Beside the Seaside

« In Which The Credit Crunch Reaches Montenegro | Home | In Which Being Right Is Very Wrong »

In Which Tito Would Feel Very Much At Home

September 5, 2008 by Mike

Sutomore

Billed as a "Traditional Moto Meeting In Adriatic Seaside", but with lots of mentions of 'Yugoslavia', I wasn't quite sure what to make of this, "the last bike rally of the summer". Eric was my guide and one-man welcoming committee -- finding a space for my tent next to his, and explaining what's what. Eric, a Serb, lives in Paris but sets off on his Harley for this rally every summer.

"There'll be here from all of Yugoslavia," he explained. "Well, what used to be Yugoslavia. Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia yes, Slovenia. Montenegro of course. Well, not Macedonia. They still don't like us."

Nevertheless, it seems like a pretty good start. These countries were at war with each other 15 years ago, remember, war made all the more ugly because the 'countries' fighting were in the process of being born out of the ashes of 'Yugoslavia'. And made infinitely harder for the civilian populations to bear because "Serbs" lived in "Croatia", "Slovenes" in "Bosnia", etc etc.

There, that's a decade of conflict and centuries of dispute explained in a couple of lines. Not. But the point I'm trying to make is -- seeing Serbs and Bosnians and Croats and Slovenes together, united by their interest in carburettors and paint jobs and beer, rather than by blood lust, that's good to be a good thing, right?

Bikes from Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro make peace...

I've been in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and now Montenegro. So I'm meeting Serbs for the first time. They were the 'baddies' if you want to blame just one side in the war. "Ach, politicians. Bloody politicians," spits Eric. And Boban. And Nened. And The President. And the guitarist from one of the bands. We can all blame our politicians, right?

And it's not just Serbs here -- though they are by far the biggest group. I was worried at first that this was just a gathering of Serb bikers who happened to live in other countries. It's a great big melting-pot, this region, except it boiled, it didn't melt.

There are Bosnians here. They could certainly be Bosnian Serbs.. there's plenty of those, living in an enclave called the 'Serb Republic within Bosnia.

But there are Croats here too.. and there aren't many Croatian Serbs any more. As far as I can tell, most of the Croatian Serbs who survived the war made their way to Serbia.

And there are Slovenians here.. and there are even fewer Slovenian Serbs left today.. if any at all.. so great and final was the separation of those two 'nations' when Yugoslavia

So it's all good that these people are brought together by a mutual love of biking. Even if the music that is their other shared passion is the most indescribable dirge I Have Ever Heard, and because it's live music there's no chance that the next song will be by a decent (British, or at a push American) band. And no, the bands didn't stop playing 'til three in the morning. And the speakers are all pointed at my tent. (And yes, Birgitta, I had had a beer or two by this stage..)

Here's Eric, still talking, pointing at a sign in case you can't see it. His wife has her hand on my bottom. The two guys you wouldn't want to mess with are the owners of the site -- name of Lloyd, a grandfather having worked for the Lloyd Adriatic shipping line many years ago. They don't think they're Welsh.

Comments

By steve | September 20, 2008 9:13 AM

Sunshine, incredible landscapes, twisting roads.... in a week where I couldn't get to Paris because Eurostar chose to set fire to one of their tunnels, I'm profoundly jealous.

Thanks for the updates. A cracking read as always.

Steve

Beside the Seaside

In Which Tito Would Feel Very Much At Home

Comments

Leave your comment

Latest comments