South African Depression And Anxiety Group
South African depression And anxiety Group
An Increasingly Stable Selection Of Independent Countries Based Rather On Ethnic Populations, But Also On The business Imperatives Of Newly Found Autonomy : Capitalism, Development And Tourism!
Puzzled? It's really a little bit of a trick query. Geographically, the Balkan Promontory 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 shore and furiously partisan populations. The Adriatic is to the west, the Black Sea to the east, Greece at the southernmost tip.
But politically, the answer relies upon the year. Five centuries of war, oppression and ethnic conflict have melted and made countries on the Balkan Peninsula multiple 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 slumped over a decade ago.
The good news for travelers? An increasingly stable choice of independent states based somewhat 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 through the 1991-92 Serbian siege, and bullet holes were still everywhere. But Maria's hopefulness was contagious. "Come back," she entreated. "After the roads are fixed and borders opened, you'll love it."
Seven years later we landed in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, on the 1st leg of a four-country Western Balkan road trip. Customs and immigration were smooth and efficient and our rental automobile, a Czech Skoda Fabia, waited just steps from the terminal.
We'd drive northeast through 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 finish in Sarajevo. Perhaps best, we were flying solo - no package tours, no booking agent. Just us!
Euro-GPS
We brought a GPS with a preloaded Eastern EU chip. First stop : classic Lake Bled. Our GPS let us choose : back roads or highway. We took the tiniest roads and were instantly smitten. Each home sported lush window boxes. In the foothills of the Julian Alps, each town reached higher, with taller ancient pines, and roads narrowing to single lanes, regularly weaving through steep pastures. Around one corner a pristine church sat on top of a brilliantly green hill.
Lake Bled's Grand Hotel Toplice was impressive and historical. It housed Nazi Officers during World War II, and was so renowned that the officials had to pay for rooms, although they were the occupying forces. The Toplice was full of talkative Brits and sporty Germans, and life revolved around the lake - shaded walkways along the shoreline, swans paddling about, boats with brightly colored canopies to ferry visitors around. Wonderful!
Our next stop took us even higher, to a sporthotel in Kranjska Gora. Sporthotels are clearly EU : spare decoration, few luxuries, but huge rooms to hold skis and bikes. At the Toplice we were told that Americans visit infrequently. In Kranjska Gora, Americans are not common. We were treated like celebrities and urged to visit 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 rainy and misty. The route was terribly steep and narrow with fifty or even 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 ready to go to the famed Lipizzaner Stud Farm in its 430th year of breeding and training the enchanting white horses. We caught the dramatic "Airs Above the Ground" equestrian show and marveled at the sublime facility with dressage faculties, lodging, cafes and wedding chapel as reported tagza.com.
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