This is a tale. A tale of how the best laid travel plans are so easily derailed. It was thought, somewhat shortsightedly I should add, that a quick trip across the Balkans was possible. Sounds easy in theory but much harder to execute for the Balkan countries most definitely suck you in.
The first stop post-Turkey was Sofia - the capital of Bulgaria. Sofia is like an untouched exhibit of angular, abstract artwork and statues from communist days. The locals feel they are ugly, but since most other post communist countries have torn their ones down the Bulgarian intact statues are suddenly very unique. Bulgaria also has THE best animation of the green walking man at pedestrian crossings yet - picture John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks.
Bulgaria's biggest music singer is a transvestite called Aziz. Funnily enough no one actually admits to buying his music - I draw parallels with the Spice Girls somehow. Aziz has gone to a lot of effort to look as feminine as possible, but I have one word of advice that could make the transformation even more convincing ... LOSE THE BEARD.
Next stop on the trip was Belgrade, Serbia. A short hop from the train station and already you will get a taste of the scars of conflict, two buildings with gaping holes in the side from bombs, entire floors of several buildings had been completely ruined and the metal framework melted and fused together from the heat of the explosion. It must be quite weird to see this everyday living here, like a permanent reminder of bad days.
Belgrade is a very nocturnal city, the day is quiet but it really comes alive at night. The night time sky is so lit up that the city seems ablaze. Actually, maybe it was, who knows. Belgrade also now has the title of best hot chocolate in all of Europe so far - picture real chocolate melted with milk and topped with some special mix of malt and wheat germ. The consistency and taste were all perfect. If you ever come here, tell me, I'll direct you to where to look.
Perhaps the coolest thing in Belgrade is the Nikola Tesla museum. For those of you in the dark, Tesla was the founder of AC current and an inventor extraordinaire. He was also in the Prestige played by the very cool, cool David Bowie. The museum was fascinating and had a large Tesla Coil which generated electrical arcs of massive voltage, do a Google image search of one, they really are awesome. What was even cooler is when they turned the coil on and the light bulbs we were all holding lit up by the electrical current arcing through the air to them. We were all awe struck and maybe a little scared. OK we were freaked out.
FYI Serbians are TALL. It's nice to be able to look at clothes again.
Eventually, chocolate taste buds had to be betrayed by leaving Belgrade and heading into Bosnia, specifically Sarajevo. Just the city name will undoubtedly bring images to your head of armed conflict and war, you may also ask, along with the border guards, 'why the hell are you going there?'. Well I assure you it is quite safe now, bar the fact nature hikes are off limits due to land mines, and Sarajevo is quite simply 'intense'.
The mountain pass into Sarajevo was completely clouded over and a comfortable 2 degrees. Bosnian folk huddle in small, wooden mountain haunts dimly lit through a haze of cigarette smoke. Outside several whole lambs spin on the spit roast for the nights meal in what must be the Bosnian equivalent of the 'arvy barbie'. It is important that the bus stops at these places for an indeterminate amount of time.
Sarajevo is an eye opener. So recently and heavily war torn. Every building is covered in bullet holes, windows remain shattered, mortar explosions in the pavement are filled with red cement to become infamous 'Sarajevo roses'. There are large sections of the city sealed off with barb wire due to land mines and monuments lie forever damaged. There was a sign on one street with an arrow pointing to the nearby corner saying 'warning, sniper'. There are photos of people having to run across 'alleys of death', dodging sniper fire with their groceries and even babies in their hands.
Yet harrowing as the damage is, the intangible spirit of the Bosnian people is something very evident. They are proud that they came through the longest siege in modern history with their nationality and Independence intact. Sarajevo also has a long history of religious diversity - where else can you find a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, a synagogue and a mosque all on the same city block? It makes for an inspiring city horizon when the sun sets. I feel very grateful to have see this place.
Interestingly, the latin bridge still stands, those history buffs out there will know this spot as the bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian empire was assassinated.
Bosnia and Herzegovina nature-wise are truly awesome, though perhaps the biggest tragedy of it all is that so much of the forests and mountains are still riddled with land mines. So for all the vastness of their natural beauty, it cannot be explored. It just gets even more impressive as you head to Croatia or to Montenegro.
The last Balkan stop was Croatia, which was a big change. It is very popular with tourists here, more expensive and the service levels plummeted instantly. Never-the-less Dubrovnik and Split are gorgeous cities with old towns that are a real buzz to explore. Given more time I am sure Croatia would be equally inspiring, we have heard the northern part of the country bordering Slovenia is magnificent.
Well my stalwart reader, I hope you have enjoyed sharing the little Balkan leg. Until the next entry enjoy your vegetables, all that is available here is meat. And more meat.
The first stop post-Turkey was Sofia - the capital of Bulgaria. Sofia is like an untouched exhibit of angular, abstract artwork and statues from communist days. The locals feel they are ugly, but since most other post communist countries have torn their ones down the Bulgarian intact statues are suddenly very unique. Bulgaria also has THE best animation of the green walking man at pedestrian crossings yet - picture John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks.
Bulgaria's biggest music singer is a transvestite called Aziz. Funnily enough no one actually admits to buying his music - I draw parallels with the Spice Girls somehow. Aziz has gone to a lot of effort to look as feminine as possible, but I have one word of advice that could make the transformation even more convincing ... LOSE THE BEARD.
Next stop on the trip was Belgrade, Serbia. A short hop from the train station and already you will get a taste of the scars of conflict, two buildings with gaping holes in the side from bombs, entire floors of several buildings had been completely ruined and the metal framework melted and fused together from the heat of the explosion. It must be quite weird to see this everyday living here, like a permanent reminder of bad days.
Belgrade is a very nocturnal city, the day is quiet but it really comes alive at night. The night time sky is so lit up that the city seems ablaze. Actually, maybe it was, who knows. Belgrade also now has the title of best hot chocolate in all of Europe so far - picture real chocolate melted with milk and topped with some special mix of malt and wheat germ. The consistency and taste were all perfect. If you ever come here, tell me, I'll direct you to where to look.
Perhaps the coolest thing in Belgrade is the Nikola Tesla museum. For those of you in the dark, Tesla was the founder of AC current and an inventor extraordinaire. He was also in the Prestige played by the very cool, cool David Bowie. The museum was fascinating and had a large Tesla Coil which generated electrical arcs of massive voltage, do a Google image search of one, they really are awesome. What was even cooler is when they turned the coil on and the light bulbs we were all holding lit up by the electrical current arcing through the air to them. We were all awe struck and maybe a little scared. OK we were freaked out.
FYI Serbians are TALL. It's nice to be able to look at clothes again.
Eventually, chocolate taste buds had to be betrayed by leaving Belgrade and heading into Bosnia, specifically Sarajevo. Just the city name will undoubtedly bring images to your head of armed conflict and war, you may also ask, along with the border guards, 'why the hell are you going there?'. Well I assure you it is quite safe now, bar the fact nature hikes are off limits due to land mines, and Sarajevo is quite simply 'intense'.
The mountain pass into Sarajevo was completely clouded over and a comfortable 2 degrees. Bosnian folk huddle in small, wooden mountain haunts dimly lit through a haze of cigarette smoke. Outside several whole lambs spin on the spit roast for the nights meal in what must be the Bosnian equivalent of the 'arvy barbie'. It is important that the bus stops at these places for an indeterminate amount of time.
Sarajevo is an eye opener. So recently and heavily war torn. Every building is covered in bullet holes, windows remain shattered, mortar explosions in the pavement are filled with red cement to become infamous 'Sarajevo roses'. There are large sections of the city sealed off with barb wire due to land mines and monuments lie forever damaged. There was a sign on one street with an arrow pointing to the nearby corner saying 'warning, sniper'. There are photos of people having to run across 'alleys of death', dodging sniper fire with their groceries and even babies in their hands.
Yet harrowing as the damage is, the intangible spirit of the Bosnian people is something very evident. They are proud that they came through the longest siege in modern history with their nationality and Independence intact. Sarajevo also has a long history of religious diversity - where else can you find a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, a synagogue and a mosque all on the same city block? It makes for an inspiring city horizon when the sun sets. I feel very grateful to have see this place.
Interestingly, the latin bridge still stands, those history buffs out there will know this spot as the bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian empire was assassinated.
Bosnia and Herzegovina nature-wise are truly awesome, though perhaps the biggest tragedy of it all is that so much of the forests and mountains are still riddled with land mines. So for all the vastness of their natural beauty, it cannot be explored. It just gets even more impressive as you head to Croatia or to Montenegro.
The last Balkan stop was Croatia, which was a big change. It is very popular with tourists here, more expensive and the service levels plummeted instantly. Never-the-less Dubrovnik and Split are gorgeous cities with old towns that are a real buzz to explore. Given more time I am sure Croatia would be equally inspiring, we have heard the northern part of the country bordering Slovenia is magnificent.
Well my stalwart reader, I hope you have enjoyed sharing the little Balkan leg. Until the next entry enjoy your vegetables, all that is available here is meat. And more meat.
4 comments:
Do you have any photos of those areas? I would very much like to see them if you do.
Now that sounds like a nice hot chocolate! Was some kind of back alley deal done to obtain the recipe?
What an awesome corner of the world you've found yourself in - So much history, old and new. That Tesla museum also sounds pretty darn nifty.
I second Rachel and say PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!
We do have photos. Unfortunately internet cafes are getting more hi tech as we travel west, they are using some form of linux that does not recognise our camera. I hate computers! No wait, I love computers!
European computing joy - either you're stuck using some kind of weird keyboard with indecipherable buttons ("Press hocksteffer-lock and den hit ze quibble!") or the internet cafe proprietors are anti-american snobs/tightarses using Linux ("You know, Linus is from Finland, he is way smarter then Bill!").
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