Historic Flag At Libyan Embassy

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Rebel Flag , originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

I noticed that the rebels flag was raised this weekend at the Libyan Embassy here in Belgrade. I wonder who put it up? The “rebels” are moving in to the capital Tripoli, Gadhafi’s family is leaving the country, and it sounds like he is making a last stand in his home village. There still may be weeks or months of fighting in Libya, but it does look like there will be a change in government.

It is odd however that the official Libyan flag, which is all green, was taken down and the tri-color rebel flag put up. If Gadhafi approved the Ambassador and staff here, they quickly switched sides. I wonder who decided to raise this flag instead of the official one? Are all Libyan Embassies throughout the world changed the flag already?

Gadhafi was a terrible president for the country. I don’t have much hope for a good government coming from the rebels either however. Libya is cursed with oil reserves and as with most nations with oil, it doesn’t bring prosperity and a democratic society. I hope the rebels after they are done fighting, travel to Norway and see how they managed their oil money. Norway is one of the few countries that has been able to use its fossil fuel income to better its society. It has done so by basically putting most of the income in a trust fund and slowly selling its reserves. Having lived in Venezuela, another OPEC nation, I don’t have much hope for Libya…

First Day of School

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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.

Perfect Summer Day

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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.

Belgrade: A River Town

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Danube – Kalamegdan – Sava, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

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.

Kralovecs Visit Novak Tennis Center

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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.

Sava River Bridge Opens to the Public

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The Belgrade City government celebrated the completion of the part of the bridge across the Sava River by opening the bridge up to foot traffic this weekend. We were one of the first people across Saturday morning.

It was nice to see some different views of Belgrade. The column in the center with cable supports is the most impressive. As you can see, cars will be able to go directly underneath the column as it is split on the bottom. That is something you cannot see from the city. The cables also are a lot bigger than I thought. They are about the diameter of huge bowling ball.

A New View of the neighbor - The RailRoad Bridge

It is a massive construction site that also includes all of the entry and exit ramps and over passes. I hope this relieves traffic across the rivers in the city. This will be the fifth bridge in the city spanning the Sava. The bridge closest to us has been under repair all summer and there are delays because of closed lanes.

On spending time on the rivers this weekend, I realized that they play a big part in the city. It reminds me of the Swan River in Perth. Tonight perhaps I’ll take the family to the Belgrade Regatta and see all the boats on the river to finish the weekend.

News Team Were There

There has been some criticism about the cost of the bridge. I consider it worth it in the long run as perhaps, it will become a distinctive icon of the city. It is an engineering marvel and the column can be seen from just about anywhere in the city. I haven’t heard any phallic jokes about it yet, but those are sure to come.I wonder what the official name of the bridge will be. There is still much work to be done and they estimate a December 2011 completion date.

 

 

Lido Beach

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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.

Summer Nights at Ada

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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.

Sava River Bridge on Discovery Channel

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Very cool that the bridge under construction made the Discovery Channel. The single support column is massive and can be seen all around the city. According to the builders, it is 80% completed and should be done before the end of the year. It will certainly help traffic across the other bridges.

 

Serbian Soccer Update

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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.