KOTOR. Laundry, shutters & wires

Kotor, Montenegro is one of the most beautiful towns in the Balkans. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the old city was built between the 12th and 14th centuries and is filled with medieval architecture and historic monuments. Known for its beautiful bay, the maze of cobbled streets, lovely antique shops and plenty of cozy restaurants, within the city walls you discover beauty at every step. 

But I was very impressed by something else you come across at every pace: the colourful display of laundry hanging from the windows, nicely blended with electric lines also meandering between the buildings. Those views are not that uncommon I know, I´ve seen it often in medieval towns across Europe. Nevertheless, in Kotor all the streets are so narrow and space is so limited that it is the only possibility to dry your laundry. And the strange thing is that is not eye disturbing at all, it is beautifully harmonized with the facades and wooden shutters.

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA. TOGETHER BUT DIVIDED

Mostar, Ready to jump

The division was the result rather than the cause of the war. 

I have to admit I was very ignorant of what happened in the territory of our Western neighbor back in the 90s. Maybe I still am, 3 months are clearly not enough to understand something so complicated…
Country of 3 ethnics, 3 religions and rivers of blood during the war. 
Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs who were school friends could no longer be friends. Mixed ethnicity families were confused and displaced; where were they to go? Should they separate for their own safety? Where ethnicity and religion meant nothing in the former Yugoslavia, it now means everything.