A small land-locked country on the Balkan Peninsula made itself famous in the 1990’s by going to war with the newly seceded republics of the former Yugoslavia of which it was the largest part. Its infamy was broadened by the stories of lawlessness, highest levels of government corruption, rampant nationalism, the highest unemployment rates in any European country since the World War 2… It is also the country that produced some amazing athletes – like the tennis great Novak Djokovic, NBA stars Nikola Jokic, Alekse Pokusevski, Vlade Divac, Predrag Stojakovic; actors like Rade Serbedzija and Predrag Manojlovic, film directors like Emir Kusturica; performance artists like Marina Abramovic… The Serbs will never fail to emphasize that the renown scientists Nikola Tesla and Mihajlo Pupin were Serbian or that Karl Malden and Mila Jovovic have Serbian background.
While the Balkan Wars in the 1990’s and the corrupt governments before and since have crippled the little country economically, Serbs have an uncanny ability to push forward and feign well being.
I spent three months of the fall 2020 in a little town on the Danube called Kovin taking care of my mother. I made a lot of photos of the little town, the area around the Danube, of the National Park Deliblatska Pescara and some interesting people and animals. Take a look. I think you will enoy.
Town mill built by a Kovin industrialist before the WW2, then confiscated by the communists, now sits abandoned 
Old town mill 
Town mill in Kovin has, along with all other communist enterprises been abandoned 
The railway tracks are similarly in disrepair and unused 
This decrepit brickworks in Kovin had been confiscated from its owner in 1945 then operated by the town’s government for a few decades… 
Railroad overtaken by nature 
Fall 
Two town artists painted this fun Miro’esque mural for the town’s child care center 
Late November roses! 
Baby buffalo/cow mix on the Danube enbankment 
Tiny bridge over the irrigation canal 
After the building of the Djerdap Hydroelectric Power Plant, the Danube has flooded millions of acres of farmland. It is still flooding 
Swan in the Danube swamps 
Cattle raising is again becoming a prominent enterprise in the meat-loving Serbia 
Artist Vladimir Komarica in front of his ongoing and ever-changing art installation: Teleport 
Mushrooms in a field 
In the 1980’s, the communist government planted this perfectly organized poplar forest 
Borat is famous everywhere 
Milena Pavlovic Barilli, Rudolf Valentino 
Milena Pavlovic Barilli, Self-portrait, 1932 
Fall in the national park Deliblatska Pescara 
Mushroom in the forest 
Vladimir Komarica, Teleport to Amsterdam, acrylic on wood 
Vladimir Komarica, Pi or 2 suns, acrylic on cloth 
Golubac fortress on the Danube was first built by the Romans, then updated many times by the different peoples who occupied the area of today’s Eastern Serbia 
Golubac fortress 
Golubac fortress 
Golubac fortress 
Golubac fortress 
Golubac fortress 
Golubac fortress 
Me in Golubac during Covid 19. The Danube is really wide in this area. Behind me – across the river – is Romania 
Fall birches 
mushroom 
Hay 
Nettle 
Orthodox Church in the village of Deliblato 
A muddy road towards the Danube river bank 
mushroom 
The Danube 
The Danube Bayoo 
mushroom 
Kovin main street 
A kitty in the window 
The Danube 
Horse carriages are still used for transportation locally 
Old Yugos are still very prominent cars. This one is probably 1992 
Migration of geese 
Selma Stojanovic, “Luda Mlada” 
Many Kovin houses are in desperate need of repair 
Daisy 1, Daisy 2, Daisy 3, Daisy 4… zzzzz 
Irrigation canal 
Stray dogs are everywhere! 
These guys live in the National Park off of the hikers’ good graces 
Can we adopt them??? 
Once upon a time, Kovin’s central heating system traveled through these uninsulated pipes all around town 
Vagabonding Zwindling 