Ljubljana

Tuesday, June 3

We were up early this morning, as we wanted to see the castle before taking a walking tour at 11:00.  The first funicular climbed the Castle Hill at 9:00, so we spent some time visiting the courtyard and exhibits at the town hall, and the market square.  In the market, we were interested to see a couple of machines that dispense raw milk and other dairy products, with the farm of origination identified; shoppers can either bring their own containers, or buy sterilized milk bottles via the machine.

We also stopped in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, adjacent to the market square.  The baroque interior was the usual over-the-top baroque, but the three-dimensional bronze doors, which we re-visited with our guide later in the day, were standouts; they depict the story of the city from pre-historic to modern times. 

Then, it was the funicular ride up Castle Hill to see the views from the walls, climb even higher to the tower, wander through the former prison cells, and visit the chapel and the museum devoted to Slovenian history.  

Back on terra firma, we took the lovely Triple Bridge from the old town to Presernov Square, where the walking tour formed.  The square is the main one in Ljubljana and it and the statue that dominates it honor a national hero, France Preseren -- not a general, statesman, or politician, but a poet!  He is so revered here that his birthday is a national holiday, Preseren Day.  On that day, also known as Slovenian Culture Day, most cultural organizations are open for free and thousands attend hours-long poetry readings in front of the statue -- in February weather!

Our tour was in the very capable hands of Tina, who wove information about the history, politics, architecture, contemporary lifestyle, art, and culture of Ljubljana into a walk that crossed bridges, toured the old town, and the center city -- all completely pedestrianized.  Though Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia only in 1991, the city's native son, architect Joze Plecnik, foresaw the day when Ljubljana would be the nation's capital and used his vision of what a great city should be to shape much of the newer construction in the historic core.  The Triple Bridge, market colonnade, open air theater, and National and University are among his signature contributions to the city.  Tina did a great job of helping us sort through some of the ethnic, cultural, and religious jumble that pretty much made the concept of a unified Yugoslavia untenable, especially after the 1980 death of Tito.

We couldn't resist the chance to have burek for lunch one more time.  Then, under darkening clouds, we walked along one of the city's streets notable for its Art Nouveau buildings, en route to visit the Metelkova mesto alternative culture center.  A thunderstorm broke out just as we approached Metelkova mesto, so we waited it out under cover across the street. 

The avant garde center of arts, music, crafts, performance, film, and political activity is housed in a complex of former army barracks.  Now, graffiti covers the walls, and every building and courtyard bears the marks of the free expression of free spirits -- this may be the origin of the term "outside the box!"

We had traditional Slovenian food for dinner tonight, at a small restaurant in the old town, then walked around a bit, along the river, sidewalk (and center-of-the-street) restaurants and cafes, and through the squares.  There was music and conversation in the air, but no cars, horns or exhaust fumes!  

We learned today that when Ljubljana's central core was pedestrianized seven years ago, most residents were pleased and felt that their quality of life was enhanced.  Some, however, were inconvenienced and the disabled, elderly, and others had difficulty getting around.  In a step we haven't seen in any other place, the city government here provides a fleet of electric carts that anyone can hail to be driven anywhere in the pedestrian zone -- for free!  Also, bicycles are allowed in the pedestrian areas; we've seen more bikes here than anywhere else on our trip.

We added Slovenia to our itinerary fairly late in our planning, and are so glad that we did. The countryside of this small country is lovely; Ljubljana is a fine and cultured capital city, with forests at its doorstep and views of the Alps.  Wow!

Tomorrow, we begin our trip home with a day-long drive to Nice, France.  We'll return our car there, spend the night at an airport hotel, and catch a flight to London Thursday morning, and home from there later in the day.  All good things must come to an end, so that even better ones can begin!

Zagreb, Croatia to Ljubljana, Slovenia

Monday, June 2

Zagreb is quite close to the Slovenian border, so after a short drive we'd pulled out our passports yet another time.  At the border, we purchased a vignette, the sticker required for all cars on the road in Slovenia; it is used as a sort of universal Easy Pass, and has replaced road tolls throughout the country.  It took just a couple of hours' drive through lovely countryside to reach Lake Bled, at the foot of the snow-capped Julian Alps, and almost in Austria.  

Lake Bled seems almost too beautiful to be real.  Its waters are blue-green, Bled Castle dominates it from atop a high precipice, and Bled Island, with its monumental staircase leading from water's edge to the island's church, sits, just waiting to be photographed.  Needless to say, Tom obliged, stopping often as we walked the 6 km path that encircles the lake.  En route, we stopped for lunch on a shady lakeside bench, and the view was unbeatable.

We retraced our route to reach Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia early this afternoon.  After checking in to our apartment, we walked about fifteen minutes to the center of the old town, which lies at the foot of a castle on a hill high above. 

The town center and old town are separated by the curving Ljubljanica River, but the two pedestrian areas are joined by so many footbridges that they seem as one.  There are many squares, and they seem to morph into streets, and flow into each other.  Cafes, outdoor restaurants, fountains, squares, the riverbanks, even the bridges provide lots of open space for people to gather and linger against the backdrop of attractive public buildings, and former mansions and townhouses that now house shops, galleries, and museums.

Our first impression is of a lively small city, a university town, and one not overrun by tourists.  To be continued tomorrow...

Zagreb

Sunday, June 1

The cathedral and Kaptol Square were much quieter this morning than they had been last night as the procession to return the Lady of the Stone Gate to her home.  We had a daylight peek into the church and a walk around the surrounding cathedral close before heading across the square and through a short passageway to the Dolac Market.  

Today, the market square was full of stalls overflowing with beautiful fruit and vegetables, all shaded by the traditional red umbrellas with striped trim that are one of the symbols of the city.  Also seen in abundance in the market and throughout Zagreb are the glossy red hearts (licitars) decorated with white writing and trim, also emblematic of the city. 

 Once edible gifts for special someones, now they're pretty much all plastic souvenirs.  We also visited the fish market, housed in its own hall, and the market's lower level, where the butchers, bakers, pasta makers, and dairymen offer their products.  It's probably hard to beat the burek, a meat-filled, phyllo-wrapped delight as a mid-morning snack, which we enjoyed as we wandered the outer reaches of the market, through bedding plants, leather goods, and clothing stalls.  

Passing through the Stone Gate, we verified that the painting had been safely returned to its place in the shrine, surrounded by the ex-voto plaques offering thanks for answered prayers, and candles whose wax is gathered and reused -- the local version of eternal flames, or religious recycling, I suppose!

In Gradec's Upper Town, we stopped in St. Mark's Church, with its coat-of-arms tiled roof, golden vaulted ceiling, and powerful organ playing in full force.  A couple of blocks away, we reached St. Catherine's Church in time for 11:00 Mass. 

 Originally a Jesuit church, it bears all the hallmarks of that lineage -- baroque decoration (pink and white!!), tromp l'oeil painting, etc.  There was one element we've never encountered elsewhere, though: under each pew was a radiator!   While the Mass is the same the world over, when it came to the homily, we have no idea whether it was a brilliant biblical exegesis, an appeal for financial support, or a World Cup update.  Relieved of any need (or ability) to pay attention, we spent that time praying for you, dear reader!

All morning long, bells rang out from the many churches throughout the city.  86% of Croatians are Catholic, and 90% of the population are Croatians, but now we're getting into the religious and ethnic divides which we've given up trying to grasp.

After a stop at the  terrace (and beer garden!) behind the church for a view across to the cathedral atop Kaptol, we returned to the market for more burek, which we had for lunch back in our apartment.  It's going to be hard to get back to lowfat yogurt and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

One of Zagreb's most popular attractions is a cemetery, and it was our first destination this afternoon.  Mirogoj is green, leafy, and touted as an open air art gallery.  Many of Croatia's greats -- statesmen, artists, scientists, composers, musicians, sports stars, actors, and heroes -- are buried there, and many of their monuments are the works of great sculptors.  The cemetery itself is encircled by beautiful domed arcades reminiscent of the porticoes of Bologna; they are truly lovely.  In this serene place, even the adjacent morgue looks like a summer palace!

This afternoon, we drove about an hour east of the city to Varazdin, a notable example of a Baroque city.  For a short time in the 18th century, it was Croatia's capital and many aristocratic families built beautiful homes there.  It was very quiet this Sunday afternoon, but we enjoyed walking through the cobblestoned pedestrianized center of the town, and then on the grassy ramparts surrounding the stoutly-built 12th century castle.

We've very much enjoyed our visit to Zagreb.  It's a beautiful city, small enough to feel familiar and manageable, blessed with a gracious old town, and dotted with many lush and lovely green spaces -- and LOTS of red hearts!

Mostar, BiH to Zagreb, Croatia

Saturday, May 31

Tom got up early to take photos of Mostar without tourists and overflowing shops and then we were on the road back into Croatia.

 In order to avoid post-flooding road troubles, we headed back toward the Croatian coast to travel on the modern toll road, rather than our originally planned route through the interior of the country on rural roads.  The highway was modern, efficient, and ran through lovely countryside, but relatively uninteresting and monotonous compared through routes that pass through towns and villages.

We arrived in Croatia's capital, Zagreb by mid afternoon and were delighted to find that our original booking had been upgraded, so we're in a modern two-bedroom apartment in a former palace!  After checking in, we walked five minutes to Jelacica Square, the town's main square and, at the tourist information office, found that we were just in time for a special walking tour being offered today in celebration of Zagreb Day.  We had a great overview of this beautiful city, which in medieval times, was actually two separate hill settlements, Gradec and Kaptol, separated by a creek.  With their merger in 1850, the unified city of Zagreb was born.

The city's main square is a large and busy expanse at the base of Kaptol.  Just up the gently sloping hill is Kaptol Square, which is dominated by the city's cathedral.  Nearby the Dolac Market was in the clean-up phase of daily operations; we'll be back to see it in full swing tomorrow.  We crossed the Bloody Bridge, the traditional link (and front line during conflicts)  between Kaptol and Gradec; the bridge is now a street, as the creek has been paved over.  

Gradec is the site of the Stone Gate, the only surviving entrance of the original four in the old walled city.  Within the gate is a shrine to Our Lady of the Stone Gate.  On May 31, 1731, a fire destroyed most of Gradec, and the only part of the wooden gate to survive was the painting of the Virgin and Child; even its frame was destroyed.  Popular belief credited this to a miracle and Our Lady of the Stone Gate was declared the city's patron saint; for that reason, today is celebrated as Zagreb Day, and also the feast of Our Lady of the Stone Gate.  Earlier today, the painting had been moved to the cathedral, where there were Masses and other activities throughout the day, until the painting is returned. 

 In St. Mark's Square, the large church is joined by the parliament, other state buildings, and the city hall.  Of the city's 90 museums (impressive, for a population of 700,000!), several are in Gradec, including one that must be unique in all the world -- the Museum of Broken Relationships!  Interestingly enough, it's located on the same small square as the church, one of Zagreb's most popular wedding venues!

After the tour ended at the terrace in front of the medieval Lotrscak Tower, with its fine view of the Lower Town below, we walked back down to the Jelacica Square and our apartment to settle in a bit and have dinner.   

Later on, when we decided to go out so that Tom could photograph the main square at night, we had no idea what a treat lay in store.  As we headed toward the square, we heard singing and saw people lining the road to the cathedral holding candles.  We knew immediately that it must be the formation of a procession to return the painting to the Stone Gate.  Masses of people filled the cathedral and Kaptol Square, as well as the street leading to Jelacica Square.  Locals in native dress were joined by more nuns and priests than we've seen anywhere other than St. Peter's Square in Rome, then came the painting, followed by the crowd; it seemed as if the entire population of the town joined the procession.  The sounds of hymns that were broadcast via loudspeakers and the cathedral bells pealing for more than half an hour could be heard all over town; this was an unforgettable experience.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time, on exactly the right date!

Sarajevo to Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Friday, May30

We spent a bit of time this morning walking around Sarajevo's old town, which was much quieter than it had been last night; the clink of coffee cups in cafes having replaced last night's bustle of busy restaurants, hookah bars, and shops.  We capped our walk with a stop at a bank to exchange some of the many currencies we've used on this trip and got an interesting look at commercial bureaucracy here.  Somehow, a transaction that resulted in our pocketing 25 euro necessitated duplicate copies of three identical forms, each signed then stamped twice -- a process worthy of Italy!

It's hard to imagine that so much of this city was destroyed during the wars of the 1990s, when it's position hemmed in in a valley with mountains looming on both sides made it an easy target of Bosnian Serb shelling.  In fact, for three years, 1992 to 1995, the city was under seige, virtually cut off from the outside world.  The only access for food, supplies, and defensive material was a tunnel one meter wide and extending 800 meters under the airport runway!  10,500 Sarajevans were killed and 50,000 wounded during that time.

Our drive to Mostar through green mountains and along the sparkling Neretva River was lovely and the overcast skies of Sarajevo turned sunny en route.  Once we found our apartment on a small lane, we took off to see a couple of places outside the city.  

We drove to the beautiful Kravice Waterfalls, crashing powerfully into pools below.  It was just beautiful, a compact version of Croatia's Plitvice Lakes National Park, which we visited at the start of this trip.  

We also stopped at Pocitelj, a fortress village built into and atop a rocky mountain.  The Ottoman-era town's narrow streets, old fortifications, a mosque, and houses roofed with thick stone slabs made for an interesting wander.

Back in Mostar, we explored the old town, dotted with the minarets of many mosques, alleys lined with bazaar-like small shops, and restaurants on both sides of the Neretva. Tourists filled the small lanes and congregated on the famous (rebuilt) Stari Most, or Old Bridge.  The original bridge, built in the 16th century, and the emblem of the city, was destroyed in1999 by the Croats when conflict broke out with the Bosniaks (Muslims), their former allies against Serb and Montenegrin forces in one of the innumerable Balkan Wars. For two years, the two sides fought, with one of the city's main streets a virtual front line.  All the bridges were destroyed, and all but one of 27 mosques left in ruins, as was much of the city.  With much international help, the core of the old town has been rebuilt, but there is still evidence of destruction.

We ended the day on the riverbank so we could see the bridge and old town beautifully lit.  A photo or two may have been taken!

This is probably as good a time as any to admit that we are totally confused by the many wars among the nations that once formed Yugoslavia.  The conflicts of the 1990s and the combinations and permutations of allies, enemies, ethnicities, religions and languages (with each country putting its own stamp on the same language) are just beyond us. 

And, speaking of stamps, Bosnia and Herzegovina (or BiH, or just Bosnia, even if you're here in Herzegovina) is one country divided into two entities: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ethnic Serbian dominated Republika Srpska (not to be confused with Serbia) and each entity issues its own stamps!  It gets even more complex here in Mostar (part of BiH), which has its own two postal systems, Bosniak and Croat, as well as two separate bus stations.  This brings balkanization to a new high.

And, we haven't even gotten to Slovenia yet!

Long Road to Sarajevo

Thursday, May 29

Our GPS had projected that the trip from Belgrade to Sarajevo would take four and a half hours, but we knew that the effects of the devastating floods earlier this month in Serbia and Bosnia might affect our travel.  The GPS offered several routes and, from them, we chose roads that would take us through a corner  of Croatia, so it was to be another three-countries-before-noon day. 

After we left the highway in Croatia and headed the short distance on a rural road to the Bosnia Herzegovina border, we began to see some fields covered with water and some sandbags.  We found that the border was closed and the agent on duty sent us to another crossing station about fifteen miles away.  There, the Sava River, which forms the border, was badly swollen.  As soon as we entered Bosnia, as we waited in a long line of vehicles, we saw LOTS of sandbags lining the road ahead.  

A section of road was washed out and traffic was reduced to one lane as it traversed an unpaved temporary diversion.  The sandbag barriers bordered the road for miles, and in that area, we saw German Red Cross and emergency workers, as well as several vehicles that were involved in the effort to search for landmines (and their posted warnings) that had been displaced in the mudslides during the flooding. 

Once we arrived in the outskirts of Sarajevo, the inbound traffic was very heavy, slowing to a crawl as we neared our hotel in the city center.  So, spent much more time (eight hours) in the car than we'd planned, arriving at 5:00 -- just in time for happy hour!

Refreshed and happy to get moving, we walked down the pedestrianized old town and through Bascarija, the old Turkish quarter. 

The area is full of mosques, churches, and narrow alleys lined with small shops and many restaurants.  There is even an indoor market with a bit of the flavor of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar.  The street scene includes many women wearing head scarves and a fair number of begging children. 

 We wandered around, had a traditional dinner outdoors so we could take in the action, and then walked some more, checking out the bridge where the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that led to World War I took place. 

To compensate for our late arrival today, we'll spend a bit more time here tomorrow before moving on to our next destination.

Belgrade

Wednesday, May 28

This morning, we began by walking the short length of Skadarlija, the narrow street billed as the city's bohemian quarter.  It was quiet at the start of the day, but we understand that it doesn't stay that way once the restaurants fill, the pubs open, and the music starts.

 We continued on several blocks through downtown to see the large St. Mark's Orthodox Church.  Under its five domes are important icons and the tomb of the Serbian Emperor Dusan the Mighty (14th century).

We arrived at Republic Square, in front of the National Museum and the Opera House, to join the city's walking tour.  For close to three hours, we walked through the old parts of the city and learned a bit about its history, culture, and contemporary life from our young guide, Mina, who loves her city and is eager to have others know and love it, too.  She shared  some of Skadarlija's lore as we wandered there before moving on to see the one remaining mosque in this city that once had 200.  We moved through Dorcol, an old neighborhood, and made our way to Kalemegdan, the landmark fortress we'd visited yesterday.

 Like the fortress, Belgrade itself has seen much warfare and destruction; other than the fortress, though, the oldest buildings of the city are actually not very old.  Among the things we took in while at Kalemegdan, were landmarks along the riverfront below the fortress.  Mina showed us the city's most important bridge, which connects it to New Belgrade.  During the 1999 Serbian - Kosovo conflict, NATO's bombing of the city included civilian as well as military targets.  When the warning sirens signaled approaching attacks, the citizens gathered on the bridge to shield it with their presence.  They brought musicians and a festive atmosphere ensued, so it's now referred to as the Party Bridge!

After the tour, we visited the beautiful St. Michael's Orthodox Cathedral and then just sat for a while in the shade of the Students' Square near our apartment.  Deciding that we were pretty "walked out", we called it quits mid-afternoon and headed to our digs for some R and R.

Tonight, we had another of those experiences that make travel so special.  Our niece, Eileen has friends in New York who are from Belgrade.  Dusan Lakic and his mother Vesna had each given us lots of information to help us plan our trip, and shortly before we left we found out that Vesna and her other son Milos would be in Belgrade while we were here!  Though they arrived at midnight last night, and we're leaving in the morning, we were able to connect this afternoon and make plans to meet for dinner this evening.  We sat outside on a street lined with lively restaurants and cafes and had a fine dinner of Serbian dishes.  The best part of all, though, was the opportunity to spend time with Vesna and Milos, talk to them about some of the things we've seen, learn about this country from the inside, and make two new friends.  As we learned on our visit with Spaso's family in Nis, Serbian hospitality is extraordinary; though we had invited Vesna and Milos for dinner, unbeknownst to us, they took care of the check, insisting that this is how guests in their city are treated.  It was simply amazing and a terrific end to our visit to Serbia!

Belgrade, Serbia

Tuesday, May 27

After leaving Timisoara, it did not take long for us to reach the border and cross back into Serbia.  With the re-entry, we reclaimed the hour we'd lost when in Bulgaria and Romania, and reached Belgrade early enough to visit the close-in suburb of Zemun, where we took in the view from the hilltop tower at the Gardos fortress.
We were at our apartment in Belgrade by noon and had lunch there; we're on the top (13th) floor of one of those Soviet-era "workers' paradise" apartment blocks that are among the least attractive architectural features of this part of the world.  

Despite their unappealing exteriors, each of the apartments we've stayed in such buildings on this trip and a previous one has been bright, comfortable, updated, sometimes spacious, and a pleasant surprise.  Our apartment here was billed as a studio, but we've got a separate (very tiny) kitchen, a balcony overlooking the city, and even a washing machine and dishwasher.

We spent the afternoon walking, first up the nearby Knez Mihailova, which is a long pedestrian boulevard lined with cafes, restaurants, and shops housed in beautiful old buildings; it was lively and lovely.  When the pedestrian zone gave way to busy city streets, we continued walking, past the Art Nouveau Hotel Moskva, where a small crowd of people were gathered in groups of four or five playing some kind of game, or betting, that involved checking pages full of numbers against the information on packs of small cards. 

 We could make neither heads nor tails out of it, but that, after all, is another game!  We walked on past the city council building and the presidential palace, beautiful buildings separated by a fine park, and wound up at the massive St. Sava, the largest Orthodox church in the world.  The interior space is enormous, but almost completely bare.  Pillars, icons, arches (even in the high gallery of the huge dome), and walls are all sheathed in plastic, and the construction, begun in 1985, continues.

We walked back through the city to the Kalmegdan Citadel, the fortress commanding the bluff above the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers.  The fortification has been destroyed over 40 times since the Celts first fortified the area in pre-Roman times.  Now, the citadel complex is part of a large, leafy park at the end of  Knez Mihailova that now includes museums, the zoo, tennis courts and a soccer field (in the moat!) and lots of strollers and others taking in the  river views. 

The Belgrade that we've seen thus far has surprised us with an urban vibe that feels like Western European cities.  Lots of parks, impressive buildings, and people out and about; it looks good to us, from our bird's eye view, and at street level.

Transylvania to Timisoara, Romania

Monday, May 26

We spent the morning on the road between Sibiu and Timisoara, which is in western Romania, near its borders with Hungary and Serbia.  The ride was lovely, lots of small villages, each with a pointy-turreted church tower and a cluster of homes with red tile roofs.

We had high hopes for Timisoara, which not only has an important role in the country's recent history, but is known for its large and lovely squares and green spaces.  It was quiet difficult to get around the city center, as so much it is torn up for extensive infrastructure repair.  Entire squares and many streets were just a mess; evidently the concept of approaching such major work in a piecemeal fashion didn't occur to the powers that be.  The project at the important and probably very impressive Union Square has evidently been under way since 2011 and the end doesn't appear to be in sight.  In Liberty  Square, where ruins of a prior settlement have been unearthed, there's no telling what timeline might apply.  

We were headed to the museum dedicated to the uprising of 1989, but when we managed to pick our way through multiple construction sites to its address, we found that it had moved.  Luckily for us, it was just a few blocks away in an old army barracks, and we were able to visit it. The museum contains memorabilia from the struggle, examples of international press coverage of the events, artistic representations of the uprising, and samples of the regime's propaganda.  

Also displayed were several flags that the rebels waved during their protests; the tricolor flags have circular holes in the center, where the symbol of the Communist regime had been cut out.  The popular revolt that toppled Ceausescu in 1989 began here in the streets of Timisoara, spread through small towns and cities to Bucharest and, in a matter of just ten days, resulted  in the trial and execution of the dictator and his wife.  While at the museum, we were able to meet Dr. Traian Orban, who oversees the collection.  He is a survivor of the uprising here and was shot twice in the leg when the army turned its guns on the protesting citizens.  After 45 years of deprivation under Communist rule, Dr. Orban told us that 1989 was a rebirth for him, so he'll be 25 in December!

One important public space that has not been jackhammered away is the large Victory Square, which runs from the Orthodox Cathedral to the National Theater and is lined with cafes and graced with fountains and flowers.

We found that one of the restaurants most highly ranked by both Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet was just a stroll across the park from our small hotel and we had a fine dinner of local specialties in its lovely garden. 

As this is our last day in Romania, I'm going to toss in some observations that I either forgot to include in previous posts, or just didn't fit in with them.  Along country roads, farmers set up small stands to sell not just the usual produce, but also homemade cheese and honey.  There are lots of beehives around, some of them stacked in rows and columns on trucks.  Another common rural sight were haystacks unlike those we've seen elsewhere: they're conical and centered around a vertical pole or branch which protrudes from the top of the stack.  In pretty much every country we've visited on this trip, a favored police activity seems to be parking along a road and, with one or two officers standing on the side and/or in the middle of the road, stopping randomly chosen drivers to examine their papers.  And, there are LOTS of casinos and betting parlors in Romania.  In Bucharest, we were told that this was due to its proximity to Turkey and Greece, whose citizens travel there to gamble, but at this distance from traveling Turks and Greeks, one starts to wonder about the Romanians!

That's it from Romania; tomorrow we'll be back in Serbia to visit Belgrade for a couple of days.