| Submitted by: Evelyn C. LeeperUnited States |
| Submission Date: 10 February 2005 |
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I got so used to this from previous
trips that when I went to get Canadian money at a United States bank
I started to pull my passport out from force of habit, but my
Canadian money was already in front of me.
And of course this business of changing exactly what you'll
need because you can't change back is new to most people. On
previous trips to Scandinavia, etc., I've been annoyed at people who
ask, 'How much is that in *real* money?' (i.e., United States
dollars). But in Eastern Europe that seems to be everyone's
feeling: dollars, and deutsch marks, and pounds are real money and
some things can be bought only with real money (and the prices of
others are pegged to some real money unit and vary in local currency
from day to day). Take Yugoslavian money. The recent 10,000-fold
devaluation has left bills labeled 1000000 dinars worth 100 new
dinars (and no commas to help you count zeroes either!). The new
ten-dinar note is smaller than the old 100,000-dinar note, but both
are in circulation and worth the same amount. The old bills are 3
inches by 7 inches; the new are 21/2 inches by 6 inches. Every
country is different. Czechoslovakia has different sizes for
different values (not unusual) about 21/2 inches by 51/2 inches, and
is the most colorful, with multiple primary colors on each bill.
Hungary has bills about 23/4 inches by 7 inches (odd shape--very
long looking). Romania's vary, are about 21/2 inches by 6 inches,
come no larger than 100 lei (about US$1.70) to cut down on the black
market (I don't think it's working), and all look about a hundred
years old. I've always thought the condition of the money is a
reasonable indicator of the economy. Bulgaria's bills also vary:
the one-lev bill is 2 inches by 4 inches--almost like toy money. I
didn't save my Austrian money--the smallest is worth almost US$2.
And while we're talking about 'real' money, why are the items
in the duty-free shop on the Austrian-Hungarian border priced in
United States dollars?
We left Sarajevo at 9 AM, but had to turn around at 9:30 when
Mr. Brandi discovered he had left his carry-on bag in the hotel
lobby. He was understandably worried, as it had all his money and
tickets, but it was still sitting there when we got back, so all was
well.
The roads got wilder, with more gorges and tunnels. We stopped
along the Neretva River at one of the more famous sites from World
War II (though Bosnia-Hercegovina is full of battle sites). At this
site, the Partisans built a temporary bridge overnight to evacuate
4000 wounded after having blown up all the bridges across the
Neretva to stop the Germans. The remains of the bridge at this site
which had been blown up, as well as the temporary bridge, have been
left for the memorial. (There is also a small museum.) I guess the
temporary bridge, being basically a footbridge, was not considered
useful enough to the Germans to warrant the Partisans destroying it
when they were done.
Shortly after this, we arrived at Mostar, whose claim to fame
is a 16th Century stone bridge built by the Turks. Around this
bridge is a whole mini-Tijuana has sprung up--on each side the
street leading up to the bridge is lined with shops. Normally I'm
sure it's bustling with tourists, but given the current situation,
it's almost deserted. There are normally boys who dive off the
bridge (for a fee), but business is so slow they weren't even
around.
The bridge itself is made of limestone which is very slippery
from age and use, and the arch over the river is very steep. There
are raised 'strips' of limestone crosswise on the bridge which help,
making climbing the bridge almost like climbing a ladder. Needless
to say, Mary decided to wait on the near side, a reasonable decision
since the other side was pretty much the same.
On the other side we had cevapcici, which is somewhat like
gyros. More vendors' shops were on this side, also sans customers.
Some seemed to be closing up; whether for lunch or lack of business
was not clear.
We walked around the newer part of Mostar; it was singularly
uninteresting. Everyone comes for the bridge, just as in South
Dakota everyone comes for Mt. Rushmore.
When we crossed back into Croatia, there was a sign saying,
'Welcome to the Republic of Croatia.' Mojca says that's new this
year. And once again we saw lots of Croatian flags.
We got the second part of the quiz along this stretch:
1. Name five Slavic languages.
2. What was the Roman name for Sofia?
3. What is the meaning of the named St. Sofia?
4. Name three Bulgarian tourist potentials.
5. When did Bulgaria gain its independence?
6. Which side was Bulgaria on in World War I?
7. Name the three major religions in Yugoslavia.
8. What is the major coastal resort in Yugoslavia?
9. When was Yugoslavia created?
10. Who were the Chetniks?
11. Who was the last king of Yugoslavia?
12. Who was assassinated in Sarajevo?
13. What were the colors of the Holiday Inn in Sarajevo?
14. What drink were we served in the restaurant outside Belgrade?
15. Name the four major languages in Yugoslavia.
16. How long did the Turks stay in Yugoslavia?
17. Which Yugoslav republics were never conquered by the Turks?
18. Name Yugoslavia's neighbors.
19. How many new dinars is 45000 old dinars?
Answers will appear later. We were so involved in the quiz we
almost missed our first view of the Adriatic. (Well, actually,
that's not possible. It's more that we almost missed seeing the
Adriatic at our first possible chance.) The Adriatic is *very*
blue, just as the Neretva is *very* green. Both look artificially
colored, though the Adriatic has a clearer look--the Neretva looks
as if someone poured green paint into it.
We checked into our hotel in Dubrovnik. Actually, our hotel
was outside Dubrovnik, in the Babin Kuk complex. We stayed in the
Plakir; the hotel we were originally scheduled for was closed for
the season because of a lack of guests. (In fact, it looked as if
two of the four hotels in the complex were closed, and ours didn't
seem full either.)
We went down to the sea for a swim. This involved wending our
way through the complex and when we finally got to the beach we
discovered that 1) it was very rocky, and 2) the water was very
cold. I'm not a big swimming fan so I sat on a large rock and
sunned myself while the rest of them pretended that walking barefoot
on sharp rocks and swimming in cold water was fun.
At dinner--or rather, right before dinner--the prizes for the
quiz takers were given out. There were only five of us who took the
whole quiz and we all got some sort of prize. I got a pen-and-ink
drawing of the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. Mark got a little
'Good Soldier Schweik' doll. Mr. Brandi got a 'Kompas Traveller'
figure. Mary got a ceramic house/wine cellar. Noami got a pack of
Balkan brand cigarettes.
The dining room was pretty empty. True, we ate late, but other
nights we arrived earlier and the same was true.
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There was nothing interesting for breakfast.
Dubrovnik (and our hotel complex) may be a resort area, but as far
as food goes, Club Med has nothing to worry about.
Our city tour of Dubrovnik was very short, about an hour or
maybe an hour and a half. Admittedly, it would be difficult to make
it much longer, since the main street (Placa) is only 300 meters
from end to end and pretty much everything of interest is on that
stretch. There are a couple of monasteries, a couple of churches,
and that's about it. One monastery had an old pharmacy in it (there
seems to be a Yugoslav/Croatian fascination with old pharmacies).
And the Church of St. Blaise did have his tibia encased in gold.
But these sights don't fill a lot of time, so our guide also spent
some time pointing out 'good' stores and galleries to shop in. (Can
you say 'kickback'?) This is the first time on this trip we've been
steered to specific stores, and even here we didn't actually stop at
the stores to shop, something I find tremendously annoying (and
likely to lose the guide his tip).
The Placa is a beautiful limestone-paved street. The only
problem is that at mid-day it is very hot, reflecting back up at you
any heat that missed you on the way down. It was very empty, and
not just at mid-day. All of Yugoslavia seems abandoned by tourists.
Mostar is deserted; it is absurdly easy to photograph the famous
bridge with no tourists on it, and no boys are there offering to
dive off for money. In Dubrovnik I ask the woman if I can change a
travelers cheque without my passport. She does, then tries to sell
us a tour and, when that fails, a handmade bookmark. The Babin Kuk
tourist complex is having a fifteenth anniversary celebration, but
two of the four hotels are closed from lack of business. There is
no civil war (yet), just an economic disaster.
One of the monasteries, by the way, was a Franciscan monastery,
founded by St. Francis himself on the way back from the Crusades
(presumably he was not actually fighting in them, but I'm not sure).
The Old Town in Dubrovnik is a walled city and the major
tourist attraction, at least according to some of the books, is to
walk around the city on the wall. So up we climbed and
climbed ... and climbed ...and climbed. Since the city is built on
a hill there was a lot of climbing even after we got on the wall.
Actually the city is built on two hills, since the seaward side also
rises up and ends with a cliff overlooking the sea. The Placa runs
down the center of the city (it used to be a natural channel, in
fact, until it was filled in), and the two sides rise up with steep
stairs instead of streets.
Anyway, walking around the wall involved a lot of climbing up
and down, though of course the up part was much more noticeable than
the down. And the sun was beating down....
We got to one corner which had a turret. Inside it was shady
and I sat and rested for a time while Mark climbed the turret.
There was a small restaurant there, closed for lack of business, but
while I was sitting there two boys came along and went around the
counter, and got a drink of water from the sink, which hadn't had
its water shut off. So I also got a drink of water, and wet down a
kerchief to cool myself off. This helped a lot.
We proceeded around the wall to the seaward side. The water is
very blue and very clear here--even from the top of the wall on the
cliff you could see the bottom. We passed some other tourists--
Italians and Australians--but again it seemed pretty empty. The
seagull standing watch at the restaurant on this side probably
wasn't getting a lot of crumbs this year.
Under the wall at one point is a maritime museum, and this
being one of Mark's interests, we went in. At first we thought it
was very small, but then we found the stairway to the upstairs
(which was about twice the size of the ground floor). |
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