The Balkans are never what you expect...

"The point, however, is not where [the regions that make up the Balkans] begin, but that the inhabitants of the region, including those who wish themselves out of it, sense that they share some psychological and behavioral characteristics defined as "typically Blakan," including generous hospitality to strangers, tolerance of difference, and a principled refusal to allow the need to make a living interfere with the free and easy patterns of social intercourse."

Andrew Wachtel, from his book "The Balkans in World History"

Well, it's been nearly a week since my last update (sorry!), and I've spent the last few days truly beginning to understand the truth of the quote above, from a book that I've gladly read over the course of my trip through the central Balkans. I spent two nights in Sarajevo (Bosnia), and three nights in Belgrade (Serbia) and, while definitely different from the care-free Croatian coast, have throughly enjoyed my time.

Sarajevo, as a city, is a bit perplexing. It's where WWI started with the assassination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand, the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne (my hostel was a block away from the corner where it happened). It was largely spared in WWII, only to be destroyed later in the centruy by the longest siege of a city in modern history (over 1400 days under siege by the Serbians in 1992-1995). It has a beautiful, vibrant old town that could hold its own against many well-traveled Western European destinations. But mere blocks away from the lively cafes and restaurants lay one of the biggest, saddest cemetaries in Europe - a cemetary that, despite having graves literally stacked on top of each other, had to convert two nearby soccer fields into additional burial space during the siege in the '90s. It packed both fields with fresh graves in less than 3 years.

The war-torn outer building of the Tunnel into Sarajevo....

I had the good fortune to meet and spend time with some really awesome locals while I was in Sarajevo. One of the highlights was when Milakosh, one of our hostel workers, took an afternoon to show us "the Tunnel", which is exactly what it sounds like. During the siege, the UN took control of the airport in Sarajevo to manage humanitarian aid. Milakosh described the mixed feelings that many Bosnians had with the UN; the UN had to share half of the food it brought in with the invading Serbs, and would often turn over citizens caught in the neutral zone to the Serbians regardless of their eithnicity, where they would be killed if they were Bosnian. However, despite the misled (read: bad) things the UN did, the takeover of the airport allowed the Bosnians to build a tunnel nearly a mile underneath the airport between the city and the unoccupied hills beyond the Serbian frontline. Of all the things that allowed the Bosnians to survive as long as they did under siege, the tunnel was the greatest. It wasn't big enough to fit two people through at once, and it was wet and smelly, but it kept a whole city alive that might have otherwise fallen. Disturbing to think about, and to see.

Definitely the thing that impressed me most about Bosnia, however, was the people. Like the end of the quote above suggests, the Bosnian people, in typical Balkan style, are unapologetically full of life. Despite their hardships (past and present, remember that 40% unemployment rate I mentioned last update?), you still see riverside cafes stuffed with locals this time of year, enjoying each others' company, drinking coffee or beer (or both), laughing, and living in the moment. The young people are especially lively and optomistic. They'll tell you about the bright future they see for their country. They'll talk about how quickly their quality of living is improving. They are much quicker to forget the past, unlike their parents' generation, which has seen, literally, more years of fighting on Bosnian soil than years of peace. Mikalosh told us about how excited they were that McDonald's was opening their first restaurant this year in Bosnia (not because of the good food, but because it demonstrated the greater amount of trust and attention that Western culture is giving them recently).

After my time in Sarajevo, I was excited to see Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The direct trian lines between the two countries have only reopened in the last couple of years, but they are getting used heavily.

Belgrade was first founded by the Romans during their creeping expansion into the Balkans in the 5/6/7th century BC. Belgrade is positioned where the Danube and Sava rivers, two giants in their own right, meet. It was the perfect place for a castle, and future civilizations would agree, as the castle changed owners dozens of times in the centuries that followed, usually after long ugly battles. Today, the castle is basically a fortified park that looks over the two rivers. It's big and beautiful, and all the locals will tell you it's the thing to see. While I enjoyed seeing it, it didn't really leave much of a lasting impression with me (call me spoiled after Dubrovnik). I did enjoy the military museum nestled within the castle, but the experience was a bit tainted by the knowledge that many of the modern weapons I saw were used to kill people in my previous city of visit.

Actually, in my opinion the real gem of Belgrade in the 21st century is Hram Sv. Save:

This massive engineering marvel is off the beaten path - most books only give it quick lip service, and it takes some walking to get there, but it was easily to coolest thing I saw in Belgrade. Construction started on the massive cathedral a few decades ago as proof that Belgrade could be a cultural capital in Europe, but war after war kept delaying construction. It's still largely unfinished inside:

I'm not sure if the Serbians want to wait until it's done to show it off, or what, but they should take a book out of the Barcelona playbook with La Sagrada Familia: sometimes the unfinished part is the most interesting part. I know the pictures can't convey the awesomeness of the building. It's BIG. Like, huge huge huge. The massive steep walls, combined with the tasteful, wide, flat courtyards, with beautiful modern fountains in them, make a really striking impression. Who knows how long it will take to finish, probably many decades still, but it will be a modern cultural gem when it is.

"We don't really have cafes here in Serbia. Instead we have caffanas, which are basically bars that might also serve coffee and food. That's the Serbian way. We have our bars, and we spend so much time at them, that eventually we need to eat, so the bars have learned how to serve food."

That quote above was from a local Serbian we met, and was coroborated by a number of other locals I spent time with. Serbians love to drink, and becasue of that Belgrade has gained a repuatation in the last decade as a serious party city. I only spent weeknights there, but even they were pretty crazy. Alcohol here is cheap and plentiful, and most any meal you eat at a restaurant is started and finished with a LARGE shot of Rakia, the flavored grain alcohol I mentioned in my last update, often on the house. Plum is the regional specialty flavor.

Well, that's about all I have to say. Right now, I'm in Bar, Montenegro, after a night train last night. I'll be moving my way up the Montenegran coast, then over the highlands for some rafting before dropping down into Albania. Expect an update sometime before then, though! Until the next time, chao!

Kesem folks, have a magical time at camp!