THE BALKANS (February, 2012)
Macedonia:
When you first visit the center of Skopja, you'll notice lots of elaborate structures built by the government with no real logic behind it.
The next day, I got stranded on mountain by my two climbing buddies, was
almost attacked by pack of dogs trying to climb my way down, and had then 'accidentally' broke into the fortress in Skopje. During my travels in Macedonia (mostly getting lost along the streets) I was also somewhat introduced to the chauvinist Balkan culture (boys and
girls play separately, only men walking out in city and in cafes).
Kosovo:
Don't be surprised when you see a statue of
Bill Clinton in the city center of Pristina. When you go out, people
only wear dark colors so avoid anything neon! (I made that mistake).
You
can visit a few monasteries around Peja but the one we tried walking to
(the female one) was closed that day because of all the snow...though
we did get to take some cool pics with the KFOR guards (since it was a
serbian monastery).
Albania:
Men hold hands so don't be alarmed. It's amazing the diversity of vehicles you'll see, from tractors to even Mercedes taxis. There are also lot's of old ladies with purple hair. In durres you can take a scenic walk by sea.
Serbia: Women wearing real fur! I spent my Valentine's day in Belgrade.
It went as follows: morning walking tour with the Free belgrade walking
tour, got my face stamped on a serbian bill at the bank museum (for
free btw), spent 4 hours on facebook (as usual), went sledding on
cardboard, spyed on lovers at fortress, then visited it’s army
museum, ate some delicious pizza, and went to a jungle club all in one
day. T'was so romantic and so much fun!
Bosnia:
I also went down to mostar, which is a famous cite for the bridge
bombing (see bridge below). I stayed at a place called miran hostel,
where the owner, miran, took me in, fed me in what appeared to be dog
bowls, and even pet me on my head at one point (was weird but I went
with it). Regardless of our divergent views of US politics, Miran was
pretty cool and Mostar is definitely worth visiting.
Croatia:
Montenegro:
Nightlife in winter is essentially non-existent,
though I did had a mafia guy buy me drink in bar. I was then picked up
by the bartender there who took me to a local restaurant where they
played turbofolk
(local fusion music of old and the new). He told me of wartime stories
from the Serbian
point of view including visuals of women getting raped. At the end of
our night out, he (like any other eastern european man) tried to spend
the night at my hotel, which by the way I had all to myself since there
were no tourists in winter. Luckily he eventually let me get back to my
room by myself. I also took my first attempt at hitchhiking solo. I
would not suggest this in montenegro (or anywhere in eastern europe). I
won't get into the details but I'll just say I thought I was almost
going to get raped and murdered at gunpoint. Luckily I survived with
minor sexual assault. Overall, I'd say ladies, pack your pepper spray
but be cautious of the fact that you can't really pepper spray someone
who is driving at the same time.
Slovenia:
It’s like hitting western Europe all of a sudden, and you can tell when it’s no longer a challenge to find a mcdonalds. People were very friendly. There was an old man named Joseph who taught me about life, relationships, etc. While trying to find a hostel, I encountered a rock n roll bar where a drunk Canadian man decided to walk with me to find the hostel…then while walking I met a young finnish guy who was studying at the university there (as most of the population in Ljubljana are students). We had an awesome night of dancing and drinking and I got to stay in one of the university dorms (and no, nothing sexual!) I wish I had more time to visit the mountains or vineyards outside Ljubljana. There are also some caves down south that you can visit, but I didn’t have enough time.
Despite being recently war-torn, Bosnia has some of the kindest people around. When lost, I ended up having an old lady carry
my luggage and then take taxi with me (I tried to carry the bag but she just grabbed it from my hand). Some of the biggest cultural shocks were seeing
european muslims and constantly seeing women fashioned in large ostentatious pieces of
animal fur.
It should be known that in Sarajevo apartments are very cheap (roughly 180 euro +30 for
utilities). I couch surfed with a guy named Wojtek who was AWESOME. He told me about his trips to africa in large caravans (adventure tourist.com) that blew my mind. While staying with Wojtek, we went to visit the tunnel of hope (see below), Franz Ferdinand bridge, as well as various other war relics around the city.
Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to go skiing/snow boarding though that is one of the main attractions to Sarajevo in the wintertime. It was so cold that I had to wear on average 3 layers of pants each night. On my birthday, We all went out to celebrate at one of the local pub/clubs. I started dancing and got so hot that I had to strip down all my pants. I eventually lost my most expensive pair and had to go back to the club the next night and ask in front of all of the bartenders, "Hi have you seen my pants? I lost them here last night". At first they thought they had misunderstood what I was saying, but I assured them that that was exactly what I was trying to say. I had even met a bosnian police officer who became facebook friends with me. I asked him to send out a city-wide pants alert...I have yet to find my lost oh-so-perfectly-butt-grasping pair of pants.
I also went down to mostar, which is a famous cite for the bridge
bombing (see bridge below). I stayed at a place called miran hostel,
where the owner, miran, took me in, fed me in what appeared to be dog
bowls, and even pet me on my head at one point (was weird but I went
with it). Regardless of our divergent views of US politics, Miran was
pretty cool and Mostar is definitely worth visiting.Croatia:
From
Mostar, I headed into Dubrovnik. This place was awesome! Despite being
alone and despite it being winter time (low tourist season), the old
city in Dubrovnik is truly beautiful. Though surrounding restaurants are
slightly pricier than elsewhere within the balkans, there is lots of
beauty to take in. You will also see lots of stag/'hen' parties taking
place for the brides/grooms to be. One should note that lots of streets
listed on maps are actually just narrow staircases, but are much fun to
run down late at night.
Fun fact: Dalmations are named after dalmation coastline off Croatia
In Zagreb, you can visit all the typical town
highlights and also go to the museum of broken relationships, a museum
unlike any other. The city is very developed and the people like to
party in the night time.
Montenegro:
Nightlife in winter is essentially non-existent,
though I did had a mafia guy buy me drink in bar. I was then picked up
by the bartender there who took me to a local restaurant where they
played turbofolk
(local fusion music of old and the new). He told me of wartime stories
from the Serbian
point of view including visuals of women getting raped. At the end of
our night out, he (like any other eastern european man) tried to spend
the night at my hotel, which by the way I had all to myself since there
were no tourists in winter. Luckily he eventually let me get back to my
room by myself. I also took my first attempt at hitchhiking solo. I
would not suggest this in montenegro (or anywhere in eastern europe). I
won't get into the details but I'll just say I thought I was almost
going to get raped and murdered at gunpoint. Luckily I survived with
minor sexual assault. Overall, I'd say ladies, pack your pepper spray
but be cautious of the fact that you can't really pepper spray someone
who is driving at the same time. Slovenia:
It’s like hitting western Europe all of a sudden, and you can tell when it’s no longer a challenge to find a mcdonalds. People were very friendly. There was an old man named Joseph who taught me about life, relationships, etc. While trying to find a hostel, I encountered a rock n roll bar where a drunk Canadian man decided to walk with me to find the hostel…then while walking I met a young finnish guy who was studying at the university there (as most of the population in Ljubljana are students). We had an awesome night of dancing and drinking and I got to stay in one of the university dorms (and no, nothing sexual!) I wish I had more time to visit the mountains or vineyards outside Ljubljana. There are also some caves down south that you can visit, but I didn’t have enough time.
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