When all is said and done, we go to Southeastern Europe for its antiquities.
The coastline of the Adriatic Sea is frequently beautiful. The people are friendly - friendly enough in many cases to speak more than one language. The culture, particularly in the area of food and drink, is diverse. But taking a trip from Croatia all the way to Athens, Greece - mostly by boat - has enough history lessons to keep a group of university professors busy for a few semesters.
In our case, we decided that early in the year would be better when it came to exploring this part of the Mediterranean. It can be hot in that part of the world in the middle of summer, and it's not easy to go for casual walks in big cities when the temperature is above 90. Our tour, which lasted for more than two weeks from late March to early April, avoided such heat. It may have cracked 70 once or twice, but mostly the weather was in the 50s and 60s with a chance of rain that sometimes materialized.
The paybacks for a trip to this part of the world were many. The most obvious of them came in Athens, when we arrived at our hotel one night and the sign said there was a bar on the seventh floor that overlooked the Acropolis. It didn't take long for the parade from our tour group to ride the elevator up and check out the Parthenon. Everyone was happy to report that the amazing structure was still looking down on Athens after more than 2,450 years on the job. In other words, America is celebrating its 250th birthday this year ... and the Parthenon is almost 10 times older than that.
But other locations had stories to tell that have been entertaining visitors for centuries. Split, Dubrovnik and Kotor have walled "cities" that have been adapted countless times over the years. Tthen there are the natural wonders and other attractions we encountered along the way.
We'll review the four countries that were visited along the way in this essay. There will be some overall comments about the trip and its passengers. Some photos that seemed worth sharing will pop up as well. Click on any of them to increase their size for viewing. This blog also will cover the cities, towns and attractions encountered ... eventually. And I'll mix in a few over-simplified notes on the history of the region.
War - what is it good for?
The United States and Iran began military hostilities shortly before our trip began. While keeping an eye on developments taking place in the Middle East, we weren't too concerned about any possible spill-over into our vacation. That didn't stop some friends from showing concern; Jody had some pals saying they were praying for us. I pointed out to some people that no, we weren't taking a post-trip excursion to Tehran.
However, talk of an earlier war in the region we were visiting was something of a constant during much of our stay. The area has been a flashpoint for conflict because of its location for centuries. The ethnic and religious differences are many, and every so often someone has tried to get greedy and take over the region. When World War II ended, Josep Tito united the area under the name of Yugoslavia. He died in 1980, but he had set up provisions to allow the political portions of the country to go off on their own at some point. That happened with the decline of most of the Communist countries around 1990.
According to a native of the region, everyone had been getting along rather well under the Yugoslavian flag. Therefore it was something of a surprise when Serbia started what is called "The Homeland War" with Croatia in 1991, claiming Serbians should live in Serbia. Some of the early fighting took place in Northern Croatia, which was on our bus route when driving from Zagreb to the coast. Several buildings were damaged at that time and never rebuilt, and others were simply abandoned by their Serbian owners who didn't feel at home in Croatia any longer, and with good reason. It was odd to see such damages still visible about 30 years later. Regional conflicts popped up through the 1990s, with several atrocities taking place in the process. Serbian President Slobodan Milošević eventually was arrested and charged with war crimes. He died before his trial was completed.
I asked someone in the region if everyone was getting along these days. He replied that the Serbian government liked to stir up the pot every so often to keep the population in line. Funny - I got the same answer from someone from a man from India when I asked about Pakistan's government several years ago.
Photo Op: The Festival of Lights in Zagreb
Every spring, the city of Zagreb, Croatia, hosts a Festival of Lights around the center of its downtown. Sometimes special characters and structures are brought in to entertain the visitors, while in other places scenes are projected right on to the buildings.
We happened to arrive right in Zagreb right in the middle of it, so our timing was quite good. There were 26 installations in 21 locations, and the trolleys were jammed with people each night anxious to take it all in.
This photo was taken in the middle of the biggest square of the city. The Art Museum is the oldest such facility in the entire region, dating back to 1898. Two characters in front of it apparently were happy to see it, and each other.
The Gang of 22
Overseas Adventure Travel sticks to small groups on its trips, which is a great way to become spoiled. In our circumstances, we had two groups of 22 with their own tour directors.
There weren't many opportunities to bond in the early portion of the trip, as everyone adjusted to the new routine of early wake-up calls and alarms. Then we all got on a boat from from Sopot, Croatia, to Patras, Greece, over nine nights. We all had meals together in the same room, and socialized in the lounge during down time. Many friendships were made along the way - based on the tearful good-byes at the end of the main tour (some went on to see more of Greece; while we went home). Maybe some of those people will stay friends in the future. (Thanks to Petra for the group photo by the Olympic stadium in Athens.)
It's fair to say that this is a part of the world that is not on the top of most people's wish lists when it comes to traveling. Americans often want to see cities such as Paris, London and Rome in taking their initial adventures across the pond. A few might have a personal reason for wanting to visit this part of the world, but otherwise this is a trip that seems to appeal to the more frequent flyers. That level of experience showed. The conversations among fellow travelers were often about comparing notes on what might be a good place for that next trip.
It's never a perfect union when 22 strangers come together. One person usually can be found in such situations who has trouble talking about anything but exotic trips in the past; another might pontificate rather than talk. We were all under orders not to discuss current events, which cut the screaming matches down to zero. Happily, everyone knew already to listen to group leaders in order to avoid repeated questions, and everyone generally was on good behavior. We were all lucky to be together.
Our boat
The obvious comparison is to bus trips over similar territory. We unpacked once during the nine days on the boat. That allowed us more time to relax on board. Yes, there are big cruise ships that cover parts of the same trip and have their own advantages such as more things to do on board. And they are beautiful to view from the outside. One turned up next to us in an Albanian port.
But our boat (the one on the left above) was quite nice and comfortable inside. The bottom floor was reserved for the crew's quarters, the second floor was occupied by the dining room, lounge (shown in the photo to the left) and a handful of rooms, the third floor was all rooms, and the top was a deck for watching the world go by (when it was not raining or cold). Many rooms had balconies on the Athena, but we were fine without one. We only had one night where the waves were on the high side for a ship of this size, and many people said the motion simply rocked them to sleep.
There was no pool, no casino, no stand-alone restaurants, no art galleries, no bowling alleys, and no gym on our ship. It simply got us where we were going. That's not a bad concept in the world of travel. Add it up, and it worked fine.
Photo Op: The George Washington of Croatia
Dr. Franjo Tudman was the first President of the Republic of Croatia, which was founded in 1990. He served until 1999. That makes him the "Father of Croatia," at least as far as the population is concerned. (We'll check on his relationship with cherry trees.) Tudman also was a military leader in the Homelands War, and helped negotiate the Peace Treaty that ended the conflict in 1995. An airport in Zagreb and several bridges around the country have been named after him.
Wife Ankica Tubman joined her husband in the memorial in 2022. They are in the best spot in the complex - next to the main entrance.
A geography lesson
The answer goes back more than 1,000 years. The Kingdom of Croatia controlled much of the so-called Dalmatian Coast starting in the 900s. It kept it through various stages of history, and got it back when Yugoslavia split up in the 1990s and Croatia was back in business as a country. The odd part is that there is a 12-mile slice of land along the coast that belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina, giving it an outlet to water. The really odd part is that Croatia built a bridge connecting its islands located near the Bosnia strip to the Croatian mainland, so it is still in touch with its territory.
Croatia seems to be doing rather well economically, more than 30 years after the breakup. It has taken one approach that comes off as unusual - English is essentially a second language there. That's especially true in the bigger cities, and especially true among young people. The schools teach it starting with second graders. Street signs and advertisements are usually in both languages, and sometimes the ads are English only. The visitor from America might feel like he or she is in a place like Montreal, where English is second in usage but it's still easy to get around. Maybe that's attracted tourists.
Or maybe it's the sunsets. If you don't believe me, believe film director Alfred Hitchcock. Supposedly he was in Zadar when he said. “The sunset of Zadar is the world’s most beautiful and incomparably better than the one in Key West, Florida, applauded at every evening." This photo was taken on the first night on the coastline in that particular city, and the moment received plenty of attention. Oh, and a Syracuse graduate might feel at home with the vibrant orange color.
Better Than a Welcome Center
The Bay of Kotor has an old fortress right by its opening to the mainland, indicating that sea visitors are about to do on a unique experience. It took about an hour to go from the Adriatic Sea to the final destination of the city of Kotor, and it was worth every second. The mountains come almost straight down a few thousand feet to meet the water in a stunning way. The people who do live in that region have created a little living space on the shoreline, but you wouldn't call it particularly roomy. The area is protected by UNESCO, so we can hope others will have the same view down the road.
Don't even try to consider all of the twists and turns this part of the world has taken over the years. Let's just say a lot of flags have flown over it. It was semi-independent between the World Wars, and later was swallowed up into the new Yugoslavia. It eventually became linked to Serbia, and then finally went off on its own 20 years ago (as of this writing). Montenegro is a member of NATO. The land isn't too level for the most part, which cuts down on the possibilities for farming, and tourism is its top industry.
And you have to admit ... the country knows how to decorate a small island in its bay.
Photo Opportunity: The Boss Is In Town
I like to take a look around at foreign libraries to see what sort of contents they have. (For the record, I have enough trouble getting my books into Erie County libraries to worry about sales in the Balkans.). In this case, something unexpected popped up. Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, translated into Croatian, was on a shelf. Bruuuuuuuce! It was a nice taste of home.
Clean Up on Aisles 5, 6, 7 ...
It's been passed around among the world powers over the years, never having much of a chance to develop a national identity. Serbia even attacked the little country after World War I was over in 1919. It was taken over by the Italians during World War II, followed by the Germans and the Communists. Enver Hoxha was named the President along the way. He eventually guided a split in its relationship with the Soviet Union to side with China, and eventually Albania was closed off to everyone. Nobody got in or out, which wasn't too good for business or tourist. Even its own residents who tried to swim to another country were rounded up (Greece isn't far away). Eventually things fell apart in the early 1990s - a particularly messy time even by the country's standards - and it became free of Communist control along the way.
Nowadays, you can go spend some of your hard-earned retirement fund in Albania. Just don't use the ATMs to take out money, because the Albanian Lek is only worth about .012 dollars and can't be used elsewhere. We only visited Saranda and a neighboring town/archeological site during a brief stop to the country, but the place is messy. There's been some rebuilding over the years, but the only pattern is that there is no building code. New buildings, usually hotels, are often surrounded by material that would need a promotion to reach squalor. And the small city streets aren't too good at modern traffic, so driving is, um, cramped - particularly on a bus.
Now ... about that photo. Hoxha ordered such structures - concrete bunkers - to be placed around the country from the 1960s to the 1980s. And not just a few - at least 175,000 of them (numbers differ) in all. Hoxha wanted to be prepared in case of an invasion. His fears were never realized, and now the bunkers have received a second life in some cases. They have been transformed into houses and businesses - albeit small ones. This happened to be in the middle of downtown Saranda.
In the case of homes, the nickname is appropriate - "Bunker-lows."
Watch Your Step
Meanwhile in Greece - at least in the regions we visited - you might be stepping on something or someone interesting at any moment.
There are buried ruins everywhere in this country. In Delphi, scholars had discovered that the area was historically significant as early as 1436, although nothing was done about it for centuries. Oddly, it took an earthquake to plant the idea of a massive discovery mission. The town on the site of the grounds was essentially destroyed in 1870, and soon someone came up with the idea of building a new town somewhere else. That all took some time, but eventually the shovels came out in the 1890s and 1900s and Delphi was found again.
The ancient footprint of Athens is even more spread out, as it was a much bigger city. So any time you need to do some digging, the archeologists have to come along. Take a look at the skeleton in the above photo. That is part of a display in, of all places, a subway station near the Parliament building. You don't see that in New York City.
Greece is something of a thrill ride. The population is about 10 million people, with more than half living in the Athens area. The joke is that the population has its own time zone - GMT (Greek Maybe Time). As in "Maybe I'll be there at 2, maybe at 3, maybe at 4..." The traffic is memorably bad, and the panhandlers are often circling tourists. This stop received the strongest warning about pickpockets than I have heard in my traveling life. During our stay gasoline prices were close to $8 per gallon. But there is a ton to see and a great deal of energy. Jump on and hang on.
Parting thoughts
We had a nice sunny day to explore the trails of Plitvice Lakes National Park. Imagine our surprise when two days later, the news reports lit up our phones about heavy snow in that same region. The totals probably depend on altitude, but supposedly two to four feet of snow were recorded in spots. Made me homesick. Thanks to Plitviceblog on Facebook for the photo to the right.
Meanwhile, that same storm didn't leave Zagreb untouched, at least in terms of weather. Winds of more than 70 miles per hour were recorded in the nation's capital. That's close to hurricane velocity. Several injuries were recorded (but no deaths, happily), roofs and more than 150 motor vehicles were damaged, and thousands were left without power. As you'd expect, about 1,500 trees didn't make it through all of that wind. Nearby, a trail derailed after hitting a tree on the tracks. Sounds less than ideal for sight-seeing.
We might have had a much different trip had we left a couple of days later. So that was fortunate.
We raised the question about whether toilet paper could be flushed away. Some in our group did it without much thought, and others used the small wastebasket in the bathroom to finish their sanitary task. We opted to take the sanitary way and save the plumbing of Athens - at least slightly.
* There's nothing like time zones to make you feel like an international traveler. The clock kept moving on its own during our stay. Let's see - the flight across was a five-hour change, and then Daylight Saving Time went into effect to make it six. The fun part came when we were cruising to Albania, which is Central European Time. Phones picked up signals from nearby Greece which flipped the time ahead another hour, even though we were still in Albania waters. Somehow, no one missed dinner. When we got up at 2 a.m. Athens time on Sunday morning to go to the airport, it was 7 p.m. on Saturday in Buffalo. It took 23 hours to get home.
Then there was the time that a guide asked who the top athlete in Split was, and I yelled out "Toni Kukoc" on the bus. My answer was ruled wrong in favor of a soccer player I knew nothing about, but I reserved the right of appeal. Kukoc was quite a talent in the day as he had some good moments with the Chicago Bulls. That same guide actually knew the members of the family of Luka Doncic of the Lakers, as both were from Slovenia.
Finally, while walking down a pedestrian street in Athens, I saw a basketball store owned by Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks and his family. (Take a left at that corner to visit the place.) The "Greek Freak" had moved from Africa to Greece at a young age, and became a first-round draft choice who led Milwaukee to a championship.
We did get to watch two opening games of the NCAA basketball tournament in Buffalo just before we left, followed the results by phone during the event, and returned in time to see the championship game on television.
* After two weeks of following every word of our tour director, Petra, I felt comfortable to ask an odd question. "Did you ever hear of a particularly terrible group of passengers?" She had indeed. Somehow a tour the size of ours - 44 people with two travel directors - had attracted the absolute worst group of travelers when it was done. Sounded like they complained from beginning to the end. The guides made it to the breakup party, and told them essentially, "Don't even worry about paying us. Just go away."
* My biggest laugh on the trip came near the very end, and I was rather proud of it. Some people in our group were talking about their eating habits, and co-traveler Julie made this statement: "I am an optical eater." You could almost see my brain working, and it took about two sentences of conversation by others for something to come out. I said, "Does an optical eater consume much seafood?" (For best results, read aloud.) There was a moment of silence, followed by a hearty laugh at the table. Julie, who was leaving on the post-trip extension the next day without us, said, "I'm going to miss you on the rest of the trip."
Photo Opportunity: Cue the Rolling Stones
Our visit to Albania featured some stormy weather in the morning. The skies finally started to clear in the afternoon - just as we were getting ready to leave. Happily, a rainbow turned up to wish us well on the remainder of the journey. Mick, Keith and the boys - and maybe Buffalo's own Harold Arlen - would have been proud.
We'll be traveling again in the future, and hopefully we'll find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow to pay for it.
Good job, Budd! Great memories.
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