In 2004, I visited all 25 countries in Eastern Europe. You'll find the blog entries from that trip here. In 2008-2011, I returned to see what had changed since that time. With these two visits, five years apart, I accumulated enough material for my 750-page book, The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us.
This blog now has many excerpts from The Hidden Europe. But who the hell reads anymore? Just look at the best photos from Eastern Europe!
This map reflects how I define Eastern Europe. Eastern Europeans love to deny that they're in Eastern Europe. I tackle how and why I define Eastern Europe the way I do in the Introduction of The Hidden Europe.
Places I saw and recommend in Serbia: Belgrade, along with the villages and countryside in the south.
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.
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.
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 (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.
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