Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Nikolas's confirmation
We had grandma and grandpa in town for two weeks, through Nikolas's confirmation. They got to watch the boys play baseball, saw Sonja play soccer, and enjoyed warm, sunny weather before they headed back to Boston.
Here are some pictures from the confirmation day. Nikolas's best friend Noah joined us for the dinner after the ceremony.
Deko with his great-granddaughter:
Nikolas is easy to spot: the tallest kid in the group:
Dinner:
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Spring 2023
I took Stephen and James to the festival at the dairy farm, to get to see a bunch of cows up close (Stephen had to hold his nose) and learn a bunch of stuff.
Another spring event is the elementary school festival. Stephen was very excited to meet his best friend Victoria there and try all the bounce houses, rockclimbing, and everything else they could get into. Here is our brave rockclimber (one of these days I'll get back into it myself!):
Kids' close-ups:
Stephen's energy seems infinite. He keeps going without a pause... until he crashes. Here he is, sleeping on a bean bag in the middle of the living room, with headphones on his head (and a thumb that just slipped out of his mouth):
He is the most popular kid at his preschool among both the boys and the girls. A few months ago he asked, "When will I grow up and be a boss?" He comes up with the ideas on how to play, everyones follows him, and he is always very helpful and happy, someone they all want to have around. If only I had the time for playdates.....
This spring Sonja added softball to her sports repertoire that already includes soccer and swimming. She joined the middle school softball team after only a couple of camps since last summer. Here she is at bat.
Middle school soccer team:
Sonja's travel soccer team:
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Ski Trip to Utah, end of 2022
Another year, same place - only this time Stephen got to ski, too!
The big kids refused lessons even though they could have really used them and went on their own, while Stephen took lessons the first day, and after than he was ok just accompanied by Robb on the Magic Carpet lift. He learned how to turn and stop in no time, but the little punk wasn't satisfied with only going down around the cones, no! Every other run he'd go off between some trees on the side of the main path. By the third day he asked to go on a chair lift with the older kids. I thought it was too early and mainly worried that he'd get scared of getting on and off the lift, but we got him a pass anyway. He did great! He zigzagged down the run without losing control and kept going all day and the next few days.
The snow was great this year, again. There was some fresh powder, not of the epic kind we had last year, but this trip for me was all about moguls. I found a run that had barely anthing but perfect moguls that apparently were not popular with the crowd, so I had a whole run, top to bottom, all to myself on many occassions. Incredible!
Saturday, January 14, 2023
Zagreb, October 2022
Robb and I made it back from Sarajevo to Zagreb for his conference.
The first exciting event happened during our short walk from Glavni kolodvor to the hotel. Some fancy car crashed into a tram and caught on fire. The traffic was congested for hours, but luckily we decided to walk and avoided sitting in a taxi for who knows how long!
The hotel was right by the main downtown walking area, at Trg zrtava fasizma, so we could easily hop out for a walk, dinner or a drink. One evening we enjoyed a particularly nice dinner at an old restaurant 'Stari fijaker' where the waiter was so surprised that I was visiting after 30 years of being out of country and introducing my husband to the old homeland ('ajme, Isuse!') that he gave us a special treatment in general, including visnjevac on the house (the sour cherry drink). Sarma and venison goulash would have been a treat on their own, but our waiter went out of his way to make us feel at home and nearly brought me to tears.
Sitting in outdoor cafes reminded us of Prague - there is something special about sipping the local beer outside. It works best at that location, at that climate. Try to have the same beer elsewhere, and it doesn't have quite the same effect. Anyway, we did enjoy Ozujsko pivo here in Zagreb plenty of times, watching people walk by. Out in the streets I couldn't help noticing a large number of buildings having their facades fixed. That's a perk of joining EU, the extra money your get to beautify the cities. The main cathedral was under repair, too, this due to the damage caused by a recent earthquake. On the other hand, store prices were higher than in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the produce and cheese were mass-produced EU-style, not nearly as flavorful as in BH.
I made sure we met with Dubravko, my old friend and later the founder of Alvesta, the first company I worked at after graduation. We met his wife Sandra, too, and had an entertaining, funny, interesting dinner with the two of them (it can never be NOT enertaining and interesting when meeting Dubravko!) The next day we visited Dubravnko at his work. I knew he was a professor at FER (electrical engineering department of the University of Zagreb), but I didn't expect that he would have changed areas from laser diodes to space research so that now he overlapped with Robb's area. The two of them hit it off and bounced some research ideas back and forth. We met his current and former graduate students and briefly visited the location of his new startup. Dubravko's former student who is now faculty at FER joined Robb and me at the closing dinner at the conference. As we were chatting about switching dialects and vocabulary while growing up - for me when I traveled from Sarajevo to Mostar to visit my grandparents, and then to the seaside to the summer house where I used to hang out with the local kids - as I mentioned shugaman (our version of the asciugamano in Italian) and pastasciutta (another adopted Italian word for a pasta dish), the Italian group at our table turned their eyes to me, "You speak Italian?" And then the fun conversation really began!
What a great trip... wish it were longer!
Visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Part 4
What a great feeling it was to see old friends, some of them 30 years later, and continue exactly where we left it off....
I didn't come with any expectations, just with tons of excitement and hope to feel in a similar way towards old places and faces. Once you get to know a person as a child, they can't really surprise you much later, no matter how life has affected them.
We spent the last few days of our stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Elvedina and Gogo. Just as if I saw her the other day - she is the same energetic and smiley person as ever! We packed a lot of miles (ok, kilometers) and emotions into a single weekend, going to Makarska on the Adriatic Coast and back. We started along the old, familiar route, even though there is a brand-new freeway that connects Sarajevo with the coast more efficiently. Passing through tunnels and driving on curvy roads through Konjic and Jablanica, we were on our way to Mostar first. We paused in Konjic for a few quick pictures, then a bit further for breakfast of burek and sirnica. Then, along the beautiful Neretva river we stopped for the traditional lamb roasted on a spit and some good Herzegovina white wine. Right afterwards we stopped on the side of the road to say hi to Elvedina's brother Eka who happened to be fishing in Neretva river. I got to see him, too, so unexpectedly!
Once in Mostar, we took a couple of hours to walk around the city, for Robb to see where I was born and for me to see it again, of course. It has changed more than Sarajevo has.... a lot of bombed buildings, some left in ruins on purpose with these mummy-like life-sized dolls stuck to them like ghosts, to serve as reminders of the past horrors. The old town around Stari Most was unbelievably busy with tourists, like I had never seen it before, and it was only end of October, completely off-season. Between the tourists and kitschy souveniers, I had to strain to see and point to Robb the beauty of the old intact architecture all around us. We continued through the newer part of town (not all the way to my grandparents' condo, but close), saw my old music school and my mom's high school that still looked as beautiful as before. Right there near the high school I noticed that the trees lining the street were 'koscela' trees, which I only knew from Mostar and which we used to climb just outside of my grandparents' building, sit on the branches, and eat the berries that grew on them. I forgot in which season the berries ripened, but as it just turned out it was fall - so this time I got to pick and eat a few again :) More memories...
On the way back to the car, we walked along the street that was still named after my grandmother's brother, Mladen Balorda. The next street over was where my grandma's family house stood and still stands, but I forgot the address, so I took a bunch of photos in the area where I knew it should be (later my mom confirmed that it was the taller house with the visible chimney on the photo below).
After this we continued the drive. A short stop in Pocitelj, another old authentic town for Robb to see, and then via Ploce to the sea. Once the view openened up to Adriatic, I had my moment... I could see Peljesac peninsula, and all the memories from my childhood summers overwhelmed me to tears. So I just looked through the window for who knows how long in silence, wiping my face. Robb joked later that he knew that this moment would come, and that he was surprised that a week went by before I cried.
By the time we got to Makarska it was dark, but the important goal was to make it to the coast before sunset, which we did. We took a little walk to the beach and back on some super-steep streets and later sat on the terrace of our apartment with some food and drinks. It wasn't just any drinks. The hosts left a small pitcher of what looked like red wine. But what it turned out to be was the fermented sour cherry (instead of grape) juice, exactly what we used to make ourselves at our summer house from our sour cherries. Probably my favorite drink of all, and not to mention the memories. The hosts had another surprise for me: they left a basket with a few small light-green apples. As I took a bite, I recogized the exact same variety that we had in our summer house garden. Another favorite, and more memories.
The next day we made a short drive to Tucepi, simply because the beaches there are more leisurely and not right next to a road. We found a spot under some pine trees next to the water. The day couldn't have been more beautiful! Sunny, warm, with that typical fragrant air, a mix of the scents of pines and saltwater and whatever else that makes one euphoric just breathing it in. If I had packed a bathing suit, I would have gone for a swim - who wouldn't have thought the weather would be like this at this time of the year?! I could have retired and stayed there right then - but we had to go...
On the way back, we stopped in Mostar again, at the cemetery where I was hoping to find the grave of my great-grandmother. It was not too far from the statue of our great poet Aleksa Santic that I also wanted to visit again. I realized after a long time that the cemetary was split in two parts, new and old, and that was in the wrong, old one, and by then we had spent too much time, so we decided to leave that visit for next time. I did find another little treasure while looking for the graves: a young box turtle, just like one of my turtles at the summer house that we kept in the yard! Before we left Mostar area, I had to stop at a fruit stand on the side of the road and pick up some local things that I've missed: local white grapes, pomegranates, and mandarins. Finally, big flavor that has been lost in plasticky produce of the U.S and EU! We got back to Sarajevo for one last night before our trip to Zagreb the next morning. Elvedina and I both hate goodbyes and wanted to both downplaybut also not waste the last moments, and we could have gotten even more awkward if she didn't have to go to work. My heart was full after this first week - with reunions, sights, memories relived, tastes...
Next stop: Zagreb.
We spent the last few days of our stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Elvedina and Gogo. Just as if I saw her the other day - she is the same energetic and smiley person as ever! We packed a lot of miles (ok, kilometers) and emotions into a single weekend, going to Makarska on the Adriatic Coast and back. We started along the old, familiar route, even though there is a brand-new freeway that connects Sarajevo with the coast more efficiently. Passing through tunnels and driving on curvy roads through Konjic and Jablanica, we were on our way to Mostar first. We paused in Konjic for a few quick pictures, then a bit further for breakfast of burek and sirnica. Then, along the beautiful Neretva river we stopped for the traditional lamb roasted on a spit and some good Herzegovina white wine. Right afterwards we stopped on the side of the road to say hi to Elvedina's brother Eka who happened to be fishing in Neretva river. I got to see him, too, so unexpectedly!
Once in Mostar, we took a couple of hours to walk around the city, for Robb to see where I was born and for me to see it again, of course. It has changed more than Sarajevo has.... a lot of bombed buildings, some left in ruins on purpose with these mummy-like life-sized dolls stuck to them like ghosts, to serve as reminders of the past horrors. The old town around Stari Most was unbelievably busy with tourists, like I had never seen it before, and it was only end of October, completely off-season. Between the tourists and kitschy souveniers, I had to strain to see and point to Robb the beauty of the old intact architecture all around us. We continued through the newer part of town (not all the way to my grandparents' condo, but close), saw my old music school and my mom's high school that still looked as beautiful as before. Right there near the high school I noticed that the trees lining the street were 'koscela' trees, which I only knew from Mostar and which we used to climb just outside of my grandparents' building, sit on the branches, and eat the berries that grew on them. I forgot in which season the berries ripened, but as it just turned out it was fall - so this time I got to pick and eat a few again :) More memories...
On the way back to the car, we walked along the street that was still named after my grandmother's brother, Mladen Balorda. The next street over was where my grandma's family house stood and still stands, but I forgot the address, so I took a bunch of photos in the area where I knew it should be (later my mom confirmed that it was the taller house with the visible chimney on the photo below).
After this we continued the drive. A short stop in Pocitelj, another old authentic town for Robb to see, and then via Ploce to the sea. Once the view openened up to Adriatic, I had my moment... I could see Peljesac peninsula, and all the memories from my childhood summers overwhelmed me to tears. So I just looked through the window for who knows how long in silence, wiping my face. Robb joked later that he knew that this moment would come, and that he was surprised that a week went by before I cried.
By the time we got to Makarska it was dark, but the important goal was to make it to the coast before sunset, which we did. We took a little walk to the beach and back on some super-steep streets and later sat on the terrace of our apartment with some food and drinks. It wasn't just any drinks. The hosts left a small pitcher of what looked like red wine. But what it turned out to be was the fermented sour cherry (instead of grape) juice, exactly what we used to make ourselves at our summer house from our sour cherries. Probably my favorite drink of all, and not to mention the memories. The hosts had another surprise for me: they left a basket with a few small light-green apples. As I took a bite, I recogized the exact same variety that we had in our summer house garden. Another favorite, and more memories.
The next day we made a short drive to Tucepi, simply because the beaches there are more leisurely and not right next to a road. We found a spot under some pine trees next to the water. The day couldn't have been more beautiful! Sunny, warm, with that typical fragrant air, a mix of the scents of pines and saltwater and whatever else that makes one euphoric just breathing it in. If I had packed a bathing suit, I would have gone for a swim - who wouldn't have thought the weather would be like this at this time of the year?! I could have retired and stayed there right then - but we had to go...
On the way back, we stopped in Mostar again, at the cemetery where I was hoping to find the grave of my great-grandmother. It was not too far from the statue of our great poet Aleksa Santic that I also wanted to visit again. I realized after a long time that the cemetary was split in two parts, new and old, and that was in the wrong, old one, and by then we had spent too much time, so we decided to leave that visit for next time. I did find another little treasure while looking for the graves: a young box turtle, just like one of my turtles at the summer house that we kept in the yard! Before we left Mostar area, I had to stop at a fruit stand on the side of the road and pick up some local things that I've missed: local white grapes, pomegranates, and mandarins. Finally, big flavor that has been lost in plasticky produce of the U.S and EU! We got back to Sarajevo for one last night before our trip to Zagreb the next morning. Elvedina and I both hate goodbyes and wanted to both downplaybut also not waste the last moments, and we could have gotten even more awkward if she didn't have to go to work. My heart was full after this first week - with reunions, sights, memories relived, tastes...
Next stop: Zagreb.
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