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Cynd, Lydia, Isaac, and I took a trip this week. When we get back, we’ll post all of our pictures, but here a re a few to wet your whistle. Prijatno!
Coffee….or Not
Yesterday, Friday 22 Jan, I tried to go to what has become a favorite coffee shop of mine in Skopje (or Skoplje if you are in Serbia) Macedonia. When I showed up, the place was closed up tight. There was a sign on the door. After trying to read it, I decided it said they would open at 11pm (2300) for a party. I went on about my business….
On the way back to the apartment, I heard a BBC report about coffee shops in Macedonia closing for the day yesterday to protest a new anti-smoking law that went into effect. Now, I imagine the sign said something like “We are closed to protest the new anti-smoking law. We will reopen on the 23rd. Call your represenative and complain.” Anyway, I thought it was interesting that this protest made international news…and that I heard it on the way home.
For more information, see these few articles .
Image from gregoriosz via flickr. Note, it is not the coffee shop I was trying to go to.
Putovanje po Srbije
We have some family visiting us. Yesterday, we went for a drive through the country. Here’s a few pictures of what we saw:
Wooden Statue of Jovan Micic in Mokra Gora
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Lydia played in a spring
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 We saw this huge woodpile (also in Mokra Gora)
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We had coffee in a kafana
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We saw this really cool wooden house being built
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We saw a really neat train station at Jatre for the Sargan Eight
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Cyndi took our Picture
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we went to drvengrad (it means wooden town/city)
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We ate lunch at this real pretty restaraunt in Perucac. And had MEAT!
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Lydia looked at the fish
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We saw a neat lake on the border of Serbia and Bosnia.
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Here’s a view of the river below the dam. On the right is Serbia and on the left is Bosnia
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We drove by this funny monument so we stopped. Turns out it is a monument at Kadinjac Workers Movement
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If you want to see where we drove, have a look at these KML files (you can view them in google earth):
Trip to Nis
Over the summer, we had a group of guys visit us. One of the things we did was take them to see some places around Serbia. In July, we went to Nis (Ni/Ниш). I’d never been there (and they certainly hadn’t been there). One of the things we saw was the Skull Tower, but we also just explored the town. Afterwards, we just went for a drive in the boonies. Below are some pictures of what we saw that day. If you want to see more, have a look at the flickr set.
From the fortress looking back towards the center of town.
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There’s this mosque in town. I can’t tell if it is active or not. From the looks of the minerette, it isn’t…but who knows.
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Here’s some roman ruins in the fortress in Nis
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In Serbia, sometimes you see the oddest things for sale in the oddest places. Here’s an example. Not only did this lady have a table full of bras on the street, there were about 5 other people who were also selling bras on the street. Odd….
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On our drive into the boonies, we came across this really nice conversion van. It looked so out of place.
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It didn’t have US plates on it, but it would have looked at home in the states.
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Cele Kule — Skull Tower
In July, I went to Nis (Ni/Ниш). One of the places I got to see was the Skull Tower. The picture to the left is of one of the skulls in the tower.
Back in 1809, the Serbs were fighting the Turks to drive them out of the area. They had a battle around Nis. From what I understand, the Serbs were loosing the battle and about to be slaughtered. The commander of the Serbs had his men blow up their remaining stores of powder. This, in addition to killing the Serbs, killed a large number of Turks too. In retaliation, the Turks took the bodies–specifically the skulls–and built the tower (about a 12 foot x 12 foot x 12 foot cube). They took the skin off the heads, stuffed them, and sent them back to turkey. The skulls were embedded into the tower as a threat to the Serbs.
Is it creepy? yes. However, when you see it, and realize it happened a few dozen years before the Civil War (and not 500 or 800 years ago), you get a different perspective on time and what is old and recent in Europe.
[Update 08-18-2009 08:09:03] You can go here to see more pictures of the skull tower.
Guca 2009 Trumpet Festival
Every year near Cacak, a sleepy little town is transformed. The population swells from the few thousands into the hundreds of thousands as people from all over the world come to hear trumpet music. What’s going on? It’s the Guca Trumpet Festival (warning…the link starts autoplaying music).
Last year, our Serb friends told us not to go…but, this year, I wanted to see what it was all about. I knew nothing other than what I had read on the internet. I was really worried it would be a big drunk fest; however, when I was there during the day, the atmosphere was more like a county fair or carnival.
Below are a few of the pictures I took. For more, check out the flickr guca 2009 trumpet festival set.
Gotta watch out for that swine flu pandemic!!
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This dude was letting people pet his snake. Shudder…..
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This was set up on a hill above the town.
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Rome Day 1 in Pictures — pt 4
Thispost should conclude my day 1 pictures. What trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Colloseum?! Of course, we went there. The picture above was taken from the Palentine Hill looking back towards it.
To get into the Colloseum, we had to pass through security. The line wasn’t too bad…Lydia helpedus through like she does many places.
By the way, if you ever want to know, the ticket for the Colloseum is also good at the Palentine Hill. But, you can buy the ticket either place. According to Frommers, the line is shorter at the Palentine Hill. We actually went their first, exited, went to the Colloseum, then went back to the Forum. You need to take note that the order we did this in isn’t really supposed to work…we shouldn’t have been alloweb back into the Palentine Hill/Forum area…but the lady let us in.
Below are some pictures from inside the Colloseum:
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| This was a cross erected by some pope in memory of Christians that were martyred at the Colloseum. | This marble looked really really old so I took a picture of it. |
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| Here are some steps. Historians think that people could enter and leave the Colloseum in 10-15 minutes. That is just amazing. | I wonder if Caesar ever used this?? |
We had some great views from the Colloseum. On the left is looking out over a hill where a temple of jupiter (?? or venus) once stood. Now, there is a church built on the spot where people still go to get married.
On the right is where the line would be for people waiting to get in. We were there kind of late so there weren’t many people still waiting. From what we read (and saw) lines can be rather long. Like I said, we got our tickets at the Palentine Hill first then went to the Colloseum. We avoided some of the line…but still had to wait to get through security. The best help for that…a 2 year old in a stroller 🙂
While walking around Rome, we saw this building several times. I don’t know what it is…but is is pretty impressive. If you have any ideas, leave us a comment.
After the Colloseum, we went back to the Palentine Hill (see the warning above about use of the ticket) and went throught he Forum. Below are 4 pictures from there that I thought you might enjoy.
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There were a few things that struck me. But the biggest was the flowers at the grave of Juluis Caesar (sp??). Why would people lay flowers at the grave of the man who destroyed the representative goverment and set up theall powerfull emperor? I just don’t understand it. There are statues of other emperors around town. As you can see, they get flowers too.
We also went by the Trevi Fountain (no, we haven’t thrown any money in. I may give them 5 or 2 dinars before we leave through).
The last place I’ll write about was one of the first we visted. It was the Mamertine Jail where Paul and Peter were supposedly in jail. I don’t know how much stock I’ll put in it…but the jail was representative of a jail of that time period. I can’t imagine being in jail then.
Note the upside down cross on the memorial in the cell. It is like that because Peter was crucified upside down.
We went down stairs to get there…in old times, there was only a hole in the roof.
Rome Day 4
Today we visited the ruins at Pompeii. I’m uploading pictures right now. Check them out at our flickr page. I’m going to conclude the day 1 picture posts this evening too.
Rome Day 3
Today we visited the ruins at Pompeii. I’m uploading pictures right now. Check them out at our flickr page. I’m going to conclude the day 1 picture posts this evening too.
We went to the train station and got tickets for Naples and Pompei. We also went to the St. Angel Castle and the Parthenon.
[Update 03-26-2009 21:56:01] I missed a day. Pompeii was actually day 4.
Rome Day 1 in Pictures — pt 3
This post of pictures will focus on Lydia. How do we end up with so many pictures if her? Well, from this first picture, you see she has her own paparatzi that follows her around:
Lydia has been such a trooper. Sometimes she rides around in her stroller while other times she walks. We usually let her walk as long as their aren’t many people or we are in lots of traffic. She likes that. But even when she has to ride, she doesn’t mind that either.
Lydia has had a great time getting pushed around by her grandparents and carried by them, etc… The picture on the right is Lydia and her grandpa in front of the Colloseum. The pictures on the left and below is Lydia walking on the Palatine Hill.
Speaking of time with her grandpa, Lydia has gotten to share some good food with her grandpa. Their favorite is…guess…potato chips. They both like them…lots!
I’ll end with two more pictures of Lydia on day 1 in Rome. She’s with her grandparents on the left and resting on the Palatine Hill on the left.
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[Update 03-25-2009 21:41:11] After saving the post, I realized I had missed one picture I wanted to post. This is Lydia looking over some old ruins in Rome. Go figure…they are old Roman Ruins 🙂
