Where to go in Northern Greece

Places I saw and recommend in Northern Greece: Metéora. I’m sure it’s fun to climb Mt. Olympus, but I was too busy having fun in Thessaloniki. 

Is Greece in Eastern or Western Europe?

Whenever you think of the founder of western civilization, you probably think of Greece:

• The Greeks gave us Homer's epic poems, the Corinthian columns that are everywhere, and an early version of democracy. 
• Just the names of Greek places conjure up wondrous images: Athens, Thebes, Sparta, Crete, Rhodes, Mount Olympus, and the Aegean Sea. 
• Western companies use the names of Greek gods and heroes: Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Apollo, Perseus, Hercules, and of course, Nike. 
• Western literature and ideas were born out of text written in Greek such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, Oedipus, Medea, and the Bible's New Testament. 
• Western heroes include Greeks like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Thucydides, Herodotus, Euripides, Archimedes, and countless others. 
• Greeks built much of our foundation in mathematics, medicine, science, and philosophy. 

The astronomer Carl Sagan observed that if the repressive Middle Ages had not come and Europe had stayed on the technological path that the Greeks had started us on, then we would have colonized the Solar System by now.

Given that everyone associates Greece with western culture and civilization, it's ironic that Greece is in Eastern Europe. [I'm assuming a binary east-west split, where the idea of "southern Europe" doesn't exist. For more about this read about how I define Eastern Europe.]

Americans don't like looking at maps, so it's easy to forget that Greece's northern borders touch the Eastern European countries of Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. In fact, Greece is so far east in Europe that you only have to drive two hours east from the Greek border and you'll have left the European continent and entered Asia! Istanbul, the gateway to Asia, is short drive away (see map below).

Hence, geographically, it's obvious that Greece is in Eastern Europe. Just don't tell the Greeks that, it will piss them off.

If you were looking for evidence that Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, was trying to claw his way to our plane of existence, it's in Metéora. It seems as if his stony fingers are piercing through the earth's flesh and reaching toward Zeus in defiance. In Greek, Metéora means suspended rocks. About 60 million years ago (five million years after the dinosaurs went bye-bye), Metéora's sandstone pinnacles formed. Weather carved them into their shape today. They may remind you of Monument Valley in Utah. What makes Metéora truly special is that hundreds of years ago Greeks built celestial monasteries on top of these rocks. When you see them, you'll ask yourself, "How the hell did they build that there?"

Where to go in Macedonia

Places I saw and recommend in Macedonia: Skopje and Lake Ohrid.

Defining Macedonia

If you’re like most people on this planet, you know almost nothing about Macedonia. Incredibly, for over 20 years, Greece and Macedonia have been passionately and fanatically fighting each other over Macedonia’s name. It sounds absurd (and it is), but it’s true. Welcome to the Balkans.

Places I saw and recommend in Kosovo: Prizren and the mountains near the Albanian border.

How Serbia is similar to Oklahoma

In 1974, Serbia became like Oklahoma. Most Yugoslavs were not happy with the centralized economy and they thought decentralization would fix things. To avoid a revolt, Tito agreed to increase everyone's autonomy. Among the five republics, Serbia was the only one to have two autonomous provinces carved out of it: Vojvodina in the north and Kosovo in the south. Albanians were begging Tito for republic status, but Tito picked the compromise solution: autonomy. As a result, Serbia turned into Oklahoma.

Oklahoma, along with several other western US states, has large Native American reservations within it. Although the US has 50 states, there are about 310 autonomous Indian reservations within them.

In the map below highights the autonomous Indian reservations. Oklahoma is the state in the middle with blue colored reservations representing the Cherokee Nation. Mouse over the image to zoom in. Or view the high resolution version.

Move your mouse over image

Places I saw and recommend in Albania: Drin River, Albanian Alps, Butrint, and the southern beaches.

What Albania and Finland have in common

There is a world of difference between Finland and Albania, but they both call their country something that doesn’t sound like what the rest of the world calls them. As we saw in the chapter on Finland, Finns call their country Suomi (while nearly all other countries call it something that sounds like “Finland”).

Albania has the same deal: the Italian, Indonesian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish languages call the Albanian country Albania. Other languages have a similar phonetic sound: Albanie (French); албания “Albaniya” (Russian, Bulgarian); Albània (Catalan); “Aherbainieya” (Chinese); Albanija (Balkanian, Lithuanian, Slovenian); Albánie (Czech); Albanien (Danish, Swedish, German); Albanië (Dutch); Albānija (Latvian); Albánsko (Slovak); αλβανία (Greek); Albanya (Filipino); and 알바니아 “Albania” (Korean).

So what do Albanians call their country? Shqipëria.

Yeah, I didn’t expect that either. They call their language Shqip.

Why did all that happen? Nobody knows. First, the origin of the Albanian term is an enigma. There are few clues: in the second century BC, Polybius mentioned the Arbon tribe. About 400 years later, Ptolemy marked the city of Albanopolis near modern-day Durrës in Albania. There are other ideas, but nothing conclusive.

Second, scholars can’t agree on where Shqipëria comes from either. One theory is that it comes from the verb shqipoj, implying one who understands.

The other theory is that Shqipëria comes from shqipojnë (eagle). Albanians have been using the double-headed eagle symbol for at least 600 years. The Albanian flag, one of the coolest ones in the world, has a red background and a black two-headed eagle on it.

Where to go in Montenegro

Places I saw and recommend in Montenegro: Kotor, Budva, Perast, Lovćen's Mausoleum, and Durmitor National Park.

The highest compliment you can give a place is to say, "I want to buy a house here." It's more meaningful than saying "I want to live here," because buying a house is a deeper commitment than renting. These were my thoughts as I walked through the romantic streets of Kotor, Montenegro.

Montenegro is smaller than Connecticut, but it has Alpine scenery, deep canyons, coastal fjords, old Venetian-style towns, and a sparsely vegetated, limestone mountain range that plummets into the azure Adriatic Sea. Montenegro has it all. But it was Kotor, a town which lies in the largest fjord in southern Europe, that stole my heart.

Where to go in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Places I saw and recommend in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo, Mostar, and the southern mountains around Herzegovina.

The opening of the Bosnia and Herzegovina chapter in The Hidden Europe

Bosnia and Herzegovina is Europe's most complicated country. That's ironic, because it's filled with Europe's simplest people.

Just how complicated is it? Try to understand this: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a bit smaller than West Virginia, but has three religions, three ethnic groups, yet one language (some claim that there are three languages). However, the country is not divided in three regions, but in two. Yet the exact definition of those two regions depends on what you're talking about. The two-way split can either be between the Bosnia region and the Herzegovina region or between the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Oh, but then there's the tiny autonomous Brčko District, which you might call a third region. The three ethnic groups elect a President for a four-year term; each President controls the country for an eight-month period before handing power over to one of the other two Presidents. They rotate among themselves six times. On the other hand, none of that matters because there's this third guy, a foreigner called the High Representative, who has king-like powers.

Nothing is simple in the Balkans. — David Owen, author of two failed peace attempts during the Bosnian War

A decreasing number of people have two weeks vacation every year. We're all pretty busy trying to stay ahead at work. That doesn't stop us from traveling, though. It just means that we have to take shorter trips and adjust the way we vacation accordingly.

If you and your family want to go to Prague, you may not be able to stay there for a week or two. You may only be able to stay there for a couple of days. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself, though. You can actually fit a lot of sightseeing and enjoyment into a two-day long trip. Just book your vacation early with the right airline or charter an affordable jet!

Check out the following three essential Prague sights

1. The Charles Bridge should be one of your first stops. This Gothic bridge was built around 1357 AD and commissioned by the Czech ruler, Charles IV. Its Gothic stone structure has been able to withstand the test of time and natural disasters. It's only been partially restored a few times, and it still maintains its old world charm. The bridge spans the gorgeous Vltava River and is lined with 30 baroque statues made in the 1700s. The Charles Bridge is truly an attraction that represents the rich history of Prague and Czech Republic as a whole.

Where to go in Serbia

Places I saw and recommend in Serbia: Belgrade, along with the villages and countryside in the south.

The big boys of Belgrade

When the train jolted to a stop, I woke up in Belgrade. Surveying the city map, I was surprised to see that Belgrade didn’t rename its Kennedy Boulevard after the US bombed the city. That’s remarkable, considering that Croatia quickly changed several key street names after its independence. Maybe Serbians aren’t as nationalistic as some think.

Starting from the Trg Republike (Republic Square), I walked down Knez Mihailova (Prince Michael), a pedestrian street filled with fancy stores, big men, and beautiful women whose legs never seem to end. Although Belgrade has many splendid buildings, what’s even more impressive is the number of giants walking around. Serbian men are enormous, which explains why they produce an army of world-class athletes. Meanwhile, watching Serbian women is like observing a ballet of supermodels. I hadn’t seen so many high heels and head-turning babes since the Baltic.

Where to go in Croatia

Places I saw and recommend in Croatia: Dubrovnik, Plitvice National Park, Šibenik, Hvar, Korčula, Split, and Zadar.

Croatia's Dalmatian coast is one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. It’s far from the stereotypical grayness and blocky Soviet architecture that still dominates some parts of Eastern Europe. Because of its beauty, it’s natural that it’s the first place in the Hidden Europe that is no longer so hidden. Nevertheless, it’s remarkable how many people have still not explored it.

Where to go in Slovenia 

Places I saw and recommend in Slovenia: The Julian Alps (Triglav), the Soča River, its two best caves (Škocjan and Postojna), Ljubljana, the seaside (Piran/Izola/Koper).

Ljubljana: the lovely capital of Slovenia

Ljubljana (pronounced lyoo-blyah-nah) doesn't feel like a European capital. With only 272,000 residents, it's one of Europe's smallest capitals. Its downtown center is so compact that after walking a few blocks you're done. Although it's tiny compared to other capitals, the lovely Ljubljana lives up to its name. In Slovenian, ljubljena means beloved. Slovenians promote a similar play on words in English as they often write their country's name as Slovenia.

If Slovenia’s core is Ljubljana, and Ljubljana’s core is Prešernov Trg (Prešeren Square), then the core of Prešeren Square is truly the heart of the nation. So what’s at the core of Prešeren Square, symbolizing the very soul of Slovenia? A statue of an alcoholic.

Prešeren Square gets its name from Slovenia’s most famous drunk, who also wrote some profound poetry. Prešeren’s larger-than-life greenish statue looks longingly across the beautiful square at the home of the rich girl he wanted to hook up with. After years of trying to win her, he gave up, married another girl, had three children, had several affairs, drank like a fish, tried to commit suicide twice, and died confessing his unfulfilled love—he was 48. Decades after he died of liver disease, Slovenians dusted off his poems and said, “Hey, that loser actually wrote some pretty good shit!”

Today, Prešeren is Slovenia’s greatest poet. The Prešeren Award is Slovenia’s highest reward for artistic achievement. He’s on their two-euro coin. The day he died is a national holiday. His clever and epic poems united Slovenians after centuries of foreign rule. Most Slovenians can recite parts of his poems, especially “Zdravljica” (“Toast”), which the Austria-Hungary Empire banned. Today, it’s Slovenia’s national anthem.

Springing forth from Prešeren Square is the iconic and pedestrian-only Tromostovje (Triple Bridge), which spans the Ljubljanica River. The medieval Ljubljanski Grad (Ljubljana Castle) overlooks the city on a forested hill. 

I spent the 2009 holidays in Ljubljana, Slovenia's cute capital.