212

Block Five

This is one of the areas in Podgorica that has lots of apartment buildings.  They now have Block 6, 7,  8 and 9.  I liked how the sun was hitting on the buildings.  They look like three giants.

195

Always Building

There are cranes everywhere you look in Podgorica.  This is a huge project that was started a couple of years ago and is supposed to be finished sometime this year -- offices and apartments in the center of the new section of town.  I think that they are a bit behind schedule - we'll see. . .

179

Night Life

We have a friend that invited us to hear his band play at "The Steps", a local hangout for folks in the summer.  The coffee bar is at the corner of two of the rivers that run through Podgorica.  Of course,  I did not have my tripod with me, but I still like this photo.

178

The Leaning Forest

This is a park that I enjoy jogging through.  There is a nice trail.  It is strange because all the trees lean.  I'm not sure why, they just do.  

171

The Bridge

These are two of the bridges over the Moraca River.  It is one of my favorite views in Podgorica.

154

The Bridge

This is the major landmark in Podgorica.  I love this view of it and the lines it creates with the mountains behind it.  I must admit that this was taken from the front seat of our car.  I guess it is pretty dangerous to stand in the middle of the street and take it!

110

Sunset in Podgorica

This was taken from the window of some friend's house.

84

St, George's Church

This is a 9th century Serbian Orthodox Church that is located about 15 minutes from our house.  Chris wants to know what the 9th century part of it is, because he does not think that the roof or bricks on the outside look like 9th century.  So, I guess I will have to research more!

76

Old Bridge

This is an old bridge in the old section of Podgorica.  Most of the Old Town was destroyed during WWII.  This is actually a beautiful little area called The Steps and is at the intersection of two rivers -- Moracha and Ribnitsa.  The bridge is over the Ribnitsa, which dries up during the summer time.  I can't wait to go back during the spring to see all the flowers and grass.   I'm not sure the date of the building of the bridge -- I will try to look it up later.

67

Night Cathedral

Yesterday, with the sun shining and warm, I promised Christian that we would go to the Orthodox Church the following day to take a picture at night.  I  kept my promise in freezing cold wind and this is our result.  Not the best, but definitely interesting.  It came out brighter than I thought, but after managing the tripod, fingers freezing and cold -- we came home.  What a fun way to spend an evening with my almost teenager!

62

Night Lights

This is the Moraca River and a couple of the bridges that cross it.  I love the way the lights shine on the river and you can see part of the current of the river. 

Exposure 13 sec
ISO 100
Fs 5

It was amazing to see the difference in the "noise" on the picture when I went from ISO of 1600 to 100.  The 100 was not as noisy, but the shutter time was 3 times as long.  Interesting stuff. 

61

Peace

This is an interesting monument in our city. It is a bird with its head bowed.  The interesting part of the statue is that it is made completely out of guns.  The benches are made of guns as well.  Next time I will take a close up of the guns.  The other interesting fact is that it is sort of in front of the police station.

44

The Cathedral 

This is from the back side of the huge Serbian Orthodox Church in Podgorica.  It is not finished yet and there is a bunch of construction stuff on the front side.  I think that is is particularly interesting from the back side with the trees -- sort of gives it a mysterious look. 

42

Doclea is the most significant and the largest urban center created in period of Roman domination in Montenegro. The town was founded in the first decade of the 1st century AD. It is situated on the plateau elevating on the very mouth of the River Zeta into the Moraca.
 
More Information  can be found here.

What is sad about these ruins is that the train tracks run through the community and many of the columns and artifacts have been taken by people and used in their homes.  Excavations at Doclea were initiated by the end of the 19th century (Rovinjski and Munro); they were continued from 1954 to 1964 and again in 1998.  There is a fence around it now, but anyone can walk around there freely. 

30

This is our group that meets on Saturday Nights.  We laugh, talk, sing,study, and eat treats.  We thought that we could name  ourselves The Rebels -- because that is what we studied about tonight in Romans.  Then someone suggested that Repentant Rebels would be better! 

It is a neat study about the King and his Kingdom that was filled with rebels and how He made it possible to enter His Kingdom.  Tonight we discussed the fact that a rebel could not be in the Kingdom and that there would be judgment and the King would be the judge. Sort of a cliff hanger . . . stay tuned for next week and see how the rebels find a way to enter the Kingdom!

25

I have to admit that I live in a beautiful country, but there are still things that need some work.  My view from the front of our house -- though I can see the mountains, I have to look over the trash dump/mud pile to do so.   This is AFTER they took the trash away.  Maybe one day they will burn all the extra stuff there.  Some days I would love to live in Suburbia America with zoning laws and clean yards.  (I'm just thankful that Christian has to take out the trash!)

24

This afternoon, Chris and I went walking around town.  It was a bit chilly -- 38 and windy.  This is a picture of the Millennium Bridge in Podgorica.  It is pretty much a land mark and can be seen from pretty much anywhere in town and as you look at the town from the mountains.  I want to get a photo stitch program to make more of a panoramic shot of the bridge. 

23

I thought that the juxtaposition of the one horse power wagon next to the BMW was quite interesting.  I must admit that this picture was a "drive by" shooting -- Chris was driving and I was taking pictures!  I did have the auto focus on, but was not shooting in full auto mood. 

We have a Roma man that drives by our house just about every day in his wagon.  He, along with others, go to the different dumpsters and look for metal.  Anything metal will do.  Then they sell it to a firm down on the coast.  This is the way that most of them make money here in Podgorica.  They do not have documents, so it is difficult to find a real job.  Many times there are kids riding in the wagons as well. 

17

We were driving along this morning and I was just goofing with my camera -- something I do quite often these day, and this is what was produced.   It was a pleasant morning, but now it has gotten a bit cloudier and colder. 

Check out Willeke Wanderings for a history lesson!

14

Last night was our first Coffee House meeting at the American Corner.  I was so excited about seeing our friends, that I forgot to take pictures.  So as I was leaving, I snapped off a few pictures of the American Corner sign.  The American Corner is a project all over the world sponsored by American Embassies.  It is a wonderful resource and has a great library of English books.  They also host guest lecturers and hold classes for different groups.  One of their main projects is to foster exchange programs for high school and college students to study in the US for one year.  Check out your city for an American Corner -- it is a great place to make new friends.