Leaving Italy/Yugoslavia
Trip Start
Apr 15, 1981
1
14
16
Trip End
Jun 30, 1981
Trieste,
Friuli-Venezia Giulia,
Italy
Thursday, May 28, 1981
Tito and his communist party had seized control of the semi-autonomous states that were left over after the collapse of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire after the First World War, and that of the German occupation during the Second World War, to organize a newly created Socialist state: Yugoslavia. They are Slovenia and Croatia in the north, Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Herzegovena in the middle of the country and Montenegro, Albania(the province of, not the country) and Macedonia bordering on northern Greece in the south. Since the days of the Ottoman Empire and then the Hapsburg dynasty of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire, this region has been a hotbed of radicalism and cultural clashes as Muslim Asia met Christian Europe. Prior to this, and since, it has been an invasion route for armies throughout its history and as a consequence has been conquered, reconquered, ignored and conquered again. After Philip II of Macedonia consolidated his control of the area and overran what was left of Classical Greece over two thousand years ago, his nephew, Alexander the Great, marched his armies throughout the Middle East and all the way to Northern India and Afganistan prior to his early demise in Iraq. This new Empire was then divided and ruled by his generals; the most notable perhaps: Ptolemy in Egypt, an antecedent of Cleopatra.
The result of all this is that it has provided this region with a fascinating mixing of cultures, languages, customs, colour and architecture. Sarajevo, was my first taste of ethnic Eastern culture - the minarets and the Moullahs calling people to prayer, blended with the Western and the Eastern Orthydoxies of the Christian faiths. The open air markets reflected all this with the ethnic dress, foods, smells, tastes, sights, sounds and languages. The cultures of three continents all coming together in this one crossroads of humanity! What an incredible experience it was!
It was only months later, while I was at Simon Fraser University and back in Canada, that I was watching the bombs and artillery shells falling on this fabulous international city on CNN - and learning new phrases like: 'ethnic cleansing', - that I was reminded of an elderly woman I met in our hotel in Belgrade. She liked to sit by the bay window at the end of the second floor hallway and knit while her granddaughter worked the front desk. Her English was surprisingly good (I did not meet many English speakers on this tour and my Serbo-Croat was nonexistent, so communication was always a challenge.). We had some excellent talks in the short time I was there. What I remember most clearly was her lament for the loss of Tito and his ability to control the excesses of the different ethnic factions in the country, and her great fear for the future of her family and her country. She was regrettably prophetic.
