Yugoslavia: A Post Script

On October 1, 1991 Dubrovnik was brutally attacked by the Serb-Montenegrin army. The siege lasted 7 months. In May 1992 the Croation Army liberated Dubrovnik and its surroundings, but the danger of random Serb attacks lasted for 3 more years.

I have often wondered what that time was like for those local people I met in Dubrovnik - and what their lives are like now. Sandy and Grandpapa. The pharmacist. Ishmael. Victor Vladymere. The Captain of the U.S.S. Yugo. I hope they are okay. I was relieved to learn that the old walled city remains in tact but the pictures of that war’s devastation always made me so sad.

Now, as a result of that strife, when I look at a map there is no Yugoslavia. There is Croatia (where I spent my time – Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik), Slovenia and Bosnia Hercegovina.

I will always be deeply appreciative - all travel troubles aside - that I had the unique experience of visiting that country before it was torn apart.