Holiday in the Balkans (6): Cetinje & Njegusi
October 10th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Another day (Thursday), another excursion – but shorter this time (9 am – 3.15 pm). We started with our first experience of rain but the weather soon brightened up and then became warm (22C).
Our first destination was the charming town of Cetinje. This was founded in the 1480s and it was Montenegro’s capital for over four and a half centuries until 1945. We visited the Museum of King Nikola who was the ruler of Montenegro from 1860 to 1918, a period regarded as the country’s ‘golden age’. The building dates from 1871 and is the former residence of the king. All the furnishing is original except for the silk wallpaper.
Next stop was the sleepy village of Njegusi which was the birthplace of the ruler Petar II. Here we visited a restaurant called “Konoba Kod Radonjica” where we were treated to a light meal of cheese and the local version of prosciutto which is an air-cured ham called “prsut”.
From here, our coach took a precipitous and winding single-lane road down to the coast with fabulous views of the Bay of Kotor on which we will sail tomorrow. The road has 23 numbered hairpin bends (or “serpentines as our guide called them), but there are almost 50 in total and all the while there is a huge drop by the side of the narrow road but spectacular views of this World Heritage Site.
Driving through the coast town of Budva, we stopped opposite the tiny island of Sveti Stefan which is connected to the mainland by a stone causeway. Today this is Montenegro’s most exclusive resort and the location of some scenes from the James Bond film “Casino Royale”.
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Holiday in the Balkans (5): Albania
October 9th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
It was another long but interesting day (Wednesday) with collection from the hotel in Petrovac at 8 am and return towards 6 pm. It was a day of two halves: one in southern Montenegro and one in northern Albania.
So the morning involved time in the nearby town of Ulcinj. This is the southern-most town of former Yugoslavia with a very long history. It was settled by the Illyrians and Greeks in the 5th century and regularly raided by pirates and used for a slave market. It was an Ottoman possession for over 300 years and today it is 70% Albanian and 70% Muslim.
We climbed steep, stone steps up to the Old Town to look around the Citadel which includes a slave square, a church-mosque, and two tiny archeological museums.
After over three hours on the go, the group rebelled and I negotiated with our guide that we would have a stop for drinks and toilets. Then we headed for the border with Albania. Our guide had asked us to bring our passports and warned that she had experienced delays of up to two hours going in and coming out of Albania. In fact, as she put it “We have the luck” because our passports were not examined and we were over the border in 5-10 minutes.
Albania is a small nation with a population of less than 3 million, over a third of them living in the capital of Tirana. When communism ruled throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Albania had one of the most eccentric and xenophobic of all the communist leaders in Enver Hoxha. Our guide pointed out several of the more than 173,000 bunkers built in the country during Hoxha’s rule to protect against possible invasion from foreign powers.
We joined a local guide who took us round the remains of the Rozafa fortress located on the outskirts of the city of Shkodra on a rocky hill 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level. We were told that there have been fortifications on this site for some 2,500 years but what one can see today is mainly of Venetian origin.
Afterwards we drove down to Shkodra itself. This is one of the most ancient cities in the Balkans and was founded in the 4th century by Illyrian tribes. Today it is a significant centre in modern Albania with a population of around 110,000.
At this stage, the group instigated another revolt when we challenged the plan to visit a museum before we had lunch. After all, we had had our breakfast around 7 am and it was now 2.30 pm, so it was agreed that we would eat first and visit the museum – a collection of historic photographs called the Marubi Fototeka Collection – after we had enjoyed the local cuisine.
Leaving Albania took no more time at the border than entering. Although it was a very short visit, it was enough to see how under-developed the country is, although our guide assured us that “They are in good progress”.
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Holiday in the Balkans (4): forest and monastery
October 8th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Tuesday in Montenegro started in Kolasin in the mountains in early morning when it was just 4C and ended in Petrovac on the coast where it was a balmy 22C.
First we visited the National Park of Biogradska Gora which is one of only three primeval forests in Europe. The trees here are around four hundred years old. We had a most enjoyable one hour stroll around Biogradsko Lake but the low water level was yet another indication of climate change. Then we returned to Kolasin for a coffee break and Kathleen and I shared a small pizza.
Next stop close by was Moraca Monastery which was founded in 13th century by the Serbian prince Stefan Vukanovic Nemanji and centres on a small church with frescoes from 16th & 17th centuries. Then we travelled by a spectacular limestone ravine down to the Adriatic coast to Petrovic nad Moru which is part of the so-called Budva Riviera where we are staying at Hotel Riva for five nights.
This delightful little coastal town has a promenade with hotels, restaurants, cafes and shops plus a beach and remarkable stratified cliffs. Sunset was glorious and later we even saw a shooting star. And, at a local restaurant for dinner, I found a banana split.
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Holiday in the Balkans (3): Serbia to Montenegro
October 7th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Day three (Monday) of our Balkans trip was totally a travelling day – a train journey of almost nine hours (9 am till 5.40 pm) from Belgrade in Serbia to Kolasin in Montenegro with a short passage through a bit of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was not that the distance travelled was so great, but that the speed was so slow with some inexplicable stops.
Although the train was modern enough to have charging points for smartphones, the three carriages were covered in graffiti on the outside and pretty basic on the inside with no refreshment facilities at all and unappealing toilets. Our hotel gave us a packed lunch, but a roll, an apple and a bottle of water was not exactly luxury.
Our arrival at Kolasin was exciting. Somehow the train moved away from the station before any of the group managed to get off, so our guide had to contrive very quickly for the train to stop outside the station and we all had to trundle our cases down the railway tracks back to the station where outside a coach awaited us.
It was a very short drive to the Bianca Hotel & Spa in this little town located at a height of 960 metres (3,150 feet) between the Bjelasica and Sinjajevina mountains. It was the only evening of the tour when dinner was included and the hotel buffet provided plenty of choice for the hungry British.
Montenegro voted to become independent of Serbia in 2006. It is a tiny country, about two-thirds the size of Wales, with a population of only just over 620,000 (less than half are actually Montenegrins with over a quarter being Serbian ethnically). The language is Serbian, although since independence it is been called Montenegrin locally. Its capital is Podgorica from which we will fly home in a week’s time. Montenegro adopted the Euro in 2002 and it applied for EU membership in 2010.
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Holiday in the Balkans (2): Belgrade
October 6th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
On the first full day of our Balkans holiday (Sunday), the Voyages Jules Verne group – 18 of us in all – were taken on a four-hour (9 am – 1 pm) tour of a few major Belgrade sights by local guide Dana.
First stop was the ruins of the Belgrade or Kalemegdan Fortress overlooking the junction of the Sava and Danube rivers. The remaining structures of the fortress date from the 16th & 17th centuries. Interestingly, we passed the remains of the Serbian Ministry of Defence which was bombed by NATO in 1989 to prevent the Serbs from taking over Kosovo. Second stop was the section of the Bulevar Kralija Aleksandra housing the Serbian Parliament and the Belgrade City Hall.
Next we drove to the Cathedral of Saint Seva which is an enormous marble icon that can hold 10,000 worshippers. This edifice has been over 80 years in the making and still under construction but the crypt has been completed and is very colourful and very grandiose.
The last stop was the so-called Museum of Yugoslav History which in fact is a set of buildings dedicated to the life of Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980). We viewed one long building housing lots of foreign gifts and relay batons presented to Tito and the House of Flowers which contains the mausoleum of Tito and his (third) wife.
We were free to do our own thing in the afternoon. I suggested to Kathleen that we visit the so-called National Museum which in fact has a major art collection that is surprisingly impressive. For her part, Kathleen was keen that we should find the actual point of confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers so we crossed the Brankov Bridge, walked past endless floating night clubs, and found the point of confluence where we had a drink in a little place called “Stara Koliba na Uscu”.
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Holiday in the Balkans (1): arrival
October 5th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
What we knew as Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1992 broke up into what are now seven separate nations. I have previously visited two of them – Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia – and on this holiday I will be visiting two more – Serbia and Montenegro – with a quick look inside next-door Albania. This will bring the total number of countries that I have visited to 77.
This holiday is organised by Voyages Jules Verne and is called Secret Balkans and I am travelling with my friend Kathleen. We flew from London Heathrow airport to Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport on the airline Air Serbia which was a flight of two hours, and since Serbia is one hour ahead of UK time, effectively this occupied the first day of our trip.
Serbia has a population of 7 million (almost all of Serbian ethnicity) and its capital is Belgrade (1.2 million) located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. We are staying for the first two nights at the Belgrade Art Hotel.
The travel company itself admitted in its briefing: “As capitals go, Belgrade wouldn’t rank among the beauties but it isn’t all soulless Soviet-era severity”. Let’s put it this way: it beats Bucharest but does not compare with Prague or Budapest.
On our first evening (Saturday) in Belgrade, there were loud demonstrations against the government of President Aleksandar Vucic. These demos – called “one in five million” – have been taking place every Saturday for six months.
We wandered down the long, cobbled street of Skadarlija which is very popular for all the restaurants and cafes which line both sides and side streets and where Kathleen and I had dinner outside.
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Five ‘countries’ that I have no plans to visit
October 4th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
A new publication by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Foreign Policy Centre draws attention to the human rights situation in some of Europe’s most contested but least well known places: Transnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Crimea.
The publication brings together local and international experts to set out the current political situations in these disputed territories and what it means for human rights within them, as well as for other communities effected by them, including those living near unrecognised borders or who were displaced by the conflicts.
It brings together a range of different viewpoints but raises concerns about the human rights situation in all five disputed territories, particularly about the shrinking civic space in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Crimea; the treatment of ethnic Georgians and Crimean Tartars; as well as the efforts by the de facto authorities and the Russians to create borders.
You can learn more here.
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Remembering Gandhi 150 years after his birth
October 2nd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 and this 150th anniversary will be celebrated around the world today.
I recall seeing the 1982 film “Gandhi” and this is my review of that work:
“When I first saw this classic film at the cinema, the audience applauded at both the intermission and the end (it is a long work of 188 minutes). Although the narrative covers over five decades in Gandhi’s life, a major segment concerns the the process by which independence of India and Pakistan was brought about and the huge loss of life and massive migrations that resulted. When I saw the events of 1947 portrayed in the 2017 film “Viceroy’s House”, I was encouraged to revisit the earlier film which I think deals with these events more powerfully.
“Gandhi” was a triumph both for Richard Attenborough, as producer and director, who worked for 20 years to bring the story to the big screen and for Ben Kingsley, a man whose father was Indian but who had until then had a minor profile, proving to be a superlative choice for the eponymous role. The cinematography is wonderful, making superb use of local filming in India and evocative of some of the work of David Lean.
The huge cast represents a rich array of British thespianism (as well as American and Indian actors) with cameo roles for stars such as John Mills, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard and James Fox and even a tiny role for Daniel Day-Lewis who would go on to be a towering talent. Finally the script by John Briley works well in communicating essential information with some effective lines.
The film is a little too reverential towards its subject and at times it is a trifle ponderous, but these are relatively minor reservations. It went on to win no less than eight Academy Awards.”
I remember my visit to India when. almost the first stop on our tour, was the location of the killing of Gandhi:
“We proceeded to the Gandhi Smriti Memorial Museum. This is located on Tees January Marg in the grand house previously owned by the industrialist B D Birla where Mahatma Gandhi always stayed on his visits to Delhi and where he was assassinated on 30 January 1948. Inside the museum are informative panels and models concerning the life of this charismatic leader of Indian nationalism. Outside in the garden, a set of concrete footprints mark his last steps before he was gunned down by a Hindu extremist, enraged by his support for the Muslims.”
Today, more than ever, our politics and our communities need Gandhi’s understanding and tolerance.
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Women substantially underrepresented in the movies both before and behind the camera
October 1st, 2019 by Roger Darlington
The Gina Davis Institute on Gender in Media has analysed the 56 top-grossing films of 2018 in 20 countries in North America, Scandinavia, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Almost half of the characters across the films analysed, which collectively earned $21bn (£17bn) at the box office, were white. Only one of the 60 female leaders in the films was LGBTQ+. None of the films was directed by a woman, only a quarter had at least one female producer and one in 10 had at least one woman on the writing team.
Male characters were shown as being more effective and more respected when in leadership positions, while female presidents and prime ministers were portrayed as struggling with the job. Where female characters were portrayed as strong, it was in the home.
Gina Davis starred in the film “Thelma And Louise” which failed to alter Hollywood production and she had the leading role in the television series “Commader-In-Chief” which was cancelled after just one series.
More information here.
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Have you ever been to Tiananmen Square?
September 30th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I have been to China four times and, on each occasion, I have visited Tiananmen Square in the heart of the capital Beijing. Inevitably, each time I have recalled the massacre of June 1989.
In my account of the first visit in 2000, I wrote:
“One advantage of seeing the palace [the Forbidden City] from north to south is that we came out into Tiananmen Square. The name means ‘The Square of Heavenly Peace’, but of course all of us associate it with the terrible events of 1989. Peter [our guide] was living in Beijing at the time and went to the square, so he was able to give us a very personal view of events.
He was convinced that it was a genuine mass movement with extensive support and not simply a student protest, but he felt that the demands were more economic than political. He doubted whether there were many deaths in the square itself, as opposed to the adjoining streets, and castigated the wild estimates of the number of deaths made by some western media commentators. However, he had no doubt that the Chinese authorities had exercised sophisticated media control over the presentation of events and that the whole episode had been the catalyst for the subsequent remarkable economic developments.
Tiananmen Square is simply huge and one has little difficulty accepting the claim that it is the largest inner city square in the world. Estimates of the number of people that it can hold vary between half a million and a million. On one side is an enormous portrait of Chairman Mao at the main entrance to the Forbidden City and on the other side is the Chairman Mao Mausoleum. One wonders how long these now rare commemorations of the Great Leader will remain [they are still there].
The huge picture of Mao Zedong
at the entrance to the Forbidden City
In the square, we had an official tour group photograph with Mao smiling benevolently behind us.”
In a blog posting on my latest visit tio China just last year, I wrote:
“On our first full day in Beijing, we visited two major locations in and around the enormously expansive Tiananmen Square. The security in the square is phenomenal: one can only enter through guarded points where Chinese citizens have their identity cards electronically scanned; at a further security point, all bags are x-rayed; and everywhere there are police and military, not to mention the plain clothes personnel.”
This evening, I watched a 90-minute documentary on BBC Four entitled “Tiananmen: The People v The Party” with moving testimony from some of those who were student protesters in the square. The programme explained the conflict between the reformist General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and the hard-line Premier Li Peng. Sadly today the line is harder than ever.
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