We’ve been filming new TV shows in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia for nearly three weeks.
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| Tito may have been the father of his country, but he’s dead and the only image I saw of him in the 20 days I spent in the former Yugoslavia was on this T-shirt. Enlarge photo |
Talking with locals about their memories of growing up in Yugoslavia (which broke apart in the 1990s), people have generally good memories of the times. Marshal Tito (its strong-arm dictator) is remembered in a single phrase: “He said ‘No’ to Stalin.” People remember the stability. And time and time again people said, “It was a good time…we could travel.”
Yugoslavians were free to travel when other Communist Europeans could not because they were happy to return. Locals here remember when their “Red Passport” was worth more on the black market than an American passport. That’s because Yugoslavia was on good terms with — and its citizens could travel in — both the First World and the Second (Communist) World.
People in these countries speak what used to be called Serbo-Croatian (or Croato-Serbian depending on your ethnicity). Today the languages are all still essentially the same but, as required by each new country’s constitution, they are called Bosnian, Montenegrin, Serbian, and Croatian.
Europeans differ in how their national pride compares with their pragmatic need to connect with the rest of the world. You can read it in the letters they choose to indicate their country on car license plates and road signs. Croatia is proud: “Hr” for Hrvatska. Hellas is pragmatic: “Gr” for “Greece.” Germany is proud: “D” for Deutschland. Östereich is pragmatic: “A” for “Austria.” Magyarország needs to be pragmatic: “H” for “Hungary.” France doesn’t need to show its cards since Franceis French for “France.”
It’s interesting to see how the images lodged in my mind from past trips ripen in my head over the years — or simply change with the country. I write a script calling for a great view, painting, café, or experience — we go there and my cameraman wonders “what were you thinking?” Years ago in Croatia, there were lots of goats roasting on spits. People’s tastes have changed, the cost is up, and a goat slowly spinning over a grill is no longer an icon of the region. (Actually, in three weeks traveling here, we’ve seen less than 100 head of any kind of cattle, sheep, or goats.) It’s like my image of Greece with old guys drinking retsina wine. The Greeks are into better wine now, retsina is considered rotgut, and it has faded away from the tavern scene.
I’ve noticed every region of the Mediterranean is pushing its wine industry. Occasionally, regional pride blinds them to quality. Each region of the former Yugoslavia seems proud of the wine they produce — and none of it is any good compared to what I drank in Spain, France, and Italy. I find wine here on par with Greece. The difference: Here waiters actually admit it’s overpriced. We paid $40 to try a bottle of the best wine in Croatia. In Greece, I asked a wine merchant what local wine he’d buy for $30. He said, “With $30, I’d get three $10 bottles.”
We’ve had some great people moments, especially in remote Montenegro. Dropping in on a mountaintop, Serbian-Orthodox monastery, the monks (their long black beards matching their long black robes) told me, “You look suspicious with no beards.” In prepping them for my interview, I said part of our mission was to help Americans understand rather than fear people who were different. They joked, “We’ll have to prove to them they have reason to fear.”
Later, in the middle of a Montenegrin nowhere, we met an American family traveling with their 91-year-old mother. We shared stories of beautiful times we’ve enjoyed and lessons we’ve learned getting to know the people in this region.
Later, the grandma gave me the most encouraging compliment I’ve heard on this trip. I had to call my film crew over so she could repeat it. “Your TV show inspires me to keep going when I should be staying home.”
The response “We’ll have to prove to them they have reason to fear.†is indicitve of the racism and tribal animosity that so dominates the area. The U.N. presence still keeps the peace that would disintegrate without them. Tito kept the peace by using fear and violence to keep the people under his control that Americans could not accept. To visit the areas you feature is both exciting and educational in understanding why world peace cannot be achieved by voluntary agreements.
Great quote from the 91 year old. I saw a topic “how old to still travel?” on one of the boards. I think there’s the answer. My 75 year old mother-in-law spends every other summer traveling with us and she’s still goin’ strong!
Ric, my family is from southern Montenegro (southernmost seaside municipalities of Bar and Ulcinj), where you’ll find many people of ethnic Albanian ancestry, particularly Ulcinj.I’d describe most everything south of Petrovac (just south of Sveti Stefan) as you would call “work a day”. Check out the pizza south of cozy and quaint (i.e. small like a studio apartment) Petrovac and not so cozy or quaint Bar, the sea-port railhead for the Belgrade-Bar railroad and anywhere south, particularly in the municipality and seaside town of Ulcinj (southern most coastal town in Montenegro). They put ketchup on the pizza there. Didn’t think I’d like it, but it works pretty good. I get a pie everytime i’m there. Afterwards, finish it off with a nice Rakia or rakija, a good and strong fruit brandy (distillation of fermented fruit); very popular there. If you get invited into someone’s home (usually christian or non-observant muslim), sample the home-made stuff, it’ll put and then pull the hair off your chest. All the best.
Correction: When I meant, “if you get invited into someone’s home (usually Christian or non-observant Muslim), sample the home-made stuff…” I meant, you’ll likely find Rakija Brandy in a Christian or non-observant Muslim’s home. You’re likely to be invited EQUALLY into observant and non-observant Christian AND Muslim homes! Excuse me…
Rick, I think I saw you & your crew while on holiday in Rovinj, Croatia a few weeks ago for their local food festival. I’d love to see the show you were filming. Can you tell me when & where it will be showing. By the way, reading your reviews on Rovinj a few years ago inspired our family to come for a summer holiday. We fell head over heals – so much so that we bought a one bedroom flat in the old town within the year. Thank you for introducing us!
People in these countries speak what used to be called Serbo-Croatian (or Croato-Serbian depending on your ethnicity). Today the languages are all still essentially the same but, as required by each new country’s constitution, they are called Bosnian, Montenegrin, Serbian, and Croatian. There was a great joke that was circulating among NATO personnel in the 1990s, that unfortunately, I forget the exact words of. It went something like “An American sees a Serb and Croat having a heated argument. He asks a Slovenian what the argument is about. The Slovenian says the Croat insists he speaks a different langauge, and the Serb insists that his language is really Serbian and the Croat stole it. The American asks how they can understand each other if they speak a different language. The Slovene makes some remark about how they both speak the same savage language, then excuses himself to check his stock quotes.” The joke was much funnier in it’s original form (WISH I COULD REMEMBER IT THE EXACT WORDING!), but it perfectly captured the dark spirit of the times. By the way, if you haven’t had one yet (I suspect you have), try a burek. Imagine a Philly cheese steak wrapped in a buttery pastry.
Go Granny!
Rick, We went to Montenegro in 2006, just after Montenegro voted for independence. We are going back for the 3rd time this year. We love it! The first time we went there, we felt like royalty every time we told someone we were Americans. They even offered us rides and rooms (which we happily took them up on). Ostrog freaked us out, though! After the hike, we were expecting a big monastery, like a Catholic one. We were very shocked when we walked into a tiny cave with a monk and the remains of St. Basil!
Rick Your story about the wine and the differences in value and price remind me of something you said in one of your books. In checking rooms in hotels, pensions, and B and B’s you commented that you were often surprised by the discrepancy between value and price. You said that a charming room in a friendly pensione in a neighbourhood full of character could easily be half the price of a room in a higher class hotel with no atmosphere in a less desirable location. I always keep that comment in mind as I review and use your guidebook room listings in my travels. Keep bloggin’. We enjoy the blog.
Surprised to hear you had a bad experience with the wine in Croatia. I still have fond memories of a small wine bar cum restaurant away from the center in Split. I had two good red wines and a wonderful dessert wine, and I didn’t pay anything remotely like $40 a bottle!! It was so good I sent a message back to the wine merchant I mostly use at home that he should look into buying Croatian wine before the prices went up (sounds like they now have, that was 2004). But there’s really very little correlation between price and quality when it comes to wine – you can get a really good Chilean red for much less than a Burgundy from a poor vintage, for instance.
My first trip to Montenegro was in 2006 shortly after they declared independence. I had the same experience as Janet. They loved Americans. I suppose because the kind of Americans who go to Montenegro are not the “ugly American” that Europeans disdain. Montenegro is comparatively poor and food and wine were quite cheap. The people of the country were fabulous, and again, as I posted on one of your other blogs here on Croatia, the whitewater rivers were incredible. We had dinner at the site of an old flour mill where the stream was teaming with large trout. I was told it was the most expensive restaurant in Montenegro. 8 of us had dinner with wine and cocktails and we each out the equivalent of about$15 to $20 max. This was a meal that would have run $100 US in Dubrovnik easily per person. Now if only the Russians would quit building such hideously ugly seaside villas outside of Budhva and Kotor.
I think we all really appreciate Rick’s travel comments much more than we do his political ones. Notice how many more posts there are to the travel blog than to the political blog. Some of us who are nearing 80 and have seen and experienced much more of life and history find some of Rick’s political views naive and, dare I say, a bit arrogant? There is an old Croatian saying: “He has eaten wisdom with a spoon.”
There’s also the saying “it ain’t the years, its the miles”. Ric, I like the book. I agree with most, not all of your ideas. I’m glad you share your experience and views with those of us who haven’t ventured out or been touched by experiences that changed our perspectives. Keep blogging, here and on your political blog. Happy Travels and Happy Blogging.
I like the wine to locals drink everywhere I go. I may not always like it, but I like it. As a boy, I used to get a “look” from my mother as we visited different countries and tried different foods. The “look” meant to be respectful and eat it and thank the host for it. Tom: Just type in the first line of your joke into the google search bar and your joke will come up. Keep trying. I have yet not to find what I was looking for…and I look for really offbeat things. Frances: I’m afraid your 80 years has not given you the ability to speak for others any better than younger people. I prefer when Rick adds the politics of the area…or his political opinion to a piece. In my opinion, Rick paints much richer and wider canvas when he does. I like to be stimulated. Of course, some of my fondest memories are of mostly successfully dodging bullets, so perhaps I am an exception.
The remark about languages spoken in the area actually is not correct. For those who know the history of Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia etc. it sounds a bit smattering. During the ex-Yugoslavia these languages (I am talking about Croatian and Serbian mostly) were forced to ‘mix’. There was a general idea to create a new nation, and all characteristics connected to particular nation had to be diminished. It was a kind of a cultural genocide. For us who lived thru that it was no fun. I know that America is a big melting pot and it’s hard to understand why would anyone wanted to accent their nationality and language. I believe it feels different when ones right to chose is respected and it’s not forced upon you.
I left my heart on a hillside in Tuscany. Any time I am having a bad day at work I just close my eyes and am right back there. This piece is a walk down memory lane. Traveling to Tuscany is chicken soup for the traveler’s soul. http://www.tuscanway.com
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