The year was supposed to be a one of normalcy and return to glory. Belgrade started celebrating early in 2020 as the restored Victor returned to Kalemegdan in February. Tourism, already on the up for the past half decade, was supposed to continue booming and things were supposed to go as usual. Then, of course, everything was turned upside-down with the arrival of COVID. State … Continue reading Hindsight, 2020
The Feast of Epiphany, which according to the Julian calendar falls on January 19, is the day with some of the most colourful rituals in Serbia as it marks the end of Christmastide. Given it is the day when, according to the New Testament, Jesus’s divine mission became apparent to the masses after his baptism in the river Jordan, most of the folk rituals surrounding … Continue reading Magic of Epiphany in Serbia
Ever since I can remember, I loved taking pictures. I remember I spent three rolls of film on a five-day trip to Hong Kong when I was 9, taking pictures of buildings, probably to my parents’ annoyance at the money spent. When I was 14, I bossed my dad around to take photos around Lebanon in blistering heat, a behaviour that was instantly ridiculed by … Continue reading The Zen of Taking Pictures
Lake Skadar is as dramatic as landscapes get in Europe. Whichever side you apprach it from in Montenegro your first sight of it will be an explosion of a green watery expanse, dotted with white cones of karst covered in thick Mediterranean bush. As you train your eye on its beauty, you will notice birds soaring above its waters and maybe a ruin of a … Continue reading Lake Skadar: eerie land of macabre fairies, ruins and skeletal hills
Last January I travelled to South America with my family. Although Argentina and Brazil were always high on the list of my countries to visit, there was never enough time (or money) to do them justice. I imagined them as simply more exotic versions of Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal and Italy with parrots and jungles. What I found blew my mind. A continent that developed … Continue reading South America: The Other World
