Where the hell have you been?
Ok, well, clearly I can't be a good hostess and a good blogger at the same time. Sorry I seem to have fallen off the face of the planet, but my good friends Lizzie and David came to visit and I was too enthralled with them to do anything but hang out and show them around. Our other friends and family should really start buying their tickets to come see us. Just look what our bronze metal visitors got to do....We started our tour of the Balkans with a place I'd never been but had heard was the star of the Balkans, Dubrovnik....
It was just so relaxing and I don't think we could have had a better time. Check out the sunset from our favorite little cafe on the walls of the old city....
From Dubrovnik, we drove a couple of hours south to beautiful Kotor in Montenegro where we hiked the 1500 steps to the top of the fortress overlooking the fjord of Kotor. 
See the georgous views from the top where Lizzie and David are standing next to the flag of the world's newest country.
After Kotor we drove (yes, drove, on the "highways" from Kotor to Belgrade...remind me to never do that drive again, it was NOT fun). But we finally made it to Belgrade and showed our guests the city, including the highly recommended airplane museum and a surprisingly lively Sunday night at Reka!
I am definitely sad to see my friends leave and was reminded of how much I miss visiting with them back in the US. But I hope my readers will be happy to know I'm back. At least until my next visitor arrives, which just happens to be on Thursday.....
posted by Brooke @ 11:29 AM
16 Comments:
The Adriatic is breathtakingly beautiful. And the air is so good to breathe there.
Too bad that the new countries, Croatia and especially Montenegro, are selling their best properties to highest foreign bidders. This never would have happened when they were part of Yugoslavia. They won't know until it hits them years from now just what a mistake they are making in so willingly allowing themselves to be exploited. So sad.
Personally, I have a lot less interest in revisiting those places in Croatia and Montenegro that I used to love to go to now that businessmen from abroad and the Hollywood elite are driving up the price of real estate so that soon, if not already, the locals won't be able to afford to own homes in their own countries and they won't be able to go to their own Adriatic beaches anymore without first buying a ticket.
that's a great tour! did you try dalmatian wine? i don't know but i've been told it's great :)
and take the plane next time. 35 minute flight or a ten hour drive, that's a no-brainer.
@ajp: who the hell cares about croatian and montenegrin economy?
It's not just about the economy. If you don't get what this will mean for the whole region then there isn't much point it trying to tell you.
Sorry, I forgot -- only frivolous, feel good topics allowed...
Brooke,
I'd like to know if you felt safe driving a car with BG licence plates.
Dubrovnik's great. As a child I used to spend my summers there. It's been shelled in the war, so I'd also like to know if any damage is noticable now.
best,
Milica
Hey Brooke,
am really jealous that Matt is going to visit you and I will be stuck in rainy Wales (The library flooded thos morning and the houses a road down from us are having the water pumped out! yeah). Anyway I hope you have fun, just think of me doing my neuro presentation and answering questions on Ecstasy use! YEAH!!!!
Dave
..."Lizzie and David are standing next to the flag of the world's newest country"..haha this sounds very very funny..to the world's newest VILLAGE, should i say? so funny, we are seperating one people--serbian and montenegrian..you know, maybe texans should seperate from the USA. i would like to see how they 'americans' would feel about this.
Milica again something for you! Some relatives of mine visited Dubrovnik this Summer in their car (Serbian plates).
Now these guys are cosmopolitan and moderate he is Serbian and his wife is Hungarian - they would not exaggerate. Unfortunately they were followed by some youths in another car who gave them abuse. My cousin just slowed down and turned off in another direction.
He also said that in the cafe they were in when they arrived they were received a little frostily. But they decided to only speak in Hungarian and both felt that they were treated differently.
You know I dont blame some Croats for behaving this way. After all some were affected by the war and many people have been exposed to state sanctioned manipulation of the past. But I am saddened that it is still seen as acceptible to continue in this manner long after the war is over.
That, however, wouldnt ever stop me from visiting.
I, also spent some fond days of my childhood in Dubrovnik. I still consider these parts of Croatia as part of my (imaginary) country and no redrawing of borders or personal abuse can ever change that.
AJP the buy-up of Croatian and Montenegrin coast is an inevitable result of capitalism. Although I of course agree that it would have been better for all had Yugoslavia not broken up.
Nice pictures brooke.
bg anon,
Ihanks again.
It seems I get all the information from you. Do you have a blog? If not, you should start one.
Milica
bg anon:
I am glad you won't go the way of most Serbs who have turned to Turkey and Greece for their annual holidays and no longer visit Montenegro, for example. However, since they are not made to feel very welcome even there, how can you blame them if they don't particularly want to go to Croatia? I hope that when you go again you will have no problems.
The blaming of Serbs for everything is more to do with long-standing Serbophobia, going way back, in Croatia than with the recent war. Croats were snotty to Serbs 40 years ago when it was one big happy Yugoslavia supposedly. Montenegrans, on the other hand, have simply given in to western pressure and to their own greed, at least it sure looks that way. I sadly predict that the very fibre of Montenegro's culture and society is changing for the worse and in the not too distant future they will find themselves regretting it. Such a pity -- such a beautiful part of the world. My own ancestors come from there...
And, thanks, but I am fully aware of how capitalism works.
Milica - We did feel safe driving the car but we parked overnight in a secure lot just in case. We had heard a lot of stories about cars being damaged but, luckily, it didn't happen to us.
Anonymous - While many Americans would cheer if Texas decided to secede from the union, I'm not sure all Americans would agree. We fought a long bloody war to keep the USA together and clearly the vast majority of Americans (and Texans)want to keep the union together.
But I do think that if people are unhappy with their government and their political situation, they should be allowed to make changes. That's what elections and independence referendums are for. I also believe that alliances and unions are never permanent; they aren't meant to be.
to serbhusband--my point proven about texas-usa relation and montenegro-serbia..we were in the same position..you said it yourself. however, we have much less (way less) power than you to decide our destiny!
anonymous - my point was in the last paragraph: alliances and unions are never permanent; they aren't meant to be.
that too..yes
Milica - I'm almost upset that you dont know :(
I'm part of the Belgrade blog which I wholeheartedly endorse. Also part of the Serbia blog which is feeling rather neglected these days.
And you can find me at B92 here:
http://blog.b92.net/blog/441
(Apologies to everybody for the not so subtle self promotion)
AJP You are aware of how capitalism works?
This never would have happened when they were part of Yugoslavia'.
It's my contention that this happened because of capitalism and not because of Yugoslavia's collapse. Had Yugoslavia stayed in one piece those properties would have still been sold to foreingers.
As I said - thats capitalism.
But I agree with you that the feelings on Serbs are deep rooted in Croatia and predate the latest war. But I would add that there are also feelings of anti Serbianism in Montenegro, that also predate Milosevic - or any other modern day excuses that are used to explain a dislike of Serbs.
I have also stated my doubts about Montenegrin independence. It seems to me that it has emboldened the type of politics I dislike - extremism, ethnic politics, disunity, intolerance.
Still, I hope that I'm wrong. Besides now I get more of a thrill when watching Buducnost lose against Serbian basketball teams in the Jadran league. And I cant wait to see what their football team is going to be like!
Oh, yes, Dubrovnik is perty, and October is such a nice time of year to see it. (The mobs of tourists are, well, less mob-like). For a similar, less tourist-y, experience, check out the Croatian island of Korcula. A passenger ferry will land you smack in Korcula town. Lovely.
Your pictures are beautiful. I've been to Dubrovnik - but not Kotor, shame on me, wife of a Montenegrian!! I'll be heading back summer 2007 with a new itinerary of places to visit.
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