Jackie Carpenter
I'm a graduate student in New York City who is taking this blessed summer to do some traveling. I'm studying international affairs with a focus on Eastern Europe/Russia, so this summer I am backpacking the Balkans. I love photography so pictures and picture-taking are a prominent feature of my travels. I worked for a long time before returning to school to get my master's, so I am well aware of how special it is to have a block of time to dedicate to traveling, and I plan to make the most of it. Mescalita
Travel Blog Posts
July 27th 2007
After a week in the scorching heat of the “city” of Novi Sad, it was time to head to the country. Azbukum organized a little retreat to the “selo”, which is the Serbian word for village. We headed south to the little town of Valjevo, which was the seat of rebellion during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. I have noticed before (in Russia) that people in the urban Slavic cities transform when they go to the country. They become utterly relaxed and cheerful, as if the most natural thing in the world is to pick berries all afternoon or tend the sheep. Things are no different in Serbia. This is why I say that in every Slav there is the heart of a peasant. Now, Novi Sad is a far cry from an “urban ... read more
July 26th 2007
(Hello Folks - The TravelBlog server crashed and it lost my last 6 entries. I’ve edited and expanded this one, and I’m re-posting it. I’m planning to post a few more, barring further technical difficulties, this week.) Tonight I am sitting in my newly rented apartment in Belgrade and staring at the quiet walls. After a very full month in Novi Sad, it is nice to have some time alone to reflect on my trip in Serbia so far. I am in the apartment of Milan Petrovic, as the little Cyrillic letters read on the front door, whose grandson has rented me the flat for the month. I think Milan has long since passed, but his little front door placard and his furniture live on. The squat dark green velour armchair that I’m reclining in could ... read more
June 17th 2007
I heard about Dubrovnik for the first time back in 1995 when I was traveling through Hungary. Some people I was traveling with were lamenting that this city, the Jewel of the Adriatic, had been severely bombed and damaged during the recent civil war. One of them wanted to go see it anyway, saying that she thought it would still be one of the most beautiful cities of the world, even amidst the rubble. At that time the civil war was still in full swing in many parts of the former Yugoslavia and heading south of Budapest seemed like lunacy, so I declined the invitation to join her. Now, twelve years later, I have finally seen Dubrovnik, and despite much anticipation, my first walk in the city still took my breath away. My joints were ... read more
June 15th 2007
The Adriatic archipelago is one of the main reasons to come to Croatia. The islands along the coast are similar but at the same time retain their own special character, like siblings. Some, like Krk and Mljet, are covered mostly by a national park, while others, like Pag, are floating Medieval villages. With limited time and money, I could just visit one of them, so I chose the island of Rab. Rab Island has one of the most beautiful cities in the world that is at the same time one of the smallest. The medieval Old City is crowded onto a narrow peninsula on one side of the island, and boasts four church towers that give it a distinctive skyline. As you stroll along the stone path perimeter along the shore, the towers shift in ... read more
June 15th 2007
After transplanting myself from my swanky digs at Zagreb’s Regent Esplanade to considerably more humble surroundings at the hostel just outside town, I convinced my German roommate, Angelika, to accompany me to the Mirogoj Cemetary. It is called the most beautiful cemetery in Europe by travelers, while Croats smirk in their characteristically dry way that the souls buried there are housed better in death than they ever were in life. We set out to see for ourselves. The cemetery dates back to the 1860s when the little graveyards in Zagreb were getting full, and the government needed a fitting place to bury dignitaries and the nobility (although there are plenty of commoners buried in Miragoj too). They set out to build an ornate, gargantuan memorial for the dead, and they succeeded. Today, a century and ... read more
June 4th 2007
Here I sit in the gorgeous lounge of a history-drenched hotel in the middle of the Croatian capitol of Zagreb. A guy with a friendly smile and thinning hair is tickling the ivories, and strains of "Summertime" can be heard between bursts of Croatian from a nearby table. The lights are low, the cafe table bouquets are fresh, and the candles are flickering. I've decided to soak in the ambiance of this place and write to you all instead of going out tonight. When home is this sublime -- with columns of swirled marble and glowing art deco lamps and light fixtures -- why leave? This hotel -- the Regent Esplanade -- is an absolutely sinful extravagance on my part, but it was the only place I could even imagine that would set my soul ... read more
June 2nd 2007
I'm adding a few more notes on Athens before I leave tonight, by way of further explanation of some of the pictures I've attached. I'm sitting in Syntagma square at the moment, enjoying the wireless internet I only just today discovered. It is apparently a project of a nearby university, perhaps with the intention of getting Greeks to become more "wired." So far, though, I'm the only person I've ever seen in the square with a laptop, and for this reason I have gotten more than the usual stares. I was just thinking yesterday how it is the little things that you notice when you travel that remind you that you are in a foreign environment. And these are the things that natives don't observe at all. In Athens some of these would be the following: ... read more
June 1st 2007
I arrived in Athens a week ago on the first stop of my Backpacking the Balkans tour. I have stayed here for a week with my friend Georgia and her mother, who is a saintly spanikopita-making machine. She just laughs at us when we show up at 5AM every morning, and wakes us up at 2PM in the afternoon with the aroma of Greek (not Turkish!) coffee. Georgia is an Athens native and a fairly famous performance artist in the country, and through her circle of friends and knowledge of the city I have had many experiences I would never have had otherwise. I have tramped through the city several times over, mingling with the Anarchists in Xarchia square and the African vendors in Monistiraki by day, and then meeting up with Georgia and her ... read more
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