calbear80 said:
One of My Favorite Stories About Visiting Croatia:
In Novermber 2015, while visiting Croatia, I got a tour of Roman Forum and Roman Coliseum (smaller version of the Coliseum in Rome) in the historic city of Zadar in Northern Croatia on the Adriatic Sea.
While standing in the middle of the ruins of the Coliseum in Zadar, Croatia, here is what our 40 something year old local tour guide said:
. My grandfather was born in Austro-Hungarian Empire.
. My father was birn in Italy.
. I was born in Yugoslavia.
. And, my son was born in Croatia.
AND, WE WERE ALL BORN IN THE SAME HOUSE!!!
That is a part of what makes Croatia so interesting. Here is a little history about Croatia:
. Not long ago, most of the region was a part of the Ottoman Empire ruled from Istanbul (back then Constantinople)
. Before WWI, most of Croatia was a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire (and their playground and beach town).
. After WWI and demise of Austro-Hungerian Empire, it became a part of Italy (which was on the winning side of the WWI).
. After WWII, Croatia was taken away from Italy (which was on the losing side of WWII) and was incorporated into Yugoslavis under Marshal Tito (who had helped the Allies in WWII).
. Then, after the death of Marshal Tito in 1980 and desolation of Yugoslavia, Croatia eventually became the independent country of Croatia in 1991
Balkans are a little like Middle East: Amazing history and very volatile. Remember, WWI started when the Austro-Hungarian Prince Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo (in nearby Bosnia-Herzegovina, another one of the republics which later formed Yugoslavia). I have visited all the seven former Yugoslav republics and recomnend visiting them all (if you are Serbian, you would kill to prove that there was/is only six because Kosovo doesn't exist and never existed as a separate region)
Go Bears!
Disclaimer: I am not a historian and all the above statements need to be fact-checked.
P.S. I ran into a bunch of Serbian fans in the Moscow Kremlin a couple of weeks ago during the World Cup. In their mind, ...never mind, I don't want to go there.
Please. Go there. I was enjoying.
So, how did it come to be that Yugoslavia was behind the iron curtain? It was, right?
I have a friend who also said split was awesome! Super cheap, too. But maybe that's been changing as it's been discovered again.
I was traveling Europe with my then girlfriend now wife in '92. We went to Greece and then Turkey by hitching a ride with a Finnish couple on their sailboat. Made our way to Istanbul and then needed to get back to Brussels. Two train options. One thru Belgrade, but they were fighting a civil war. We heard train lines were good, but I didn't want to be on CNN. The other route was thru Romania. Now, while in Greece we got some work at a restaurant hotel on Rhodes. We met a couple Romanian men there, and they told us about the chowchesku (sp?) revolution, police with Freddy Kruger hands that would rip your guts out. Then we later heard how they were so desperate they'd steal your bags on trains and throw you off, while moving.
Now, I realize that such stories can be very far fetched, but I also know that 3 hikers once got lost hiking in Iran and occasionally a journalist will be nabbed as a prize. I also know that I had to take care of this girl, else I could never look her dad in the face again. So, we went to a travel agency store and bought a couple tickets on a plane and flew over the mess. When we got to the airport, I discovered it was on an Aeroflot plane. Flashback to January 1990 when I went to Moscow and flew Aeroflot, the airline with the worst safety record. Nothing eventful, other than we stopped in Riga unannounced for an hour (were they loading stolen goods? was the pilot banging some chick?). It was the chicken that freaked me out. I felt like it had been dipped in formaldehyde. No way was I going to touch that! But the Cuban guy next to me polished it off like his last meal. I was like, wow!
On that Moscow trip, lots of super interesting things. I'll never forget being offered a bowl of fruit while sitting around a table with teachers, students, administrators in a sort of cultural exchange. I didn't really want/need an orange but felt rude if I didn't partake. After an hour or more when they saw my brother and I would not eat more, they let the kids have some, and they dove into that bowl. I then realized, oh my god, they just offered us something that must have cost a mint, not to mention a day of waiting in some horrible line to get.
In this country, we have pretty much only known good times, and we see progress happening all around and envision of a future of only good. But things can change rapidly if we do not take care vigilantly! Society can collapse thru many means, and misery and desperation is right around the corner. I have barely traveled the world compared to Cal80, but he knows it's true.
. My grandfather was born in Austro-Hungarian Empire.. My father was birn in Italy.. I was born in Yugoslavia.. And, my son was born in Croatia.Thus, the Yugoslavs agree with me, too.
So do the Poles, the Jews, the Germans, the Chinese who've starved, those sent to Siberian gulags, been raped by Boko Harim, those wiped out by Agent Orange....
20 Millions Russians died in WW2. 20 MILLION!!
Lest we not forget, these are the Best of Times (queue Styx song).
This is why this WC event is important. It keeps us talking, shaking hands, celebrating out differences. Quite a different tone than the divisive fear mongering politics of Brexit and Trumpism. Don't go down that road, folks. There are 7 billion people on planet earth, we are all human, and this is OUR home. Let's celebrate, not divide.
Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.-Santanaya
