Thoughts and feelings in the Balkans (and beyond)

For my newest excuse explaining the long duration between posts, I would like to offer: blame my parents. We have just had an extremely fun two weeks with them romping through Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, and Hungary. Also our computer broke again.

I’m actually just going to tell you about our days before picking up Mom and Dad at Zagreb airport in Croatia. For their side of the story, I ask you to eagerly await a new segment on our blog: Travel companion guest post!!! This will happen in a couple of days. For now, I’ll just say that the four of us travelled well together and packed in the excellent adventures. I am also happy to report that, to my knowledge, no one in the party tried to murder anyone else. This sets a good precedent for future travel companion arrangements, including Rachel and Manny, whom we met last night at Manny’s parent’s house in Oradea, Romania.

In the days before meeting Mom and Dad in Zagreb, we had a brief taste of slightly more offbeat travel destinations – Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia (preceded by Croatia, which is decidedly not offbeat). We’ve also experienced some more extraordinary hospitality, this time from the much too sweet Rads, Leah, Peter, and Zorica in Novi Sad, Serbia.  To disentangle my confusing timeline, remember to check out the “Keeping up with the Shingle to Boggians” link, which has a list of our whereabouts.

The border from Croatia to Bosnia was the first that I was nervous about (though not as much as, say, Kazakhstan to Russia, or China to Laos). I am happy to report, however, that this border crossing was – without sarcasm – simply a delight. We waited for about 20 minutes in a line on a lovely country road with a view over a valley. We did have to buy border insurance for about 30 euros (we knew we would), but the border guards were hilarious. One of them kept telling us that next time we come, we must bring them boomerangs. Travelling on an Aussie passport is fun.

In general, borders in this area are crazy easy. I actually mean crazy. At a couple of borders they’ve barely even looked at our faces to check we match the passports, let along looking at our car rego, insurance, or any cargo we might be carrying. I really thought borders would be stricter given the current refugee situation.

Bosnia has beautiful nature and beautiful people. It’s very mountainous, with lots of forests and national parks. We couldn’t find anywhere online in advance to stay, but luckily we saw a sign for camping in an old national park complex. There were quite a few other people camping too. We did have to engage some 4WD action to get into the grassy area, which was fun (a Serbian/German couple joined us in this adventure with their little car). We “checked in” at the Soviet-looking hotel up the hill. This took us past a set of old tourist buildings that had clearly been shot at, shelled, and abandoned. It’s such a shame – if that complex was in Croatia it would be newly renovated and swarming with tourists.

It was a noteworthy night at that campground. First of all, there was a thunder storm. This forced us to take our glasses of wine and our activities (listening to Phantom of the Opera for Luke, and reading for me) into bed while we waited it out. I am afraid of thunder, so it was lucky that Hogwarts was there to welcome me home.

Secondly, a pack of 20-something guys spent most of the night and morning singing rousing choruses of Bosnian folk tunes at the tops of their very nice voices. I know they were folk songs because I asked the guys, which they thought was weird.

Thirdly, we got an introduction to stray dogs in the Balkans. They were adorable, sweet, well-behaved, and discernible breeds. There were three wandering the campground, getting pats and food from the campers. We almost adopted the puppy, who looked like he might have been part German Shepard. We thought he might be a good wedding present for you, Kim and Doug. Who doesn’t want a tragically adorable flee-ridden Bosnian puppy delivered to them on their wedding day, right? It’s just a LITTLE bit of potential rabies.

I mentioned before that we saw a bit of physical evidence of the war in Croatia. In Bosnia, it’s a whole other league. I don’t say this to be disrespectful or sensationalistic – it’s just true. Probably about a quarter of the buildings we saw in most places (given our very limited time there) had evidence of bullet holes, some were clearly shelled, many were abandoned (probably because people were killed, or fled and didn’t return). There were a couple of places we drove through where an entire street was thickly peppered with bullet holes. We also drove through a few towns – Foca and Visegrad, specifically, about whose history we  read. Very bad things happened in these places. It is not my history to tell, and I can’t begin to understand the complexities of the way that this recent history is recounted by the various groups of people involved. But I doubt that any would disagree that very bad things happened.

All that said, Bosnia (and also Serbia) are the places that Luke and I are most likely to travel to again – above Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands. They are truly beautiful, they are not overrun with tourists, and the people really are incredibly friendly. We can talk all we want about the hospitality of people in other parts of Europe, but I think locals are just more welcoming in places that do not see packs of visitors all the time. In the case of Bosnia, I think people are happy we have come. Luke got his hair cut in a square in the small town of Trebinje, near the border with southern Croatia. The hairdresser was very sweet and talked to us a lot. She did, however, ask if we were “scared to come to Bosnia.” She said we had nothing to fear, it was safe. I totally agree with her. I would recommend Bosnia to any traveller with a healthy sense of adventure. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it’s very cheap for people with AUD and USD.

Another huge bonus of Bosnia (and also Serbia) is the booze. Oh, the best booze. We bought some homemade wine in plastic Coca-Cola bottles from some ladies in a market. It was fabulous, much better than a cheap Aussie red. Also, the market ladies are great. Welcoming and informative, and quick to offer a taste of their own wine in a small plastic cup, but they don’t push.

Going into Serbia from Bosnia and Herzegovina was like driving from Detroit into Canada. Material signs of war and poverty vanished instantly in Serbia, though we did get some very small glimpses later. I’m not going to make any speculations or judgements on why this might be the case – I certainly don’t understand this situation well enough.

I will make a judgement about the hotel we stayed in, located in a ski resort area in Serbia. It was MAGICAL. There were ceilings that were AT LEAST 8 feet high, and we didn’t have to bring our own toilet paper. And the wi-fi worked. We ran around in circles like idiots and jumped on the bed when we got in our room. We hadn’t stayed in a building for about a month. (Don’t get me wrong – we adore our little “house”. We’re just very easily pleased now.)

But things got even better when we got to Novi Sad. Rads and Peter work with Luke in Sydney, and they happened to be in Serbia at just the right time, with their wives, Leah and Zorica. Peter and Zorica are Serbian and they come back here frequently. They have a gorgeous house which feels like a little slice of Australian housing (the good kind) in Serbia, it was like being home. Actually, it was way nicer than the house we lived in in Sydney. I don’t think they would ever let chickens inside their house.

Anyway, our main takeaway was a feeling of being very taken care of (more delicious food and drink than we can handle, Zorica washing and folding our laundry, and sleeping in a big huge bed in a bedroom with a view of Novi Sad and the Danube). We left feeling pampered and well-rested, but also educated. Like if you went to a day spa situated in a library, but with home cooked meals.

The education bit: the fam took us on some really good tourist expeditions, for a start. We checked out some ancient Roman ruins and a couple of great historical museums in a town called Sremska Mitrovica. It was a capital of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy! It was such a treat to see history in a not overly-touristed place: in both museum buildings, museum staff led us around the exhibitions, explaining and answering questions.

Secondly, we had some really good chats, including with their neighbour, who popped by for a drink. He, from what we understand, is a meteorology professor at a university in Novi Sad. He and Peter were not at all shy about telling us about the history of Serbia/Yugoslavia, including the World Wars. We actually really appreciate people taking the time (and emotional energy) to tell us about their home, especially when it’s had as much history happen as Serbia has.

Rewind: Dubrovnik

Just to throw you for a temporal loop, I’ll now tell you a little bit about Dubrovnik, which we visited prior to Bosnia and Novi Sad. The first, but least important, tidbit to note about Dubrovnik is that it is the filming location for all the King’s Landing scenes in Game of Thrones. Luke and I did geek out about that a little, yes. But more importantly, Dubrovnik is a beautiful ancient town. It’s insanely touristed – the throngs were still descended when we arrived by boat at 9pm for a walk around. However, it is one place we would recommend despite the hordes. There’s also very important recent history, having been under siege for several months in the 90’s.

Until next time!

Southern Croatia and Dubrovnik

A Croatian flag flies over a small town near Dubrovnik

A view of Southern Croatia

A riverside town in southern Croatia

Approaching Dubrovnik

Our campsite, across the water from Dubrovnik in a little town called Mlini

Mlini- the best Croatian town thus far

Mlini

There was a sea water “pool” in the main harbour of Mlini, where a water polo team was practicing

We took a boat into Dubrovnik

A lovely ride into Dubrovnik

However, along the way to Dubrovnik, we passed a few massive resorts that had clearly been heavily hit during the war, and were abandoned. I didn’t know that Dubrovnik was under siege for months, according to a small military museum we visited in the city.

This is the famous Hotel Belvedere, abandoned after the war. For pictures of the inside, check out this guy’s blog post. It’s wild. http://untappedcities.com/2012/03/05/the-casualties-of-war-the-hotel-belvedere-in-dubrovnik-croatia/

Once again, “super yacht” is used in my photo caption. Our first view of Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik. I asked the Croatian kid working at our campsite if he had ever seen the GoT actors. He had not, but he said a bunch of his friends work as extras on the show – the producers call for locals to be extras. We both agreed that we would both like to meet Peter Dinklage. Ah, violent fantasy television, bringing the cultures together.

We decided to see Dubrovnik at night, assuming there would be fewer tourists.

If this is “fewer” tourists than during the day, than I would never want to come in the day.

But we did find plenty of quiet, dark spots in the city.

This plate, among many others, was found by underwater archeologists in a shipwreck from, I think, the 16th century. The plate is Turkish, or maybe I made that up.

Dubrovnik

Perhaps you recognise this from Game of Thrones?

No tourists going up the stairs…

Bosnia

I am not sure who this is, so anyone who speaks Bosnian, feel free to translate. Beautiful street art

Bosnian countryside

Beautiful rocks

Sharing the road

A huge monument to the Partisan forces who fought in WWII, near Foca

A lovely campground.

View from our place.

There was a man-made lake at the campground that a bunch of families were swimming in (I didn’t take pictures of the families because it felt creepy.)

I am so, so excited about cheap Bosnian cheese and homemade wine.

An abandoned building by our campground.

Best hay storage ever. If this were Dr Seuss it would stand up and walk away on spindly legs.

A mosque in the Rupublika Srpska, the Serbian area of Bosnia. A mayor in a local town has been advocating for the rebuilding of mosques in the area, most of which were apparently destroyed during the war.

Note on this hillside in the Republika Srpska, towards the bottom – an enormous monument to Tito. Tito was the “benevolent dictator” who kept Yugoslavia together until his death in 1980. This is simply what I’ve read – my interpretation may be controversial.

We loved these tunnels. No rendering, just straight rock. No lights either.

Another beautiful mosque, which we stopped in front of to listen to the call to prayer.

Visegrad, Bosnia – a view of the famous bridge from where we had lunch.

This is a church in a brand new “neighborhood” in Visegrad, which has been built for a film set.

However, it seems to have been built for real use – this is a real church.

It was oddly sterilised and empty.

And had scenes depicting what I assume is the idyllic local life.

There was also a large photography exhibition displaying photos of destroyed churches in the area and other parts of former Yugoslavia. Google the history of Visegrad and Foca and form your own opinions.

Leaving the future film set, back into the real town.

A portrait of Ivo Andric, who wrote a novel based on the bridge a few photos ago. The weird film set will be used for a film recreation of his novel.

Serbia

Our first view of Serbia: a super quaint cottage

Our fancy-pants place in Serbia

They even make fancy-pants tea!

A Sunday family drive. We actually saw this type of thing a lot.

A brand new church.

The Danube: a view from Novi Sad!

Fun art in Novi Sad

Touristing with the group!

Roman ruins in Mitrovica

Roman masks

Roman painting

Learning about a Roman sundial

Undulating corn fields

Drinks by the river

Look at that intrepid pupster!

Touristing in a lovely historical town

This is a high school! Not shabby!

We got to peak into this excellent wine cellar

A view of the town

Luke taking in the view

The Danube, the town, and a train

Zorica with a famous Serbian poet

Preparing the car for Mom and Dad. We tore it apart and stacked the bed platform on top the drawers, rolled up the mattress, and opened up the backseat.

Gypsy the dog watches over our work.