Bijeljina, a town where time passes naturally

Bijeljina is the main town in "Semberija", an agricultural region located between the Drina and Sava rivers, in north-eastern Bosnia-Hercegovina. I went there two times and both times I felt disoriented, without any particular reason. Just during my second visit, and after having walked and biked in the surroundings too, I realized that my feeling was related to my perception of time: it was passing in a different way. Why?
The answer is as simple to state, as it is hard to put into words: in agricultural areas it's Nature that dictates all the rhythms. Provided you're not a loyal customer of Monsanto or other "sustainable agriculture companies" (don't laugh: this is the way Monsanto defines itself), you cannot plant tomatoes in winter, you cannot water them at noon and finally, when they're ripe, you cannot wait to pick them up.
In a few words, your life is ruled by "Nature's natural time" and not by the artificial time, generated by a computerized assembly line or a management board or the BCE. If you are a passerby, addicted to city-postmodern-life, this Nature's time seems something strange and it's hard to get used to. But if you relax and let your hair down, something beautiful happens: you realize that you're part of Nature and Nature is part of you. Then, when you go back to your frantic city-life you have just to remember this. And it takes a great effort.
That's all

p.s. pics where taken in Bijeljina and surroundings. I wish to thank family Vasić for making me feeling home.

Which river are you most like and why?

All those who were born or who live on the bank of a river are assumed to spend some time on the river itself and to observe and understand its nature, its behavior, its character, in a few words its personality. As for me, I was born on the Soča (Isonzo) river and I can say that it reminds me of a young guy, active and quiet at the same time.
Instead, the river Sava reminds me of a middle-aged housewife, who spends her days preparing "pita" and gossiping with her neighbors.
Af for the river Danube, he's an old man, who likes telling stories to his grandchildren and who is proud of himself when troubadours from all over Europe sing about him.
The Neretva River is undoubtedly the reincarnation of Odysseus, an old-timey warrior who, after many years of fighting, is going to get some rest in the Adriatic sea.
Finally, the Drina river, the one that I like the most, because I identify with her: a nervous woman who cannot stay still for a minute and who, when enough is enough, burst her banks and overflows, without prior warning.
Today's winner is therefore the river Drina. But, as I spent some time on the banks of other rivers in Bosnia Hercegovina and Serbia, I wish to pay tribute to all of them. I hope you'll appreciate the pics and that you'll enjoy answering the question included in this post's title.
That's all.

A quale fiume assomigli e perché?

Suppongo che tutti coloro i quali sono nati o vivono sulla riva di un fiume passino del tempo sul fiume stesso e osservino la sua natura, il suo comportamento, il suo carattere, in breve la sua personalità. Per quanto mi riguarda, sono nata sul fiume Soča (Isonzo) e posso dire che mi ricorda un ragazzo giovane, attivo e tranquillo allo stesso tempo.
La Sava, invece, mi ricorda una casalinga di mezza età "coi fianchi larghi", che passa le sue giornate a fare la "pita" e a spettegolare con i vicini.
Il Danubio, invece, è un vecchio che ama raccontare le sue storie ai nipoti e va molto fiero di se stesso quando i trovatori di tutta Europa cantano di lui.
La Neretva è invece, indiscutibilmente, la reincarnazione di Ulisse, un guerriero d'altri tempi che, dopo anni di battaglie, va infine a riposarsi nel mare Adriatico.
Infine la Drina, il fiume che amo di più perché mi ci identifico: una donna nervosa che non riesce stare ferma un attimo e che, quando la misura è colma, rompe gli argini ed esonda, senza preavviso.
Il vincitore di oggi è perciò il fiume Drina. Ma, dato che ho passato del tempo sulle sponde di vari fiumi in Bosnia Hercegovina e in Serbia, vorrei rendere omaggio a tutti. Spero che apprezziate le foto e spero che vi divertirete nel rispondere alla domanda contenuta nel titolo.

Spring of the Bosna River (Ilidža, 2013)

The Skakavac waterfall, formed on the river Perućica (12 km from Sarajevo, 2013)

The Skakavac waterfall (ibid)

The river Drina (near Bijeljina, 2015)

The river Trebišnjica (Trebinje, 2013)

The river Janja (Bijeljina, 2015)

The River Sava (Belgrade, 2015)

The River Danube (Novi Sad, 2015)

The River Sava (Brčko, 2015)

Fishing on the river Sava (Brčko, 2015)

Somewhere, I don't know where (2013)

The river Bosna (Zavidovići, 2014)

The bridge on the Neretva (Jablanica, 2013)

Confluence of Drina and Sava Rivers (Rača, 2014)

Confluence of Sava and Danube Rivers (Belgrade, 2015)

Sunset on the Drina (near Bijeljina, 2015)

Sunset on the Sava (Belgrade, 2015)

The Danube in the night (Belgrade, 2015)

A quick tour of Belgrade

Hi guys,
how are you? I hope you're well, as I am. I got back home last Sunday and I feel a little confused, as it always happens to me after a journey. I spent 10 days in Bosnia and Hercegovina and 4 in Serbia, where I visited Novi Sad and Belgrade. Don't ask me why, but I decided to write about this journey starting from Serbia's capital city, today's winner.
They say that the first impression is the most important one. Well, I think it's true and, from this point of view, I was really impressed by Belgrade, a modern european capital city, young and bustling, rich in history, arts and in green spots. I really liked it, this is the only thing I know for sure. But I spent there just three days and there was no time to go into topics I find interesting (theatre, arts, social issues). This is the reason why I prefer to talk about a "a quick tour" and not to waste your time in giving "tourist" information that you will find anywhere on the web.
Let me just say that if you want to travel in Serbia or in other countries of former Yugoslavia the first thing you have to do is to throw all your "media-convictions" out of the window, forget about them, look around and talk with the people you meet. If you don't do that you'll never understand anything.

I just wanna thank my friends Zorica and Milica for the time spent together. My wish is to go back to Belgrade soon: there are too many things to see, to many people to meet, too many places to go.
That's all.

Once upon a time Sava met Danube...

The quiet Sava

yugo nostalgija

Tito nostalgija

Rest in peace, comrade Tito

NATO 1999

Old and young

I'm beautiful

Dancing in the night

Waiting for the bus

The Partizan stadium

Artistic deformations

House of an artist

Modernity and tradition

Post-modern man

Mirrored fashion

Globalization

Money without frontiers

Belgrade Waterfront Project