BELGRADE, SERBIA and ST SAVA

                                              A Prospering City

      After WW I Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia became known as Yugoslavia. Various countries were added until in 1946 Yugoslavia consisted of the original three countries plus Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovinian and Macedonia.

       St. Sava Orthodox Cathedral is the largest orthodox cathedral in the world. After 50 years of construction, it still is not complete. The domed building, with a white marble and granite façade is set in gardens. It is not a cathedral in the technical  ecclesiastical   sense, as it is not the seat of a       bishopery. In Serbian it is called a hram (temple), which in Eastern Orthodox is another name for a church. In English, it is usually referred to as a cathedral because of its size and importance.   The Cathedral of Saint Sava is the

most recent addition to a historic line of important architectural monuments and places in Belgrade. The church is centrally planned, having the form of a  Greek Cross. It has a large 70-meter high central dome. The main 12 meter high gold plated cross makes the dome 82 meters high. The church is visible from all approaches to the city. There are 18 other gold-plated crosses of various sizes, while the bell towers have 49 bells.      The Cathedral can receive 10,000 faithful at any one time. The choir gallery seats 800 singers. The basement contains a crypt, the treasury of Saint Sava, and the grave of   Saint Lazas. The façade is in white marble and granite and, when finished, the inner decorations will be of mosaics. The central dome will contain a mosaic of Christ. To give a sense of the monumental scale, the eyes will each be about 4 meters wide.

      Three hundred years after the burning of Saint Sava's remains, a small church was built at the future place of the Cathedral in 1895. It was later moved so the construction of the Cathedral could begin. In 1905, a public contest was launched but all designs were rejected. Wars delayed further construction until 1919. New appeals for designs were made in 1926. Forty years after the initial idea, construction of the church began in May 1935. The work lasted until the invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941 when work ceased altogether. The occupying German army used the unfinished church as a parking lot. Construction began again in1985. The greatest achievement of the construction process was the lifting of the 4,000 ton central dome, which was built on the ground, together with the copper plate and the cross. The lifting, which took forty days, was finished on June 26, 1989. Most of the church is complete. The bells and windows are  installed, and the facade is completed. However, work on the internal decoration of the building remains unfinished so visitors are not allowed inside.

     We were in Belgrade on a Sunday. We walked up the 130 steps from river level to mall level where there was a great environmental exhibit. Done by photography students, it showed pictures of unbelievable trash heaps. The students were trying to tell people we cannot continue to trash our earth. It was very well done.

Impressions:

Small cars.    Traffic was light and drivers were civil 

 High literacy rate.

Looks prosperous, although young educated people have difficulty finding jobs with decent pay.

Some litter in certain areas.

 Lots of pregnant women        

 Lots of cigarette smokers

Yards are well maintained         

 Gorgeous architecture

COFFEE, More About

                                               A Fun Costa Rica Visit
    At Café Britt we watched an entertaining live presentation about coffee in the theater.  Britt is a large coffee company that makes many coffee related items. Their coffee liqueur is an excellent one. Their coffee and other items can be purchased from their website. 
    Coffee was discovered in 1500 in Ethiopia and came to Costa Rica in 1750. In the 19^th century coffee plants were given to anyone who wanted to grow them. It takes three years for the plant to produce beans and the plants produce one crop a year. The same field is picked 4-5 times each season, at three weeks intervals. Only the red bean is picked. They are ripe during the dry season, December to March.  
     All coffee beans are picked by hand. Pickers strap a large basket around their waist that when full it weighs 25 pounds. The beans are processed the day of picking. They sit in water 24 hours. Eventually the beans are sun dried for seven days, then can be held up to a year before roasting.

    Coffee grows at elevations between 800-5600 feet.  Some areas are shaded by larger trees, others are not.

     Tomas Acosta first introduced coffee in 1805. In 1821 coffee plants and land were given to people in the Central Valley, but the land belonged to the government. In 1831, the government deeded the land to anyone who had been farming it for the past ten years. At that time the only country trading for coffee was Nicaragua.  

In 1832 Jorge Steeple transported 25 ton of coffee to Panama via mule, where it then went to Chili and then on to England.

In 1844-45 William Lalacheus linked the Central Valley to the Caribbean. The trip from Caldera, Costa Rica around Cape Horn, to England and back to Costa Rica took 18 months.

     In 1900-14 coffee prices dropped and did not go back up until 1939. 
     The Rohmoser brothers owned large coffee plantations and paid their workers with tokens. At the end of the day the workers could turn the tokens in for colones (Costa Rican currency), but the tokens were also used as cash. 
     At one time Costa Rican economy was often referred to as a dessert economy or a coffee/banana economy. 
     I have visited coffee plantations/ facilities in several places but Britt is one of my favorites. Coffee is a labor intensive crop as the coffee beans are picked by hand and most often by women and children. Today many countries export coffee.

MONT BLANC and HIKING

                         Spectacular Scenery Every Day

            At the cable car station we learned there were two meters (6’) of snow on the north face of Mont Blanc. The north face is straight up. We boarded the cable car which holds 55 people---packed in like sardines. There is no fear of falling since you can’t move.  When we reached 7600-feet at Plan de l’ Aiguille we changed cable cars to reach the Aiguille de Midi at 12,700-feet. From here it was a hike up to the top of Mont Blanc and is only for the experienced hiker.

The scenery was spectacular!  We walked across a bridge and took an elevator to the top of de Midi. The ice tunnel we walked through was rapidly melting, and a fellow constantly was removing slush. In a couple of weeks the tunnel would be melted and gone.

 The rapidly moving clouds were like a fine mist or light fog, disappearing almost as soon as you saw them. As the afternoon moved on, the wind came up at the top getting cold enough to reach for a jacket. We spent all afternoon moving around, enjoying the scenery and taking pictures.

           

      The first morning François, our local guide, met us at the hotel. From the hotel we went straight up a good way before reaching the path. The hills just killed me, but I kept telling myself that on the plus side I was getting a great aerobic workout as I huffed and puffed along.

      The rocky four-hour path with lots of tree roots meandered through forests with frequent undulations. At times the path was extremely narrow and on the edge. Our guide pointed out where a large chunk of the mountain rock had fallen in June of ’97. Apparently the smaller pieces of rock had been held on by ice and when the ice melted the rock fell. He had before and after pictures and was very good with visuals. The views were breath-taking, and hand gliders were out in force on the beautiful day. it was straight down over a narrow rough, switch-back path that ended at a lovely picnic area. Timing was perfect for lunch!

      It was a shock to all of us to learn that serious rock climbers do not check in with anyone at Mont Blanc. The attitude is to let a relative or someone know what and where you are going. Then if you don’t return as expected they can take action. The ear pieces that we had everywhere but Switzerland were a great help in hearing all that was said, no matter where we were!

           

      We walked to the station in time to catch the 10 AM rack and pinion train to go see the ice cave. Built in 1908, it was a 20 minute climb to Mer de Glace, a 7 K glacier 1200 X 200 meters. It was another beautiful sunny day so we had wonderful views of the spectacular scenery.  From the top it was 400 steps down to the cave, and except for a long uphill climb, there is no other way up! The stairs had handrails and there was a small platform after every few stairs. Resting gave us time to enjoy the scenery and to realize just how far the glacier had receded.

      Again a couple of fellows were shoveling away slush. The cave was not overly cold. It was fair size and had a few ice sculptures inside, notably a polar bear and a pair of hot tubs. Colored lights were strung about inside. The blue hue bouncing off the walls was magnificent.

      It was a slow but steady slog back up the 400 steps to the top. The train got us back to the city in time for a late lunch at a sidewalk café on the square.

      Our two weeks were over and we had done no shopping, so we wandered around at least looking for a tee shirt. Tomorrow we’d be back in Geneva, Switzerland and it was a Sunday. Eventually all good things come to an end!

ROMAN RUINS

                                       Fantastic Large Ruins             

            I hadn’t planned it but I knew we would be at the large Roman Ruins  in Aosta on my birthday. Aosta (oo sta—the a is silent) was an hour and a half ride from our base in Cogne, Italy. Located in the northwestern corner of Italy in the center of the Aosta valley the city stands at an altitude of 1900-feet, and is bounded on the north by Switzerland and to the west by France.

            Founded in 25 BC by Romans, primarily as a military camp, it is often called Rome of the Alps. The area was established where two roads intersected. Surrounded by mountains, Medieval Aosta with its cobbled streets and overhanging upper stories is a charming old alpine town. Houses are double story, made of stucco and painted various colors. Slate roofs are the most common. With a population of 25,000 the city is the largest in the valley. Walking around the historic center is easy as no cars are allowed.

             The spectacular mountains, four of which -- Mont Blanc, Cervino (also known as the Matterhorn), Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso -- stand higher than 13,123 feet.

            A local guide walked us around the extensive Roman ruins, stopping often during the three hours to explain what we were seeing. I’ve seen many Roman ruins in many different places over the years, but except in Rome, most often they were viewed from above frequently through protective glass. It was a thrill to walk through the gates and to walk among the well preserved ruins.

South entrance

            We started on the south side of the extensive ruins. Much of the fortification wall remains. The ancient town walls of Agusta Praetoria Salassorum enclose an area approximately 2360-feet by 1855-feet. The 20-foot high wall was built of concrete faced with stone. The bottom of the wall was about 10-feet thick and the top about six feet wide. The stone work was in remarkably good repair! The stones originally came from the river. The wall originally had 20 towers; the one on the southern wall is square, is original and is complete to a certain height—maybe 15 feet up. The towers were modified in the Middle Ages and one tower added brick work to show where the tower was altered or added to.

Old Roman Wall

            The rectangular arrangement of the streets is modeled on a Roman plan dividing the town into 64 blocks or insulae. The main road was 32-feet wide and divided the city into two equal halves running east to west.

            Among the ruins, outlying areas mix modern buildings with the old. The main square is large and bordered by large modern neo-classical buildings. The street is cobbled with the typical 3-4” granite squares common in the area.  The 11^th century cathedral is located in the area of the original forum. The 16^th century façade entrance (1522-1526) is gorgeous with wonderful frescos bordering all around the entrance door. In the 19^th century the white classical façade was added around the 16^th century part, making for a stunning total appearance.           

            Inside, glass covers a 4^th century baptismal font. The building of a vaulted ceiling destroyed ancient frescoes. The crucifix dates to 1397. The choir stall contains 15^th century walnut wood chairs that the seat can be flipped up so the monks could stand and lean against them to rest from a sitting position. The 18th century inlaid altar is simply gorgeous. The floor by the altar has lovely mosaics, one of which had been cleaned.

            We spent a good deal of time in the old theater that seated 4000 people. Instead of being the typical round theater, this one was rectangular shaped. The theory being the roof would be easier to build than a round one.

            The columns in the cloister are made of marble. Each has an evangelical or biblical scene as well as scenes from the life of Saint Orso.  The 12th century bell tower is the most impressive in the region.  It originally functioned as a place of refuge, as it is surrounded and defended by a bat­tlement wall.

            In the 15^th century brick and terra cotta decoration was added to the monastery façade. Inside the church the large square columns were of wide stripes of two different kinds of marble. The altar carvings were beautiful. There were several small sanctuaries on the inside left wall of the church.  It is still an operating monastery.

            We left the ruins through the south gate where we had entered the UNESCO site. The gate  has three arches; the large middle arch was for carriages and the two smaller gates, one on each side, were for pedestrians.

            What a fantastic morning we had spent with an animated and well informed guide.

ALL ABOUT BANANAS

                            From the Field to Store

I was quite fascinated with the process of getting the bananas from the field to the store.  It takes nine months to grow a stalk of bananas. When it is cut down a new baby has formed and will become a new tree. In Costa Rica the fields are not neatly planted flat fields. The terrain is hilly or rather lumpy with lots of ups and downs, although nothing clean cut like for irrigation.

As the stalk of bananas begins to grow they are covered with a permeated cloth bag that allows the sun and water to penetrate but keeps the bugs and animals away. Poisonous snakes inhabit the banana fields so the workers wear high heavy rubber boots.

The banana tree with the stalk attached is cut down with a huge sharp machete and put on a hook on an overhead conveyor rail. When they enter the facility they are hosed down with a power stream of water from hoses. Then the banana hands or clusters are separated with what looked like a plastic plate. They continue around on the overhead belt to a fellow with a very sharp tool who cuts each cluster from the stalk. The clusters are thrown into huge vats of flowing water. They eventually make it to a fellow who removes the clusters and places them in large specially designed plastic trays. Finally women bag the clusters in plastic logo bags and pack them in the well-known banana cartons ready for shipment.

The banana stalks are removed from the overhead belt after all the fruit is removed and are loaded into large trailer trucks. A fascinating new industry has been created: banana paper!  The paper is a relatively  new industry. Apparently parts of the mango and coffee trees are also used for making paper. This saves a lot in the land fill.

BERRY STORIES

                                          Sweet Surprises

        It is amazing what jogs your memory and even more amazing what the memories are that are remembered.

I just finished eating a bowl of fresh blueberries with cereal. Note the order of blueberries and cereal! Looking at the carton of big lush blueberries, I noted they came from Canada. A sudden flashback had me back on a trip to Nova Scotia eleven years ago.  The particular city is a haze, but the amused expression on the waitress’s face as she watched  me savor a large cereal bowl full of nothing but fresh blueberries with a bit of milk is as clear as if it were yesterday. I could not resist returning to the buffet table for more savory berries, but limited myself to a half bowlful. Leaving the dining room I smiled at the waitress and muttered a thank you to which she replied, "I’m glad you enjoyed your berries.".

           

 And how one memory leads to another! Another trip, and a couple of years later. I was walking the streets in St. Andrews, Scotland and stopped in one of my favorite haunts—a foreign grocery store. Before long I spied a box of fresh raspberries. It’s a tossup which of these two berries is my favorite.

I bought the berries and headed down the street concentrating on eating one berry after another.

Even unwashed, they tasted wonderful.  By the time I reached the corner, I was holding an empty box! Fortunately there was a trash can on the corner. I deposited the empty box, contemplated going back to the store to buy another but continued down the street looking in the golf shops instead. Not being a golfer you can imagine which activity was the most fun!

    

  In both Kinsale, Ireland and somewhere in the Cotswolds while hiking we came upon blackberries growing next to the path. Both times the berries were big, ripe, and juicy. Do I have to tell you that the hiking slowed considerably as I managed to pick and consume probably close to a cup of berries. And as I write this I just remembered another instance in Ireland of finding berries as we walked down a narrow lane to a castle. I do remember that those berries were ripe but not as big as the rainfall in the area was less. However, I still enjoyed the berries.