The Orient Express

The Orient Express conjures up images of stylish relaxation, a luxurious ambiance and wealthy rail travel among exotic European destinations. It is on a lot of people's bucket list, but I never thought much about the cities that the train went through. I was more focused on the luxury of the mode of transportation. Now that I have spent time in both Belgrade and Istanbul, I have been thinking about the other countries that the train went through. I focused more on the opulence in the setting of fairly mundane travel--the train. But I think I was missing the point.

Travel in the Balkans was incredibly scenic, and you really miss that if you fly over the places that you visit. I largely do that--I have less time to travel than I would like, and so often, the journey is more about getting there than how that travel is accomplished. This year I managed to be on a train for relaxing travel. I took a train from London to Glasgow, and it was delightful. For us, the English penchant for driving on the left makes driving high stress and if avoidable, that would be the preference. We had first class seats, which provided not just relaxing views, but also food, drink, electricity at your seat and wireless internet. And an assigned set, so you didn't have to scramble to sit down in a choice seat.

While the English countryside is quite lovely, the Balkans were spectacular, and the trip there made me quite eager to see more of Eastern Europe--the Orient Express whisks you through Romania and Bulgaria--which should perhaps be next on my list of places to visit sooner rather than later. The world is changing quickly. It was astounding how many people in the Balkans spoke English--almost everyone in the under 30 year old crowd, and overall, it was quite impressive. Not that sharing a common language is essential--we have managed with a dictionary, a smile, and a good map in the past. It requires flexibility on the part of the traveler, and being comfortable with not getting everything that you want. But communication is not over rated--it really helps, and maybe it is time to retrace the steps of this famous train in a modern way.

Slavic Dragons

In Slovenia, a dragon is called 'zmaj' (there are slight differences in terminology between Slavic languages), although an archaic word of unclear origins, pozoj, is sometimes used as well. Dragons in Slovenia are generally the bad guy, and usually appear in relation with St. George (ergo slayed). Other folk tales relate stories of dragons defeated by feeding them with sulphur stuffed sheep (really? THis seems somewhere between far fetched and cartoonish). However, the dragon is not always harmful to man. The best example of this is the Ljubljana Dragon, who benevolently protects the city of Ljubljana and is pictured in the city's coat of arms.
All slavic dragons, good or bad, are considered "extremely intelligent, wise and knowledgeable" creatures of "superhuman" strength and proficiency in magic, very rich (usually described as having castles of enormous riches hidden in distant lands) and often lustful for women, with whom it is capable of making offspring (not sure what the offspring look like or do). Dragons often breath fire and are generally highly respected, and while not always benevolent, are not an entirely evil creature. Legends were spread about many historical and mythical heroes that they were conceived by a dragon.
We loved the dragon themes that abounded in Ljubljana, and I would like to go on a dragon tour of the city next time I return.

Slovenian Salamander

I loved the cave in Postojna. It was magnificent to be in. But I also saw one of the most unusual things I've ever seen--a salamander that retains it's gills into adulthood. Postojna has the most number of cave-dwelling species of any cave, logging in a 84 species, but most of them are of the insect variety. The salamander is odd man out. And not attractive. At all.
The Olm, or Proteus (Proteus anguinus), is a blind amphibian endemic to the subterranean waters of caves of the Dinaric karst of southern Europe. It lives in the waters that flow underground through this extensive limestone region including waters of the Soča river basin near Trieste in Italy, through to southern Slovenia, southwestern Croatia, and Herzegovina. The olm is the only species in its genus Proteus, the only European species of the family Proteidae, and the only European exclusively cave-dwelling chordate. In Slovenia it is also known by the name močeril, which translates as "the one that burrows into wetness."
What is most notable (aside from it's profound homliness) for its adaptations to a life of complete darkness in its underground habitat. Darwin used it as an example of a reduction in features through disuse in 'The Origin of the Species'. The olm's eyes are undeveloped, leaving it blind, while its other senses, particularly those of smell and hearing, are acutely developed. It also lacks any pigmentation in its skin. In contrast to most amphibians, the olm is entirely aquatic, and it eats, sleeps, and breeds underwater. It has 3 toes on its forelimbs, but 2 toes on its hind feet. It also exhibits neoteny, retaining larval characteristics like external gills into adulthood, like the American amphibians, the axolotl and the mud puppy--so it is an unusual feature, but it is not alone.

Postojna Cave, Slovenia

Slovenia is 40% hills and underneath them are many limestone caves--I wanted to see tunnels which exist under a number of castles, but my spouse vetoed that plan. Slovenia has restored most of their castles, and as a rule, the men in my family do not enjoy a castle that retains its roof. I do enjoy a castle that features furniture and curtains, but it was not to be this time. So we settled on Postojna Cave. It is a big tourist attraction, but deservedly so. The outside of the cave is like coming up to an amusement park, but don't be fooled--the cave is a natural wonder, which has been largely unharmed by all the hoopla taking place outside it.

The Postojna Cave is a 20-km long karst cave system, a web of underground passages, galleries and chambers, which has in almost 200 years of active tourism been visited by over 33 million people accompanied by experienced cave guides. It is both the largest cave of the Classical Karst and the show cave with the largest numbers of visitors in Europe. Throughout its history it has posed a great challenge for daring explorers who have shown enormous effort and persistence and managed to penetrate further and further into the underground world. The most interesting passages were in 1818 discovered by Luka Čeč and no later than a year after the cave was already set up as a show cave.

The far-sighted cave management deserves credit for the fact that it did not take long for all the newly discovered parts of the cave to be equipped for large numbers of visitors. Prior to that, the visitors had only been able to access the passages not far from the entrance, where signatures of visitors to the cave have been recorded since the 13th century onwards. In 1872, railway tracks were laid in the cave and in 1884 electricity was installed. Nowadays visitors can satisfy their curiosity by learning about how the caves came to existence, by having a look at the passages and chambers, and above all by looking at stalagmites rising up from the floor of the cave and stalactites hanging down from its roof, how they are joined as pillars, creased as curtains and lined up in all kinds of fantastic forms. The cave is cold--48 degrees year round--so wear a jacket for the visit. Part of the tour of the cave is done on the train (a 2.5 km trip into the depths of the cave, well lit and very beautiful) and part of it on foot (an easy 1 km walk, with some up and down, but at a very slow pace). Spectacular place!

Slovenian Street Art

I like street art, and since walking in numerous cities with one of my sons, I also notice it. I did not know anything about the street art of the Balkans, but discovered that it is alive and well in Slovenia--every town we were in had at least one, and after coming home, I discovered a Facebook page devoted to Slovenian street art:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Street-ART-Slovenia/111110808968876?sk=wall

Ljubljana is a college town--we were there on the first day of the semester, and the streets were teeming with college-aged youth. It is also the home to the most sophisticated street artists in Slovenia. The Fat Cap website has some spectacular examples of what can be found if one looks: http://www.fatcap.com/country/slovenia.html
One message that street art communicates to me is that this is not a totalitarian society. It is also a culture of people with something to express that isn't limited to traditional artistic outlets. It tends to make me want to get to know a place better. What kind of people are these?

So, in the end, what is street art all about?
There is a strong current of activism and subversion in urban art. Street art can be a powerful platform for reaching the public. Perhaps street artists simply see urban space as an untapped format for personal artwork, while others may appreciate the challenges and risks that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places. However the universal theme in most, if not all street art, is that adapting visual artwork into a format which utilizes public space, allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised, to reach a much broader audience than traditional artwork and galleries normally allow. Street art was not mentioned in any of my guidebooks, but I would love to see a 'guide' to it in Slovenia.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

First off, this is a great city.
It is cute and pretty and easyt to get around. It is like Prague, with great street life and wonderful food, but at a fraction of the size. And with great wine, especially the white wines. we loved it the minute we rolled into town, and our hotel was right in the heart of the old city. Which is a pedestrian only zone. No matter. We were able to park nearby (potentially not legally, but it didn't take long) and check in, where the hotel guided us to nearby free public parking. So right off the bat you know you aren't in a big city. The hotel we stayed in was an easy walk to a number of great restaurants (we had our best meal of the whole trip at Tatjana's Tavern) with seafood from the Adriatic, and plenty of sidewalk cafe's to people watch from.

Slovenia's population is only about 2 million, and it's largest town is small as well--less than 300,000. Even smaller than Zagreb. What it lacks in size it makes up for in charm. The city has been continuously inhabited since 2000 BC. Rome arrived in 50 BC, and remains of yet another Roman fortification still exist in Ljubljana--but a bulk of the buildings date to the Venetian period of the late 19th century. The town has been leveled by earthquakes at several points in it's history, hence the medieval feel to a more modern appearing town.

Ljubljana has one particular architect who made a stamp on the city--Ljubljana native Jože Plečnik. he studied in Vienna and worked in Prague brefore returning to his home town in 1921 to work at on the fledgling Ljubljana University (which is a wonderful walk, bustling with students and the general feeling of scholarship--we passed two student tours--one of French-speakinig students and one of Spanish-speaking students--both tours were conducted in English, the language they all shared, so we could even understand what was being pointedout). He was awarded design for numerous buildings throughout the 1920s and 1930s, so he transformed Ljubljana through works such as the impressively massive University Library. He added numerous civic improvements including new bridges, waterfront, banks, and sluices along the Ljubljanica River; new market buildings, kiosks monuments, plazas, and parks.

Ptuj, Slovenia

Ptuj is the oldest city in Slovenia, and it is an easy drive from either Ljubljana or Zagreb (which would involve a border crossing which is of indeterminent difficulty--but there is a nice duty free store to sweeten the pot). It is in the heart of a white wine growing region in Slovenia, and as is true of much of the country, the rolling hills with vineyards terraced into the sides of them are ubiquitous. If all you do in Slovenia is drive around, you are in for a treat. It is just gorgeous, in a rural and productive agricultural sense. Being from Iowa, we appreciate the fertility of the land, and the hills are a nice change of pace.

Numerous archeological remains prove that the city experienced its first period of prosperity as the Roman town of Poetovio. The present much admired appearance of the city originated during the Middle Ages when Ptuj experienced its second rise to wealth and prominence. The castle, the Dominican and Minorite monasteries, the Provost Church, the old City Hall, the patrician houses, numerous marvelously carved doors, wrought iron window grills, and stonecutting details are the most important elements testifying to the spiritually and materially rich life of the people in this region. Diverse and lush buildings abound.

We had a fantastic meal in Ptuj. We were there on a Sunday, so much of the town was out on the street after church, but we managed to get a riverside table at the Ribic Restaurant--what a wonderful luncheon menu! The light fish plate for two was spectacular to behold--and if that is the light plate, you don't want to tackle the heavy one--there was a wide variety of options, with two whole fish anchoring it down. The food was equalled by the setting, and we would defintiely go back to eat and walk around the town.

Border Crossings in the Balkan

One thing that the Euro zone has made us out of practice for is border crossings--I remember back in the early 1990's when we realized that we did not like Sewitzerland as much as we had hoped to and decided to drive from Geneva to Chamonix one day. There were several 'aha' moments along the way--the first was that the Swiss were perfectly willing to rent us any car we wanted, but they would not let us take a BMW to Italy--ok. We aren't going to Italy, but good to know. It must reflect something deep seeded about their cultural priorities, but just what it is escapes me. The second was that we kept seeing these signs that said 'Peage' after we had been in France a while. What can that mean, we wondered. While I was thumbing through the French phrasebooks, it suddenly became clear--it meant we had to pay a toll. Uh oh. All we had were Swiss francs. Thankfully, the credit card was an option, and we sailed through, but it was one of the last times that we had to deal with multiple currencies, until this trip.
So, within what used to be Yugolslavia, you have to cross borders between the newly established countires--they do not have a 'Slav Zone'. And in the case of the Serbs and the Croats, they hate each other. Slovenia is in the Euro zone, but the other two aren't and it hardly mattered to us, other than that we could spend Euros, since we were never in another Euro zone country. During our trip we made a total of seven border crossings betwen the three countries we visited--it is so easy to slip from one to the other in terms of how close they are, and that Croatia encircles Slovenia, and it was quite an experience--not to mention that it filled a couple of pages with passport stamps.
The good news is that if you are not a truck, the crossing is pretty painless. The wait is the only problem, and that usually took less than a half hour at each of the two checkpoints involved in a border crossing (trucks, on the other hand, had lines that looked to be kilometers long, and so crossing the border could take all day--my spouse thought they should have a guy who does the border crossing, but different people to bring it to and from the border. There would have to be several border crossers for every straight ahead truck driver, but such a wait could drive you crazy...unless waiting was your job).

Istrian Hill Towns, Croatia

For the full Istrian peninsula experience, we left the coast and went in search of the quintessential hill town. On the one hand, there are lots of choices. The region is one hill after another, and in the style of medieval architecture and sense of security.

So dotted throughout the peninsula, you see cultivated land, and hills with villages snaking up to the top of each of them. We chose Motovun, the birthplace of race car driver Mario Andretti, for our typical hill town. The streets are steep enough that you must park at the foot of the town and walk up--which we were adept at after a week of exploring Croatia--and were treated to medieval streets, an enclosed town, and spectacular views.

Istria is known for truffles and we were there during truffle season--we had some wonderful truffles in other places but had a disappointing experience while there. Which means that we have to learn to order better and try more places on our next visit. Such a gorgeous spot, and while the Dalmation coast is reputed to be very beautiful, the Istrian peninsula is well worth a visit.

Rovinj and the Croatia Adriatic Coast

Our trip to Croatia was too short overall--as is so often the case. One thing we did not get to fully enjoy was the extensive Adriatic coastline that is such a tourist draw for Croatia. As a compromise, we went to the Istrian peninsula, which is the most accessible coastline if you are traveling from central Croatia. Rovinj is a medieval town, which has plenty of charm in and of itself--it is a UNESCO World Heritage sitre, and well deserving of the designation. The views of the Adriatic are an added on bonus.

I rented an apartment through the Residence Porta Antica, which has five apartments in their building on the waterfront and 9 additional apartments throughout Rovinj. I completed the booking through bookings.com, which was a breeze to use and unlike my recent experience with Orbitz, I didn't have any issues with the place having my reservation, and they don't require being paid up front, so if there are problems, you can deal with the hotel directly. We loved our apartment. When we checked out, we learned that there is a couple that spends a week in Rovinj in our apartment every year--we could understand the attraction.

It was so pleasant to be able to open the windows, sit in the living room and look out over the bay. Highly recommended. In addition, the town itself is very pleasant to walk around. The coastline is rocky--not much sand, and so more picturesque but less condusive to lying on the beach. Walking the narrow medieval streets is also very nice--there are no cars allowed routinely in the city, and so it is nice to have a leisurely stroll on cobblestone streets, stopping at a seaside cafe for a beverage and soaking in the atmosphere. We defintiely did not get enough of the Adriatic and will need to return.

Plešivica Wine Road, Croatia

When we headed out of Samobor, we were on a road that one of our many guidebooks said was the beginning of the Plešivica Wine Road, so off we went. The Rough Guide did state that most winemakers are not set up to taste, but will offer you a taste. That we found to be true. The book also stated that the road was well marked. That was patently false. I should have become suspicious when the web site that the guide book recommended as part of the trip was entirely in Croatian and undecipherable (by me). We decided to head towards the town of Plešivica and hope for the best--which we knew might be a complete failure based on an attempt in Slovenia to follow a wine road (in that case we found ourselves on what was little more than a horsepath headed straight up a hill. Our rental car was definitely not up to the task and we did as our GPS so often encourages us to do--we 'turned around when possible'. The drive, up to the very end, was gorgeous, but no wine was encountered or drunk).

Up until the time we got to Plešivica we were convinced that no such wine road existed--we saw not one sign, and while there were plenty of grapes to be seen, wineries were scarce. In downtown Plešivica we hit the jackpot. A sign! Many wineries! We stopped at one place, with people out front, a large sign, and an open feeling. We judged their friendliness appropriately but not their preparedness. The sign was apparently the one thing that they had finished--the tasting room was piled high with furniture, but they quickly cleared a small area, put a table and chairs down for us, and started to pour. We didn't realize that it was a white wine region, and the red wine they poured, Portugiser (a Croatian version of Nouveau Beaujolais) was not to our liking, but the various brandies and a nut liquor that we very much enjoyed. Amongst the three men serving us, only one spoke any English, which he learned from listening to rock and roll--in particular, he was a big Led Zepelin fan and he and my husband bonded briefly over 'Stairway to Heaven'. They were the only people all trip that inquired about our Serbian car--politely, but they were quite curious how we had come by it. We bought several bottles and moved on, but brandy in the morning took it's toll. We stopped at one additional place and tasted the region's best known white wine grape, Graševina, which was delicious--a flavorful and interesting light white wine that we bought a bottle of and then drove on. Another trip we would perhaps have stayed nearby and tried several more wines in the small but charming town of Plešivica.

Samobor, Croatia

As we headed out of Zagreb, we felt compelled to stop in this small medieval town. Why? In preparation for this trip I had read every guidebook that the library had to offer (Rough Guide, Rick Steves, Moon Guide, Insight Guide, Fodor's, and Lonely Planet) and they all said that this is the picturesque town to visit. If I had already been to the coast, and known then what I know now (that there are plenty of picturesque towns in Croatia), we might have skipped it, but we were following the guidance of others.

The only hint that you are in a tourist area is the price of parking--it is 10 kuna an hour--the same as parking in the center of Zagreb. But we had no trouble obtaining such a parking space (no doubt the locals can ill afford the price), and we were there early enough that there were no bus loads of people to deal with. Samobor is a charming town, with the streets full of people having morning coffee at a cafe on the center square and a friednly air about it. There is a stream that runs through town with wooden bridges that span it, and stone streets throughout.

One thing that we did not manage to do, which I regret now, is to go up the hill behind Samobor to the ruin of a long gone castle. The castle was built in the 13th century and was inhabited until the late 18th century, but as of now it is a ruin, a castle without a roof, and a fine looking ruin at that. We did buy the apertif and the mustard that the town is known for, so something to remember the stop by.

One thing I did not know when I was there but have since learned is that Samobor is one of two Croatian towns involved with an energy efficiency project. The aim of the project is to implement new energy efficient ways of building construction, raise public awareness about rational energy usage, save and efficiently use energy sources and conserve the environment.
Samobor has invested in the following projects:
introduction of more efficient public lightning system
gasification - fuel change and boiler-house reconstruction
heat insulation of public buildings (improvements in windows, facades, etc.)
All of which you wouldn't guess from looking at the town--which is a wonderful message--that you can update effiency without taking away the character of the architecture.

Pod Grickim Topom, Zagreb

Location, location, location is one of the draws at this traditional-style restaurant on the Strossmayerovo Setaliste steps midway between Trg Bana Jelacica and Gornji Grad. We went on our first night in Zagreb, so we had no real sense of how the old town was lid out. Well, Zagreb translates to 'behind a hill' and the old town if set on that hillside. We wandered around the neighborhood, climbing ever higher, until we saw from the map we had that we were clearly past the restaurant, and headed down hill--and then stumbled upon the restaurant, perched on the hillside above the downtown, with an incredible view (and the lack of a real access road made me wonder how they got food in and garbage out).

We were there early, not a soul in the restaurant, which has only five tables--they let us know that they had only two tables unaccounted for without a reservation, so we took one in the corner, with a bit of quiet and a bit of a view. The wait staff is incredibly attentive, and the meal atarted off with pate and bread that were delcious.
We took the guidebook's advice and for an appetizer ordered a truffle pasta, which was the best part of the meal--the pasta was homemade and cooked to perfection--the sauce was lightly flavored with truffles and rich enough that when it was gone I didn't crave more--I couldn't have managed to finish it.

The main meal was delicious as well. Joel had a rolled veal that was cooked in a method called 'pod pekom', which means that the dish has been put into a stone oven under a metal cover. The cook puts hot coals on the cover so that the meal is cooked slowly. The meat was incredibly tender, and had a very good flavor. I ordered the grilled stuffed calamari--which was a good sized squid that came out of the Adriatic Sea and was then stuffed with shrimp and spinach, grilled, and then sliced. The squid was tender, the grill flavor was delicious and the meal was a lovely experience. Highly recommended (but not inexpensive).

Zagreb, Croatia

The first recorded appearance of the name Zagreb is dated to 1094, at which time the city existed as two different city centers: the smaller, eastern Kaptol, inhabited mainly by clergy and housing Zagreb Cathedral, and the larger, western Gradec, inhabited mainly by farmers and merchants. Gradec and Zagreb were united in 1851 by ban Josip Jelačić, who was credited for this, with the naming the main city square, Ban Jelačić Square in his honour. The origins of the name Zagreb are less clear. The Croatian word "zagrabiti" translates approximately to "to scoop", which forms the basis of some legends. One Croat legend says that a Croat ban (a viceroy) was leading his thirsty soldiers across a deserted region. He drove his sabre into the ground in frustration and water poured out, so he ordered his soldiers to dig for water. The idea of digging or unearthing is supported by scientists who suggest that the settlement was established beyond a water-filled hole or graba and that the name derives from this. Some sources suggest that the name derives from the term 'za breg' or 'beyond the hill'. The hill may well have been the river bank of the River Sava, which is believed to have previously flowed closer to the city centre. From here, the words may have been fused into one word and, thus, the name Zagreb was born.

While the city is old old old, much of the city appears to have been built in the late 19th and early 20th century--very attrractively, I might add, and very walkable. The city has well under a million inhabitants, so it is a very managable size--not that there isn't traffic, there is, but it is easy to navigate, and everything is in latin letters, so we could actually read street signs. A real plus!

We stayed in the old part of the city, called Gornji Grad just off Ban Jelačić Square in an apartment we rented from InZagreb. I found the web-site myself, but booked the Gold Apartment after reading about it in Rick Steve's guidebook. The location was fantastic, and the apartment would have been ideal for a much longer stay as well as what we used it for. The only thing is parking. We found street parking, which worked fine for the weekend but wouldn't work for week days--and we were unaware that streets were blocked off to traffic on Sunday afternoons, and couldn't read Croatian (which I am sure would have told us said information), so almost got a 500 Kuna ticket (~$100). Otherwise, Zagreb was grand.

Driving in the Balkans with a Serbian Car

There are a number of difficulties with driving in Serbia. I have alluded to the first problem--the Cyrillic alphabet. Reading street signs is difficult when on foot. In a car the challenge is compounded to the point of impossibility. So you are reduced to counting streets and hoping that what is on the map as a major thoroughfare actually corresponds with your assessment of the street's importance. It was not infrequent for us to pull out our phone and use the compass to help us assess exactly which direction we were traveling in and how that corresponded to the direction that we thought we were traveling in. Sadly the correlation was less than perfect.
The second problem was a lack of help from external sources of navigation--a GPS could have helped a lot. Our European GPS had major roads in Serbia, but lacked city maps, so just getting the car in Belgrade and then getting out of the city was challenging. Back to the counting blocks technique--it is primitive but it does work. So long as you have an accurate map. Which is another hurdle.
The biggest hurdle of all is one that there is nothing to be done with. If you want to leave Serbia with a Serbian car, you are bound to be headed to a country that is not the least bit fond of Serbians. And they think that you are Serbian. Uh oh. It is one of the few instances when we have tried to appear non-native. The car rental person noted that Croatia and Slovenia, two places we were driving, hated Serbia and previous customers had had problems with cat calls and vandalism. She recommended looking as American as possible--not that Americans are all that popular in that part of the world either, but it is all a matter of balance.
The only time someone noted our car's provenance to us was in a rural town in Croatia, where we were making no secret of the fact that we did not speak Serbo-Croatian. Still they were suspicious. We quickly assured them that it was merely the place we started our journey, now who we were, but it did make us cautious about where we put the car in the future. We managed to return the car to Belgrade, without significant detours, more or less in tact.

Serbian Arts and Crafts

I didn't anticipate the craftsman aspect of Serbian life. Maybe that is to be expected--Yugoslavia was one country for much of my life, and certainly all of my youth, and there was a real dearth of information in popular media about Slavs. And we certainly were not celebrating their talents. I did not see much in the way of handicrafts while we were in Belgrade--it was all sleek clothing stores, small mini-marts, and shoes shoes shoes. All that changed when we got to Zlatibor, a Serbian resort in the mountains about three hours southwest of Belgrade.

Zlatibor is a Serbian vacation spot for Serbians of all walks of life. We saw hundreds of school children there, on some sort of overnight school trip each and every day. This place is popular. And there are the usual stores that we saw in Belgrade--but once you get out of the ski resort village, there is a series of stalls that sell handmade crafts, and they are both nicely done and inexpensive. I bought hand knit thick wool socks for about $4 that were spectacular and the knitted wool coats with embroidery on top of the thick knitted and slightly felted wool are really nicely done from Sirogojno, Serbia. With a small amount of adjustment they could sell well on the European market--but much like the problem with agriculture, there just isn't that kind of help being offered to Serbia.

I wish I could have brought home some of the ceramics that I saw, all under $10 and all handmade--I did manage a sweater vest, but that took up all of the discretionary room I had in my suitcase. But most of all, I wish I had had more time to visit art galleries, because every hotel lobby we were in had interesting and original art. I have really enjoyed bringing home paintings from other places and decorating my walls with them--they remind of the place that they came from, and the art that we saw there, so they are memory placeholders as well as something to enjoy for the sake of the art. Something to do on the next trip.

Gleaning and the Harvest

I am reflecting on the trip I recently took to the Balkans and the end of the Jewish holiday, Sukkot, which is in celebration of the harvest season. There was impressive agriculture going on in both Serbia and Croatia, with astonishing fruits and vegetables, and a large amount of land devoted to raising feed corn as well. There is also impressive unemployment in Serbia. I was repeatedly told that in Serbia proper unemployment is at 30% of the population--and no one knows what is going on in Kosovo (which Serbia still regards as it's territory, while the U.N. is occupying it and Europe considers it independent). An estimated 20% of Serbians do not work, either due to age or unemployability--so that leaves the other half to support them. A very difficult situation.
When we were driving from Zagreb to Belgrade on our last day in the Balkans, I saw a man with a wooden cart hauled by a horse in a harvested field of corn. He was gleaning. The classic painting on the subject of gleaning is this one by Jean François Millet in 1857, and I have always loved this concept. People who do not have enough to eat, or have more time than they have money can go into a field and pick up what is left over. No one is going to use that food, and someone should have it. In our country we do not encourage, or even allow gleaning, but in days gone by, in Millet's time, farmers would invite gleaners into their field after the harvest. It was a nod to those less fortunate than oneself. I didn't see a lot of horse drawn carts on the trip, but I saw more than one. Serbia in particular is a country balanced on the edge. There is some impressive infrastructure, roads and bridges being two examples, but there are significant problems to be overcome as well.

Serbian Agriculture

More thoughts on the Soviet legacy. The most impressive thing we saw in Serbia was the quality of the produce they harvested. Farmers selling their fruits and vegetables--as well as honey and homemade infusions--were everywhere, and they were uniformly gorgeous displays. Better than how they look is how they taste, which is fantastically flavorful. The best peppers I have had anywhere, and not just once, but consistently great.

So what is the problem? Well, according to one Serbian friend, it is infrastructure. The Soviet Union higly valued industrialization--the factory was the key to success in the communist paradigm. Yugoslavia had a socialist back bone, so the tenets were not such a stretch, but factories were built far from the resources needed to run them. Not such a great idea, and completely unmanageable in the era of a high efficiency and fairly flat world. People are not buying local when it comes to manufactured goods. China is king, and if you can't beat their price, you cannot hope to compete.

So what about agriculture? The good news is that Serbian soil is rich and productive--they even have a good market in that Russia will buy their produce. The problem is everything else--after harvest, where to store it? There is no farming collective to help with resources and storage--much less transport. The problems to be solved in the 21st century in Serbia are numerous, but some very simple infrastructure in farming could go a long way to helping that quadrant of the economy for them.

Sleeping in Serbia

One interesting thing about visiting the Balkans is yet another opportunity to see what the legacy of Soviet influence is in the former Yugoslavia. When we were driving through Bratislava several summers ago I was terrified. The humorless concrete buildings were so oppressive that I literally couldn't wait to get out of town. It is one thing to be utilitarian and it is another to frighten people off. Not so in the Balkans. Things are more inviting--or at least you don't grip the side of your car door and beg to leave.

I spent five nights in 4 different hotels in Serbia and there is a pattern, a method to the Serbian sleep experience. First off, the exteriors of the buildings are nothing to speak of. The Balkan Hotel, where we first stayed, is in a very nice older part of town, with plenty of beautiful late nineteenth century buildings on the same block and within plain view of the hotel. But it is less than charming to look at. That is a pattern.

The next thing is that the lobbies are pretty nice--sometimes a bit oddly decorated (our hotel in Zlatibor had two gigantic plastic horses--bigger than life sized--with a small table lamp sized light positioned between their ears. It was unusual--not exactly tacky, but certainly not classic in style), but always inviting, with nice comfortable seating as well as wireless internet service. Another typical thing is original paintings and occasionally sculpture in the lobby--very nice touch, and it makes repeated visits to the lobby interesting--you can see something new in each piece of art each time you are there.

But then there are the rooms. They are stripped down basic. In some cases they are threadbare and shabby. But even when they are not, they are not the height of fashion, not even to the level that you would expect given the lobby decor. There is almost nothing charming about them, although all hotels were very clean, very neat, and very comfortable. Functional is not attractive. They were also very expensive, especially given the economy as a whole and the cost of other things associated with travel within Serbia. Not a good value. But comfortable.

Ajvar: Serbia's Smoky, Garlicky Roasted Red Pepper Spread

The absolute best thing about food in Serbia was the quality of the produce. Red peppers were absolutely the best that I have ever had--including Hungary (admittedly I was in Serbia during red pepper harvest, so maybe that accounts for the difference with Hungary). The red pepper spread that comes with grilled meat and vegetables is called ajvar, and is wonderful.
10 to 12 red bell peppers
1 large eggplant (roughly 1 1/2 pounds)
3 to 6 cloves of garlic, depending on taste
1/4 cup olive oil, divided; additional oil to finish dish
A few splashes of white vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Dried red chili flakes and basil leaves, optional
Preheat oven to broil. Halve each pepper, discarding stems and seeds. Place peppers, cut side down, on an old baking sheet or one lined with foil.

Cut eggplant in half lengthwise and score with a knife, drizzle it with about 2 tablespoons olive oil and a little salt and place it on a second baking sheet.

Place one of the oven racks roughly 3 to 4 inches below the heat; place peppers on this rack. The eggplant should sit on a lower rack.

Broil the peppers and eggplant, turning the peppers occasionally until they are well roasted on all sides, roughly 15 to 20 minutes. The eggplant may be done first; if so, remove it and set it aside to cool. (You can also use an outdoor grill to cook the peppers and eggplant.)

When you remove the peppers from the oven, place them in a bowl, sprinkle them with a little water, and cover with a clean dishcloth. This step steams and lifts the skins, making it easy to peel the peppers once they've cooled. (Another method to loosen skins is to place the peppers in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap until the peppers have cooled.)

Use an ice-cream scoop to remove the pulp of the eggplant, leaving the skin behind. Discard the thickest seeds, but don't get nit-picky. Put eggplant in a food processor with about 2 tablespoons olive oil and 3 or 4 smashed garlic cloves. Pulse the eggplant a few times so that it's chopped with the other ingredients but not totally pureed. Remove the eggplant to a serving bowl.

Once peppers are cool enough to handle, peel them with your fingers or a knife. Add peppers to the food processor and pulse 5 to 8 times to chop coarsely. Mix the peppers with the eggplant puree, season to taste with salt, pepper, a splash of vinegar and a shake of dried chili flakes, if you like. Smooth the surface of the ajvar with a spatula.

If you wish, garnish it with more finely diced garlic and a few scattered basil leaves. Serve ajvar with toasted bread slices drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.