I could have called it the Western Balkans plan, of course, and technically, that would have been more appropriate, as we will only fleetingly visit Serbia, and we will skip North Macedonia – what used to be called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – all together. But all of the countries we plan to visit – almost all – were once part of Yugoslavia, never mind that they fought savage wars amongst each other to untangle themselves from that agglomeration of states. In fact, the first thing that comes to mind thinking about those countries is that savage war, at the end of the 20th C, and as far as Kosovo is concerned, well into the 21st C. Reading the map, place names remind me of battles, of snipers, of bombing raids. Of ethnic cleansing.
By visiting so many now-independent countries of that former amalgamation, perhaps we may understand some of the contrasts that were so evident in the war. Or maybe we find that much of the animosity has disappeared, with the passing of generations. And by focussing on the many historical sites that are still present all over these countries, we may instead find traces of that much older fault line, the one separating the Ottoman Empire from Europe, mostly the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. Go even further back, and we may come across that other great historical division, between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches. Come to think of it, this region has been a tinderbox for much of its history.
Anyhow, watch this space. We plan to go around clockwise, enter Slovenia from Austria, than move to the northern, continental arm of Croatia, to Belgrade in Serbia. From there we travel south through Kosovo and into Albania – for old time’s sake, because we spent two years there from mid-1995 to mid-1997; Albania was, of course, never part of Yugoslavia. From Albania’s capital, Tirana, we head back again, first to Montenegro, then Bosnia & Hercegovina, and then back into Croatia, the coastal zone this time. We end up in Slovenia again, before returning home. Some seven weeks, all together. With the flexibility of our own car. As I said, watch this space.
but first: the way up, to our first Former Yugoslavia country
