Eastern Europe - Kotor - Montenegro

Bay of Kotor

Orthodox Church

No 9. Email - 27 Feb.

Montenegro – Kotor

Kotor is another medieval walled city. It sits at the head of Southern Europe’s deepest fjord. It is roughly triangular in shape. One side is along the waterfront, one side along a river, the third side is close to the foot of a steep cliff. On top of the cliff is an old fortress that can be reached by a steep trail.

The weather was very changeable for the three days that I was there. Mostly changing from very cloudy to rain, with practically no sun. That did not stop, Laurent, a Frenchman I met there, two young women, and myself to climb to the top in the company of one those light persistent rain (we get some of these in Seattle). In the process, found out that it is not easy to use my heavy Nikon while holding an umbrella!

It is Karnival time in Kotor and they have all sorts of activity taking place. I went to an evening concert.

There were several signing groups from the area. I was the only tourist there,and when I asked someone some info about the concert, I was approached by the women journalist who happened to be there for the event. She took my picture and asked me a bunch of question! Maybe I am now a celebrity in some unknown local newspaper. I did not bother to find out as I was leaving the next day anyway.

As I was planning my move to Albania’s town of Tirana, I found a few interesting facts.

First none of the four banks I contacted had Albanian money (in Albania they use their own money, the Leke). Also I could not find any info about buses past the border between Montenegro and Albania. It is almost like the world ends at the border! The very nice women at the hostel gave me the info that they had. As it turned out it was almost accurate. The number of busses I needed to reach Tirana was four, which turned to be right. The timing was off but did work out ok. I left Kotor at 7:30 am and got to Tirana at 4:00 PM, a very long day.

In spite of the no-so good weather in had a real good time in Kotor.

Next Tirana.

Eastern Europe - Dubrovnik - Croatia

The port

The Old Town

Email no 8. – Dubrovnick

The trip from Split to Dubrovnick along the Adriatic Coast was is very pleasant and very scenic.

I checked in the Youth Hostel and found myself alone in a 4-bed dorm. As a matter of fact, the staff left at 8:00 pm and I found myself alone in this 82 bed hotel. The next couple days there were more guest at the hostel (not in my dorm). I was also able to do lite cooking in a small kitchen, in short, a bargain at 12 euro a night.

The traffic-free Old Town is completely surrounded by a high wall. The highlight of a visit of Dubrovnik is definitely the 2 km walk on top of the wall for a bird-view of the town and the for the opportunity to see how many roof tiles had to be replaced after the Serbian attack that started on October 1, 1991.(about 2/3).

There are many interesting buildings and attractions in the Old Town. Three religions are represented by one Synagogue, one Serbian Orthodox church ad several Catholic churches and monasteries (Croatia is predominately Catholic).

There is a classic picture of Dubrovnik that appears in all the touristic publications. (see my picture!)

To get that picture I had to hike away some distance from town and then climb to side of Mount Srd.

A steep hike and hundreds of steps took me to a suitable location. A fun project!

Next Kotor, another medievPost Optionsal walled town, this time in Montenegro.

Eastern Europe - Croatia - Split

Overview of Split Harbor


The Cellar of the Diocletian Complex

Split – Croatia. 17 Feb. 2010

Split is a pleasant city on the Dalmation Coast, and a main hub for transportation by bus, boat, train to other nationals and internationals destinations. The main attractions are the marble-paved promenade (Riva)along the harbor. With many cafés and restaurants, it is a favorite walk and gathering point for the locals and tourists alike. There are also several open-air markets selling fresh home-grown vegetables.

Split’s greatest tourist attraction is the Diocletian’s Palace. Diocletian was born in the nearby town of Salona, then the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Diocletian eventually became an emperor and ruled from A.D. 284 to 305. He is best remembered for dividing the huge Roman Empire between four emperors, and for his torturing and killing of thousands of Christians, including the Bishop Dominus of Salona. (the Romans were still pagans at the time). It is also thought that the division of the Roman Empire contributed to it’s demise.

In his old age, and in poor health, Diocletian decided to retire in his homeland. The massive palace (over 600 ft long on each of its sides) took only 11 years to built and cost the lives of over 2,000 slaves.

Evntually, over the years, the palace became a public place, the cellars became a perfect detritus receptacle. Other buildings were added on the outside and the inside of the palace by medieval and more recent developers. The city eventually took over and is doing cleaning and restoration work.

The vaulted main cellar hall has a series of massive pillars supporting the floor above them.

The Peristyle was the centerpiece of the Diocletian’s Palace, it includes Jupiter’s Temple, many red granite columns, the Cathedral St. Dominus (formally Diocletian’s mausoleum). Climb the 183 steps of the 200-foot bell tower and you are rewarded with sweeping views of Split and its harbor.

From Split, I took a bus to Trogir, a nearby medieval town. A very nice cathedral and some other medieval churches. The city is entered thru several gates one of which has the statue of St Nicolas of Trogir standing on a pedestal on top of the gate. The statue can be accessed by a staircase behind the gate. I climbed the steps to get a closer look at the writing on the pedestal to find that the writing is upside down?! I took a picture of it asked the local tourist office the reason for the upside-down writing.

They did not believe it until I showed them the picture. They had no clue why, or how it happened.

All together, Split and Trogir are worth visiting.

Next Dubrovnik.

EASTERN EUROPE - Mostar

The St Franciscan Church

Mostar Feb 12,2010

Mostar was part of Yugoslavia, and under Tito’s rules, Catholic Croates, Orhodox Serbs, and Muslim Bosniaks lived together in harmony. In thecearly 1990s the country unraveled resulting in a three-way Mostar

war between the very same people. Mostar’s famous Old Bridge (the very emblem of the cooperation between ethnicities) was hit by Croatian’s rocket attacks and crumbled down into the Neretva River.

Most of the town (including the Old Bridge) has been rebuilt, but ruined building and walls pocketed by bullets still exists.

Standing in the middle of the Old Bridge one can see nine mosques and the tower of one catholic church, the St Franciscan Church. Since the Catholics could not compete in number of religious facilities, they made their tower, modeled after Venetian campanile, the highest in town.

Mostar’s Old town with the Old Bridge and the Crooked Bridge over the river Neretva, Coopersmith Street with the flavor of a Turkish Bazaar, its open markets, is a delight to visit.

Next, the short trip to Split in Croatia.

EASTERN EUROPE - Sarajevo

The Tunnel
The Pigeon Square

Sarajevo

After a long overnight train ride I arrived in Sarajevo early in the morning. The train leaves Slovania, enters Croatia, leaves Croatia and finally enters Bosnia. As a result, my passport was checked out four times. The first time by the fully armed Croatian Police Force!

At the station I took a tram for the 15 minutes ride to the Old Town. This area, called Bascarsija, is

full of narrow lanes with small shops selling copper and brass containers and other hand-made gifts. People from restaurants deliver trays full of small Turkish coffee cups to nearby business. This area could be anywhere in Turkey, and the numerous mosques around complete the picture.

This region has a long history of occupation by different ethnic groups. The Romans are the first in recorded history until the region slipped back in relative obscurity until the Turks arrived in mid-15^th century. Eventually the Austro-Hungarian replaced the fading Ottoman empire and built railroads that connected Sarajevo with the West.

Sarajevo attracted the world attention by hosting the 14^th Olympic Winter Games in 1984. Then, from 1992 to 1995, the city was under siege, more than 10,000 Sarajavans died more than 50,000 were wounded by the Bosnian Serbs snipers and shelling.

Lonely Planet reports this quote by Radko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb commander “ Shoot at slow intervals until I order you to stop. Shell them until they can’t sleep, don’t stop until they are on the edge of madness.”

The National Library was also targeted by the Serbs as the repository of Bosnians books and manuscrits, an irreplaceable collection of records of an entire people’s culture. So far, a lack of found as prevented the complete restoration of the building.

A tunnel was built under the airport to provided a safe mean of bringing in supplies into the city. It is said that this is the tunnel that saved Sarajevo. The tunnel was started in somebody’s garage. It took about 6 months of 24-hours a day work to bring the 800 meters long, by 1.60 m high, by 1 meter wide

to completion. During the construction the underground water was a constant problem, and had to be removed frequently by manual means.

I had to see this tunnel for myself. To get there I had to take a 40 minutes tram ride followed by a 10 minutes bus ride, and a 15 minutes walk. It was well worth it. At the museum, they presented a 25 minutes movie about the siege of Sarajevo and the tunnel. Amazingly, the movies included pictures of the Serbians shooting at their targets from the top of the hill above Sarajevo.

Today, the city seems to be at peace, withness the multicultural history and tolerance as expressed by the fact that within one city block one can find places of worship for four religion; Catholics, Jewish, Orthodox, and Muslims.

Next Mostar.