Bled, Slovenia

Bled Castle from the shores of the lake

Petra is taking us in Triglav NationalPark, Slovenia's only national park. Here we visited Bohinj lake, the largest permanent lake in Slovenia, measuring 2.7 x 0.7 miles. Mount Triglav which we could see from the lake was the first Slovenian land. A priest asked Empress Maria Theresa for the land if he managed to climb the mountain, and he succeeded. In the national park, no new structures or changes of exterior have been allowed since the park was formed in 1982. It was very picturesque with the spring flowers, high mountains and traditional houses. Most of the houses were originally shepard houses where the animals were on the ground level and the living quarters above. We crossed the Sava river whose source is only a 1/2 mile upstream with its clear greenish water. The school children are brought here to learn about nature. For example, we stopped at a couple stations: one talked about precipitation becoming rivers and the rivers being both above and below ground, others talked about using water wheels for power. The churches have a unique bell tower with colored corners.

 

Shepherd's House in Julian Alps

We then went into the village of Studor to see the hay racks, used for drying hay. We passed by a family cutting their hay. Petra gave us a taste of the local blue berry brandy and hazel nut chocolate. We then walked through the next village with its many ornate houses flowers in the balcony windows, here saw an example of the bee houses, decorated with panels with funny scenes, like a woman having her tongue sharpened by the devil.

 

Then we headed back to Bled to Bled Castle on hill, originally built in 1004 as a bishop's residence. They were having a medieval festival with actors and performers from Slovenia, Italy and Germany. What a delight! We stopped for a lunch along the shore of Bled lake with a view of the castle and had the local delicacy, a cream cake and coffee. To finish the day, I took an oar boat to the island in the center of the lake. Here is the Church of the Mother of God on the Lake with it's wishing well. We ran across a bridge and groom while we were there. The tradition is for the groom to carry the bride up the 92 steps to the church and then ring the wishing bell three times. I'm not sure whether this bride and groom did that, but they were posing for pictures.

 

 

Mary and John above Bled Lake

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Congress Square, Ljubljana

We entered our 97th country this morning on our way to Ljubljana, the capital. Slovenia is known as a green country, 60% of the country is covered in trees. We did see, however, a lot of destruction from the last winter. After a 3 day snowfall, the snow started melting on the trees and then they had a prolonged cold spell turning the snow into ice and breaking the branches of many of the trees. The country is quite unusual in that only 40% of the two million in population lives in the cities, most live in villages and towns of less than 5000 people. Ljubljana was first colonized by the Illyrians (again). The town was built here because of the Ljubljanica River. This river actually has seven different names, because it goes underground six times as it travels through the country. Recently many of the old wooden houses built on stilts were unearthed preserved by the swamps of this region. The Romans established their city here in 14 AD. Then came the Germans and in 1335 this area became part of the Hapsburg empire. This was the time when many of the castles of the region were built. Napoleon conquered this region briefly and then it became part of the Austria-Hungarian empire until 1918. The town itself has been heavily influenced by two large earthquakes. The 1511 earthquake destroyed all signs of the medieval structures. The town was rebuilt in Baroque and Renaissance styles. The 1895 earthquake destroyed part of the town. Those sections were rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style. Another strong influence was Joze Plecnik who designed over 300 of the twentieth century structures. We toured the three separate sections of the town, mostly built during different timeframes. The architecture was quite interesting and varied with many picturesque buildings. We also encounter a "play with me" festival with lots of kids playing at various games in the squares. One of the most interesting features we saw was the door to the Cathedral which had been recently made for the visit of Pope John Paul II. Here was depicted the Christianization of the country from the early Christian era, the crusades, the reformation, until present times.

Door to the Cathedral

Another interesting factoid was that they had discovered tunnels underneath the street connecting the Franciscan monastery to the Nunnery several blocks away (and several small skeletons buried there.) We tried a couple of the local delicacies for lunch: mushroom soup and a veal stew. Both were declared worthy. After an afternoon stroll through the town we headed for Bled, our headquarters for the next three days.

Mushroom soup and the local beer

 

Varazdin, Croatia

Andelinjak, an alley where angels sleep

We had an hour's bus ride to the town of Varazdin, former capital of Croatia. The town burned down in 1776 and the capital moved to Zagreb. The town was rebuilt in Baroque style and is quite clean, and beautiful. Here instead of tourists, we ran into a lot of students taking school field trips. The town is also known as the Town of Angels. We encountered angels peaking out of windows, on the facades of houses, and most especially an alley called Andelinjak, a place where angels sleep. The town is one of the most well-off in all of Croatia, almost full employment due to the textile factories, dairies, and the soft drink industry.

 

Mary and Petra in front of Verazdin's Castle

The highlight of the visit was our tour of the castle originally built in the 14th century and updated through time to stop the Turkish invasion (they succeeded). Here we learned and saw artifacts I'd never seen before. For example, did you know that a moat is built around a castle primarily to make it impossible for invaders to tunnel under the walls? Or that the official language in Croatia was Latin until 1847, when Napoleon declared Croatian as the official language and allowed it to be taught in the schools? We saw guild chests, which held the treasury and important documents for the various guilds of the town. We learned that medieval castles had square towers, but after the invention of cannon balls,  the walls were thickened and the towers rounded to help repel the cannon balls. We saw a "saw clock" where the clock was also the weight and went down the tines of the saw to provide energy to the mechanism, painted gun targets that also became the award at the end of the competition (complete with bullet holes), and a portable organ from 1668 that still plays. Then we learned that the hook in maces was used to bring down a knight on horseback . Our guide through the castle was very informative. We then headed for lunch of the typical cuisine of the area: honey brandy, the local beer, Pan, cabbage salad with pumpkin oil dressing, and duck with mashed potatoes with a local spice. Dessert was corn flour cake with a berry topping. 

 

 

Shooting target and Award

Zagreb, Croatia

School children learning their history

The Palace Hotel where we're staying is sitting right in the middle of the town of Zagreb, just a few blocks from many of the museums throughout the city. We are in Lower Town a section that was primarily built in the 18th and 19th century, filled with cafes and restaurants. We took the funicular (all of 127 meters long) up to the Upper Town built in medieval times. Here the streets are still lit by gas lamps, even though this was the home town of Tesla, the proponent of alternating current electricity. Our first stop was the Museum of Naïve Art (Folk-art). Here we saw a unique art form - oil on glass, the local school led by Ivan Generalic. The technique requires the artist to make a reverse sketch of the painting and then put the sketch under the glass as they begin painting. Here the artist has to start with the details first, the lines of architecture, or figures, then fill in the lines and finally deal with the background - just the opposite of what you would do on canvas and making it very difficult to reverse mistakes. Just up from the museum was St. Mark's church with its bright tile roof with the coat of arms of ancient Croatia and Zagreb. Then we visited one of the medieval gates where the painting of the Virgin Mary of Stone survived a fire and now has become a local pilgrimage location. We kept running into a school group who were being led around the city learning their Croatian history. They were met by various characters like the Hungarian king, a girl in typical costume for the area and a priest. The Cathedral of the Assumption dominates another square. Inside is a sercofogus of Arch-Bishop Stepinac who was archbishop during World War II. He managed to save 200 Jews as well as many others to escape the Nazis. After the war, Tito asked him to break from Rome and form the Croatian Catholic Church, so he could control the church. The archbishop refused and was later tried and convicted of sympathizing with the Nazis. Only after his death was it shown that the charges were baseless.

 

St. Marks

We found lunch off the main square and then decided to visit one of the museums. Since we're not much into art, we went to the Ethnographic museum, described by Fromm as under appreciated, but interesting. Here we saw the costumes of the various parts of Croatia on the top floor. Unfortunately, the museum was quite small and its exhibits on costumes and common articles throughout the world was pretty poor and only described in Croatian. After a lot of walking, we had a relaxed afternoon. We went to dinner at the Restaurant Boban for pasta, some of the best we've ever had. To be expected, since this area was heavily influenced by the Italians across the centuries.

 

Plitvicka Jezera National Park

First view of Plitvicka Jezera Park

As we left the town of Split, we could see the communist era construction, the same buildings we've seen in all the communist countries - grey skyscrapers with balconies. After World War II, over 400,000 volunteers either dedicated their week or their Sunday rebuilding railroads and apartments. As we went further inland we saw several abandoned villages, most of them had been inhabited by people with Serbian heritage who left during the "homeland war". We're taking the one four-lane highway from Split to Zagreb, it has reduced the time by a factor of three. We pass through numerous tunnels the longest of which is 5700 meters long.

 

The highlight of the day was our visit to Plitvicka Jezera park, Croatia's first and most popular park. Here are sixteen lakes separated by travertine barriers which results in numerous waterfalls. We had a wonderful time walking the primitive wooden walks along the lake and the over 300 stairs down and up to visit the various levels of the lakes. You gaze all around as waterfalls go from one lake level to another. The water was amazingly clear, with Caribbean blue/green color and trout swimming everywhere. We had a wonderful 2 1/2 hours hiking the trails here and watching the scenery.

 

As we proceeded on, we stopped in the village of Turang on the Korana river which was the first line of defense between the Serbs and Croats. The town was virtually leveled by 1995. We could see buildings preserved as a remembrance, others that still showed the results of shelling but had been rebuilt, and then the brand new homes built since the war. Finally they had a display of the weapons used to defend Croatia and wild mix of weapons from various other countries.

Rebuilt house next to new house

Recent Yugoslav History

In order to understand the recent conflicts since Yugoslavia was broken up, you need to under it's older history. Croatia has been a kingdom since the 10th century and included most of present day Croatia and Bosnia. Serbia was a kingdom in the 8th century, but became part of the Byzantine empire. In the 17th century the Ottoman empire controlled the eastern part of Croatia and all of Serbia. Many Serbians emigrated into Croatia to avoid becoming Muslim converts.  Meanwhile the western part of Croatia was controlled in the North by the Hapsburgs and in the West by the Venetians. Today's Croatian borders largely match the non-Ottoman portion of Croatia. Slovenia through most of it's history has been either part of the Hapsburg dynasty or Austrian-Hungary empire. Montenegro and Macedonia have been part of the Serbian kingdom or Ottoman empire.

 

After the first Balkan war in 1912, the Kingdom of Greater Serbia consisted of Serbia as well as Bosnia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. After World War I, it was renamed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and Slovenians, but everyone was controlled by the Serbs. The rulers were intent upon forcing everyone to have one language, Serbian and one religion, Orthodoxy.In 1927, they changed the name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Then World War II occurred and Yugoslavia was invaded by the Italians and Germans.

 

Meanwhile Tito had fought on the Eastern front in the Russian army and learned a lot from Stalin. He came back to Yugoslavia to lead the partisans to fight the Italians and Germans. Early on the Croats accepted the German occupation and conducted ethnic cleansing against the Serbian population that had emigrated here during Ottoman times. In 1943, the Croatian people revolted against their leadership and began joining the partisans. After World War II, Tito became the dictator of Yugoslavia, but wouldn't join Stalin as part of the Russian block. Stalin made several attempts to assassinate Tito. Tito decided that it was in his best interest to play the East and the West against each other. So Yugoslavia became a non-aligned nation, getting aid from both the U.S.S.R. And the U.S. During Tito's regime, everything was state- owned. But everyone had a job, even if there wasn't enough work. In general, the Slovenians and Croatians were the industrial hubs because of a stronger work ethic, particularly compared to Serbia and Montenegro There were very limited choices in groceries (white or dark bread, yogurt with or without fruit) or clothes giving the appearance of equality among all. Your employer helped provide lodging as well as resorts for your 2 weeks of vacation each year.

People were allowed to practice religion, but that decision was a detriment for your career. Petra told us her family story: her maternal grandparents were religious. They lived with their parents initially, but after having their one daughter, they petitioned the grandmother's employer for an apartment. They were furnished with a 1 bedroom apartment. At first, the mortgage payment for this one bedroom apartment amounted to 3/4 of her grandparent's combined salary. Thus they barely had enough left for food for their family. But they did save their money over time and because of inflation, the payment became less and less of a burden. Eventually were able to purchase a weekend home, built with the help of friends. Meanwhile her paternal grandparents were communist. In fact, her grandfather was a General in the Yugoslav army. Because they were loyal communists, every time they had another child, they got a larger apartment and their salaries allowed plenty of food and recreation. Petra contrasted visiting the two grandparents: all the kids slept in one room with her maternal grandmother, while each child had a separate room and lots of treats when they visited their paternal grandfather. But again, while you might not have had much, everyone was employed, had a place to live, and food on the table. Things today in the former Yugoslavia are actually much worse today than under Tito, 18% unemployment and much higher prices compared to the salaries and pensions.

Tito died in 1980, but he had changed the constitution in 1974 allowing the separation of Yugoslavia into its original six republics plus the potential to split Serbia into it's three provinces (because of the differing ethnicities there). splitting. In 1988, Slovenian politicians declared their plan to separate and were immediately jailed. But within a month, general strikes began to protest their treatment. In 1989, Milosevic was elected president, largely because a week before hand, he had promised Serbian dominance over Kosovo, even though it is 90% Albanian ethnicity and Moslem. In December, 1990, Slovenia had a referendum where independence was overwhelmingly approved. They started forming an independent defense force before declaring independence on June 25, 1991. The next day Croatia had their referendum and immediately declared themselves independent. The Serbs attacked, but the Slovenian defense force resisted and there was only 10 days of fighting before, the Serbs gave up. 

The Serbs turned their attention to Croatia and Bosnia. They declared a separate province within Bosnia in the north and east which would be exclusively Serbian. Ethnic Croatians began to leave for the other provinces of Croatia and eventually the Serbs began the process of ethnic cleansing. Between 1991 and 1995, that province which had been a mix of Croatian and Serbian, became completely Serbian. Bosnia probably would have been completely divided between Croatia and Serbia because of the manipulations of the politicians except for the fact that Sarajevo, its capital held out for over three years. While they were under siege they dug a mile long tunnel under the town to get food and supplies. While the war officially ended in 1995, the Serbs continued fighting until they were bombed by NATO in 1999 and Kosovo was declared independent. All of this is now called the "homeland war".

Split, Croatia

Diocletian's Palace Sea Gate

 

Split has turned out to be the surprise of the trip. It is the 3rd busiest passenger port on the Mediterranean, ferries are everywhere. But the surprise is the Palace of Diocletian. He was a Roman army commander, but became the emperor in 284, the last pagan emperor. He came from this region and decided to retire here building this 300,000 square foot palace from 295-305 AD. There are three sections to the palace. In the north two large military barracks were built, in the center were the temples, and in the south were his personal apartments. We entered through the tiny sea gate. This area was excavated in 1956 and so it is well preserved having been filled with rubble, dirt, and waste for many years. Above us are the remains of the apartments. We wandered some of the passages, arriving at what was the vestibule, where we were entertained by about 15 Dalmation singers. Then out into the courtyard with its Egyptian sphinx, 2 chapels from the 15th century and the bell tower above us. The Emperor's Mausoleum has ironically been turned into a Catholic Cathedral of St. Domnius. The first mass was celebrated here in 396. From outside it is an octagon, but inside you have the original ornate columns, frescoes with hunting scenes, and above a dome with a peacock style brick dome. To this has now been added windows, three altars, a pulpit, etc turning the mausoleum into a church. In the entrance way are huge walnut wood carved doors, the inspiration for the baptistery in Florence. Across the way we visited what was the Temple of Jupiter, now the baptistery with a statue of John the Baptist and a cross shaped baptistery. We exited the complex by the North gate which had a long self-supporting cross beam, a wonder in itself. Outside was a statue of Bishop Gregory of Nin (900 AD), who was killed for suggesting that mass be celebrated in Croatian. As we walked around the outside we came to the municipal square. Most of the buildings within the palace are Venetian style made of limestone, but the Roman walls remain with the buildings built up against the wall. A magnificently well preserved palace.

In the afternoon, we had a pleasant time visiting the tiny village of Omis, which used to be controlled by pirates. They would hide their ships up the River Cetina and watch for merchant ships from the tower high on the hill. We had a pleasant boat ride down the river, had some bread with olive oil, and walnut brandy as a picnic, and then got a magnificient view of the canyon on our return to Split. 

Canyon of River Cetina

 

Hvar

Hvar is an island and a city on the island. The island is know as the Island of the Sun because of the many sunny days. The population is 11,000 people, but it expands to 40,000 during the summer with all the tourists. The island is famous for its lavender and rosemary essential oils. Unfortunately, a 1999 forest fire destroyed 90% of the lavender fields. The island has been inhabited since 4000 BC. The Ionian Greeks arrived in 400 BC and remained here because of the large fertile valley (2 km. By 6 km.) which they divided into plots with stone walls in between, the Stari Grad. The island is filled with these stone walls, because the limestone rock had to be cleared from the fields and they also served to prevent erosion of the soil. In the 7th century, the Slavs arrived from the mainland, then in the 13th century the island was ruled by the Venetians. It has a well protected harbor and thus became a key trading center for the Venetians.

The fields of Hvar with stone walls

 

 

The old town again has a Venetian fort protecting the town and an old town where most of the buidings are 15th century Venetian style. As we entered the town, it was first communion Sunday at the local church. Along the port is an old arsenal where the ship were repaired, with a theatre on the 2nd floor. We enjoyed our latte watching the pleasure yachts along the harbor.

St. Mary of Grace, Vrboska

Then we headed to the village of Vrboska with a canal down the center of the town. Here we saw houses with their original slate roofs (though not in very good repair). Here also was a unique fortified church, St. Mary of Grace, built in 1571 which also served as a fortress against the Turks. But the highlight was our wine tasting at a family winery. Bogdanjusa was a particularly pleasant white wine and Plavac, a red wine made from an offshoot of Zinfandel grapes. We would highly recommend either of this Croatian wines. Our happy group then set sail in the afternoon for Split, only about a 2 hour sail. That evening we were entertained by Croatian dancers. They performed dances from the Split region, Zagreb region, and the northern border with Hungary. Each dance had an appropriate costume.

Korcula

Korcula

The island of Korcula was colonized in the 4th century BC by the Greeks. The island name comes from Black Corfu, since the trees look black from a distance and the island reminded them of Corfu. The walls around the town date from the 11th century. About half the walls and seven of the original twelve towers remain. We entered by the Lion Gate, built in the 14th century. The town is air-conditioned. The narrow western streets are straight allowing the summer wind to blow through town, while the eastern streets are curved to block the winter winds. We visited the Bishop's Palace which is the treasury museum filled with the interesting art objects of the city. On the opposite side of the street was the Town museum once Gabrielli's palace, a typical nobleman's home. Here are displayed stone carving and ship building tools which were typical of the area. Finally, we went into the Cathedral of St. Mark. The building is quite strange since it is not symmetrical. The altar is quite beautiful with a recently restored painting by Tintoretto. The town claims to be the birthplace of Marco Polo (disputed by Venice). We learned that while Marco Polo could speak several languages, he couldn't write. While in the prison in Genoa, he began telling stories about strange things like ice cream, sextants, gun powder, and rockets, which were written down by others. The town is quite small, you can walk around the walls in about 10 minutes versus Dubrovnik which took an hour.

Altar in St. Mark's

Just before lunch, Petra gave us a botanical lesson. She wandered around the town and the woods nearby and in about ninety minutes collected about 25 herbs: sage, rosemary, anise, mint, oregano, thyme, and capers. I found Carob to be the most interesting, it has a taste close to chocolate and was used as a sweetener before chocolate. It's seed was also used as a weight from which the term carat appeared. After lunch we took a walk above the town to get a beautiful view of the old town.



The Lion's Gate

Dubrovnik

 

Pigeons in Dubrovnik

 

We entered the city of Debrovnik by the Pile Gate which in ancient times was closed each night to foreigners. Above the gate is one of 25 statues to St. Blaise the patron saint of the city. The main street is the Stradun which used to be a canal separating the Roman city of Ragusa with the Slav city of Dubrovnik. Underneath the street is the sewer system from 1296 built of limestone pipes. Later aqueducts were built to carry water to the city, ending in the water fountain next to Pile Gate. Within the city we went to the Franciscan monastery built in 1309. This is the home to the oldest continuous operating pharmacy from 1317. As we walk down Stradum, the houses are 17th century, built after the 1667 earthquake which destroyed 2/3rds of the buildings. Each house has a shop on the ground floor, living room on the 2nd floor, with bedrooms above, and finally the kitchen in the attic. Our guide told us how as a high school student, they would cruise the street (walking of course) and each high school had a section of town they frequented, but the best looking boys were from the Maritime High School. One of the few building to survive the earthquake is the Sponza Palace which served as the Customs house. Our final stop on the tour was the Rector's Palace, home of the rector, the parliament, the court and the munitions storage. In 1435, the gun powder exploded and the power room was moved elsewhere. Here are displayed much of the furniture and artwork of the city. Little evidence of the destruction that occurred during the homeland war were visible, mainly placards talking about destroyed buildings and bombed roofs.

View from the walls

Afterwards, I walked the walls of the city, you can accomplish it in about an hour. These walls are probably the best known feature of the city since they are so imposing and complete. The walls facing the mountains have a commanding view of the town, while the walls along the sea, give many views of the backyards and gardens of the remaining residents (about 500) of the city. After completing the walls, the city was filled with people, since two cruise ships had arrived during the morning, filled with tourists. It was time to leave the city for lunch on our small ship to escape the crowds.

In the evening we travelled to the village of Gromaca for our home hosted dinner. Here we met Slovena and her son Jacob. She shared with us some homemade walnut liquor in her wine cellar. In the cellar were 5 barrels of red wine, many gallon size jars for flavoring liquor, a limestone container of olive oil and meat curing on the hooks. Next door was her mother Anna's house over 300 years old as well as the smoke house. They have a cow, several pigs, 250 olive trees, and over 2000 grapevines on their farm. Then we went to their modern house, where they had just completed turning their porch into a large party room with 3 huge tables for celebrations with family. During the Serbian-Croatian war, this house was occupied for 9 months by Montenegrin soldiers. The old folks stayed in the village while the younger generation moved to Split. Their house was well-kept until the army left, when a number of keepsakes were destroyed. We had home made cheeses and prosciutto ham, followed by mashed potatoes and stuffed bell peppers, with a large quantity of home-made wine. We learned that her husband works on an Italian cruise line, so she is in charge of the farm with the help of near-by relatives and her two sons. At the end of the evening Jacob played the accordion for us, despite being a teenager and somewhat embarrassed to play. He had been studying for three years.

Mary meeting Anna at home hosted dinner

Montenegro

 

The road up the mountain

We explored some of the interior of Montenegro by scaling the 3000 foot peaks surrounding Kotor. The village road we travelled was a little wider than the bus with 25 switchbacks to the top. It was a two way road so that numerous times, we or a car had to back up to reach a point on the road where we could pass. Our first stop was the village of Njegusi famous for its prosciutto ham and cheese. We had a pleasant lunch with the local red wine, Vranac (black stallion) and a shot of grappa. Then on to the former capital of Montenegro, Cetinje, capital from 1482 until 1945. We visited the former residence of King Nicolas I, the so called Father-in-law of Europe. He had nine daughters, five of whom married royalty. The residence was quite modest, the royal family wasn't very rich, but they did receive many gifts which were displayed here. We returned to Baka Bay via a two lane highway, passing by the resort town of Budva, the oldest settlement of the region.

Baka Bay from the top of the road

 

In the afternoon, we visited Our Lady of the Rocks, built on an artifcial island. They sank ships and added rocks to create this island over the course of 200 years. Our Lady saved many a seaman froom disaster. Here they came to give thanks, often with a silver plate. Over 2000  plates of silver are displayed around the interior of the church. In addition, one of the key treasures in an embroidery of gold and silver thread and the artist's hair. It took her over 25 years to complete.

We left Kotor about 4PM, arriving in Dubrovnik about 8:30 PM. Dubrovnik was the second richest city in Europe next to Venice throughout most of history. The riches were originally because of the nearby salt mines, and later it became a center for trade, shipping insurance, and pharmaceuticals. They had an intereseting Democracy, the rector was elected for a one month term and could be re-elected for up to two years. While in office, however, he could not leave the city and was separated from his family. Within the walls, they stored 15 years worth of grain, which meant that no one ever bothered to conquer the city, it was too much work. They were also smart diplomats, however. When the Ottomans controlled most of the region around them, they gave the Ottoman Bosnia access to the sea. This also separated Dubrovnik from the territory controlled by the Venetians, so there never was a war between these two powerful city-states. Only when Napolean came against the Russians in neighboring Montenegro, was Dubrovnik conquered. We walked the Old Town at night. This is the time that the locals are here drinking and eating. As we would see the next day, it was much quieter than the rush of tourists that invade the city each day.

 

Kotor, Montenegro

It's the eighth anniversary of Montenegro's independence today. After breakfast we cruised through the Baka Bay leading to the city of Kotor. It's like sailing a fjord, the bays stretch some twenty miles in length with 3000 foot mountains surrounding us. As we turn into the inner bays, on one of the islands is Our Lady of the Rocks church with it's blue roof and on the other is St. George's monastery. Kotor is surrounded by it's medieval walls 4.5 miles long and 280 meters up the side of the mountain with St. John's fortress on the top. As you see these walls, it is easy to understand why the Ottomans failed to conquer this land, the mountains are steep and the city is well-protected with its walls. 

 

Entering Baka Bay

We entered by the Sea Gate built in 1555, but also celebrating Tito's liberation of the city from the Nazi's on November 21st 1944. 1500 people reside within the city, in buildings that have been preserved through the centuries. The city consists of several squares interconnected by narrow lanes. We visited the 17th century clock tower on weapons square where the 19th century clock is still maintained by the original family. Next was flour square, where flour was once sold. Further along was St. Tryphon Catholic church with its two towers. The two towers have been restored numerous times after various earthquakes. The earthquake of 1667 destroyed 75% of all the buildings in the town. The maritime museum was our primary stop. Here they have a superb collection of 18th century swords and ornamental pistols and rifles originally crafted in weapons square. Of particular interest was a woman's weapon that from outside appearances was a fan, but hid 5 blades within it. After our tour, many of the group climbed the walls up to the Lady of Health church. The church name came not from the healthy hike it took to get here, but from the fact that down below the black plague was in the city and the air was considered healthier here.

 

 



I continued up the thousand steps to the fortress. The views and the spring flowers were both fantastic. It was a rush to reach the top since lunch was in an hour.

The view of Baka Bay from the fortress

After lunch we took a stroll through the city visiting the shops and stopping for the local beer, Nik, considered to be the best beer in the former Yugoslavia. In the evening, we had a first - a wedding on the ship. Les & Alta were married on the top deck. The captain was obviously nervous, he was performing his first wedding and it was in English. But he had obviously studied well, because it came off very nicely.

Petra, Alta, the Captain, Les, and Antun

 

 

Sarandan Albania

Albania is situated on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Over 70% of the country is mountainous, but we were visiting the coastal region where most of the 3 million people live. Albania has some very unique history. It is populated primarily (95%) by the descendants of the Illyrians from the 8th century BC. The land has been ruled by other countries for most of its existence: the Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans, until it became independent in 1912 after the first Balkan war. But a year later, during the second Balkan war they lost half their land to the surrounding countries of Greece, Macedonia, and Yugoslavia. After World War I, the European powers suggested that the country be again absorbed by its neighbors, but President Wilson preserved its independence. Italy annexed the country in 1939. Communist guerrillas under Enver Hoxha seized power in 1944.

One of the Albanian bunkers

Enver ruled as a dictator for 41 years. During this time, he totally isolated the country from the rest of the world. He convinced the people that they lived in a paradise and that foreign powers were threatening to tear up the country. The state spent almost all the country's money on the military. They built over 750,000 bunkers to defend the country from invasion - three times as many bunkers as there were apartments. People were not allowed to travel out of the country or even to swim on the seashore (since it is only a mile swim to Corfu). While the rest of the world recovered from World War II, Albania went on with no new apartments, roads, or industries. They did provide free health care and education (having almost 100% literacy), but food was in short supply. Our guides family of 8 people lived in a two bedroom apartment. You continued to live in your parents apartment, until you had two children, then you could have your own place. In 1992, after a general strike and demonstrations, the first free elections were held. Since then Albania has one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Many of the people emigrated to other countries to work and send money back to feed the construction boom. As we entered the port of Saranda, almost all the building have been built in the last 20 years. Much of the town is under construction still.

Petra singing at Butrint Theatre

We toured the UNESCO site of Butrint, occupied since prehistoric times as a Greek colony, a Roman city, a Byzantine bishopric then was occupied by the Venetians. The site was deserted in the middle ages. The Italians started to excavate the site in the 1930s. They removed so much material that the former island became a peninsula. Much of the site was built in the 6th Century BC using large stones. The Roman building were easy to pick out because they used smaller bricks. For example, the theater was originally built by the Greeks, but additional rooms, several baths and a marketplace were added by the Romans. The town had 10,000 people during these times. During the Byzantine period, a Baptistery and the great Cathedral were built in the 6th century. The mosaics are still here, but most of them have been covered with sand to protect them from the elements. The Ottomans turned the cathedral into a fortress when they occupied the country.



6th Century AD Great Bascilica

In the afternoon, we walked the promenade along the seashore. We were treated to the local ice cream, mixed with a machine from the communist era. 18 single scoop cones for $5. Albania is famous for its Cognac, 10 euros for 700 ml of cognac.

Talk on the former Yugoslavia

The Balkan peninsula is primarily defined as the Balkan mountains and Danube river down south to Greece and the European portion of Turkey. The kingdom of Yugoslavia was created after World War I as the south Slavic nation. It was formed of six republics. Various powers occupied the republics during World War II. Tito reunited the area as Yugoslavia after World War II as a communist country.

• Slovenia had its own language, use the Latin alphabet and were largely Catholic for most of it's history, it has been part of the Hapsburg or Austrian-Hungarian empire.
• Croatia has its own language, uses the Latin alphabet, and is Catholic.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (named after the Turk that ruled it) has always had a mixture of different ethnicities from the other republics. The northern part has been ethnically cleaned of everyone except Serbs. They speak Serbian, use the Cyrillic alphabet, and are Orthodox religion. The southern part has a mix of Bosnians and Croatians. Here they speak Bosnian, use the Latin alphabet, and are Moslem religion.
• Montenegro share the Bosnian language, are Montenegrin Orthodox and use both alphabets.
• The Serbian republic during Tito's era was subdivided into Serbia, Kosovo (largely populated by Albanians) and Vojvodina (largely populated by Romanians). Serbia spoke Serbian, use the Cyrillic alphabet, and are Orthodox. Tito wrote in the constitution that these areas could become independent if they so desired, Kosovo took advantage of this, since its population was Moslem..
• The final republic was Macedonia, they speak Bosnian, use the Cyrillic alphabet and are Orthodox.

Tito united these very different areas, and even in their independence people are nostalgic for the feeling of brotherhood they had under Tito. Unfortunately, a few days ago, Bosnia and Serbia have had their worst flooding in 120 years. Three months of rain fell in 3 days causing the Sava river to flood as high as 10 to 15 feet above the homes. This may have the effect of reuniting the peoples of Yugoslavia to help each other with humanitarian aid.

Corfu

The twin fortifications of Corfu

We sailed past the twin fortifications of Corfu into our port just before breakfast. In the morning, we had a choice of a scenic tour of Corfu or the Achilleion palace. We decided to do the palace built by Elisabeth, often called Sisi, wife of Franz Josef in 1891. She suffered from tuberculosis and would come here in the Spring and Fall until her assassination in 1898. The palace was later bought by Kaiser Wilhelm II, used as a hospital during both world wars and then a casino until 1994. Today it is a museum with furnishings from both Elisabeth and Wilhelm. The palace is named after Achilles and features several statues of him in the Gardens and throughout the house. From the gardens you can see across the 3000 foot mountain on the island as well as across the water to Albania. Corfu guards the entrance to the Aegean sea with Albania on one side of the island and Italy on the other. During classical Greek times, this was the 2nd most important city after Athens. Unfortunately, the island has been occupied by foreign powers throughout its history: Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, Russian, English, French, and Germans. Today, the island is known for its kumquat liquor and marmalade as well as caramel covered almonds. The main square was built by the Venetians in the 16th century. Nearby is St. Spyridon Cathedral where we saw the remains of the saint including his velvet slippers which are replaced each year. Legend  has it that they wear down as he wanders the city at night.

 

Staircase in Achilleion Palace

In the afternoon, I toured the Old Fortress originally built in the 6th century by the Byzantines, but modernized by the Venetians in the 16th century.

 

In the evening we were entertained by a pair of Greek dancers. They did two different sets of dances and then got the crowd going. We couldn't help but laugh as we danced with hands connected under each other's legs. Then a couple of women were asked to leap up to the male dancer and he twirled them hanging upside down from his waist. Pretty wild!