Train to Zagreb

Today marks the halfway point of my trip. Right now I am on the 7 hour train from Belgrade, Serbia to Zagreb, Croatia. The trains are nice, but very slow. I am sharing a car with a family (Mom, Dad, two kids) and two backpackers from Spain who look like they haven’t showered in weeks (see picture).
They don’t smell though. Thank God or else this would be a terrible train ride. My favorite sports writer does a running diary of big sports games so I thought I would do the same for this train ride.

11:31 am: Travelling through a lot of farmland now(see picture). Huge farms of corn for as long as you can see. In Belgrade in the evenings they grill corn on the cob on the street corner and sell it to people. Everyone is walking around eating corn on the cob. I also think they eat more ice cream in Belgrade than anywhere else in the world. People are always eating ice cream. The small train stations we pass are cute. My Mom would like them. A man stands outside in his train uniform and blows a whistle as we go by. I think it is some sort of signal.

11:37 am: My language skills are improving. When the family next to me is talking with each other I can understand about every 10th word. People in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia all freely admitted that they speak the same language but just call it different languages. My friend in Dubrovnik, Boris said he gets annoyed when the newspaper will have a section where they write in Croatian and Serbian and they write the exact same thing. The Bosnian Serbs I shared the train with from Sarajevo to Belgrade also said it is exactly the same language with one or two minor differences. Religion seems to be the dividing point for people, even though my guide in Sarajevo said it is more about defining their identity than it is about spiritual belief. When I was in Dubrovnik the Catholic churches and monasteries were the central focus of the old town area. People in Sarajevo are extremely proud of their mosques and in Belgrade the St. Sava’s Orthodox Church was easily the site everyone recommended that I see. While the religious differences are clear, the language similarities are the same, and the general day to day culture is very similar. People live at cafes. They sit outside and watch people walk by, drink coffee or mineral water. They seem to do this for hours. I tried to do it but after about 45 minutes I was antsy and had to get up and move around. Cafes are the central social activity in all three countries so far.

1:17 pm: For the past hour there was a group of about 25-30 young men who were chanting, clapping, singing and yelling. It was total amusement to the kids sharing the train compartment with me. I had no idea what they were saying, but they would hang their heads out the windows. They all just got off at the last stop and I found out that in Northern Serbia they are hosting the Exit Festival, which is one of the largest music festivals in the world. None other than Missy “Misedemeanor” Elliot is performing. Hahaha! I haven’t thought about her in years. I also found out that the father sitting with us is a cop. I will try to be on my best behavior for the last FIVE hours of this trip.

3:58 pm: The family just got off the train so now I can stretch my legs out. It feels awesome! The view out my window has been fantastic. We passed field after field of sunflowers. It was so beautiful. I can see mountains in the distance. We go through a lot of small towns and villages. We crossed the border from Serbia to Croatia about an hour ago. The border agents climb aboard the train and ride it with us to the next stop. They go from car to car and stamp passports. They are always really friendly. When I crossed the border from Bosnia to Serbia the agent made some joke about the people in the car talking with me. I didn’t get it but they all laughed for a good 15 minutes afterward. I am sure they were making fun of me for being American. Everywhere I have been people say Americans rarely travel here. I have met a lot of Australians and Europeans but only once did I meet Americans. When I was in Mostar, Hercegovina I met two girls, one from Philly and one from California. They asked me to take their picture in front of the old bridge. That has been my only American contact so far.

I am getting excited about getting to Zagreb. I feel this strange sense of relief. I am not sure relief is the right word, but the tension in Hercegovina, Bosnia and Serbia is pretty palpable. This has been a hard trip because I have tried to get a sense of the war of the 1990’s, appreciate the culture of the people and get a better understanding of the continuing ethnic divisions. It is some pretty deep and serious stuff, but each of these places has great people. It reminded me how easy it is as a teacher to teach about wars and groups of people, rather than individual people. History is about people, and not just governmental leaders but also the everyday person who lives in that place during that time. I am sure I didn’t need to go across the world to understand that, but it happened nonetheless.

9:57 pm: I checked into my hotel and then walked to get some dinner in downtown Zagreb. I walked through this beautiful park (see picture). I think it is the makeout spot of Zagreb because there was a lot of that going on. I am back at the hotel now and exhausted. Who would have thought that sitting on a train for 8 hours could make you tired?

Belgrade, Serbia

So, after a bit of a journey I arrived in Belgrade, Serbia. The train was scheduled to take 9 hours and ended up taking 14 hours. Luckily, I shared the ride with some nice people. It gave me a chance to practice my speaking, which is getting better everyday. It is still pretty bad, but better. I have had two days in Belgrade. I spent some time visiting museums about Serbian culture and a military museum. After visiting the war museum in Dubrovnik and the war museum in Sarajevo I was interested in seeing how the war was portrayed in Serbia. I was shocked that they barely mentioned it at all. The museum only showed the NATO bombing of Belgrade, but no other mention of the 5 year war with the Slovenes, Croats, or Bosnians. I am not really sure what to think about that. It might take me a while to process it. People in Croatia and Bosnia seem to be still recovering from the war but here it is different. There are a few buildings that have bomb damage here but it is not the focal point of what people talk about.


Life in Belgrade seems to be pretty good for most people. This city is the point where the Sava and the Danube Rivers meet. There is a huge park and a fort that overlooks the rivers called Kalemegdan. It is easily one of the best places I have visited. I spent hours both days climbing around and finding little hideaways. I was walking around there today when all of a sudden a huge group (thousands) of people started parading through wearing traditional costumes. I learned later that Belgrade is hosting the International Folk Festival this weekend. Lucky for me, I got to watch some traditional dancing and listen to music from all over the world inside this incredible park. It was such a great idea. NYC could totally do something like this because the city is so diverse. It reminded me of the labor day parade and all of the different costumes from the Carribbean.


The majority of people in Serbia belong to the Serbian Orthodox religion. The churches here are HUGE! They are by far the biggest churches I have ever seen. Today I went to see St. Sava's church which is one of the largest in the world. It is undergoing renovations now, but people still gather outside of it all day long. My favorite thing about Serbia though is the fact that they eat pizza for breakfast. It's not exactly like our pizza but it is dough with cheese and some type of sauce. You can get vegetables or meat on it. It tastes so good! I leave here in the morning. I have a seven hour (hopefully) train ride to Zagreb, Croatia.

Hiking in Sarajevo

I wanted to take a break from going to museums and walking around in crowded tourists centers so I thought I would try to go hiking. Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics and the city is surrounded by these amazing hills. I went to the tourist center to see if they had any maps or information for me. They told me that there are only a few places where you can go hiking because most of the hills have not been cleared of landmines. During the war the Serbian forces filled those hills with landmines but didn't have a map of where they put them. It is very expensive to have people come in and clear regions of the mines. Bosnia is in a tough economic situation and the country does not have the money to do it. The tourist center recommended that I take a nature path that goes right along the Miljacka River. She said the views of the canyon and the river were beautiful. I walked the 8 km to the Goat Bridge. The bridge was one of the most important crossings on the trade route from Istanbul in Turkey to Sarajevo in the 1500's.
It was a beautiful walk. It was quiet and it didn't even feel like I was in a city anymore. People were strolling along or lying in the grass. Even though it was gorgeous and quiet, you still can't escape the war. I saw landmine warning signs and homes that were in ruins on the hillside. No matter where you go or what you are doing in this city, the war is constantly right in your face. My tour guide said yesterday that it becomes normal for people who live here, but I don't know how you could ever get used to it.

Sarajevo, Bosnia

I arrived in Sarajevo yesterday by train. We went through over 60 tunnels. The scenery was beautiful. We followed the river and went through the sides of mountains. Sarajevo is pretty big city (not NYC big)but big nonetheless. Yesterday I visited the National Museum where they had a lot of interesting artifacts from the 14th and 15th centuries. The also have a book in a locked down room that is estimated to be worth over a billion U.S. dollars. That was pretty cool. Outside of the museum they had a park where children were climbing and playing on old tanks. Yup, I said TANKS. Today I took a guided tour of the city with 5 other people (2 from Australia, 2 from Amsterdam, 1 from Canada). Our guide was awesome. He drove us around in his mini-van and we visisted a lot of sites around the city. The tour was focused on the war of the 1990's. From 1992-1995 the whole city of Sarajevo was surrounded by Serbian forces. He told us how the city used to be very diverse with 60% Bosnian Muslims, 20% Croatian Cathoics and 20% Serbian Orthodox. During the siege many of the Croatians went to Hercegovina or Croatia and many of the Serbs fled to the other side of the front line. Today, the city of Sarajevo is over 90% Bosnian Muslims. He decribed how people do not socialize with people from other groups. He said he had no friends that were not Bosnian Muslims and knew no one who married a Croat or a Serb. The woman from Australia whispered to me that is sounded like apartheid.

We visited the Tunnel Museum. During the seige the people living in Sarajevo did not have electrity, gas or oil, and had limited access to food. They built a secret tunnel where they could smuggle in food and weapons into the city. The tunnel was built near a zone controlled by the United Nations so that kept the Serbian forces from finding and bombing the tunnel. Our guide talked about how foreign journalists used to smuggle in money and food for the people in Sarajevo because the Serb forces allowed journalists only to come and go across the front lines. Walking through the tunnel was pretty intense. It was so small and must have been really hard to carry supplies through it. During the siege the United States miliary sent aid packets with food and medical supplies to the people. Our guide said the US military packets were the best food he ate for 3 years. The packets looked horrible. They made school lunch look like a 5 star restaurant.

Sarajevo has recovered physically much faster than Mostar. There are less bombed out buidlings here and there seems to be a happier vibe. Someone in our groups asked our guide if he thought the three groups of people (Bosnians, Serbs, Croats) would fight again. He said that he believed the only reason there is no fighting now is because there are 5000 troops (NATO, United Nations & United States) still in Bosnia and that keeps people in order. He fears that if they ever leave, war would happen again very soon after. The United States has given money also to Sarajevo to help rebuild. I visited a few museums where they had plaques that said reconstructions was possible because of the US Aid Society and the American People. I have one more day here in Sarajevo and then I take a 10 hour train ride to Belgrade, Serbia. I have had the chance to see the perspective of the Croatian people and now the Bosnian people, I am interested in seeing how the war is presented in Serbia.


In other news, I stood on the Latin Bridge where Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife to spark the beginning of World War 1. As a history teacher, it was a pretty cool things to do. I also went to the use the bathroom today and opened the stall and there was no toilet. I had never seen that before. There was a hole carved out in the stone and you had to squat. I almost fell over which would have been gross (and funny) at the same time. Luckily, my hotel has a toilet, so that is a relief. haha. I am getting more comfortable with the language everyday, and watching American tv shows in another language is also funny. Today I watched the Gilmore Girls. I am going to get ready to get some dinner. I will write again from Belgrade in a couple of days.

Hercegovina

I spent the last two days in Hercegovina. I am staying in the city of Mostar. The city is named for its' famous bridge Stari Most (translates as Old Bridge). The east side of the city is populated mostly by Bosnian Muslims. That is where I am staying. I rented a room at the Muslibegovic House. It is a national monument/museum that also rents out 15 rooms for overnight guests. I am the only person renting out a room right now. There is a beautiful garden. There are rules to stay here. You have to take your shoes off before you come in the room. There are many mosques and you can hear the calls to prayer throughout the city. On the west side of the city the population is mostly Croatian Catholics. You will find Catholic churches and a huge cross on the top of the hillside. To say that there is some tension between these two groups would be an understatement. Mostar is a hard city to describe. The war damage is much more visible here than it was on the coast in Croatia. This city is filled with bombed out buildings. There will be a beautiful home and right next door will be the crumbling walls of what remains from a bombing. In 1993 Stari Most was destroyed in the war. The original bridge was built in 1566. The United Nations had designated it a protected site, so after the war they rebuilt the bridge using the original materials and the original methods. That means they did not use any power tools. They hand carved each piece of stone that they used to build the bridge. It reopened in 2002. Each afternoon local men jump off the bridge into the Neretva River below. On the surface, Mostar is a pretty sad place. When you are walking around and constantly seeing the destruction caused by the war it is pretty hard to be happy to be on vacation. The emotional scars here are just as evident as the war damage to buildings. When I spoke with people on the Croatian side of town they talked about how they never go to the Muslim part of town. When I told the people running the place where I am staying that I was going to the Catholic part of town they told me not to waste my time because there was nothing to see there. When you read about ethnic conflict it is easy to think that people just need to get along with each other. Now that I have been here and talked with people, I see how deep things run. I am not sure how I might react if everyday I walked by the building where someone in my family was killed and then someone expected me to be friends with the person who was responsible.

Today, I left Mostar and went to a small town just outside of the city named Siroki Brijeg (translates to Wide Hill). I like how the names of town are related to the towns themselves. It reminds me of Native American names. I have a good friend in Chicago whose family lives in Siroki. I spent the day with them. It was a great time. I tried to speak Croatian and they tried to speak English. It was a nice break from the museums and tourist crowds. It was also nice to talk with them about the region. They also have some strong opinions on the area. I am headed to Sarajevo in Bosnia in the morning by train. I have been having trouble uploading pictures the past two days. The internet connection is not very strong. Hopefully, I will be able to put up some pictures soon.

War Museum in Dubrovnik

I am in an internet cafe in the Old Town because it started pouring and I needed a place to hide out and Empire State of Mind just came on the radio in the cafe. I cannot escape that song. It is blarring everyday in Crown Heights and now it followed me to Croatia. Haha

I am renting this apartment while I am here from a woman, Zeljka, who is my age. Tonight she took me to the Dubrovnik War Museum. It is high above the city on the top of the mountain. She was 16 when the war was going on. It is hard to imagine being a teenager and having to live through a war. At the same time I was 15 and my biggest complaint was that my sisters would practice their cheerleading too loudly and it annoyed me. The road to get up to the museum was small, very windy and the "guardrail" was a 2 foot high stone wall. People are crazy drivers here. It makes the dollar cab drivers in Brooklyn seem like the safest drivers in the world. We get to the top (safely) and the museum is inside an old fort that the French built when France and Napoloean had control of Croatia. Inside they had old military weapons, bombs, and lots of pictures of the city after it was bombed by the Serbian forces. Everything in the museum was written in Croatian so Zeljka had to translate everything for me. There was also a video that showed the bombing of the city from 1991. Zeljka talked about how most people in Dubrovnik thought they would be safe from the war because the city is recognized a protected site by the United Nations. She also said that many people in Dubrovnik believe that the United States, England and other United Nations countries wanted Croatia to lose the war because they did not want Croatia to become its own country. They wanted Croatia to stay a part of Yugoslavia. She said that is why no one came to help them until much later. It was interesting to hear her talk about it. They had to live without water for months and hide in a house in the Old Town because they thought the walls surrounding the city would protect them.

Tourists used to visit the top of this mountain because the view is so spectacular, but during the war the cable car that brought people up there was destroyed. That was in 1991. In two weeks, they will finally reopen a new cable car. It took 20 years for that to happen. She seemed really excited about it happening. I guess recovering from a war physically takes a long time and it seems like there is still some emotional scars as well. Zeljka seems so much older than me and I am sure part of that is because of what she has lived through. Spending the last few hours with her made me feel pretty lucky for the life that I have had so far.

(on a lighter note, I just tried to spell check these paragraphs and almost all of the words came up as spelled wrong and then I realized I am using a Croatian computer so it thinks all of my English words are just Croatian words spelled wrong.)This picture is the view from the War museum. This crazy guy climbed out on the ledge while his buddy took this picture. It looked so awesome. I couldn't resist taking one too.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

I am now in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is a small city on the far southern coast of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic Sea. The "Old Town" as they call it is surrounded by these HUGE walls. From the sea the walls are built on top of the cliffs.
I read a lot in the museum today about how Dubrovnik was always getting attacked by other countries because it was such an important port city. It still is a big port city. There were lots of fishing boats coming in and out all day. Cruise ships also stop here. Tourism seems to be the biggest industry. I took a little tour boat that goes around the outside of the city and stops at an island (Lokrum). The older man driving the boat drove it until we got outside the docking area and then his son (grandson?) just takes over and drives the boat the rest of the time. He had to be younger than 10! He could barely see over the steering wheel.
The war in 1991-1992 is still on everyone's minds. The older man on the boat told me that during the war the city was under seige from the Serbian troops so no one could get in or out of the city. They used the tour boats to shuttle people to the outer islands where they they would be safe. There are memorials throughout the city remembering people who died defending Dubrovnik. I saw a photography exhibit today with pictures from Christmas 1991. It was very sad to look at them. The store fronts were are smashed in and people still came out boarded them up and them painted Merry Christmas designs on them. It shows you the resilency of the people here. Tomorrow I will leave the coast and move farther inland to Mostar, which is a city in Bosnia i Hercegovina. I am going to spend some time now just sitting around and staring at the Adriatic Sea while I can.