Archive for the ‘Macedonia’ Category

Balkan humor

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Funny to share, I have found it on the net, maybe a bit outdated, but still funny :-)

Top Ten Reasons for being a Serb:
1. You are not a Croat.
2. Basketball team.
3. You can choose between several war criminals in Presidential elections.
4. You can enjoy the positive media coverage of your country when abroad.
5. You can fight 600 year-old battles against the Turks and their domestic collaborators, be convinced that it’s happening right now, and not be entirely wrong.
6. You can always go to Greece and Cyprus and fear nothing.
7. Grilled meat and slivovitz.
8. You get to drink slivovitz and eat grilled meat even when under economic sanctions.
9. You are the only European country which was bombed by NATO.
10.Every now and then you get to fly to the Hague at someone else’s expense.

Top ten reasons for being a Croat:
1. You’re not a Serb
2. Soccer team.
3. You get to pretend that your language is different from Serbian, although it’s really not.
4. Dubrovnik.
5. You get to dream about independent Croatia.
6. Every now and then you get to sing “Danke, Danke,Deutschland,” and continue to dream about independent Croatia.
7. You have a thousand-year culture of which no one has heard.
8. You have a democratically elected President who is not ashamed of being a Croat.
9. The glorious World War Two past.
10.You have a thousand-year culture….

Top ten reasons for being Bosnian:
1. You can get asylum anywhere except in Serbia.
2. You can pretend that your state exists.
3. Kebab.
4. You can pretend that Sarajevo is a really cosmopolitan European city when you know that it is not.
5. Great kebab.
6. You can be visited by Francois Mitterand, Bernard Henry-Levy,Susan Sontag, and Bill Clinton and it still doesn’t make a difference.
7. Free round-trip to any Moslem country.
8. You get to be bombed by a psychiatrist.
9. You can fly your flag in the UN but nowhere else.
10.Foreigners give you money and don’t ask any questions.

Top ten reasons for being Slovenian:
1. You can speak the beautiful Slovene language and know that no one cares except you.
2. You can feel superior to all former Yugoslavs.
3. You can drink after work.
4. You can pretend to live on the “sunny side of the Alps,” although you know it’s not that sunny.
5. You can pretend that you are as good as any German while secretly enjoying the fact that you are a Slav.
6. Good relations with Italy and Austria.
7. You can afford to be Yugo-nostalgic.
8. You can marry a Slovene and have Slovene children who speak Slovene.
9. You don’t have to be ashamed when abroad.
10.No one bothers you because no one really cares.

Top ten reasons for being Macedonian:
1. You can call yourself Macedonian and not get killed by a Bulgarian, Greek, Serb or Albanian.
2. Fresh tomatoes, watermelon and tobacco.
3. You can pretend you are a descendant of Alexander the Great and piss off the Greeks.
4. You get to be sad and suffer while listening to folk music.
5. Good relations with your neighbors, especially Greeks and Albanians.
6. American soldiers on your territory.
7. You get to call your country The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
8. Fresh tomatoes, watermelon, and tobacco.
9. You can successfully pretend your language is not Bulgarian.
10.Everyone is interested in the stability of your country except your neighbors.

Top ten reasons for being Montenegrin:
1. You can be proud of your heroic past and not being conquered by the Turks for 500 years.
2. You can sing epic songs about your heroic past and not being conquered by the Turks for 500 years.
3. You can think of Russia as your Mother, although Russia does not know you are her son.
4. You can combine orthodoxy with Stalinism with love of Russia and still think that you are better and more progressive than the Serbs.
5. Goat cheese, grilled lamb, and grappa.
6. You get to kill at least one person in a vendetta and defend your honor.
7. If you are a woman you can kill your husband and everyone knows why you did it.
8. You can smuggle cigarettes to Italy and live like a king.
9. You don’t have to work even when you have to.
10.You don’t have to work….

Top ten reasons for being Albanian:
1. You can always swim to Italy.
2. You can choose between a president who stole your whole income, one who killed all your relatives, or go fight the Serbs in Kosovo.
3. You can be proud of being from “the land of the eagle.”
4. You can always swim to Italy.
5. You can take weapons from any army garrison and defend your honor.
6. You can get killed in a vendetta and be remembered as the hero of the family.
7. You get to be called the poorest country in Europe.
8. You can live in the ecologically cleanest country in Europe.
9. You can always swim to Italy
10.You are proud of being “from the land of the eagle.”

Top ten reasons for being a Yugoslav:
1. You can be proud that you are neither a Serb, nor a Croat, nor a Slovene, nor a Bosnian, nor a Macedonian, nor Montenegrin, nor an Albanian, although you are one or more of the above.
2. You don’t have to feel bad about being “Yugo-nostalgic”.
3. You can have a husband/wife from any part of Yugoslavia and still feel like the country never fell apart, especially if you are abroad.
4. You get to listen to Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, and  even Albanian music and feel that it’s quite OK.
5. You don’t have to be ashamed of your Titoist past.
6. You can sing Partisan songs from World War Two or rock-and-roll from the 1980′s.
7. You get to be cosmopolitan and spit on all the nationalists.
8. You get to be researched by foreign sociologists interested in your identity.
9. You are invited to speak about Yugoslavia at conferences abroad.
10.You are a good candidate for a Soros stipend.

Source: www.fgg.uni-lj.si/~/mkuhar/Vici/balkan.html

Europe-what do I think about it ?

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Europe, the continent where I was born, raised and still live. My dear Europe seems to be in a huge crises. Is it about money, solidarity or just ignorance? What is actually Europe? Is it a political thing, do we have common values or are they just created? Is Europe the European Union , or is Europe bigger ?

We live nowadays 66 years after the end of the Second World War and 93 years after the First World War. Since 66 years we live in peace and stability, unfortunately not for my beloved Balkans, but for this blog I will leave that apart, you can find much more about that here.

I have been “outside” the European Union, I have been on the edges of it ‘s borders, on high mountains overlooking countries which were “in” the European Union and which were not. I have stepped over borders and made new friends which were once “behind”  the Iron Curtain, dividing our dear continent between “West”and “East”.  I understand that the European Union is in a crises, but it seems like we have forgotten what it is all about!

I will give you a short reminder in pictures (you can click on them to enlarge):

21.05.2009, Sarajevo (BIH): Plaque in remembrance of the start of the First World War.

18.09.2011, Nidže/Kajmakčalan, Macedonian-Greek border: chapel in remembrance of the battle during 12th and 30th September 1916 between the Serbian and Bulgarian army.

Verdun (F), 05.04.2009: Plaque in remembrance of the western front: the French and German head of state who decided to become friends on the ancient battlefield of Verdun (First World War).
Jesenice (SLO), 04.09.2011: Plaque in remembrance of fallen railway workers during the Second World War.
Gorizia (I), Nova Goricia (SLO), 31.08.2011: Plaque in remembrance of the establishment of the border between Yugoslavia and Italia (1947) and the accession of Slovenia into the European Union (2004).
Novi Sad (SRB), 29.04.2011: Plaque in remembrance of a victim of the NATO bombardments on Serbia.
I think, we in Europe do not want to have new plaques as such above, those who gave their lives do also not deserve that, so we should unite more….

Macedonia & Greece

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

The pictures of my last part of the trip are now also online, you can find them by clicking here. It includes pictures of Florina (which is in Greece, but in Macedonian it is called Lerin) and the climb to the top 2521 meters high Nidže/Kajmakčalan which is in Macedonia , close to the Macedonian-Greek border. A real big thanks to all my friends who made it happen: from Triglav to Nidže…

“Moja Makedonija”

Saturday, October 8th, 2011

I travelled from the Triglav to the Vardar (the reversed way of the old Yugoslav song od Vardara do pa Triglava) and when I actually entered Macedonia (via the border crossing with Serbia) I could hardly resist my tears: I was back in Makedonija (=Macedonia).

Makedonija and it’s citizens have always a special place in my heart and I again listened to my heart when I entered Macedonia. It felt like the “Makedonski sunce” (=Macedonian sun) was waiting for me and I was welcomed again by it.


I always ask myself this question when I pass this border crossing, which I passed many times: which country do I like more, Serbia or Macedonia?  Until now I was never be able to answer that question, but more important, do I have to answer that question? I think I do not have to answer that question, because it does not matter: I love the whole Balkans and yes, Macedonia has a special place in my heart, as Serbia does as well.

So, I was back in Macedonia, “moja Makedonija”, although I have nothing I own there, but that does not count.  I saw the Vardar river, after travelling around 2000km from the Triglav mountain, and there was nothing more I needed, ok except for a delicious “Skopsko” (beer from Skopje) : my heart told me that I was happy. I made it all the way from Triglav, thanks to the great help of my friends through whole ex-Yugoslavia (from Triglav to the Vardar and even behind) and now I was enjoying Macedonia.

I met my Macedonian friends again, I have seen again the magical Ohrid lake area , visited the beautiful monastery of Sveti Naum and climbed Macedonia’s 5th highest mountain Nidže…. What else do I need? Nothing….

Yes, I know what I need: I need to return to “moja Makedonija”…..

Pictures online now, just click here.

Od Triglava do pa Vardara

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

I did it! I travelled from Triglav all the way to the Vardar and thereby fulfilled a long time wish, a dream. The reality in this case was even more beautiful then the dream and I could not believe that this could happen. First of all a big thanks to all who helped me to realize this dream.

Picture below: On top of Mali Triglav (Slovenia), 2725 meters a.s.l, 2nd September 2011.
Picture below: Near the Vardar river, 19th September 2011, Skopje, Macedonia.
I experienced so many beautiful things during my trip that it needs a lot of time to order them in “moje srce”. I leave it to this little blog post by stating that I made it and that I am very happy about it. I will write of course much more about it this marvellous trip later….

Map below: the trip I made “Od Triglava do pa Vardara”.

Nidže/Kajmakčalan

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Nidze is a 2521 meters high mountain in Macedonia, a couple of meters away from the Macedonian-Greek border. It is the southernmost and highest peak of a range known in Greece as the Voras Mountains and in Macedonian as Nidže. It is the third highest peak in Greece after Mount Olympus and the fifth highest in Macedonia.  The top is also called Kajmakčalan (Kaimakchalan) or Kaimaktsalan (Macedonian: Кајмакчалан, Greek: Καϊμακτσαλάν). You need a permission from the Macedonian Ministry of Internal affairs to climb the mountain and I obtained that permission via my Macedonian friends for which I am very grateful to them.

Sunday 18th September we climbed the mountain from the Greek side and it was an easy walk, definitely if you compared it to Triglav in Slovenia, which I climbed two weeks before. From Triglav I have travelled all the way to here, on almost the most southern edge of former Yugoslavia.

If mountains could speak, then Nidže/Kajmakčalan for sure could tell you a lot of stories. Between the 12th and 30th September 1916, during the First World War, the Battle of Kajmakcalan between Serbian and Bulgarian troops took place here: there were around 10.000 Serbian casualties, but I could not figure out how many Bulgarians died here. The Serbs (part of the Allies) won, but they payed a very high price.

Exactly 95 years later I took this picture:

And burned a candle for those who died here….
I cannot describe my exact emotions when I was there,but yes, there were tears. Tears of sadness for those who died here, but also tears of happiness that I made it that day to here, Macedonia, all the way from Triglav (Slovenia), in good shape, health, being with my friends and be in peace, 95 years later…..

Makedonija / Macedonia

Friday, September 16th, 2011

I did it: yesterday evening I reached Macedonia and saw a first glimpse of the Vardar river.

I travelled in two weeks  through ex-Yugoslavia: from the (almost) most Northern point (Jessenice-Slovenia) to Sveti Naum (Macedonia), which is almost the most Southern point.

I am very happy I did and made it in good shape and health. It is not over yet: Sunday I hope I will make it to the top of Nidze/Kajmakčalan , which is 2521 meters above sea level and on the Greek-Macedonian border.

On the top of  that mountain there is a Serbian chapel in remembrance of a battle during First World War battle between Serbs and Bulgarians.

For today I spent a wonderful time in Ohrid and a couple of hours in Albania and I enjoyed it of course a lot….I made some good pictures, here just a little selection. Macedonia is as always amazing.


The start: Brussels-Belgium

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

My “od Vardara do Triglava” (ex-Yugoslavia) trip starts here in Brussels, capital of Belgium, but it is also the informal capital of Europe, how symbolic it can be? A well known term I did hear: ” The ” Balkanisation”  of Belgium and ” Brusselisation of the Balkans” ….

Tomorrow I will travel to Trieste&Gorizia (Italy), Nova Gorica and finally Bohinj (Slovenia) and Brussels will be already quite far away. The more I travel the more it will be even more far away, but how far? That ‘s the thing I want to discover. Do I travel like the picture at above right? Looking into the unknown ? Of course not, but the picture do precisely show the general attitude of W-Europe towards the Balkans.

It is in Brussels where Europe is being constructed, if we want it or not: it is the today’s reality.  All countries I go to visit have ties with Brussels:
-Italy as  founding member of European Economic Community (the base for the European Union), part of Schengen and Euro zone;
-Slovenia which became member in 2004, joined the Schengen and the Euro zone in 2007;
-Croatia is a candidate member for the European Union;
-Bosnia-Herzegovina wants to be part of the European Union, but there is a long way to go;
-Montenegro is a candidate member for the European Union;
-Serbia is a candidate member for the European Union;
-Macedonia is a candidate member of the European Union;
-Albania is part of NATO and want to be a candidate member;
-Greece is member since of EU since 1981 and is part of the Schengen and Euro zone.

There is one invisible line which I will cross during this trip and that is the line which is between ” Western”  Europe and ” Eastern” Europe, or that part of Europe which saw the ” enlightenment” and those parts which have not seen that: I am talking about the European schism between the Catholic/Protestant and Orthodox world.

Once almost all these countries were “Yugoslavia” (except for Belgium, Italy, Albania and Greece of course), “a unity of diversity” , a country which disappeared in the nineties in such horrible way. Is the European Union also not ” a unity of diversity” ? I believe so and my dear Balkans are part of it…. It is the non-existing  country, Yugoslavia,  where I walk in tomorrow, but believe me that I will be happy when I am walking into that non existing. country :-)

Od Triglava do Vardara, a journey through Yugolavia….

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

And here it is my final draft, don’t need to mention that I am looking forward to it :-) I will try to blog about my trip as much as possible, so please follow my blog!

30 aug, NL-BE: ‘s-Hertogenbosch-Brussel;
31 aug, BE-I-SLO: Brussel-Trieste-Gorizia-Nova Gorica-Bohinj;
1 sept, SLO: climbing Triglav 1st day;
2 sept:, SLO climbing Triglav 2nd day: top;
3 sept, SLO: climbing Triglav 3th day descending and so;
4 sept, SLO: Bohinj-Lubljana;
5 sept, SLO-HR: Travel from Ljubljana to Rijeka further on by boat to Dubrovnik;
6 sept, HR: In the boat from Rijeka to Dubrovnik;
7 sept, HR: Dubrovnik;
8 sept,HR-BIH: A visit to Mostar (BIH) ;
9 sept, HR-MNE: Dubrovnik-Budva;
10 sept, MNE-SRB: Budva-Kraljevo;
11 sept, SRB: Kraljevo
12 sept, SRB: Kraljevo
13 sept, SRB-MK: Kraljevo-Skopje-Kicevo (and with a first sight to the Vardar ;-)
14 sept, MK: Kicevo-Ohrid
15 sept, MK-ALB: Ohrid-Podgradec
16 sept, MK: Ohrid
17 sept,MK-GR:Ohrid-Florina
18 sept, GR-MK: climbing Nidže
19 sept,GR-MK: Florina-Skopje
20 sept,MK-SRB-NL:Skopje-Belgrade-Amsterdam

Od Triglava do Vardara….

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

A long time dream is hopefully getting true within less three months:
“Od Vardara do Triglava” (from the Vardar to Triglav). I am doing it the reversed way (of course, that’s me): from Triglav to the Vardar:  From Trieste to Thessaloniki (TT?), travelling through whole ex-Yugoslavia. Triglav is a mountain in the Julian Alps in Slovenia and the Vardar is a river in Macedonia ending the the Aegean Sea near Thessaloniki in Greece.

(You can click on the map to enlarge)

I will start from Trieste (Italy) entering former Yugoslavia by foot in Nova Gorica (Slovenia). From there on I will go by train to Bohinj so I can start (with a friend and maybe more I do not know yet) to climb Triglav, with 2864 meters above sea level  the highest mountain of ex-Yugoslavia, nowadays Slovenia. Two and a half week later I hope I will be standing on Nidže (Kajmakčalan), a 2521 meter high peak on the Greek-Macedonian border,  and look back into Yugoslavia and the wonderful trip I had through it….

A lot needs still to be arranged, but on the other hand it is not the first time I will travel through this beautiful region. Of course I will visit my friends and this time I will visit also again new places (like for example the Croatian coast/ the Julian Alps). I am looking forward to it: a longtime dream is getting shape!

Od Vardara do Triglava:

Od Vardara pa do Triglava
od Đerdapa pa do Jadrana
Kao niska sjajnog Đerdana
Svijetlim suncem obasjana
ponosito sred Balkana
Jugoslavijo, Jugoslavijo.

Širom sveta put me vodio,
za sudbom sam svojom hodio,
u srcu sam tebe nosio.
Uvek si mi draga bila
domovino moja mila.
Jugoslavijo, Jugoslavijo.

Volim tvoje reke i gore,
tvoje šume, polja i more,
volim tvoje Ijude ponosne,
i ratara i pastira
uz frulicu kad zasvira,
Jugoslavijo, Jugoslavijo.

Krv se mnoga za te prolila,
borba te je naša rodila,
radnička te ruka stvorila.
Živi sretna u slobodi,
ljubav naša nek te vodi,
Jugoslavijo, Jugoslavijo.

Translation of the song