6-5 in penalty kicks to move on to the “playoff” round in the Europa League. I think it is a good strategy for Red Star, play for scoreless draws for 180 minutes plus extra time and then hope for the best in penalty kicks.
I attended the UEFA Europa League Third Round Qualifying Match between Red Star Belgrade and Omonia from Nicosia, Cyprus. It was a disappointing game with my scourge of soccer occurring, a scoreless 0-0 draw. Despite dominating the time of possession, Red Star must have had the ball around 80% of the time, they could not generate any real scoring threat with only one shot on target. Omonia, the most successful team in the history of the Cyprus league, was content to sit back and have the occasional counter attack. They were pleased with the draw in Belgrade and now await the return match in the Cypriot capital city of Nicosia.
It is nice to see Red Star in a European competition, even though the Europa League is not a prestigious as the Champions League, which Red Star won in that glorious season of 1991. They are a long way from that however, and it is a statement to how far the ex-Yugoslavian teams have fallen. They are now battling it out for the “scraps” of European glory, with the hundreds of minor clubs from the many small nations of Europe. Together, the ex-Yugoslavian teams were able to compete with the best teams, but today, with all separate nations, I don’t see any of them ever taking on the likes of Barcelona or Manchester United.
The match was basically meaningless because Red Star is still a long way from even getting to the group stage of the Europa League tourney. The qualifying rounds are quite complicated but I’ll try to explain them as best I can. For those of you who do not want the entire explanation, Red Star needs to win four rounds to get to the group stage of the Europa League.
First Qualifying Round – 54 teams play a home-and-away playoff to send 27 teams into the second qualifying round. Jagodina and Borac represented Serbia in this round with both teams losing.
Second Qualifying Round – The 27 teams from round one are joined by an new 53 teams from higher-ranked countries (UEFA ranks the quality of nation’s soccer association) or higher finishers in the lesser-ranked leagues. The 80 teams play a home-and-away round. Red Star and Omonia are 0-0 after the first leg of their series. The 40 winning teams move into the third qualifying round. All teams making it to the second round, get 90,000 Euros from UEFA plus the gate receipts from the game they host. In this second round, Red Star defeated Naftan Novopolotsk from Belarus 7-6 in aggregate goals, earning a 90,000 Euro bonus from UEFA.
Third Qualifying Round – An additional 30 teams from even higher-ranked leagues join at this stage the 40 qualified teams from the second round. Once again, a home-and-away leg is played and 35 teams move to the “Play-off” Round.Teams making the third round earn another 90,000 Euros. Red Star is currently in this round and will play at Omonia on August 9th.
Play-off Round – Another 41 or 43 teams join from even higher ranked league and teams that are knocked out early in the Champions League. The 74 or 76 teams once again play a home-and-away playoff and the 38 teams move to finally, the Group Stage of the Europa Tourney. This nets another 90,000 Euros from UEFA.
After playing a round-robin in the group stage, 32 teams go into a “knock-out” phase, and here teams start to earn bigger bonuses. Red Star last made it to the Group Stage in 2007-2008, but have not moved past the playoff round since then.
It all sounds to me a way for UEFA and the clubs to make money by all of these games. To make it through, Red Star would play an additional 20 games to win the whole thing. Serbia has a pretty good rank in UEFA’s system of coefficients. They are 16 of 53 associations, just behind the Ukraine and just ahead of Switzerland. Croatia is ranked 7 and the top ranking goes to of course Spain and the lowest ranking goes to San Marino. Cyprus is ranked 43.
It was pleasurable experience to watch the game last night, with a mostly full stadium and famous Red Star supporters Delije (heros) from the north section singing the entire game. Too bad the home team couldn’t give them a goal. It would be much more pleasurable if there was at least a regional league in the Balkans with the best players moving around to top clubs. More on that when the Serbian regular season begins shortly.
The roads of the island have improved greatly since I was last here in 1997. Not only the roads, but the kilometers of bike and running paths. They are everywhere! This is great, but I wonder about the cost. For example, the pedestrian bridge over the highway must have been in the tens of thousands of dollars. I have also seen amazing municipal sports facilities. Near the suburb of Son Caliu where we are staying, there is a community swimming pool in Magaluf, an athletic track in Palma Nova, and an indoor pool and artificial turf soccer field in Santa Ponca. Who is paying for all this?
Last night about 9:30 PM, I went out looking to buy some milk, water, and bread. I could not find a single store open, only restaurants. The Latin American neighborhood “tienda” is not to be found in Spain. There is also a lack of outdoor markets.
Recycling seems to be very strong in Spain. I’ve seen glass, plastic, and metal bins conveniently located all over the island.
Spain consists of “Autonomous Communities” and it is not one legislative district. I thought it was only the Basque Country and Catalonia, but there are 17 “states” including the Balearic Islands. They had a graphic in the Mallorcan paper that showed the Spanish debt divided by autonomous region. The largest debtors are Cataluña and Comunidad Valenciana, that combined have 60% of total 36 billion euro debt.
One of the Spanish Royal family is under investigation for transferring funds to a Swiss bank account to avoid taxes. I feel royalty is an outdated concept. The idea that a family, and whoever marries into the family, is somehow special or made to rule by divine right is ridiculous. I don’t understand what benefits European countries get from having the tax payers support monarchies. Perhaps the English royal family brings in enough tourist dollars to justify their existence, but I can’t believe the rest are self-sufficient. I would strip them of all titles, make them get real jobs, and convert all assests into the public good.
I just finished reading “Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball” by New York Mets pitcher, R.A. Dickey and Wayne Coffey. I follow baseball and really enjoyed the book. Dickey made his first All Star Game this year at the improbable age of 37 and he is an interesting story.
One thing I got from the book is how hard it is to become a Major League Baseball professional player. Dickey was a highly recruited high school sports star, an All-American pitcher at the University of Tennessee, played in the Olympics, but yet, was not quite good enough to be a consistent Major League pitcher. He was a “4A” pitcher, which meant that he was very good at the Minor League Baseball level (3A) but not quite good enough to stay as a player on a Major League club. He spent over 10 years on minor league baseball teams with some call ups to the big league, but always at the end of the season, he was back down in the minors. It was not until he changed to a knuckleball pitcher, that he become a solid professional and eventually an All Star pitcher. The book details his work in perfecting a difficult pitch over years of trying.
The book also describes his overcoming a poor, rough childhood, and maturing into husband and father. His honesty at his mistakes and overcoming sexual abuse, an alcoholic mother, absent father, and marrying young, are truly inspiring. The book made me want to be more patient and loving with my wife and children, and more open to the moment and enjoying every experience. He used counseling and his Christian faith to overcome his challenges. Although for most people, including myself, earning an athletic scholarship, participating in the Olympics, and even getting to play a single game in the Majors would be enough. But after reading about his struggles, it is good that he got the reward of a multi-million dollar contract. It is refreshing to have an athlete be smart and thoughtful and with help of Wayne Coffey, write an interesting book. I recommend it.
We spent the weekend exploring the remote beaches on the north coast of the island. We found the perfect wave beach for the kids near Alcudia. It was their first time in waves and they absolutely loved it. The waves were a perfect size for kids and the beach had a sandy bottom. It was a wind surf and parasail area with probably 50 people practicing the sport on the long beach. We then drove out to the end of the Cap de Formentor and soaked in the spectacular views of limestone cliffs, deep blue sea and green hillsides. The protected areas on the north coast are absolutely beautiful and I hope they can keep them wild.
On Sunday we visited Cala Torta. It was a windy day and the beach was closed to swimming when we arrived. The waves were immense. We hiked along the ridges, and when the lifeguard left, we got into the water a bit. The waves were so high, that I didn’t dare let the kids go out past their knees. We had a lot of laughs as the immense waves crashed on the beach and knocked us off our feet.
The kids are really improving their swimming. We have a pool next to the apartments where the kids could spend literally all day in. Owen learned to dive and Ollie can now jump into the deep part and swim to the side. Ocean can also jump in the deep end, but is a bit more cautious and only does it right next to the side. She does a front flip underwater.
The Son Caliu suburb of Palma where we are staying, has a lot of running/bike paths. As I wrote earlier, I am very impressed with the infrastructure of Mallorca.
I read an article yesterday in the Diaro de Mallorca (Mallorcan Daily) that discussed the economy of the island. In 2001 the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza) had 526 hotels that stayed open during the winter months (November to Easter) with an occupancy rate of around 50%. Last winter, 2011-2012, the number of hotels that were open year round had dropped to 126 with an occupancy rate of 32%. They are expecting even lower numbers for 2012-2013. This of course is not good for the islands as people have to make due on 7-8 months of salary. The reason less tourists are coming to the islands are the rising costs and competition from warmer places. Before switching from the peseta to the euro, it was cheaper for Germans and Brits to spend 15 days in Mallorca than in their home countries. Today, it is just as expensive. Also, places like Egypt, Tunisia, etc. are now less expensive than Spain. There was a another article with complaints from the golf industry, that the government is raising the IVA (sales tax) from 8 to 20% on a round of golf. In Europe, these government sales taxes of above 15% are ridiculous. I used to think the Canadian 13% was excessive (to give some perspective, in my home state of Michigan, the sales tax was raised from 4 to 6%) before I moved to Europe.
Spain fell into the same trap as the US did regarding the economic crisis. Many people thought they could become rich quickly through investing in real estate and many got in over their heads. The banks made bad loans and now Spain is receiving bailouts from the IMF and the Central Bank. I have noticed less people in downtown Mallorca and shops either closed or offering discounts. I think the island is adjusting to the lower number of tourists and there will be hotels and shops that go out of business.
I had another day of filming yesterday on the set of the Serbian blockbuster, the sequel to the film Montevideo: Bog Te Video, a film directed by Dragan Bjelogrilić and produced by Intermedian Network. The film is about the 1930 Yugoslavian Soccer Team that participated in the first World Cup in Uruguay. I am above with my photo with some of the “Bolivian” extras. They were actually the darkest Serbian soccer players they could find. Yugoslavia defeated Bolivia 4-0 in that first World Cup.
Throw-In for Jugoslavia
It was an great experience to play a small role in the film as the American Radio Commentator. I learned a lot about the film industry. Roberto, a Spanish actor, said one of the virtues of a good actor is the ability to wait. I sat around most of the day as they were filming game sequences and it wasn’t until twilight that the directors got to the parts in the radio booth. Hopefully, some of my scenes will make the final cut!
I can’t get over the attention to detail and the big cost and logistics that goes into making a film, especially a period piece like this one. I have a new respect for film and understand why they need to charge money to see the picture.
I met some of the main actors and everyone, from the make-up and costumes, to the director and camera-crew were first-class and extremely helpful. I am sad I couldn’t stay to see Armand Assante tomorrow play his role in film.
Filming wraps up this week at the stadium and then moves to a few days at a hotel in Belgrade and then on to Trieste, Italy for another week. The picture will debut at the Sava Center in Belgrade in December or January.
There are moments that you wish could last forever. The past few days I’ve been taking out Owen and Oliver for bike rides. At first they were complaining, but yesterday they asked me to take them out and we had a lot of fun. Belgrade has kilometers of bike paths around the city, either along the river, in New Belgrade, or in several forested parks. I would like to see even more, but compared to other international places I have lived, we are blessed to have so many kilometers to safely ride. The city could even put up more bike paths as evidenced by the many people riding.
Oliver is shown above at Ada Ciganlija after we took a swim to cool off from the ride. I would love to re-live these bike rides- as the kids are growing up fast and these opportunities will be fleeting as they get older.
We also spent the week improving our tennis games with coach Mili. He is teaching us the Split Method for forehands and backhands. I can’t recommend him enough and I’ll be blogging about it later. Below is a photo of Owen working with him yesterday.
We went out to eat last night at the restaurant Šaran on the Zemun Quay. It was such a pleasant experience, I had to blog about it.
Zemun used to a separate city from Belgrade, but is now one of the 17 municipalities of Belgrade. It has a slightly different feel (architecture) than Belgrade, being under the Austrian-Hungarian Empire influence for a long time.
Zemun was founded on the banks of the Danube River, on three hills. There is a nice riverfront area of restaurants, that with a few modifications, could be made even nicer, and perhaps another attraction like Kalamegdan or St. Sava’s Church.
There are quaintly, slightly decrepit buildings, small fisherman’s boats, cobblestones, trees, and breeze coming off the river, with the view of a green opposite bank. One feels like it could be a Greek island waterfront, or a neighborhood of Venice. There were old men sitting on tables in front of dimly lit cafes, having a drink and some laughs. The restaurants in the summer have temporary dining areas along the river, outside of their main buildings. Many have live music. Besides diners and cafe-goers, there were families going for a walk along the quay, fishermen coming back from a day on the river, etc. It is perhaps a bit like San Francisco’s Fishermen’s Wharf before it became a tourist trap.
They can improve the area by stopping cars from entering the cobblestone street along side the quay. There are several areas nearby that could be developed as parking areas. We saw they were improving the walking paths along the quay and this would also help, especially if they can figure out a walking path up to the Gardoš Tower, which is a short two blocks from the river. There are also potential green areas further up the river bank that could be included in the quay area. Further down river there is the Grand Casino, more riverside parks, Great War Islands, with Lido Beach, and many great “splavs” – restaurants and night clubs on stillts on the river – also close by and with some creative development, could be connected to the Zemun Quay. It could be a good alternative to the downtown Bohemian Restaurant district of Skadarlija.
The food was good at Šaran and we had the best waiter I’ve encountered in Belgrade, Some of the dishes were a bit over-salted for our taste, but overall a fantastic meal.
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