Youngster leading...

Flower detail

I dug up another photo... this time, a macro shot of a flower:

Purple

I'm still digging through older photos mostly because work/other activities overload prevented me from spending time walking around the city, but also because of the unrelenting cold (it's been below freezing for what seems like forever). This one was taken some time during spring or summer 2009 in the Botanical garden in Zagreb:

No ice cream nor gelato nor sladoled

Ice cream "booth" is all closed up and waiting for spring:



"Ledo" (led = ice) is Croatian company that produces ice cream and similar products.

Hungry

Does anyone know what exactly ducks and swans do when then "probe" the water like this? It seems to me they are feeding, but the surface on the lake and lake itself is very clean/clear so I'm not sure what they can get here.

Is it a duck? Is it a dog?

Nope! It's a nutty human swimming merrily in the lake at -9C (15F; the lake was nearing freezing levels, because it was mostly frozen at the time I took the photo)!

A touch of redness

I'm digging up some of the older photos (December):

It's always greener on the other side

Swan lake with a twist

Last night I went to see Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, in production of Russian St. Petersburg State Ice Ballet. Yup, you read it correctly, it's all on ice, it wasn't just the usual ballet. Skaters range from previous Russian Olympic gold medal winners to artists who started skating/training at the age of three. As it could have been expected, they were magnificent and costumes were incredibly elaborate (considering the fact they had to skate in them):









On the other hand, I have never seen worse organization of any concert ever, anywhere in the world than the last night. :(

Back to school!

Not really, but close enough.... I'm attending evening classes of Italian, organized by the Italian Institute in Zagreb. I'm (again) following the beginner's course. I've had 4 years of Italian during high school, but 10+ years of not using it will do a lot of memory erasing, especially when it comes to active knowledge of the language.

Take me to the Moon....

A night scene, taken a few minutes ago from my window (w/o a tripod, so focus isn't the best):

Shy introduction

A tear in my eye....

I don't believe the swan was particularly sad, but the water droplet right next to his eye caught my eye :)...

Nothing to see...

Empty stands await warmer weather and rowing to call back fans: