http://www.thedailybrad.com/east-anglia/
Geographically, The Balkan Peninsula Is Regarded As Southeastern Europe - The Landmass South Of Austria And Hungary And East Of Italy, It's Renowned For Rugged And Remote Mountains, Impressive Shore And Ferociously Partisan Populations.
Puzzled? It's really a little bit of a trick question. Geographically, the Balkan Peninsula is considered as Southeastern Europe - the landmass south of Austria and Hungary and east of Italy. It's famous for craggy and remote mountains, spectacular coastline and fiercely partisan populations. The Adriatic is to the west, the Black Sea to the east, Greece at the southernmost tip.
But politically, the answer depends on the year. Five centuries of war, oppression and ethnic conflict have melted and made states on the Balkan Spur many times over. If you answered Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania or Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) - A-plus! All of them have coastline on the Adriatic Sea. If you assumed Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, or Kosovo - C-plus. Balkans, although not Western Balkans. Yugoslavia? No go. It collapsed over 10 years ago.
The good news for travelers? An increasingly stable range of independent nations based rather on ethnic populations, but also on the industrial imperatives of new-found autonomy : capitalism, development and tourism!
Dubrovnik, Croatia, is now a top destination on Eastern Mediterranean cruises, like the one Bud and I did in 2003. Our Dubrovnik guide lived thru the 1991-92 Serbian siege, and bullet holes were still everywhere. But Maria's optimism was contagious. "Come back," she entreated. "After the roads are fixed and borders opened, you'll love it."
7 years on we landed in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, on the first leg of a four-country Western Balkan road trip. Customs and immigration were smooth and efficient and our rental vehicle, a Czech Skoda Fabia, waited just steps from the terminal.
We'd drive northeast thru Slovenia's Julian Alps, south along coastal Croatia and down to Montenegro's beaches. We'd finish over Montenegro's mythical mountains and into BiH to end in Sarajevo. Maybe best, we were flying solo - no package tours, no booking agent. Just us!
Euro-GPS
We brought a GPS with a pre loaded European chip. First stop : iconic Lake Bled. Our GPS let us select : back roads or highway. We took the smallest roads and were instantly smitten. Each home sported lush window boxes. In the foothills of the Julian Alps, each town reached higher, with taller traditional pines, and roads narrowing to single lanes, regularly weaving thru steep pastures. Around one corner a spotless church sat on top of a brilliantly green hill.
Lake Bled's Grand Hotel Toplice was impressive and historical. It housed Nazi Officials during World War II, and was so celebrated that the officers had to pay for rooms, although they were the occupying forces. The Toplice was full of talkative Brits and sporty Germans, and life revolved round the lake - shaded walkways along the coast, swans paddling about, boats with brightly colored canopies to ferry visitors around. Beautiful!
Our next stop took us even higher, to a sporthotel in Kranjska Gora. Sporthotels are distinctly European : spare decoration, few luxuries, but great rooms to hold skis and bikes. At the Toplice we were told that Northern Americans visit infrequently. In Kranjska Gora, Northern Americans are not common. We were treated like stars and advised to go to the ski jump at nearby Planica where the world record for ski-flying was set in 2005 : 717 feet "airborne" coming off the end of the jump.
We were cautioned about the drive over Slovenia's 9,300-foot top, Mount Triglav, at the eastern end of the Alps. It was stormy and foggy. The route was terribly steep and narrow with 50 or more switchbacks. "Follow a bus," they revealed. "It will lead you."
Great guidance! We turned up at our next stop, Lipica, in fine shape and prepared to visit the famed Lipizzaner Stud Farm in its 430th year of breeding and coaching the enchanting white horses. We caught the dramatic "Airs Above the Ground" equestrian show and marveled at the sublime facility with dressage colleges, lodging, diners and wedding chapel as reported tagza.com.
East Anglian Boy
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58mm Round Badge Style Fridge Magnet East Anglia Flag $2.99 ... |
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