Changes When I was in my twenties, living in Alaska, I had an epiphany. Everything Changes. Sounds trite, I know, but this was a realization that pierced me to the marrow of my bones. At the time, the oil market had collapsed and the state-funded research institute where I had a job that I absolutely…
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Surprise, surprise, there are stereotypes among the Balkan nations, and the Montenegrins have a reputation for being lazy. Our tour director, Oleg, who is Croatian, delighted in telling us jokes in this vein, and Karel got into the spirit and looked up some good ones online. Some of our favorites: A man swimming in the…
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During our stay in Sarajevo, our tour group made an excursion to the nearby city of Mostar, in Herzegovina. The ride was spectacular, along the turquoise Neretva River. In my near-total ignorance about this part of the world, I had no idea that it has such wild, rugged mountains. One time, we asked the bus…
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The ride by public bus from Belgrade, Serbia to Sarajevo, Bosnia took us through scenic countryside and mountains and took the better part of a day. Although the country seemed beautiful and fertile, we noticed that many of the houses appeared empty. I’m not sure, but this may be a lingering after-effect of the Balkan…
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In the competition for most embattled cities, Belgrade may be the all-time champion. In its long history, it has been attacked or besieged well over a hundred times. It’s been razed to the ground, bombed to rubble, pillaged, and rebuilt scores of times. It has changed hands from one power to another every few decades…
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