Our route includes Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. The joy of simply being on the road hits a high point at the Bulgarian border. Just the thought of watching the sun rise in a different land fills the people on the bus with happiness. And though the warning from Bulgarian police “not to take photographs at the border” surprises us a bit, our excitement is not dampened, as we know we'll take photographs at other locales.
Some of the splendid examples of European architectural style we encountered on the streets of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, definitely made us feel that we had stepped outside our native lands. Not to mention the cheap gas prices; these were certainly another sign that we were no longer in Turkey. As we are walking around Sofia, an elderly lady runs up to us and invites us to her home. When she tells us her own children live in Turkey, we realize where all her warmth is emanating from. After we bid farewell to this elderly Bulgarian lady, we gather ourselves to head onward to Macedonia. In Macedonia, we arrive at the capital city, Skopje, and as we wander around the city's old neighborhoods, we think of Turkish poet Yahya Kemal, who describes Skopje in his poem “Kaybolan Şehir,” or “Lost City.” We head out onto the sparkling waters of the enormous Orchid Lake on a yacht tour, and it is simply impossible not to be blown away by the Ottoman architecture we see at the base of the mountains around the lake.
Four days left, keep on moving.
The Danube provides a lifeline for Serbia, and when the sun rises, it turns a completely different color. We head out for Bosnia, filled with curiosity. Bosnia still carries traces of the war from 1993. The buildings here are anything but sparkling and strong; instead, many of them are riddled with bullet holes and have remained like that for years. There is a very significant reason that they have not been repaired: “So that the youth of Bosnia can also live this history and so that no one forgets and to remind people.” Still in Bosnia, we head now for “Vrelo Bosne,” a spot at the base of the lush green mountains, and wonderful therapy for the soul. Watching the swans here swim while listening to the great variety of birds in the background is the most soothing activity imaginable. On another note, it is unthinkable that anyone would come all the way to Bosnia and not see the famous Mostar Bridge. The bridge is extremely high, but even so, we watch a Bosnian youth climb to its top and then jump into the water below, many times. Our next stop? Croatia.
The most famous city of all in Croatia is of course the coastal spot of Dubrovnik. This gorgeous place lies on the Adriatic Sea, and its center is Freedom Square. For those who may or may not remember, a quick reminder: Dubrovnik agreed to pay an annual tax of 120,000 gold pieces to the Ottoman state, and thus never made any concessions as to its freedoms. It is not difficult to see the love this city's residents have always had for freedom when you read some of the inscriptions on the ramparts that surround the city: “Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro,” or “Even for all the gold in the world, freedom must not be sacrificed.”
Though our aim is to continue quickly on this Balkan tour, the Montenegro tunnel slows us down some. And even though we proceed slowly, we do reach Albania by night; in the meantime, on the bus it is freezing, and we are all exhausted. The bus driver wakes us up, and we all try to understand what time it is, and as it turns out, he is trying to wake us up out of fear that the Shkodra Bridge will not hold our weight. And so, even though it's two in the morning, we get off the bus and walk across the bridge, in what feels like freezing rain. In the darkness, we can see only the silhouette of the Shkodra Bridge. And with still-tired eyes, we now watch our bus proceed across this bridge.
On the final day of the tour, through an amusing sort of error, we actually found ourselves at the border crossing into Greece, rather than Bulgaria as originally planned. And though we almost found ourselves touring eight rather than seven Balkan nations, we were faced with visa problems for Greece, and thus wound up heading back into Turkey through Bulgaria.
A colorful place of prayer in Tetovo: Alaca Mosque
We decide to head for Tetovo to see the famous Alaca Mosque. This beautiful mosque was built in the 15th century and looks like it will certainly live to witness another few centuries. This incredible mosque has motifs in bright yellows, greens, blues and quite a few other colors, and they all make us feel wonderful. Actually, if we were to call this mosque “same on the inside and outside,” it would not be inappropriate, as the same motifs are visible on the inside and the outside walls. Right next to the mosque is an eight-cornered tomb where two sisters are buried. There is a story local people tell about this tomb: the hands of Hürşide and Mensure Hanım, two sisters, touched the architecture of this mosque. This city actually also boasts Halveti and Bektaşi dervish lodges as well. In the Bektaşi dervish lodge, there is a 100-year-old Quran, one of the most beautiful pieces from the Balkan past.
The ‘stubborn home'
It was time for dinner. But just as we were about to enter a restaurant that looked like some sort of historic home that specialized in Bosnian dishes, a sign caught our eyes: “I was from the other side and due to my stubbornness, I did not give you a home.” As it turned out, in the 1860s, the Miljacka River in front of this restaurant often overflowed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire decided it wanted to have the houses on the banks of this river moved, and instead built a magnificent building here. But it wasn't an easy feat at all because sitting on the plot of land designated for this as-yet un-built magnificent building was the home of a Bosnian citizen, a man who had no intention of seeing his home torn down. Even the emperor got involved, but to no end. The home owner was not going to budge. Finally, in the end, the man agreed to move, but only on the condition that an exact replica of his home, using the same materials he had used to build it, be constructed on the opposite side of the river. And so, laborers were brought in, and there were exact calculations made, even down to the millimeter, as to which bricks, which stones and what kind of wood the man had used. In fact, those who tell the story say the brick tiles on the man's roof were taken off on by one, with careful scrutinizing of which tile went where. And so, an exact replica of the house was finally built, on the opposite bank of the river. And so the local people began calling this home the “Stubborn House.”
