Balkans and the Like

The only way I can describe the past week in the Balkans is to say that this life-altering experience will make stories for years to come. Three friends and I visited Sofia (Bulgaria), Belgrade (Serbia), Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Dubrovnik, and Split (Croatia). In Split we split up (ha ha ha...get it?) and a friend and I continued on to Zagreb (Cr.) and Ljubljana (Slovenia), while the other two went back to Belgrade as they had to be home earlier.

One remarkable thing was how different all of these countries actually are. The feeling once you go to Sofia from Istanbul is palpable, as you immediately notice differences in dress and public behaviors. As we moved west, we felt like we were more and more in western European cities. This seems a bit obvious, yes, but I don't generally think of countries of the former Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia to be very western places, but I clearly was mistaken.

The views of all the cities were unbelievable. I have seen pictures of all these places in books before and have scene photos of videos of the scenery elsewhere, but to see it in person feels not much less than a dream. I couldn't quite fathom that such beautiful views, crystal-clear waters--"paradise on Earth," as Mark Twain aptly described Dubrovnik--actually exist until I saw them for myself.

Split and Dubrovnik are comparable cities, both on the coast of Croatia, with Split being farther north than Dubrovnik. Both are huge tourist attractions, but luckily for us, we were visiting during the off-season so we could have relatively cheap and uncrowded visits. Dubrovnik is famous for its old city, a fortressed former republic from the Middle Ages. Both positioned along the Adriatic, but Dubrovnik has several stone beaches (and REALLY cold, possibly less than 50 degree, water), while Split is mostly a landing point for posh yachts and cruiseliners. We had a seafood meal in Dubrovnik that cost roughly $10 each, which was great for two people ordering mussel and two people ordering shrimp dishes, plus a liter of wine and apertifs to start out our meals.

When I think Sarajevo, the first thing that pops in my mind is all the war and conflict of the 1990s, and, unfortunately, the wounds of those times are ever so apparent today. I would estimate that about 70-80 percent of the buildings in Sarajevo are peppered with bullet holes or shrapnel, most of such holes having not yet been repaired. Virtually every park doubles as a graveyard (on top of the two large ones that are on big hills in the outskirts of the city), and many of the gravestones have the exact same death date. The city is still divided ethnically, exemplified mostly by the two bus stations across town that go different places, yet only one mode of transportation per day connects them.

Ironically, the unyielding spirit of the citizens of this town was quite inspiring. While there, we went to a sort of festival in one of the main squares of town, and there were families dancing and children singing, making for the epitome of family outings. The smiles on everyone's faces and the fun all were having under the warm sun showed--at least to me--the resiliency of the people despite such a horrid recent past. They are so proud of their city, as they should be; it was so incredibly beautiful, both in the old town and the modernity of the new town. They seem particularly proud of their city being home to the 1984 Summer Olympics. You can still buy memorabilia and take site tours of this event over twenty years ago, which we found very interesting.

A small aside: I have always wanted to go to Cheers in Boston because I was a fan of the show, but I was enthralled to discover that the bar also exists in...not making this up...Sarajevo. (?!?) People didn't exactly yell "Norm!" when I walked in, nor did the inside look anything like the set of the show, but I am glad that I can check off my list that I went to the place "where everybody knows your name"...only not really.

Zagreb was a neat city, but after seeing the churches and going on the self-guided tour, we were kind of done with it and felt we got a good Cliffs-notes version of the city. Ljubljana, a place which I must admit I never heard of previously, proved to be a really cool city with numerous parks and very trendy European shopping and eating along the Ljubljanica River. One of the most famous squares is adjacent to the triple bridge, and this is where you will see the most people, as shops and ice cream and gelatto stands (oh, the pains of being diabetic) radiate from this point. A short hike will bring you to the castle that overlooks the beautiful city. One of the neatest things about the city, other than having a horseburger, was our hostel. A converted Slovenian prison, the old building was transformed into a very modern, eclectic hostel complete with a cafe and bar.

Belgrade was my friend's and my last stop before our fun ride home (can you read sarcasm?). Because we had about one hour here on our first go-through, we decided to spend a couple days there, and we are glad we did. Also a very beautiful city, there are two long or three really long streets with shopping and eating and the like (also, the ice cream), a park and old fortress, and a huge open market with all the fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish you would ever want. I went to a museum for Nikola Tesla, and it was also quite cool. We even stumbled upon an Amstel Light festival where you could get a .5 L beer for a little over $1. We both partook and sat on one of the cafe tables listening to great live music (for some reason New York, New York is the only song I remember) while young children were dancing or watching the street performers. So much fun.

Transportation was a mess both ways in Bulgaria. We took a train from Istanbul to Sofia and then to Belgrade (24ish hours), and we had to do the same on the way back, although no layover in Sofia. On the way there, we stopped in a small town and waited for over an hour for no reason it seemed, that is, until we were told someone had been smuggling guns over the border. On the way back, our second class car was disconnected at one of the stops, so we had to switch cars obviously. The first class car did not take us, and he said we could go to the next car. We did so, found an empty room, and put our stuff down. An angry train conductor yelled at us, presumably telling us to leave, and so we went to the next two cars, only to be told to go back to the second car. They basically motioned to find an empty room, and when we did, the angry conductor came back, really started lighting into us, throwing our stuff in the corridor and basically forcing us out of the room. The girl in the room next to us was yelling back at him and apparently pointed at him and then he smacked her hand. We finally got to a car that was a sleeper, but we had to pay an additional 22 lira each to be able to stay, or else wait on the Turkish border for the train the next morning with a second class cabin. Needless to say, we paid the extra money for at least 4 hours of sleep. We arrived in Istanbul and 9:00ish and got back to school, exhausted yet oddly refreshed at the same time.

In sum, the best warm weather ever (no clouds at all except a brief sprinkling one night late in Sarajevo), breathtaking scenery, and the best company I could ask for made this trip just awesome. I spent quite a bit of money (although not a lot considering all the stuff we did and the fact that we had a lot of transportation, lodging, and food), but every penny was worth this trip. I have gotten a relapse of the travel bug, and all I really want to do now is save money and go somewhere else in a few years. This will be one of those times where, years from now, I can look back at all the stories and memories that accumulated and say, "That was the life."