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Tag Archives: Yugoslavia
A Hundred Years Ago, Christmas was still Exciting – December 1920: Bloody Christmas
Zur deutschen Fassung. I find it perfectly fitting that some states have declared a state of emergency for Christmas. Because for me, Christmas has always been a disaster to be avoided. Usually, I escaped by traveling to countries as devoid … Continue reading
Posted in History, Italy, Politics
Tagged Croatia, Fiume, Rijeka, World War I, Yugoslavia
6 Comments
The Iron Curtain and Freedom of Travel
When I was in Transnistria, I had to go to the immigration office to obtain a tourism permit that would allow me to stay in the country beyond the 48-hour visa that I had picked up at the train station. … Continue reading
Posted in Cold War, History, Transnistria, Travel
Tagged Soviet Union, Tiraspol, Yugoslavia
14 Comments
For my readers in Yugoslavia
There are countries where I am received with car bombs and threatening phone calls (Malta), and then there are countries where I am received with hospitality and curiosity, leading to newspaper articles and invitations to speak at TEDx conferences (Romania). … Continue reading
How Social Media saved Yemen
Two countries walk into a bar, because there was an offer for any couple whose names start with the same letter. Says Yugoslavia: “I was so unlucky that my wars already took place in the early 1990s. A few years … Continue reading
The Millionaire Translators of Montenegro
Zur deutschen Fassung dieser Geschichte. Tivat is different from the rest of Montenegro: more glitzy, more shiny, more expensive, more show-off. All the things I don’t like. I only go there regularly because I am trying to visit the Maritime … Continue reading
Posted in History, Language, Montenegro, Photography, Politics, Travel
Tagged business, Tivat, translation, Yugoslavia
94 Comments
Film review: “Balkanski špijun” (“Balkan Spy”)
I was only looking for a spy film from Yugoslavia to practice some Serbo-Croatian, and I found a true gem! Balkanski špijun (Balkan Spy) was released in 1984 and is a comedy about an elderly gentleman who is asked to come … Continue reading
Red Star
“OK, we’ll tear down the old houses, put up a high-rise building and sell expensive apartments. Long live capitalism! But don’t touch the monument with the Red Star, comrades!” (Photographed in Tivat, Montenegro.)
The Cross and the Star
In Yugoslavia, the Socialist star and the Christian cross got along quite well, it seems. (Photographed in the cemetery of Velji Zalazi near Kotor, Montenegro.)
Posted in Montenegro, Photography, Religion, Travel
Tagged cemetery, christianity, church, Kotor, Yugoslavia, Zalazi
1 Comment
Serbo-Croatian
Dear ex-Yugoslavs, without any intention of being disrespectful to your dramatic break-up, I am not going to have time to learn Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin separately. No, I am going to stick with good old Serbo-Croatian. At a used-book … Continue reading
Moving to Montenegro
By now, I have really been staying in Ammerthal, the small village in Bavaria where I grew up, longer than I should have. Rent-free living and a cozy room full of books should actually provide agreeable conditions for a student … Continue reading
Posted in History, Maps, Montenegro, Travel, World War II
Tagged Ammerthal, Kotor, Yugoslavia
55 Comments
