Vojvodina Retreat

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Last weekend I went on a retreat with the High School Student Council. We stayed at the Majkin Salaš, which is similar to a country bed and breakfast. Salaš means ranch or farm in the Vojvodina dialect of Serbian. Vojvodina is the northern autonomous province of Serbia. In a geological timescale, it was a sea and today is called the Pannonian Plain. It looks like Iowa or Illinois or southern Michigan, being very flat and full of agricultural fields.

The Majkin Salaš has rooms, a conference center, a swimming pool and a working farm with a pond. They have a huge apple orchard and they were harvesting last weekend. The apples were delicious and I even harvested some. As you can see, we also rode the horses a bit. The Salaš is only about 12 miles from the Hungarian border.
We went to the famous Lake Palić, which is nearby. It is a shallow lake with very poor water quality. I wanted to go swimming in the lake but the water was so green with algae that it was not suitable for swimming. In researching about studies done on the lake, the algae growth is caused by high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. These nutrients come from agricultural fertilizer run-off and treated wastewater being flushed into the lake. The lake is about 900 acres in area but only has a maximum depth of 2 meters. There is a lovely park on the shores and bike path. We rented bikes and had a good time on a perfect late summer day. The town of Palić on the shores of the lake has a Hungarian majority population and the architecture reflected that. If I was in the area, I would come back but I wouldn’t make a special trip, unless the kids wanted to ride their bikes around the lake.
Lake Palić

Serbia Still Alive in Davis Cup Semifinal

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Nadia and I attended the Serbia versus Argentina Davis Cup Tennis match at the Belgrade Arena yesterday. On Friday, Argentina won both of the singles matches and could have won the best-of-five competition with another win.

The second day of the competition is the doubles match. Serbia featured Nenad Zimojnic, one of the best doubles players in the world and his partner, the up-and-coming world number 16 Victor Troiki. They were up against the world #23 Juan Chela and world #27 Juan Monaco. Serbia won in straight sets 3-0 to keep Serbia in the competition.

Serbia has to win both matches today. In the photo above are the key players and the Davis Cup trophy. On the far right is Novak Djokovic, who did not play on Friday due to an injury. He will play tomorrow and if his season continues like it has been (65-2), he will probably win against Del Potro, the world #17 and former US Open Champion. He is still not listed as playing, but he was practicing on the court right after yesterday’s match. He looked fit and ready to go.

In the other singles match, it will probably be Janko Tipsarevic (world #13) going against David Nalbandian (world #74). This will be the deciding match. Nalbandian, although he has a low ranking, beat Viktor Troiki on Friday and will be a challenge for Tipsarevic.

I am predicting a Serbian victory tomorrow. If they do win, they will most likely host Spain, who is leading France 2-1 in the other Davis Cup semifinal. It would be great to see Novak against Rafa that first week of December to end the season. I would also like to thank my friend Angelo for the tickets!

On a side note, Serbian President Boris Tadić arrived right after we did and stood near the tunnel, about 20 feet away from us, and watched the entire match (see photo below). There was a bit of controversy after the second set. The Serbian doubles team ran to the locker room between sets. As Nenad Zimojnic was jogging towards the tunnel, he accidently bumped into the President. When his partner Victor Troiki followed, one of the body guards grabbed Troiki and gave him a rough bear hug. He then let go and eventually, President Tadic had a word with both the Serbian players when they left the tunnel, wishing them luck. It was like a soap opera which Nadia and I enjoyed watching.

President Tadic (gray hair with black spot) and body guards

Djokovic’s Home Court

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But if you have to pick just one essential starting point, perhaps it is best to drive south from the capital toward the still-disputed border with Kosovo and follow the serpentine mountain road to Kopaonik, Serbia’s leading ski resort. Like so much of this diminished nation, Kopaonik has seen better days and is preparing to see them again.

It was here that Novak Djokovic’s family, much more familiar with schussing down slopes than hitting balls over nets, once operated several small businesses — including a pizzeria, a sports equipment shop and an art gallery — on the ground floor of a large complex during the winter and summer. And it was here that the state-owned Yugoslav company Genex, which developed much of Kopaonik, chose to build three tennis courts just across the parking lot from where the Djokovics opened their Red Bull restaurant in the late 1980s.

Now full of cracks, holes and undulations, the green hardcourts are hardly a playground for the elite. It is hard to believe that the world’s third-best player, the man who held off Roger Federer at the United States Open in September, emerged from this.

As the excerpt from last year’s New York Times article describes, above are the home court of the current world’s best tennis player, Novak Đoković. On Sunday morning we took the kids and rented the courts for for 8 euros. We were the only ones there early in the morning and it was cool to play on courts where Nole got his start. Nadia and I played a set and the kids played around. She got off to a quick 5-1 start, and it looked liked I was going to lose. I then looked for inspiration in the Kopaonik pine trees and mountain landscape and made a Đoković-like comeback to win 7-5. I also think the reporter from the NY Times was a bit melodramatic with his description of Kopaonik and Serbia. It is quite nice there!

We made it back safely from the mountains and are now back in Belgrade. We had a bit of trouble with the brakes coming down from a high elevation, but after a consultation with our maintenance man Goran, the car settled down and made it home. The kids were good while we were waiting for a solution to the problem. They are shown below all watching a movie on Nadia’s iTouch. I was a fantastic weekend! Hopefully Novak can win the final tonight in the US Open. All of Serbia is watching!

Saturday at Kopaonik

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We are spending the weekend at the biggest ski resort in Serbia, Kopaonik. Kopaonik is a national park located in southern Serbia near the Kosovo border. It is a beautiful region of mountains (peaks to almost 7,000 feet), valleys, pine trees, and sweeping vistas.

As you can see above, we rode up in one of the ski lifts to the top. We had a fantastic day yesterday! The weather was perfect and the cool mountain air was a relief to hot Belgrade. We spent a lot of time in the pool at the Grand Hotel and went for a hike in an amazing gorge.

The kids are having fun and Nadia and I are re-charging our batteries after a month of tough work getting school off and running. The pine trees and fresh mountain air is really refreshing my soul! We are all impressed with the beauty of the park and we will definitely be coming back for skiing trips this winter.

Serbia Controls Their Destiny

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Tuesday evening I attended the Serbia versus Faroe Islands European Cup Qualifying Match. Serbia is in Group C and is trying to qualify for this summer’s European Cup hosted by Poland and Ukraine. With a 3-1 defeat of the Faroe Islands, they move into second place in the group.

Italy, the first place team in the group, are 8 points clear and guaranteed a spot. The second place team in the group earns a spot in a play-in round against another second place club in one of the nine groups, or if they have one of the best records for a second place team, they earn an automatic bid.

The second place spot in Serbia’s Group C is tightly contested. The good thing is Serbia controls their own fate. The other two teams behind Serbia (14 points) are Estonia (13 points) and Slovenia (11 points). Let’s break down Serbia’s chances of winning the second place position.

Serbia has two games left while the other two only have one game remaining. Serbia is hosting Italy and traveling to Slovenia next month. How they need to do depends on Estonia. Estonia travels to Northern Ireland. Let’s say Estonia wins the game in Belfast to finish the group with 16 points. That would mean that Serbia needs win at least one of the games to qualify. Both matches will be difficult. The Italians will be coming with a second-rate team because they have already qualified. It will be an emotionally-charged game. Last fall, Italy was granted a 3-0 forfeit over Serbia because the game could not be played due to a few hooligans in and out of the stadium. The match in Slovenia will not be easy either. All of the ex-Yugoslavian Derby matches are hard fought, and Slovenia has a decent team as evidenced by their qualification in the last World Cup.

We really enjoyed the game. Because no one expected the Faroe Islands to win, the stadium was only about half full and we had excellent, comfortable seats. It is a joke that the Faroe Islands can compete as an independent nation. They are located half-way between Scotland and Iceland and have a population of around 50,000. We were joking that the balding, slightly overweight striker, took a couple days off postal duties to play in the game.

I have to give the Faroe Islands team credit however. They gave a good effort, scored a goal, and they even had a cheering section behind us. Normally, young men in the Serbian crowd would look menacingly at the opposing cheering section, but because of the quirkiness and small size of the contingent, they were more laughing and staring as anything. The group has an odd chant as the their team approached the goal or had a corner kick. They even had one guy with a Viking helmet in Faroe Island colors. (see below) They even have earned 4 points in the group with a win over Estonia, which could ultimately determine Serbia’s fate.

It would be great for the “Orlovi” (Eagles as the Serbian team is nicknamed) to qualify. They had a tumultuous group stage with a coaching change, and a forfeit in Italy which also resulted in a home game against Northern Ireland in an empty stadium.

It is nice for once for Serbia to control their own destiny in trying to get into a European event. This is much different than their attempts to get into the EU. Go Serbia! Navije Srbija!

A Perfect Sunday Bike Ride

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Owen, Nadia, and Oliver are shown riding bikes in front of the ex-Yugoslav Executive Council Building in New Belgrade. Last Sunday we went for a long family bike ride on the trails of the city. It was a fantastic day and we really enjoyed as a family, exercising and exploring the city together.

The highlight for the kids was to take the ferry across the Sava River. From the back side of Ada Ciganlija Island, there are three ferries that shuttle people between the island and the mainland in New Belgrade. New Belgrade was a Communist planned city built after World War II by the victorious Partizans. You can see one of first buildings constructed over there, the Executive Council of Yugoslavia. It housed the Presidential Offices for the Republics that made up the Federation.

There are kilometers of trails near river as well as in New Belgrade. We stopped at McDonald’s for lunch and the kids got a kick out of “biking to McDonald’s. We will definitely do this more often. It was an extremely hot day, but I personally loved it. With autumn coming, we might not have many more hot, summer days.

Ready to Take the Ferry Across the Sava

Serbia Defeats Germany

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Dirk Nowitzki, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

This is something you might not see for awhile – Dirk Nowitzki playing basketball. Last night, Serbia defeated Germany in the European Basketball Championships hosted by Lithuania. I enjoyed watching some of the game last night, especially big Dirk! He scored 25 points but he was not mixing it up and playing with the aggressiveness that he does in the NBA.

The Serbs are now 4-0 in the competition and play France tonight to determine the winner of their group. After tonight, then the knockout phase begins. Serbia has looked very solid with contributions from many different players. They have the deepest team in the tourney. My favorite player, Dusko Savanovic scored 25 points, mostly from the three point line. They also have a smooth point guard, Milos Teodosic, who many consider the top point guard in Europe. Nenad Krstic, the Boston Celtic center, also played well last night, taking it right at Nowitzki in the post.

I am looking forward to see who Serbia handles Tony Parker, the San Antonio Spur and French point guard. The winner will earn first place in the group and get a higher seed in the Round of 16 knockout phase. Germany also qualified as the third-place team in the group.

Koča Popović: Yugoslav Hero

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My neighborhood in Dedinje is full of interesting stories. I wish I understood Serbian better because I would write a book on the fascinating history of this part of the city. Dedinje is the diplomatic enclave and richest part of the city and is full of beautiful villas with ample grounds and interesting stories that mirror the history of Serbia.

My neighbors were telling me the story of the house in this photograph. The home shares our driveway and his hidden by the trees around it. It is the former family home of Konstatin “Koča” Popović. He was a heroic officer in the Partizan Army and later served as the Foreign Minister for Yugoslavia. Popović was from a rich, “industrialist” family so I assume that this is the family home. He was not only a brave soldier that fought in the Spanish Civil War and World War II, but he was an intellectual. He was a writer, photographer, and artist.

The neighbor said that there is still a caretaker in the servant house and I do see an old lady from time to time as well as a dog, leaving via the front door. I would love to find out more about the house. Popovic is a Yugoslav hero who bravely fought the Germans and his archives are at the National Library.

I wonder what the house looks like inside? Did he leave any heirs? Why is the house look abandoned? Any of my readers have any answers for me? I will be asking my Serbian friends about him and will definitely post what I find out.

More Summer Fun

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Oliver, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

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.

Ocean’s First Day of School

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Ocean and Mom, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

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.