Belgrade Nights
Belgrade is a night city. It is party center in Europe, but it also has stately buildings and grand evening walks. Continue reading Belgrade Nights
Category: Balkans
Belgrade, Hotel Moskva
These paragraphs are from a 2012 letter. We returned to the Moskva Hotel, where we had stayed so many nights in the 1990s. When we came back we stayed where we started, at the Moskva. The deskman knew us after a decade of absence from the hotel. The Moskva is one of my top three emotional picks for hotels in the world. We spent hundreds of nights here in the 1990s and early 2000s, sometimes staying for a month at a time. I watched the massive demonstrations against Milosevic from the Moskva’s windows. In 1997 Ljiljana chose the Moskva for … Continue reading Belgrade, Hotel Moskva
Belgrade, Kalemegdan: Where the Danube and Sava Rivers Meet.
Kalemegdan is where the Danube and Sava Rivers meet. It is a fortified site that has been held by the Celts, Romans, Byzantines, Serbs, Turks, Austrians, Germans, Yugoslavs and the Serbs again. It is a park, fort, and the place where Belgrade spends weekend afternoons. The pictures are from Kalemegdan and other places mentioned in the letter. These are excerpts from an March 2009 letter. On Sunday in Belgrade the parks came alive. Today Belgrade’s walking street was full of strollers eating ice cream and popcorn, stopping for an iced coffee at one of the cafes and strolling on … Continue reading Belgrade, Kalemegdan: Where the Danube and Sava Rivers Meet.
Beograd, The White City (Belgrade in the winter.)
Some winter pictures of Belgrade. Belgrade has very good snow removal allowing you to walk without slipping very soon after a snowfall. Continue reading Beograd, The White City (Belgrade in the winter.)
Belgrade
We lived in Belgrade for almost four years at two different times. We have been working there for longer, with many trips to work with local radio and TV stations and with B92. We love the city and want to … Continue reading Belgrade
Serbia
Suzi and I first came to Serbia in Jan 1997 to do an assessment of local radio for IREX. We have been working in Serbia, on and off, since then, including living in Serbia in 2000 and 2001 and between … Continue reading Serbia
Ulcinj
Ulcinj is an ethnic Albanian town on the isthmus between Lake Skadar and the sea. It has a very long and fine sandy beach and a smaller beach near the citadel. Rivers running into the sea near Ulcinj have numerous fish traps. Continue reading Ulcinj
Albanian Border Lands
The border between Albania and Montenegro is a wild and beautiful place. These pictures are from the Montenegrin side, although the people are ethnic Albania. This area is north of Tuzi. Continue reading Albanian Border Lands
Sandzak
The Sandzak is a district between Montenegro and Serbia, bordering Kosovo and Bosnia. The pictures from Plevlja are in the northern Sandzak near Bosnia and Serbia. These pictures are mostly taken in the part of the Sandzak that borders Kosovo and Serbia. Continue reading Sandzak
Risan
Risan is at the head of another arm of Boka Kotor. It was the final redoubt of the Illyrian Queen Teuta. It has wonderful Roman mosaics. Risan was the site of the first IREX Kotor Jourmalism Summer School in June 1998. Continue reading Risan
Rijeka Crnojevica
Rijeka Crnojevica is a village on a river that flows into Lake Skadar. But to get to it you have to either take a winding road over a mountain from the lake, and then down again, or an equally winding road down to the valley from Centinje. The drive is worth it. Continue reading Rijeka Crnojevica
Przno Swimming
We loved swimming out from the beach at Przno. The water was clear an there were rocks and sea caves to explore, all an easy swim from the beach. It actually motivated us to acquire a “submersible” camera. We could also swim out for a great view of Sv. Stefan. Continue reading Przno Swimming
Przno
Przno is a former fishing town that still does a little fishing but welcomes a lot of visitors. In the summers of 2009 – 2011 we stayed, either in an apartment right on the water or in a hotel up the hill, which was run by a Canadian college as a training ground for hotel and restaurant employees. The beach is nice, the water very clean (note the fish), and it is sited for great sunsets. We had our favorite cafes on the water. Continue reading Przno
Precanj
This is another village along the Boka, It was a nice walk from the Summer School at Muo. Continue reading Precanj
Plevja, Mosques and Monasteries.
Plevja is in Northern Montenegro where Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro meet. It is a multi ethnic area that saw a large influx of refugees during the Bosnian war. It is part of the Sanzak region which was part of the Ottoman empire, administered by Austria, and when Austria withdrew Serbia and Montenegro split the district. The “Holy Trinity” Monastery is just outside town. The Mosque is typical of the Balkans. The clock tower is a hold over from Ottoman times. The Ottomans put up clock towers in most of their towns. Continue reading Plevja, Mosques and Monasteries.
Piva Valley
We first drove through the Piva Valley in 1972 on our way from Sarajevo to Titograd (now called Podgorica.) It is a beautiful mountain drive north of Niksic. Continue reading Piva Valley
Muo
Muo is a town just up the fjord from Kotor. From 2000 until 2004 we held the IREX Journalism Summer School here. The building where we held the school is an old harbormaster’s house for the port of Kotor. Continue reading Muo
Moraca Canyon
This Canyon runs North from Podgorica. The main road and railroad from Podgorica to Northern Montenegro, and Belgrade, runs through this canyon. We drove it once a month in a “commute” between Montenegro and Kosovo in 1999 and 2000. … Continue reading Moraca Canyon
Coastal Monastery
There are lots of little Monasteries in the hills overlooking the coast. This is one of them. Continue reading Coastal Monastery
Milocer
Milocer is a town built around the royal beach house on the King’s Beach. There is also a Queen’s Beach. Suzi and I stayed at the Villa Milocer many weekends while living in Podgorica. It has been taken over by a big international resort company, which remodeled the place, and increased the price beyond our poor power to afford to stay. But we can still look at it and recall wonderful memories of dinner looking out at Sveti Stefan. Continue reading Milocer
Kotor Saturday Market
When we were teaching at the Kotor Journalism Summer School a visit to the Saturday Market was a regular event. Not only for shopping but to gather sound for radio pieces. Continue reading Kotor Saturday Market
Lovcen and the Njegos Valley
Lovcen is the mountain area where Njegos Petrovic is buried. His tomb is in one of the pictures. It is the second highest mountain. When he was asked why he did not choose the highest mountain he said that someday a prince greater than he would come and he would take that place. It happened. TV came along and the highest mountain is dedicated to the antenna. The Njegos Valley is where he grew up. It creates wonderful cheese and ham. Continue reading Lovcen and the Njegos Valley
Lake Skadar
Lake Skadar, or Lake Scutari in Italian and Lake Shkodër in Albanian, straddles the border. It always seems fog bound even though the coast, over the mountains, is sunny. Kevin found an old Soviet hovercraft that was a gift from the Russians to Tito. Continue reading Lake Skadar
Flying Over the Coast
We often flew from Belgrade to Tivat, Montenegro. The plane is a prop plane that flies over Podgorica and Lake Skadar. It crosses the coast mountains over Petrovac and flies up the coast past Sveti Stefan, Przno, Budva and lands at Tivat. On the return it flies over the Boka Kator, Lovce n and Cetinje. Continue reading Flying Over the Coast