All those who were born or who live on the bank of a river are assumed to spend some time on the river itself and to observe and understand its nature, its behavior, its character, in a few words its personality. As for me, I was born on the Soča (Isonzo) river and I can say that it reminds me of a young guy, active and quiet at the same time.
Instead, the river Sava reminds me of a middle-aged housewife, who spends her days preparing "pita" and gossiping with her neighbors.
Af for the river Danube, he's an old man, who likes telling stories to his grandchildren and who is proud of himself when troubadours from all over Europe sing about him.
The Neretva River is undoubtedly the reincarnation of Odysseus, an old-timey warrior who, after many years of fighting, is going to get some rest in the Adriatic sea.
Finally, the Drina river, the one that I like the most, because I identify with her: a nervous woman who cannot stay still for a minute and who, when enough is enough, burst her banks and overflows, without prior warning.
Today's winner is therefore the river Drina. But, as I spent some time on the banks of other rivers in Bosnia Hercegovina and Serbia, I wish to pay tribute to all of them. I hope you'll appreciate the pics and that you'll enjoy answering the question included in this post's title.
That's all.
A quale fiume assomigli e perché?
Suppongo che tutti coloro i quali sono nati o vivono sulla riva di un fiume passino del tempo sul fiume stesso e osservino la sua natura, il suo comportamento, il suo carattere, in breve la sua personalità. Per quanto mi riguarda, sono nata sul fiume Soča (Isonzo) e posso dire che mi ricorda un ragazzo giovane, attivo e tranquillo allo stesso tempo.
La Sava, invece, mi ricorda una casalinga di mezza età "coi fianchi larghi", che passa le sue giornate a fare la "pita" e a spettegolare con i vicini.
Il Danubio, invece, è un vecchio che ama raccontare le sue storie ai nipoti e va molto fiero di se stesso quando i trovatori di tutta Europa cantano di lui.
La Neretva è invece, indiscutibilmente, la reincarnazione di Ulisse, un guerriero d'altri tempi che, dopo anni di battaglie, va infine a riposarsi nel mare Adriatico.
Infine la Drina, il fiume che amo di più perché mi ci identifico: una donna nervosa che non riesce stare ferma un attimo e che, quando la misura è colma, rompe gli argini ed esonda, senza preavviso.
Il vincitore di oggi è perciò il fiume Drina. Ma, dato che ho passato del tempo sulle sponde di vari fiumi in Bosnia Hercegovina e in Serbia, vorrei rendere omaggio a tutti. Spero che apprezziate le foto e spero che vi divertirete nel rispondere alla domanda contenuta nel titolo.
Spring of the Bosna River (Ilidža, 2013)
The Skakavac waterfall, formed on the river Perućica (12 km from Sarajevo, 2013)
The Skakavac waterfall (ibid)
The river Drina (near Bijeljina, 2015)
The river Trebišnjica (Trebinje, 2013)
The river Janja (Bijeljina, 2015)
The River Sava (Belgrade, 2015)
The River Danube (Novi Sad, 2015)
The River Sava (Brčko, 2015)
Fishing on the river Sava (Brčko, 2015)
Somewhere, I don't know where (2013)
The river Bosna (Zavidovići, 2014)
The bridge on the Neretva (Jablanica, 2013)
Confluence of Drina and Sava Rivers (Rača, 2014)
Confluence of Sava and Danube Rivers (Belgrade, 2015)
"Mi smo Titovi" is the sign that welcomes you at caffe Tito in Sarajevo. It literally means "We are Tito's" and underlies a feeling that here and there, in former Yugoslavia, hasn't totally disappeared yet: a sense of belonging to an idea of society, whose symbol was Josip Broz (Tito) himself, the communist leader of the multinational yugoslav partisan movement during World War II, the President of Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1980, the co-founder and chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Many people who I met, especially in Bosnia and Hercegovina, say that when Tito was alive, things were better, compared with the war period and with today's one, when free trade and deregulation make wild sex in all the six countries that made up the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). People say that those times anybody had a job, anybody had a house, anybody could go to school and university; there was one big united country and not six small ones and there was peace; nationalism and religion were secondary issues. Then things changed, from many points of view, starting from the war and continuing with the present economic situation (Click here to read some brief evaluations about Bosnia and Hercegovina).
In a few words Tito represents the symbol of a unified country where people could live in peace and where social rights (education, social assistance, health assistance) were granted to all.
Was the SFRY a democracy? Before you answer that, please define "democracy", take a look at Italy or another UE country and decide whether a regime of social inequality, social injustice and class privileges can be considered democratic.
As far as I'm concerned, I was really moved at Tito's grave in Belgrade, as I was at Che Guevara's one in Santa Clara, three years ago. Rest in peace, both of you.
That's all.
p.s. pics where taken (in alphabetical order) in: Bijeljina, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Trebević. They are intentionally mixed.
I felt in love with Sarajevo two years ago, when I went there for the first time in my life. I really like it because from the very beginning I felt at home, thanks to the great sense of hospitality of its people, a feature that many Bosnians have in common, regardless of the "entity" in which they live or other stuff like political or religious convictions, which seem to be actually questions of power, more than other.
There was a war, many people died, many people suffered, but "now the game is over", this is what a lot of Bosnians told me all over the country. Civilians of any "nationality" that survived the war, men who were forced to serve in the army, men and women who decided to serve in the army in order to defend their homes, told me the same: "Idemo napred, ne nazad" (Let's go on and not back).
The question is: "Go where?" Bosnia and Hercegovina is nowadays full of banks of any kind, full of new mosques, full of new orthodox churches, full of shopping centers standing like "cathedrals in a desert", while industry lacks totally and more than 40% of its population is unemployed. Sarajevo is not an exception: while commercial buildings shine like the sun, many private houses and public spaces still bear traces of the war and post-war neglect.
Please excuse my harsh words but believe me, if I didn't care I would never talk about that.
That's all.
p.s. some pics where taken in 2013, some others last week. The situation didn't change a lot, with the exception of the Wojtyla Statue (a new entry - 2014) and that of the City Hall, which is now open; but first of all with the exception of Čika Mišo, who unfortunately died last year.
Sarajevo 1984-2015
Mi sono innamorata di Sarajevo due anni fa, quando ci sono andata per la prima volta nella mia vita. Amo questa città perché, fin dal primo giorno, mi sono sentita a casa, grazie al grande senso di ospitalità delle persone, una caratteristica che molti bosniaci hanno in comune, a prescindere dall'"entità in cui vivono o di altre cose, come le convinzioni politiche o religiose, che sembrano essere di fatto più una questione di potere che altro.
C'è stata una guerra, molte persone sono morte, molte persone hanno sofferto, ma ora "il gioco è finito", questo è quanto molti bosniaci mi hanno detto dappertutto nel paese. Civili di ogni "nazionalità" che sono sopravvissuti alla guerra, uomini costretti a entrare nell'esercito, uomini e donne che volontariamente sono entrati nell'esercito per difendere le loro case, mi hanno detto la stessa cosa: "Idemo napred, ne nazad" (andiamo avanti, non indietro).
La questione è: "Andare dove?" La Bosnia Erzegovina è oggi ricoperta di banche di ogni genere, di nuove moschee, di nuove chiese ortodosse, di centri commerciali che assomigliano a cattedrali nel deserto, mentre l'industria manca del tutto e più del 40% della popolazione è disoccupata. Sarajevo non è un'eccezione: mentre gli edifici commerciali splendono come il sole, molte abitazioni private e spazi pubblici portano ancora i segni della guerra e dell'incuria post-bellica.
Mi scuso per queste parole dure ma credetemi, se non me ne fregasse niente non ne parlarsi proprio.
p.s. alcune immagini sono state scattate nel 2013, altre la settimana scorsa. La situazione non è cambiata molto, con l'eccezione della statua di Wojtyla (una novità del 2014) e della biblioteca, che ora è aperta; ma soprattutto con l'eccezione di Čika Mišo, che sfortunatamente è morto l'anno scorso.
Zetra, the Olympic stadium (2015)
Mountain Trebević (2015)
The olympic bob sled (2015)
Once there was a cable-car (2015)
Looking through the holes (2015)
War archeology (2015)
The old Jewish cemetery (2015)
I was Eighteen (2013)
Resting on the hill (2015)
The Alipašina džamija (2015)
From Vatican to Sarajevo (2015)
Tito is ours (2013)
Rest in peace, Čika Mišo (2013)
Me and my hands (2013)
Playing violin in Baščaršija (2013)
Reflexes of Baščaršija (2013)
Traditional trading (2013)
Modern trading (2015)
Without museum, without culture, without morale (2015)
