April 24, 2024

Gee-Li. I’m deep in the blog-hole. That sounds gross but it’s just what the cool kids call it when you’ve done a bunch of stuff that you still need to put in your blog. Or so I hear! I’m sitting at the small kitchen table in my apartment in Belgrade right now. There’s a thunderstorm in its teenage years, started about half an hour ago. The thunderclaps are magnificent, really sharp sounding, almost screechy. A perfect blogging soundtrack.

Sorry to have left you on a cliffhanger in the last post. Kosovo was a fascinating experience. The actual city of Pristina has a good bit of charm. It hosts a smorgasbord of old churches, mosques, marketplaces, old Yugoslav blocks, and modern neighborhoods. We arrived on Friday evening, with only Saturday and Sunday morning to experience the country. Sunday morning we went on a lovely walking tour where we learned a good bit more about the country. There’s a huge Albanian majority in the area of Kosovo we were in, and you’ll see almost more Albanian flags than Kosovar. The tour guide said that if there was a referendum to join Albania, it would pass immediately and the only reason there isn’t is because it would mean war with Serbia, who views Kosovo as just another region of itself. Another thing that was really interesting was the amount of pro-US sentiment. In exchange for just a few little military bases and preferential treatment in contract selection, the US has been Kosovo’s biggest backer since day 1 of independence. The interesting (and terrible) thing is that most of the countries that don’t recognize Kosovo have internal border conflicts of their own. India with Kashmir, China with Taiwan, Russia with Ukraine, and more. China, in fact, is a huge economic supporter of Serbia. I digress. In Kosovo, they have a  Bill Clinton Street (complete with giant mural and statue), George Bush  Boulevard, and Madeline Albright Square. In fact, there’s almost as many American flags as Kosovar! The last thing I’ll say about Kosovo is that the border is fascinating, especially from the Serbian perspective. There have been a few skirmishes in the last year, for context. But, if Serbia puts too much force on the border, its almost like they’re admitting Kosovo is a different country, and if they don’t put enough, the have no sense of security. Either way, the border crossing was actually the easiest most hassle-free border I’ve had in a while. 

Around Pristina, people pretty much only spoke Albanian. Interestingly, on the bus in Belgrade a couple days later, I got talking with a Kosovar woman from furhter north, born and raised in Kosovo. Fascinatingly and illumanatinginly, she only knows a few small phrases in Albanian. The segregation of Serbian and Albanian Kosovarians must be astounding if she only knows a few basic phrases, while in the capital people barely spoke any Serbian. 

The week after getting back was chill. I had a really weird encounter on Sunday night on a run (I won’t get into here), that kind of threw me off for the rest of the week. But work was chill. I bought all my plane tickets from here to Japan to Boston (with a few cheeky stops along the way…). Non-linearly, today I also bought my down-sized backpack that I’ll be taking with me. It’s super breathable and well water resistant, both of which will be great boons where I’m heading.  I also got new hiking sneakers which should be great. My colleagues in the office are in the US for a big conference this week, so I was able to plan a 4-day trip to…

Slovenia! A country that has been high on my hit-list for a long time, and for some reason I’d kind of written off for this euro-stint. But screw it, I got a long-ass bus ticket and went, and holy moly, I was not disappointed. I arrived in Ljubljana, which is just overflowing with quaint charm and unnecessary aesthetic touches. A small canal runs through the old town (inside the bend is a large hill with a medieval castle). At the main square, sort of at the elbow of the bend, are not one, not two, but three bridges all within a hundred feet of eachother. No reason, just because it looked awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place where you could see the progression from dark ages kingdom to big town to modern city so clearly, and all with total grace and charm. To top it all off, if you look north along any major road, you get the singular view of the eastern-most Alps in the distance.      Ljubljana is very centrally located in the country, which makes its bus station the hub of a huge network of routes. They  say that Slovenia is the greenest country on earth, and I might have to agree. From the bus rides, all you see is rolling hills gently morphing into mountains, and just a carpet of full forests over the whole affair. 

I twice availed myself of the extensive (albeit confusing) bus system in my few days in the country. On Sunday I rode for a couple hours west, deeper into the Alps, where I was let off in the town of Bled, which crowns Lake Bled. What can I say about Bled? Water clearer and greener than I thought possible, an ancient church on the lake’s only small island, a fortress atop cliffs right next to the shore, and a lovely small town that serves as the center for alpine exploration in western Slovenia. I spent the morning taking a stroll on the circular shore path, including a little gander up a nearby hill so I could take in the stunning scenery from a better vantage. One of the many attractions in the area are the rental rowboats. I shopped around a bit and, for a very reasonable price, took myself out for a row on the stunning water. The woman running the dock was a little surprised I wanted to go alone, but I had so much fun in my little boat, paddling around the stunning Alpine lake. Awesome day. 

On Monday I got my morning work done and took another bus, this time even further into the Alps to the small village of Kranjska Gora, almost to the Austrian Border. In fact, I could have taken the bus slightly further and done the tri-point hike between Slovenia, Austria, and Italy. However, I decided not to, and keep it simple. I do have a marathon in the next week after all. So I did a nice little eight mile hike instead, earning an insane view of the village at the foot of snow-capped mountains, stumbling upon a tiny alpine meadow with a deserted cabin and mini-barn full of straw, feeling thoroughly as if I had time traveled into the 1700’s. It was really an insane experience, including getting caught in a moderately severe snow storm. Keeping moving kept me dry, and the snow created a super fun atmosphere. The whole thing made me want to devote more time to the Alps in the future. 

On my bus ride back, on Tuesday, I had a 5-hour bus layover in Zagreb, and it was really amazing to return to a place with so many fond memories from last year. I had arrived from such a whirlwind experience last year in Zagreb, I’m not sure I was able to really appreciate how freaking stunning it is! Like WOW! Really awesome. 

Anywho, I’m back in Belgrade now, having a very chill week ahead of the marathon. I’m feeling good, cautiously optimistic, a bit nervous, and very excited! Until later xoxo