Spain - Espana

Capital City: Madrid

Population: 46,000,000; According to the Spanish government, 11% of the population is comprised of foreigners. Spain has always been a melting pot, and today it has the highest number of immigrants in the EU, due in part to its cultural ties with Latin America, its border, its underground economy and the strength of its agricultural/construction economy which demand low cost labour, and the people who retire along the 8000km of beaches along the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

Area: Second largest country in Western Europe after France

Currency: Euro

Part of EU?: Yes (since 1986)

Parliament: President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (Zapatero means shoemaker); King Juan Carlos I

Languages: Spanish is the only official language, however in their respective regions, Basque (in the Basque Country and Navarre), Catalan (in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands), Valencian (in the Valencian Community), and Galician (in Galicia) have been declared co-official.

Religion: 94% Roman Catholic; immigration has brought an increasing number of Muslims, making it the second largest religion (although still only around 2%).

Rivers: Madrid is the only European capital not located on a river.

Mountains: the Sierra Nevadas, the Pyrenees (Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe after Switzerland and Austria)

Well-Known Companies: Zara, Mango, Chupa Chups (“sucky sucks”).


QUICK HISTORY

In the 15th century, Spain was made up of several different kingdoms (and in a way, it still is, but more on that later); Portugal, Navarre, Aragon, Castile. But in 1469 came one of the most famous weddings of all time; Prince Ferdinand of Aragon married Princess Isabella of Castile. They then made sure that their children married advantageously; they married their daughter Joanna to the Duke of Burgundy (Philip of Habsburg, son of Mary and Max), and their other daughter to one of the Tudors, Henry 8th’s brother, Prince Arthur.

Isabella was very religious, so in 1492, she invited Pope Sixtus to set up an inquisition to find out whether the Muslims and Jews in the country (there were many of them), were actually practising Christianity, as they said they were, or if they were secretly still practising their own religion behind closed doors. This was the Spanish Inquisition (Reconquista); they used torture to get results, and the guilty were paraded through the streets and burned at the stake.

They finished by getting revenge on the Muslims for taking Constantinople away from Christianity by conquering Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in the West. Not surprisingly, the Reformation happened only 20 years later.

These were the Spanish glory days. The same year, Christopher Columbus came to visit, asking for a grant to sail to the new world. Rumor has it, Isabella had a little crush on him, so she backed him, and when he returned, Spain reaped all the glory of his discoveries.

Joanna and Philip’s daughter, Charles V, subsequently became king of Castile and Aragon, Duke of Burgundy, and soon Holy Roman Emperor. He ruled mostly from Spain, but also the Low Lands, and his other territories as well. He was the lord of all Spain’s lands in the New World as well, as well as the Habsburg lands (coinciding with his counterpart on the Austrian Habsburg branch). Their explorers went off in search of El Dorado, the fabled land of gold, and in the meantime conquered the Aztecs and the Incas.

In 1493, the Pope drew a line down the world and gave half to Spain and the other half to Portugal. They started importing slaves from Africa to populate and work on their new lands. In 1580, King Philip II (Charles V’s son) took over the Portuguese Empire, making him King of the first world Superpower. He was a complete control freak, and felt that God had given him this power and he would use it to defend his religion.

The other players in Europe started to take notice of Spain’s expanding Empire, and decided to close in on North America, ambush Spanish ships, and claim more territory for Protestantism (making the religious wars global).

Speaking of the religious wars, they were raging in Europe. The Reformation was sweeping the continent, the Dutch Calvinists were smashing Church statues in their Iconoclastic Fury. Philip, with help from the Venetians and Austrians, crushed the Muslim Turks, a major coup for Christianity by its Most Catholic King. But that was Spain’s last major success for a while: the Spanish Armada he sent to topple Elizabeth I and take the English throne was defeated; the Dutch Revolted, and after all the fighting, Philip led Spain right into bankruptcy.

By the 17th century, Spain had ceded command of the seas to England and France. Portugal declared independence, the Dutch had surpassed them and were having their own Golden Age. By 1700, the last Spanish Habsburg, Charles II, died without an heir (ending that Habsburg branch). The crown was going to pass to Philip, a relative of his and, incidentally, grandson of Louis XIV of France. This meant that he was in line to acquire the thrones of both Spain and France, and the rest of Europe was not impressed with the idea of such a great consolidation of power. The War of the Spanish Succession ensued, which ended with all of Spain’s possessions divided between the Austrians, British, and French. Philip kept the throne of Spain, but had to give up his claim to the French throne. Spain had become like its most famous literary hero, Don Quixote, who doesn't realize his glory days are over.

Spain was neutral in both world wars, but it had its own problems during the Spanish Civil War. In 1936, Spain had elected a left-wing government, which was challenged by a right-wing army general named Francisco Franco. People came from all over the world to fight this war in Spain. The left-wing sumpathizers joined the International Brigade, and other dictactors such as Hitler and Mussolini sent assistance to their friend Franco. The atrocious bombing of the Basque town Guernica on market day was memorialized in Picasso’s painting (found in Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum).

By 1939, Franco had defeated the government and declared himself dictator of Spain. He ruled Spain until his death in 1975, and the next ruler, King Juan Carlos, was a good, democratic ruler. Spain joined the EU in 1985, showing that they were democratic.

After the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, Spain backed the military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, and lead the EU in pushing for increased international cooperation on terrorism. Spanish parliamentary elections on March 14, 2004 came only three days after the terrorist attack on Madrid commuter rail lines that killed 191 and wounded over 1,400. With large voter turnout, PSOE  Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, took office on April 17, 2004. Carrying out campaign promises, he immediately withdrew Spanish forces from Iraq but has continued to support Iraq reconstruction efforts.

Today, there are over 400 million Spanish speakers worldwide, as a result of their previous world-domination. As a country that freed itself from fascism only 30 years ago, Spain may be the most underrated economic success story on the planet. However, the downside of the real estate boom has been a corresponding rise in the levels of personal debt; as prospective homeowners struggle to meet asking prices, the average level of household debt has tripled in less than a decade The government continues to battle the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorist organization, but its major focus for the immediate future will be on measures to reverse the severe economic recession that started in mid-2008.

Spain is now spiralling into the worst crisis since the Franco dictatorship. Over 10% of Spain's economy had been building houses. This compares with 6%-7% in the US at the height of the bubble. House prices fell drastically, expected to fall by 35% by 2011. There were almost a million unsold homes. In Castilla-La Mancha - ironically, Don Quixote's region - some 69% of all houses built over the past three years are still unsold. Spain, once again, is that old knight, wandering past empty houses in the countryside of a country that was once the greatest power in the world.

But ... it's not all bad!
 
Spain is:

 

... the world's second most popular tourist destination (after France)

...(after Italy), home to the second highest number of UNESCO sites in the world, with a total of 40 (including the Alhambra, the most visited spot in the country).

...the world's sixth-largest car manufacturer

... the eigth-biggest economy in the developed world

... the most land covered by vineyards

...home to the most bars per person than any other country (San Sebastian has the most bars per capita)


FLAMENCO

When the Gypsies arrived in Spain from India in the 1400s, Andalucia was still under Arab rule. However, the Spanish Inquisition took place shortly after their arrival, and Jews, Muslims and Gypsies alike were forced to either convert to Christianity and give up ties with their original culture, or retreat. The three groups banded together through their shared persecution, and all of their cultures, music and dance fused together to become flamenco. When they finally were allowed to come out of their hiding places and re-integrate into society, flamenco spread.

In its original form, Flamenco was only voice, a primitive cry or chant accompanied only by the rhythm which would be beaten out on the floor by a wooden staff or cane. Today, Flamenco is made up of four elements, Cante-Voice, Baile-Dance, Toque-Guitar, and the Jaleo, which roughly translated means “hell raising” and involves the handclapping, foot stomping, and shouts of encouragement.

Another important component of flamenco is the element known as duende, and this is shrouded in as much mystery as flamenco itself. Writers and poets over the years have given duende a magical and mysterious meaning, a spiritual significance that goes beyond human understanding.

The poet Federico Garcia Lorca romanticized duende saying, “Duende could only be present when one sensed that death possible.”

Many will say that duende can only be experienced in certain surroundings like an intimate flamenco session where a singer will be possessed by the dark tones of the song and the spirit will enter the mind and soul of anyone who opens up to it.

Flamenco is mostly popular in Southern Spain, in Andalusia where it originated.

SIESTA

Possibly began during the Roman Empire, the word “siesta” comes from the Latin term “hora sexta” (Sixth hour). This is the term used by Romans to refer to the period of time between 2pm and 4pm, when they would have their lunch and then have a nap in the heat of the day.

Spaniards typically get an hour less sleep per night than other Europeans (which suits their lifestyle of eating dinner no earlier than 10pm and only starting to party at midnight). However, a law has recently passed that changes government employees' work hours to a 9-5 schedule, to get them in line with the work hours of other European countries.

BULLFIGHTING

Bullfights were popular spectacles in ancient Rome, but it was in the Iberian Peninsula that these contests were fully developed. The Moors from North Africa who overran Andalusia in AD 711 changed bullfighting significantly from the brutish, formless spectacle practised by the conquered Visigoths to a ritualistic occasion observed in connection with feast days, on which the conquering Moors, mounted on highly trained horses, confronted and killed the bulls.

As bullfighting developed, the men on foot, who by their capework aided the horsemen in positioning the bulls, began to draw more attention from the crowd, and the modern corrida began to take form. Today the bullfight is much the same as it has been since about 1726.

Today, bullfighting is most associated with Spain, but the world's largest bullring is located in Mexico City, while the oldest bullring is found in Peru.

Six bulls, to be killed by three matadors, are usually required for one afternoon's corrida, and each encounter lasts about 15 minutes.

Matadors wear gold-embroidered outfits that cost thousands of euros. They have practised and studied this artform since they were children, and they get their applause and respect depending on how close they get to the bull and how graceful their movements. Also, in order to kill the bull, they must stab it directly between the shoulders, which calls for very precise and skilled swordwork.

While there is usually no doubt about the outcome, the bull is not viewed as a sacrificial victim - it is instead seen by the audience as a worthy adversary, deserving of respect in its own right. Bulls learn fast and their capacity to do so should never be underestimated. Indeed, a bullfight may be viewed as a race against time for the matador, who must display his bullfighting skills before the animal learns what is going on and begins to thrust its horns at something other than the cape.

For the matador, this means performing skillfully in front of the bull, often turning his back on it to demonstrate his mastery over the animal. The skill with which he delivers the fatal blow is another major point to look for. A skillful matador will achieve it in one stroke. Two is barely acceptable, while more than two is usually regarded as a bad job.

Ernest Hemingway pointed out in Death in the Afternoon: “The bullfight is not a sport in the Anglo-Saxon sense of the word; that is, it is not an equal contest or an attempt at an equal contest between a bull and a man. Rather it is a tragedy: the death of the bull, which is played, more or less well, by the bull and the man involved and in which there is danger for the man but certain death for the bull.”

Bullfighting supporters say: "The bullfight is a portrayal of life as it is, from life to death ... All the activists see the blood, they don't see the art. The fight is the struggle between man and beast, transformed into art."
68% of Spaniards express no interest in bullfighting, and National Spanish TV has banned it from being televised. Some in Spain despise bullfighting because of its association with the Spanish nation and its blessing by the Franco regime as the fiesta nacional. It is criticized for its cruelty to animals, as well as for the expense (it receives grants of up to 6 million euros per year).

The Catalan government is seeking to ban bullfighting this year, and would be the first region in Spain to do so if they are successful.

 

SPANISH FESTIVALS

La Tomatina (Bunol)

San Fermin (Pamplona)

Las Fallas (Valencia)

... there is even a baby-jumping festival near Burgos, where babies are lined up and jumped over!


SPANISH CUISINE


-Italy might have perfected pasta, but the Spanish brought tomatoes back from America, and someone made the first tomato sauce out of them (and the tomatoes also enhanced Gazpacho, which until then had just been an Andalusian cold vegetable soup).

- Olive oil is used lavishly in Spain, the largest olive grower on the planet.
 
Tortilla: Potato/egg omelette

Churros: Donuts dipped in chocolate

MENU DEL DIA: the most economical way to eat in Spain; three courses at lunch, all delicious and all for one low price.

PAELLA

Paella originated in the Valencian region. The word stems from the latin for PAN, and it was eaten by poor people who threw everything into a pan to make a meal. Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat, snails, beans and seasoning. Seafood paella replaces meat and snails with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. Mixed paella is a free-style combination of meat, seafood and sometimes beans; The rata de marjal, marsh rat, was one of the main ingredients of early paellas.

The biggest paella in history was made in Valencia and eaten by over 100,000 people. During Las Fallas, you'll find huge pots of paella cooking in the streets of Valencia.


JAMON SERRANO:

“Cured Meat”; it is rubbed with salt, hung up for a year or so (you’ll see it hanging in bars around Spain, and on the pole at La Tomatina); the most expensive type is Jamon Iberico, for which prices start at around 100 euros.


TAPAS

Tapas originated because the lunch that farmers used to eat  was so heavy and rich in fat that they had to take a siesta afterwards. So they worked longer in the mornings, eating little bites to keep them going, so that they had a lighter workload after their lunch.

There is an old Madrid ruling (dating from the 11th century) that alcoholic drinks must be accompanied by a nourishing tidbit in order to "lesson their noxious influence," so you usually get a small free tapa thrown in with your drink.
 
Pintxos is the Basque version of tapas, meaning "something with a stick."

 Jugs or glasses of wine used to be cover with a tapa (a piece of jamon, for example).


-San Miguel and Estrella beer;

-Valencia Orange Juice

-Horchata/orxata (almond millk drink)


SPANISH WINE

Until fairly recently, Spain was not taken particularly seriously as a winemaking region. Overshadowed by France and Italy, it was mainly associated with cheap red wine and sangria (and calimoxo). But thanks to the innovative practices of a handful of winemakers, and particularly of those in Catalonia, Spanish wine is currently undergoing a renaissance, offering some of the best wines (like Spanish Rioja) in the world.


CAVA

Made by the same method as French champagne, most of the high-end producers will swear that cava is as good as, if not better than, champagne. The most famous brand of cava is Freixenet.

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SPANISH CELEBRITIES: Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz, Julio and Enrique Iglesias, Antonio Banderas, Javier Bardem, Guillermo del Toro (director of "Pan's Labyrinth")

ANTONI GAUDI
(1813-1906)

The architect of Barcelona who was killed by a tram when he stepped back to admire his work.



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

-Actually an Italian, he wasn't finding the funding he needed from his own country, so he turned to Ferdinand and Isabella, and they gave him what he needed.

The Columbus monument in Barcelona is supposed to point out towards the new world (the U.S), but it doesn’t actually point there because if it did, it would be pointing inland

ARTISTS: Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya, Picasso, Salvador Dali

Sport: Rafael Nadal is one of the top tennis players,


SPANISH FOOTBALL:

The Spanish team won the 2008 Euro Cup; (Spain has never won the World Cup); La Liga, (The Spanish League) is ranked as the highest division of football and it is considered to be one of the world's best competitions. Successful teams in recent European competitions include Real Madrid (The Most Successful, having won the Euro Cup five years in a row, from 1956-1960), FC Barcelona (doesn’t accept sponsorship payments, but wears UNICEF shirts), Sevilla FC, Villareal FC and Valencia FC. Real Madrid and Barcelona have dominated La Liga for much of its history.


QUIRKY FACTS

-The Spanish word for “wife” is esposa, which is the same word they use for handcuffs.

-It was the Basques, not the French, who invented the beret

-Public nudity is legal in Spain

-Spain was the third country in the EU to legalize same-sex marriage (after Belgium and The Netherlands)

-There’s no concrete evidence that King Pedro of Castile spoke with a lisp and it therefore spread through the region (no one knows where the lisp really came from)


Language

You’re fit: Hola Guapa! Guapo!

Hello: Hola

Goodbye: Ciao

Please: Por Favor

Thank You: Gracias

You’re welcome: De Nada

Excuse Me/Sorry: Lo siento

Yes: Si

No: Non

Do you speak English?: Hablas Ingles?

Where is?: Donde Esta?

How much? Quanto cuesta?

One: Uno

Two: Dos

Three: Tres

Four: Quatro

Five: Cinco

Water: Agua

Beer: Cervez

Wine: Vino

Cheers!: Salute!

Germany - Deutschland

The Architects of Europe - for better and for worse!

Capital City: Berlin

Population: 82 million (Largest population in the EU, however its fertility rate is one of the lowest in the world)

Religion: Christianity, split pretty much evenly between Protestantism and Roman Catholic (64%); Germany has Western Europe’s third-largest Jewish population (in 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet countries settled in Germany than in Israel)

Currency: Euro

Languages: German

Part of EU?: Yes, Germany was a founding member. Also part of the G8.

-France and Germany have historically been very closely allied, presently forming what is known as the ‘core’ countries against greater integration of the European Union .

Chancellor: Angela Merkel - first female Chancellor of Germany, second chairwoman of the G-8 (after Margaret Thatcher) - she won the 2008 Charlemagne Prize for her work to reform the EU

Borders: Germany shares borders with the most European countries on the continent; to the North by the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and Denmark; to the East by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the South by Austria and Switzerland; and to the West by France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands

-Germany is divided into 16 states

 Rivers: Rhine; Elbe; Danube

QUICK HISTORY

The Germans, for better or worse, basically shaped Europe as we know it. Germany has always been a driving force; occasionially, that was a bad thing (the two World Wars and the Holocaust), but often, it was a good thing. Germany was the driving force of the EU and encouraged open confrontation of past crimes. Perhaps it is the latter that propelled Germany to become the moneybags of the continent for the past decade, giving money to places like Ireland in the 80s and Eastern Europe. German taxpayers have also spent a fortune building up and integrating East Germany since 1989

Here are a few of the key points in history in which Germany played a key role.

CHARLEMAGNE and the FRANKS

In the 700s, the barbarian Frankish tribe (from north Germany and the Netherlands) decided to team up with the Popes in Italy (this had been their winning strategy all along, and helped them to conquer many lands). The Franks were a strong tribe, and able to offer protection to the Popes, and because they had willingly converted to Catholicism (even if only for strategic purposes), the Popes were happy to work with them.

Charlemagne was the son of the first King to be officially knighted by the Pope (Pepin the Short). He was well-educated, he believed in a union of church and state, and wanted to reconvert everyone back to Christianity. Ruling from his court in Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), Charlemagne and his army invaded Spain to try to reconquest the Moors, he invaded Italy, and  other parts of Germany.

When the Pope in Rome was attacked by some of his enemies who tried to cut out his eyes and his tongue, he ran to Charlemagne for help. Charlemagne restored him to his position; to show his gratitude, the Pope crowned Charlemagne Roman Emperor. Not everyone was happy about it, but it cemented Charlemagne’s authority over his territories.

Today Charlemagne is regarded not only as the founding father of both French and German monarchies, but also as the father of Europe: his empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans, and the Carolingian renaissance encouraged the formation of a common European identity. He was the first ruler to mention a unified “Europe”. Today, the Charlemagne Prize is still given out to people who have promoted European friendship and unity.


HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

Charlemagne, crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800 AD was the forerunner of the Holy Roman Empire, largely because he had inaugurated the tradition of imperial coronation by the Pope, which continued as a significant institution in the Holy Roman Empire until the 16th century. Charlemagne's policy of "renovatio Romanorum imperii" (reviving the Roman Empire) remained at least in theory as the official position of the Empire until its end in 1806, when the Empire was claimed by Napoleon.

In 936, Otto became King, and basically united the Germans into a single empire. He had himself crowned Emperor at Aachen. Otto wanted a proper coronation by the Pope in Rome, and took the title Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor and the Pope had many clashes over power. This eventually lead to the Kings of France getting fed up with the Popes wanting so much power, that the French Pope at the time decided to move to Avignon.

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories that lasted from 962 1806. It did not actually include Rome for most of its time, and it was not religious, but it was widespread; it included most of Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, northern Italy, Poland, France, etc. It was divided into hundreds of individual areas, ruled by Kings, Dukes, Bishops, Princes, etc. At no time could the Emperor simply issue decrees and govern autonomously over the Empire. His power was severely restricted by the various local leaders. They mostly called it the Holy Roman Empire to assert their equality with the Popes, to make sure everyone knew they were on par (even if they weren't).

THE BLACK DEATH

The Germans set up the Hanseatic League, a trading federation of towns (including Bruges, Bergen, and London) that linked Europe with the far East. This was profitable for the cities involved, but all of this contact with far-off lands (especially with Mongols from China) resulted in the Bubonic Plague, The Black Death, being carried into Europe. It probably came via the Silk Route (possibly the fault of Marko Polo). Another hypothesis is that during a siege in Crimea, Mongols (who were already suffering from the disease) started to throw the infected corpses over their city walls at the European invaders (the Genoese), who fled too late. It was carried around by rats who roamed the streets, and came off cargo ships. The persecution of cats in those years (due to their association with satanism and witches) is often overlooked as a contributor to the spread of the disease, because it allowed the rats to flourish.

The Black Death was the greatest disaster in European history, and caused around 50 million deaths from 1347-1350 (between a third and half of the population of Europe, worst in Italy and Spain and only around 20% of the pop in Germany). In crowded cities, like Paris or Vienna, it was common for 50% of the population to die. Doctors had no idea how to deal with it, thought that it was something in the air, some even blamed it on the Jews which resulted in attacks on Jewish communities (because they figured only God's wrath could produce such horrifying results).

Despite all of the tragedy, the Black Death actually caused working and living conditions to get better for the people who survived; they had more work opportunities, more money, and the Renaissance stemmed from this renewed zest for life.

Milan was one city that was able to escape the Plague; once it infected the first three people in the city, they were walled up in their house and left to die (a harsh, but successful, solution). And strangely enough the port city of Bruges was spared the extremes that other cities on the trade routes suffered, possibly due to a recent drop-off in trade activity resulting from the early stage of the Hundred Years War.

It was in Spain that the only ruling monarch to die of the disease met his end. The advisors of King Alfonse XI of Castile begged him to isolate himself, but he refused to leave his troops.


Also, some studies suggests that as Europeans evolved after surviving the Black Death, 10% of them grew immunity to certain types of disease (including HIV). There were other outbreaks of the disease in subsequent years; the latest cases of Plague were confirmed in 1995 in the US.



THE REFORMATION

In 1517, Martin Luther, a German Monk and theology teacher, was fed up with Catholics trying to bribe people to pay them in order to get into Heaven (among other things, they were selling indulgences, basically passes into Heaven). Luther wrote a set of 95 theses, speaking out against these teachings, and it was posted on the door of the university of Wittenberg church where he taught.

His colleagues and students rallied to his side. One of his colleagues wrote to the Pope, and Luther was excommunicated, but it was too late to stop him. His local prince, Frederick the Wise, had a word with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V (who he’d just helped to elect). They met at the Diet of Worms (a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire), where Luther presented his findings. Charles didn’t agree with him, and basically gave the whole of Germany permission to hunt him down. Luther went into exile, where he rewrote the New Testament and a series of pamphlets, with the following beliefs:

-The Pope has no authority over the Church

-You don’t need sacraments, because only God - not priests - can forgive sins

-You don’t need priests

-Everyone must be able to read the bible themselves.
Luther’s followers protested against his exile (hence became known as Protestants). Thanks to the Printing Press (which was invented in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg - incidentally, a German), Luther’s ideas spread around Europe and influenced other countries, such as England, where King Henry VIII particularly took it onboard because it quite suited his own needs.

John Calvin, a Frenchman living in Switzerland, later took over as the biggest Protestant Reformer

COMMUNISM

Karl Marx was a German intellectual who studied why rich people were rich and poor people were poor. He was surrounded by the 19th century Industrial Revolution, lived in Dickensian England where there were slums and extreme divisions between rich and poor. He came to the conclusion that the working classes remained poor because they worked hard for factory owners who made all the money. He thought the working classes should rise up and work for themselves, sharing profits equally. This idea was called Communism, and he hoped it would start a workers' revolution. Communism started in Russia (under Lenin), when all industry, banking and business was taken out of private hands and private property abolished. It spread through the Eastern European countries.
WORLD WARS

After WWII, Germany was occupied by the Allied powers of the US, UK, France and the Soviet Union in 1945. Two separate German states were formed in 1949 - West Germany (which involved itself in Western organizations, such as the European Coal and Steal Community and NATO); and Communist East Germany, which joined the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The two halves weren’t re-united until 1990, after the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War.

EUROPEAN UNION

The EU was conceived in order to avoid the nationalist tendencies that had culminated in the World Wars. In 1950, the European Coal and Steel Community began to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace. The six founders were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The EU now comprises 27 countries.

Well-Known Companies: 37 of the Fortune 500 Companies are headquartered in Germany; Daimler, Volkswagon, Allianz, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes, BMW, Adidas, Nivea


-Germany has the largest economy in Europe, the world’s fifth-largest economy.
-Germany is the largest exporter and the second-largest importer of goods

GERMAN CARS

There are many famous German car companies: Audi, Mercedes Benz (the company, named after the founder's 10-year-old daughter, started off with a tricycle); Volkswagen; Porsche; BMW; Mini Cooper (and in case the Mini Coop wasn't small enough for you, the Smart Car); and Germany's most popular car, the VW Beetle (the most famous vehicle of all time due to its affordability and simplicity was created on direction of Adolph Hitler who wanted a car that any German could afford. Ironically, the car subsequently became a favorite of the hippie generation).

AUTOBAHN
 
German highway, where the advised speed is 130km/h but there is no official speed limit. Construction began in the 1930s, was halted during WWII (stretches that had already been built were used as runways for bomber planes). Today, the autobahn stretches 12,000 km, the third-longest highway in the world after the U.S. and China. The Autobahn is not a complete free-for-all: there are certain restrictions placed on overtaking, etc, and speed restrictions in certain areas.
 
 
GERMAN FOOD
Sauerkraut, bratwurst, dumplings, black-forest cake, bread (German bakeries produce about 6,000 types of breads, like rye bread, pumpernickel, pumpkin or sunflower seed, wheat) and approximately 1,200 different types of pastry


GERMAN BEER

German beer consumption per person is declining but—at 116 litres annually—it is still among the highest in the world.

When it comes to German beer, it’s more about quantity than quality. With 1300 around the country, including the world’s oldest, Germany is second only to the U.S. in number of breweries, despite having just a quarter of their population. Germans trail the Czechs and Irish for most beer-drinkers per capita, but they make up for it during Oktoberfest, when nearly 7 million litres are consumed in 16 days. Thankfully for those taking part in all that guzzling, German beer itself is no slouch. Since 1516, the Germans have adhered to the Reinheitsgebot, the German Purity Law, which states that beer can only be made with water, hops, yeast and barley. The law, which originated in Bavaria and applies to all 5000 varieties of beer brewed around the country, goes a long way towards keeping beer clean and preventing hangovers; in a country that downs their beer by the stein-full, you’ll need all the help you can get!


LAND OF IDEAS:

Germany calls itself the Land of Ideas: Albert Einstein; the inventor of X-Rays, Immanuel Kant, Hegel, Marx and Engel’s Communist theory; Nietzsche, Heidegger, Schopenhauer; composers Beethoven, Bach, Wagner and Brahms.

OTHER FAMOUS GERMANS

-Rammstein; The Scorpions

-The current Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in Bavaria

-The Brothers Grimm and Goethe are German

-Marlene Dietrich, Claudia Schiffer

-Ampelman

SPORTS

With more than 6.3 million official members, the German Football Association is the largest sports organisation of its kind worldwide, and has won the World Cup several times (and hosted the last one).

Germany is one of the leading motorsports countries in the world. Many race winning cars, teams and drivers have come from Germany. The most successful Formula One driver in history, Michael Schumacher has won more championships and races than any other driver since Formula One's debut season in 1946. He is one of the highest paid sportsmen in history. Constructors like BMW and Mercedes are among the leading teams in motorsport sponsorship.

Germany ranks third in overall Olympic medals

Since the 2006 World Cup celebrations the internal and external perception of Germany's national image has changed; the BBC revealed that Germany is recognized for the most positive influence in the world in 2009, leading 16 investigated countries. A majority of 61% have a positive view of the country, while 15% have a negative view.

TRIVIA:

-It is criminally illegal in Germany to deny the holocaust (it illegal in many other European countries too) - a person can be jailed - and there have been around 10 such cases, right up to 2009 - for holocaust denial. It is also illegal to use hateful symbols, such as the Swastika.

-More than 400 registered zoos and animal parks operate in Germany, which is believed to be the largest number in any single country of the world. The Zoologischer Garten Berlin is the oldest zoo in Germany and presents the most comprehensive collection of species in the world

-Germany is the third-largest producer of books worldwide (the Frankfurt Book Fair dates back 500 years and is considered the most important book fair in the world)

-Germany is a legally and socially tolerant country towards homosexuals; the mayors of the two largest German cities, Berlin and Hamburg, are openly gay

LANGUAGE

Hello: Hallo

Goodbye: Auf Wiedersehen

Please: Bitte

Thank You: Danke

Excuse Me/Sorry: Entschuldigung Me

Yes: Ja

No: Nein

Do you speak English?: Sprechen Sie Englisch

Where is?: Wo? ist

How much? Wieviel?

One: Ein

Two: Zwei

Three: Drei

Four: Vier

Five: Funf

Water: Wasser

Beer: Bier

Wine: Wein

Cheers!: Beifall! Prost!

Italy - Italia

La Vita i Bella, LA DOLCE VITA


Capital City: Rome

Population: 59.9 million (fourth-largest in the EU)

Currency: Euro

Languages: Italian

Geography

-Borders: France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia

-Sardinia and Sicily are the two largest islands in the Mediterranean

-The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican are enclaves within Italy

-Italy is prone to natural disasters. In 2009, extensive flooding, forest fires, lethal landslides and an earthquake near the city of L’Aquila cost more than 300 lives.

Landscape: Mount Etna (on Sicily) is the largest active volcano in Europe; Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on mainland Europe (the only one to have erupted in the last 100 years). It was responsible for the destruction of Pompeii and the deaths of up to 25,000 people in 79AD; it has not erupted since 1944. When it erupted in 79AD, the eruption sent ash flying as far away as Constantinople (Istanbul), the sun was blocked out and the sea was sucked away and forced back by a tsunami.

Rivers: Italy’s largest river is the Po

Mountains: 75% of the Italian peninsula is mountainous; the Alps - a section of which are the Dolomites - form Italy’s Northern boundary, while the Appenine Mountains extend from North to South

Part of EU?: Yes, Italy was a founding member in 1957 (Italy was also a founding member of NATO)

Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi


SILVIO BERLUSCONI

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was born in Milan, and is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy (he has held the position three times, currently since 2008). He is the richest Italian and one of the richest men in the world (worth 6 billion). He owns A.C. Milan (his own party is named Forza Italia - Go Italy! - after a chant sung by AC Milan supporters), several media channels, newspapers, and over 150 other companies. He is a successful businessman, seems a lot younger than his 72 years (due in part to plastic surgery), and in good health; when he was attacked in 2009 by a statuette-wielding protestor, he got right out of the car to wave to the crowd, despite having a bloodied face, to show he was okay.

Berlusconi has been accused of fraud, tax evasion, mafia collusion, having relationships with young women, hiring prostitutes, has been involved in sex scandals. People say he influences the media because he owns most of it; comedians who have made fun of him have never appeared on tv again. The Economist is always after him and to make matters worse, he isn’t the most eloquent fellow: when Obama became President, he complimented him on his “suntan”. In 2009, he was shouting out “Mr. Obama! Mr. Obama!” and the Queen turned around and shhh’d! him.

-There are 20 different political regions in Italy (including Umbria, Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily, Piedmont, Lombardy, Calabria)

-Italy is a member of the G-8, and it is in a good economic position today, although the country entered a recession twice in the past decade. Italy doesn't have many multinational companies, rather it has purely Italian companies.

-In recent years, voters have been disenchanted with the government, citing corruption, debt,
influence of organized crime; the government has swung back and forth over the past few years
from centre-left party under Romano Prodi, who had to resign again in 2008, and centre-right
Berlusconi


QUICK HISTORY

Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who appear in mythology as the twin sons of the God of War, Mars but were raised by a she-wolf so they were feral creatures, very in touch with nature. They stood on 2 hills and a swarm of birds flew over Romulus’ head, signifying that he should be the first King of Rome, so Romulus killed his brother, named himself King and named the city after himself. He stole a bunch of women from neighbouring tribes, and conquered other territories and populated Rome.

By around 500 BC, a number of groups shared Italy. The Greeks were on the Southern Coast and Sicily; the Gauls were in the North; The Etruscans, from somewhere in Turkey, ruled Central Italy for a while. They were a tribal group, very spiritual, with a fondness for architecture (and wine!).

In around 55BC, Julius Caesar and his triumvirate came to power. They conquered the Gauls and invaded Britain. Caesar was a dictator, and heavily centralized the bureaucracy of the republic. But by the first century BC, as Rome got bigger and expanded overseas, this system stopped working, and a series of revolts against the Roman government began. Spartacus, a slave, led an uprising against the Patricians. Spartacus was one of many Gladiators (some 40,000 of them) who plotted their escape from slavery. They didn’t win, but their uprising was an inspiration to others. The trouble continued for decades, eventually leading to the assassination of Julius Caesar by a group of Senators hoping to restore the normal running of the Republic.

In 29 BC, after a long struggle, Julius Caesar’s nephew Octavius defeated his rivals (Antony and Cleopatra) and declared himself Emperor Augustus Caesar; the Roman Empire was born. Rome gained territory in Britain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

This Pax Romana (time of peace) ended when the last great Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, died in 180 AD, and then a series of economic instability, barbarian invasions, domestic issues, combined with a lack of strong leadership, led to the decline of the Roman Empire and by the fourth century AD, it eventually split into two: The East thrived, becoming the Byzantine Empire, based out of the newly-built capital Constantinople, (now Turkey), while Rome, capital of the West, declined.

For the next thousand years (The Dark Ages), Italy stagnated and broke apart into a series of city-states, with Rome (the centre of the Catholic Church) the most powerful.

RELIGION

After the death of Jesus, the apostles started to travel, and found themselves in Rome. From as early as the 1st century, the Church of Rome was recognized as an authority because it was believed that the Apostles Peter and Paul had led the Church there. Roman and Catholicism are now synonymous, but the early Catholics in Rome were persecuted (by Emperors such as Diocletian) because they did not adhere to many of the pagan Roman practices.

Finally, the Romans could not fight the rise of Christianity any longer. It was recognized as a valid religion in 313 AD, and Emperor Constantine made it the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD. The bishops and popes steadily rose in power.

Until 1054 AD Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism were branches of the same body. The slow process of separation was encouraged in 330 AD when Emperor Constantine decided to move the capital of the Roman Empire to the city of Byzantium (Byzantine Empire, modern-day Turkey) and called it Constantinople. When he died, his two sons divided their rule, one taking the Eastern portion of the empire and ruling from Constantinople and the other taking the western portion, ruling from Rome.

In 1054 AD a formal split (East-West Schism) occurred when the Pope in Rome excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, who in turn excommunicated him.

The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns designed to reclaim the Holy Land (Jerusalem). They were waged over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. They were bloody, but they allowed for goods and knowledge to be brought into Italy from abroad.

The Church at the time influenced the development of western art, Renaissance Artists, and music (Catholic monks developed western notation, leading to the rise of European classical music).


RENAISSANCE ITALY

Things didn’t pick up again in Italy until the 14th Century AD, when cities such as Florence, Venice, Milan and Pisa became centres of trade, and the influx of wealth and contact with other nations turned Italy, once again, into Europe’s premier centre of culture. This was the Renaissance period.

Tuscany is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance movement; no surprise, as it is also the birthplace of Dante Alighieri ("the father of the Italian language"), Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo (who inspired the term Renaissance Man), Galileo and Botticelli. During the Renaissance, the fields of art, literature, politics, science, exploration (Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo were around during this time as well) and fashion introduced Italy and Europe to the rest of the world.

Several factors contributed to the Renaissance, and many of them were not nice.

Italy had been in the Dark Ages ever since the East (Ottoman Empire) had taken over from Rome as the centre of power in Europe, and the Renaissance helped bring it back into the light. Due to the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, Greek scholars and texts came into Italy during this time.

The Crusades, whilst bloody, had led to increased trade and knowledge coming into Italy (textiles from North Africa, Asia, etc.). Marco Polo also brought back knowledge from his travels, as did Christopher Columbus.

The Black Death had wiped out a third of Europe's population, so the reduced population was much wealthier, better fed, and had more money to spend on luxury items. Additionally, the collapse of two major banks in Italy cleared the way for the Medici to rise to prominence in Florence, and they became the Patrons of the Renaissance, allowing a burgeoning Italian art scene to flourish.

Catherine de Medici, as well as three Popes and Lorenzo the Magnificent, patron of some of the most popular Renaissance art, held power in Florence at the time. (The Sforza family was their Milanese counterpart, commissioning Milan’s Castle Sforzesca and parts of the Duomo). The Medicis married strategically, and were thewere powerful in Florence from the 14th - 18th centuries. They had three popes, politicians, the Queen of France, and later members of French and English royalty.

Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade, and when they took power of Florence,  they created for an environment where art and humanism could flourish, thus inspiring the Renaissance. Artists at the time only made their works when they received commissions in advance, which the wealthy Medicis were able to provide.

The most significant addition to the list over the years was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), who produced work for a number of Medici, beginning with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to be extremely fond of the young Michelangelo, inviting him to study the family collection of antique sculpture. Lorenzo also served as patron to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) for seven years. Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff's death in 1534.

In addition to commissions for art and architecture, the Medici were prolific collectors and today their acquisitions form the core of the Uffizi museum in Florence.

After Lorenzo's death, a Dominican Friar, Girolamo Savonarola, rose in power. He hated the excessive luxury of the Medicis, and ordered many works of art to be destroyed in the "Bonfire of the Vanities" in 1497. The following year, he was burned at the stake in the same location as his bonfire.

The Medicis remained in power, with two 16th century popes, but were unable to stem the advance of the Reformation and eventually their power declined, but their legacy and contribution is still painted all across Florence.


MODERN ITALY

Things in Italy were carrying along fine, but not spectacularly, until the 20th century.

In 1919, a politician named Benito Mussolini launched a movement that called for the restoration of Italy as a great power. In 1922, impatient with electoral politics, Mussolini led his supporters, known as Fascists, on a march on Rome to seize power directly through a coup. Spooked, the Italian king did not put up a fight and allowed Mussolini to become supreme ruler of Italy.

Mussolini spent the next twenty years consolidating power and building up the Italian economy, calling himself Il Duce (‘Leader’) and dreaming of leading a new Roman Empire. When WWII broke out, Italy remained neutral at first, but once it appeared through the Fall of France that Germany would win, Mussolini eagerly joined Hitler, a fellow Fascist and longtime ally, in the war effort and rushed to invade Greece, the Balkans, and North Africa. Overextended and unprepared for such a large-scale effort, Italy quickly found that it could not maintain its military position and had to ask Germany for help. Before long, Mussolini saw himself losing control of his overseas possessions, and eventually his very own country to the Allies. Abandoned by a disgusted Hitler, Il Duce and his mistress were captured and executed by Italian partisans.

After the Second World War, Italy abolished the monarchy and declared itself a republic. With the strong support of the United States, Italy rebuilt its economy through loans, joined NATO and the EU and today, Italy is one of the most prosperous and democratic nations in Europe.

ITALIAN CORRUPTION


The government might be focusing too much on fighting crime and not enough on fighting corruption.

United Nations and European Union studies indicate that Italy's crime rates are below the European average. Rome is safer than London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. But Italy is one of the worst offenders in Europe when it comes to corruption, and cases of corruption in Italy have increased 200% since 2008. On a scale from 1 to 180, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark are at the top, with Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia at the bottom. Italy comes in at 55.


SICILIAN MAFIA ("COSA NOSTRA")
 
The Casa Nostra originated in 19th century Sicily, led by families who ran their own territories, protecting their business interests again feudal land owners who intimidated poor employees into working for low wages. They were Italian Robin Hoods.

Mussolini cracked down on Cosa Nostra, and that is when many of them fled abroad to America and beyond. When Fascism fell after WWII, they slowly made their way back into Sicily where, today, it is estimated that the Sicilian Mafia costs the Sicilian economy more than €10 billion a year through protection rackets. 80% of Sicilian businesses pay protection money to Cosa Nostra; monthly payments can be up to €5,000. Cosa Nostra is estimated to have about 100 clans, with a total of at least 3,500 to 4,000 members. Most are based in western Sicily, almost half of them in the province of Palermo.

There are reports that the Forza Italia party has links to Cosa Nostra. Cosa Nostra controls about 80% of the cocaine trade in Europe. In recent years, it has deliberately murdered judges, priests and children. Palermo's Falcone-Borsellino Airport is named after two such judges.

While America has glamorized the Mafia in movies, Italians recognize that they are criminals, and no one outside their social class would aspire to be one.

In November 2007 Sicilian police reported to have found a list of "Ten Commandments" in the hideout of a mafia boss. They are thought to be guidelines on how to be a good, respectful and honourable mafioso.

-No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
-Never look at the wives of friends.
-Never be seen with cops.
-Don't go to pubs and clubs.
-Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife is about to give birth.
-Appointments must absolutely be respected.
-Wives must be treated with respect.
-When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
-Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
-People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.


ITALIAN FASHION

From the 11th-16th centuries (during the Renaissance), Italian fashion, just like other Italian art, was at its peak - although some might say its most important contribution to fashion was made during the height of the Roman Empire, when the bikini was first invented. During the court of Louis 14th in the 1600s, France took over as the fashion capital of Europe, but Italian fashion designers have made a comeback (the Italian School vs. French Haute Couture).

Today, the big names in Italian fashion are Armani, Valentino, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Prada. Milan is considered the World's Top Fashion Capital, and Rome is 4th.

CUSTOMS: 67% of single Italian men stay at home until they marry (But even the number of marriages has fallen - with 257,880 couple tying the knot in 2003, less than half of the number in 1971). Italy is projected to actually lose 10 percent of its population by 2050, possibly a consequence of not leaving the home.


ITALIAN FOOD

-Italian meals usually consist of no fewer than 3-4 meals (an antipasto, a primo piatto, secondo piatto, insalata or contorno - vegetable side dish-, and finally the dolci and an aperitif.

-Local specialities abound, such as pesto in Liguria (Genoa and the Cinque Terre), pizza in Naples, bolognese sauce in Bologna, risotto in Milan;

-Italy is also the leading European country for organic or biological foods with some 50,000 farms committed to growing produce by natural methods without the use of chemicals.

-Coffee and espresso are widespread; cafe con leche; gelato; panna cotta

-Peroni is the national beer


ITALIAN WINE

The Etruscans and Greeks were cultivating wine long before the Romans arrived, but the Romans really advanced the industry, creating barrel-storage and bottles. In AD92, an Emperor actually had to destroy some vineyards to make room for food cultivation.

Today, Italy is the largest producer, exporter and consumer of wine in the world; it makes 1/5 of wine worldwide, and there are over 1 million vineyards under cultivation and 6 billion litres produced. They recently beat the French for the first time in a decade.

Italians drink 59 litres per capita, compared to the 7.7 per capita consumed in the States. Wine is cultivated in all 20 Italian regions, such as Chianti from Tuscany, Barolo, Montepulciano, Pinot Grigio,


ITALIAN PEOPLE

Explorers: Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo

Artists: Donatello, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael

Writers: Virgil (wrote The Aeneid), Dante (wrote The Divine Comedy in the 14th century); Petrarch (who invented the sonnet), Machiavelli (The Prince);

Scientists/Inventors: Gallileo; the inventors of the radio and the telephone; Frank Zamboni invented the Zamboni

Musicians: Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocellio, Eros Ramazotti; Mussolini

FILM: Sophia Loren, Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful)

SPORT: Italy’s football team is the second-most successful team in the world, with four World Cup victories (including the last one, in 2006); Turin hosted the 2006 Olympics; sports are often incorporated into popular festivals, like Il Palio in Siena and the Venice regatta.

GLADIATORS: They were often slaves who were forced to fight.


QUIRKY FACTS

-The first paved streets in the world were in Rome: in 170 BC, Julius Caesar banned all vehicles during daylight hours because of traffic jams

-Roman gladiators were the first athletes to endorse products

-Roman Emperor Caligula appointed his horse to a senate position

-Roman statutes were made with detachable heads so new heads could be put on as leaders changed

-After poor performances, Roman commanders would kill every tenth Roman soldier, giving rise to the word ‘decimate’

-La Sapienza University in Rome is the largest university in Europe,184,000 students

-Italy is the 5th major tourist destination in the world

-Italy has the most UNESCO sites (43) in the world

-Italy has the eighth highest quality of life index


Language Tips

Hello: buongiorno

Goodbye: Ciao!

Please: per favore

Thank You: grazie

Excuse Me/Sorry: mi scusi

Yes: Si

No: No

Where is?: Dov’e

How much?: Quanto costa?

One: Uno

Two: Due

Three: Tre

Four: Quattro

Five: Cinque

Water: Acqua

Beer: Birra

Wine: Vino

Cheers!: Salute!: Cin cin!

"Travels with Charley" - Book Review

A decade after Jack Kerouac travelled across America in On the Road, American author John Steinbeck, a little older and wiser but with the same curiosity about his country, took a trip of his own. His goal: to answer the question: “What are Americans like today?”
One of the answers he discovered is that Americans, young and old, have an unquenchable wanderlust. Steinbeck himself is no exception:
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked.

Travels with Charley is a personal account of Steinbeck’s journey through nearly 40 states, from Maine through the Pacific Northwest to California, Texas, and Louisiana. He is accompanied by his truck, Rocinante, named after Don Quixote’s horse, and his French poodle, Charley, who provides much of the comic relief in the book.

Along the way, he meets other travellers, locals, actors, drunks, cops, migrant potato pickers, and he weaves their opinions and stories together, along with his own observations, to portray his own real, and mature picture of life on the road.

Steinbeck was 58 years old, at the end of his career and ill; he took the trip in part to prove that he was down but not out. According to his son, Steinbeck knew that he was dying – indeed, he died eight years after the book was published – and this trip was him wanting to see his country for the last time.
In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck is still as opinionated, and at times critical, of the government, working conditions and any form of inequality as he is in his novels, such as the Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, or East of Eden. In particular, when he visits New Orleans and writes against the outpouring of racism he encountered there, he reminds the reader that he is the same author that won the Nobel Prize for describing the plight of the downtrodden American.

But Travels with Charley shows a different side to him; it’s refreshing to hear his funnier, more lighthearted voice, when he writes about his dog’s prostate ailments or his own innate ability to get lost:
I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the war, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost.

He is self-deprecating and honest as he describes his insights, sometimes hard-won, about:

…not wanting to go on a trip in the first place:

In long-range planning for a trip, I think there is a private conviction that it won’t happen. As the day approached, my warm bed and comfortable house grew increasingly desirable and my dear wife incalculably precious. To give these up for three months for the terrors of the uncomfortable and unknown seemed crazy. I didn’t want to go.

…the loneliness of travelling:

There seemed to be no cure for loneliness save only being alone.

…and of going places just to tell others you were there:

Niagara Falls is very nice … I’m very glad I saw it, because from now on if I am asked whether I have seen Niagara Falls I can say yes, and be telling the truth for once.

I first picked up Travels with Charley about ten years ago, before I had ever travelled anywhere. It was cute, with cute stories about Steinbeck’s dog and truck, but it didn’t hold my attention past the first few chapters. Recently, I picked it up again and couldn’t put it down. Like so much other great literature, you need to be on the same level with it to understand it. Now that I have travelled, and I have my own beloved dog, I can better appreciate it.
The basics of travelling haven’t changed much in the nearly fifty years since he wrote the book and anyone who has been alone on the road will relate to, and laugh along with it.

Croatia Guide

Don’t believe the rumours: Croatia is not being ruined by tourism.

Sure, it’s been one of the hottest destinations of the past few years. It is ranked as one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world, and keeps getting more and more popular. And all for good reason; Croatia simply has everything. The bluest and clearest water in Europe, great weather, fresh seafood,, pumping discos, party islands or uninhabited ones. You can swim with dolphins, sleep in a lighthouse, climb ancient city walls. And that’s just along the coast.

Venture inland and you’ll be treated to castles, national parks, spa towns, waterfalls and wine regions, ancient churches and Roman amphitheatres, a world-class capital, locals that are happy to see you, fantastic wine and even better brandy.

Then there’s that little issue of the bloodiest European war since WWII, in which Croatia played a leading role. So to top it all off, you can visit a city like Vukovar and get a first-hand history lesson.

To be sure, you won’t be the only tourist on the island of Hvar. You might be surrounded by more sunburned tourists in Dubrovnik than you’re comfortable with, and there might be more Aussie accents bouncing off the walls of Diocletian’s Palace than there were a decade ago.

But there are thousands of islands around Croatia, so if one is too busy for your liking, choose another. Or head away from the coast, away from the obvious hot-spots, and you’ll stumble upon towns where you’ll find nary an English-speaker and not a cheap souvenir shop in sight, but only local people enjoying the surreal beauty of their country.

The truth is, Croatia is too gorgeous to be spoiled, no matter how many people are around to marvel at it.

So jump on the bandwagon and see it for yourself.

(Before it actually gets ruined by tourism).

The Basics

Capital: Zagreb

Population: 4,4530,500

Religion: Predominantly Roman Catholic (88%)

Government: Croatia has had a democratic government since the adoption of the 1990 constitution. It previously had a long history of Communism, headed most famously by Joseph Broz ‘Tito’

Race: Croatian (89%); Serbian (4%)

Official language:

This isn’t as easy a question as it looks.

When Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia, the language was officially called Serbo-Croat. Today, the Croatians call it the Croatian language and use the Latin alphabet. The Serbs call it the Serbian language and use the Cyrillic alphabet. The Bosnians call it the Bosnian language and claim that the others misappropriated it for their own political and cultural reasons. The courts at The Hague try to keep the peace by calling it BCS (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian). Some linguists claim there never was one unified language, but two distinct languages that have overlapped over the years.

Whatever moniker you give it, the language is considered one of the hardest to learn. Not only is it difficult, but it has many potentially offensive political connotations. For example, many guidebooks list the word ‘Zdravo’ for ‘Hello’. But say that to someone who did not support the Communists and you might get a funny look, as that word is often associated with the party.

Don’t worry too much about mastering the language before you visit Croatia: most Croatians speak English, Italian, German, sometimes even Russian. If you’re in the bigger cities, such as Split or Zagreb, you shouldn’t have any trouble chatting with locals or at least making yourself understood in English. In smaller towns you might have a harder time, but even if they don’t speak English, Croatians are usually keen to practice and to help however they can.

And one final note about the Croatian language: the word for "bat" in Croatian is sismis (pronounced: "shishmish"). Say it loud, it's brilliant!

Visas: Most visitors don’t need a visa to visit for three months. Obtaining a work visa, on the other hand, is a different matter. By most accounts, you kinda need to know someone.

When to visit: The high season from June to August is pretty busy, so the best months to go are April, May and September when the weather is hot enough for swimming and also for comfortable sightseeing.

The infamous bura wind blows in around late September, usually signalling the end of the season along the coast when everything shuts down. You should plan to head inland around then. In the colder months, spend time in Zagreb galleries or in Slavonian wineries, or find a little spa town where you can spend your days lounging in warm water and your nights in a cozy café.


The People

Croatians love to sit for a coffee and a smoke. They don’t do take-out-coffees, and they certainly don’t have Starbucks; they sit down for five minutes to relax.

Croatians are big-smokers, in fact if you don’t smoke you’ll probably be quite uncomfortable there. But funnily enough, their life expectancy is the same as Americans.

They love being outside and they really love their sea. They are very patriotic, but still somewhat surprised and curious to realize how many tourists are interested in their country.

They love bakeries; in fact, there isn’t a huge variety of restaurants in Croatia, but you can’t walk five feet without coming across a bakery where you can buy a delicious burek.

They have forgiven, for the most part, what happened in the past but it’s still fresh in their memories. You won’t generally feel much tension in the air, but at the same time, you won’t be in a conversation very long with a Croatian before their recent rough times will inevitably come up.

Croatians aren’t fake. If they don’t like you, don’t worry, they’ll tell you. Or ignore you.

Croatians can be skeptical. It takes them a little while to warm up, but once they do, they treat you like family.

Croatians love to eat meat, bread and fresh salad, preferably with their hands and preferably with a bottle of homemade wine.

Croatians are really tall. If you’re short, you’ll realize just how tall they are when you try to look into a mirror and have to stand on tiptoes.

Dating

There are no two ways about it: Croatian men are hot. The term ‘tall, dark and handsome’ might have originated there, with brooding demeanours and rugged manliness thrown in for good measure. They have all the sexy qualities you expect in Mediterranean men, minus any sleazy catcalls or particularly fiery tempers.

Croatian girls, like most of their ex-Yugoslavian counterparts, are pretty, but they don’t often go for the natural look. They like to put effort into their clothes, make-up and hair colour. You won’t see many windswept, fresh-faced blonde beauties in Croatia. These girls are high-maintenance.

When a Croatian guy is trying to impress a girl, he will pull out chairs, pay the bills, order her drinks.

An Irishman who spent a summer working on the island Vis said he learned to be more of a gentleman while observing customers in the restaurant where he worked. He learned to never look at the woman when taking orders or settling the bills. When he got back to Ireland, he started pouring drinks for his girlfriend and ordering for her. He preferred the way of life that he learned in Croatia. He said:

“The girls in Croatia are more delicate, more feminine.”

He said that men are able to feel more like men in Croatia than in Ireland.

“It’s an act, but there’s something to it.”

Most Croatian girls are on the fence when it comes to their men. When the topic comes up, most of them roll their eyes and say: “That’s Balkan men for you. They don’t know what they want.”

They can’t explain what they mean by that, but there seems to be a collective agreement that there is something wrong with Balkan men. Words like ‘macho’ and ‘confused’ get thrown around.

But at the same time as their men frustrate them, they admit that there is something special about them.

It’s not hard for a foreigner to get a date. Female tourists will find that Croatian guys are more than happy to show them around, take them out for drinks or to the beach. But just as in any strange country, foreign girls should be careful. Croatian guys don’t necessarily have the same opinion of foreigners as their own. They don’t necessarily want to just be just friends, and when they invite you back to their house for a home-cooked meal, they’re not just trying to give you a taste of the local cuisine. The good thing is that Croatians are fairly well-mannered, so even if one gets a little out of order, most times a stern word will suffice to get a girl out of an uncomfortable situation.
Croatian girls, like girls around the world, love an accent and will be happy to accept a date with a foreign guy. But a word to the wise, guys: it’s only a matter of time before a Croatian girl is bound to remember that she’s surrounded by some of Europe’s sexiest men, and your accent will only take you so far.


Work and Money

The currency in Croatia is the kuna (fun fact: the kuna is a furry little animal that used to be used in trading). There are approximately 7 kunas to the British pound.

Croatia is inexpensive, but not dirt-cheap. It’s no Bulgaria, for example. A pizza in a nice restaurant costs around 40 kunas, a coffee or beer costs about 10 kunas, a hostel room costs about 100 kunas. Of course, prices vary depending on your proximity to the tourist-traps along the coast.

Working in Croatia isn’t easy. Many bars or restaurants won’t hire tourists without visas, and it’s not easy to get a visa.

That said, there are a few that will hire people under the table. You might not get paid much, or at all, but you can find work at a hostel or a bar where your accommodation is taken care of, so at least you’ll be able to stick around a little longer.


Health and Safety

Everyone in Croatia has a story about an encounter with a sea urchin. It is a part of growing up by the sea. When a guy from Birmingham stepped on two urchins on an Istrian beach, he asked a bartender later that night how to get them out. The bartender replied ‘squeeze a lemon onto it’, like that was the most obvious answer in the world.

Sea urchins are one of the biggest dangers you’ll encounter. You needn’t worry too much about scams, pickpockets, kidnappings or muggings.

For a country that coined the term ‘genocide’, it’s doing pretty well.


Transport

God love cheap European airlines. You can usually find a return flight to Croatia from London for no more than 50 pounds with Ryanair, Easyjet, GermanWings or Thomsonfly. Of course, in the high season, flights to Split or Dubrovnik are ridiculously inflated, but there’s ways around it. Fly into Pula or Zadar and then rent a car or take a bus to wherever you want to go.

Once you’re in Croatia, getting around is easy. The bus system is extensive and accessible. There is a bus station in every town with big signs clearly listing the timetables.

There are direct buses between most major cities, and the most you’ll pay for a bus ticket is around 150 kunas, and that will get you practically across the country. Buses are comfortable and safe, and will make a few stops along the way (don’t forget: Croatians are heavy smokers so they won’t go far before taking a smoke break!). The greatest thing about Croatian buses: the drivers usually play the radio so you can get your fill of traditional music on the road.

If you’re comfortable driving in a strange country, hiring a car is a terrific option. There is a new highway linking Split and Zagreb so you can motor along quickly, albeit with a few toll booths along the way. If you have the time, take the old highway for a spectacularly beautiful drive. If you fly into Pula or Zadar, hire a car and meander along the coast or head into the mountains, stopping along the way for a swim or lunch in a little coastal village.

Accommodation

If you get off a bus, ferry or train in a major city or island, someone will, without fail, approach you to offer a room. Go ahead and accept their offer, because private accommodation is the best way to go in Croatia. Private accommodation is safe, it’s the norm, and it’s a way for Croatian homeowners to pull in a little extra income.

If you’re alone, expect to pay around 100-150 kunas per night; if you’re a couple you’re in luck because the rooms are often charged by the room rather than the person, meaning you’ll each pay half that amount.

Private rooms range from personal and cozy, with homey decorations, to sparse and empty but probably in a fantastic location. You might get to sit for a cup of coffee or a snack while the landlord gives you the lowdown on the area. Some families even cook for their tenants.

Entrepreneurs take note: hostels are not widespread in Croatia. Yet.

If private rooms aren’t your thing, there are several hostels in Zagreb and a few in Split. You’ll likely need to splurge on a hotel room if you head to Slavonia, and the same goes for Istria where there are many high-end resorts but only a couple of hostels.

Destinations

Istria

For several decades, from the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918 to the end of WWII, Istria was part of Italy. The Italian heritage is still prominent, from its food to its architecture to the fact that more people say “Ciao” on the streets than “Doviđenja”.

A 70-year old lady who has lived her whole life in Medulin, a small village just outside Pula, said she has had five different passports.

During the so-called “homeland war” in the 1990s, Istria saw none of the fighting. Still, the war and years of Communism before that, took their toll on the Istrian economy and its major industry, tourism. But people have gradually rediscovered it and tourism once again plays a major role, although far less than Dalmatia.

Istria has truffle fields and vineyards, spectacular coastal drives, world-heritage sights in Porec and Rovinj, and the world’s smallest town, Hum.

The biggest city in Istria is Pula, known more as a military city than a touristy one since the 19th century, when its harbour was the headquarters of the Austro-Hungarian navy. It has one of the best-preserved Amphitheatres in the world and several other important ancient Roman sights.

Pula isn’t the prettiest city: the paint is peeling from its walls and some buildings look like they’ll fall down any minute. Some people leave after one night because they’re looking for white sandy beaches, not the cement and stone things Pula has to offer. Others get bored because they’ve seen the Arena, had a swim, sat at a table at Café Uliks beside the statue of James Joyce - who lived and taught in Pula for a few months and supposedly hated it - and there isn’t much else to do.

But Pula has an inviting, small-town feel to it, plus a few nice and quiet beaches, and some of the best gelato this side of Italy.


Slavonia

The region of Slavonia has a lot going for it. It has sprawling maize fields, burgeoning wineries and the country’s first wine hotel. Its biggest city, Osijek, has a beautiful cathedral. The city of Dakovo has Lippizaner horses to ride and Slavonski Brod has one of Europe’s best-preserved fortresses. Slavonia is bordered by the Drava river, the Sava river and the Danube.

But the area is probably best known for Vukovar. The city became famous for its David and Goliath story, when the Croatian population defended the city against the approaching Yugoslavian military for 87 days before eventually succumbing and being nearly completely destroyed. Vukovar is still a sensitive subject around Croatia, and most cities have a street or monument dedicated to it. Visit there now and you’ll find a city still divided and not yet recovered. It’s worth a trip away from the coast to see the part of Croatia that isn’t in the tourist brochures.


Zagreb

Zagreb is a great city. It’s got museums and galleries dedicated to everything from botany to sculpture. It has the Croatian parliament, housed in a big building with a checkered-tile roof. It has the Croatian National Theatre, a bright yellow building with a beautiful sculpture by Ivan Mestrovic outside called The Well of Life. It has a vibrant nightlife. It has big green parks and a botanical garden and an efficient, if noisy, tram system. It has several cathedrals and galleries. It doesn’t have great shopping but it has great cafés. It has festivals in the main squares. It has one million people.

And yet Zagreb is not known as a world-class capital city and probably never will be. It’s not Paris or London, cities that everyone wants to see at least once. It doesn’t have the funky reputation of Barcelona or the romance of Florence or even the quirkiness of Reykjavik. It doesn’t have any internationally-famous monuments. It’s the capital of Croatia but let’s face it, people don’t come to Croatia for its cities and Zagreb is nowhere near the coast. The name Zagreb isn’t even particularly appealing.

It’s a city that grows on you. Give Zagreb a chance and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. There aren’t many must-see destinations, so you can sit in a café all morning with a coffee, spend all afternoon wandering, then spend the evening in a bar with a glass of wine and watch the world go by. And those are always the best kind of places.


Split

There aren’t many places in the world where you have a pizza, get drunk, and buy a cheap pair of earrings without ever straying from the walls of an ancient Emperor’s palace. But that’s exactly what you’ll do in Split, where you’ll spend hours wandering the streets of Diocletian’s Palace. Outside the palace, there is a new boardwalk where you can join the locals on a nightly promenade and stop for dinner at one of the many outdoor terraces overlooking the sea. Then head to the beach and poke your head into as many bars as you can, all housed in the Bacvice complex. Split has great nightlife, the official Ivan Mestrovic museum, theatres and statues and galleries, plus it’s the major jumping-off point to the islands. If Diocletian knew how many sunburned degenerates were running around his home, he’d be turning in his mausoleum.


The Dalmatian Islands

Croatia’s major draw is its sea, and the best showcases for the sea are the islands. There are 1185 islands in Croatia, mostly uninhabited, so take your pick. They’re covered in fresh lavender, they have windy little streets and mind-blowingly blue water. The most popular are: Hvar, where you’ll find the best nightlife going and Korcula, which have gained respectable reputations among the rich and famous; beautiful Brac, where the Zlatni Rat beach of postcard-fame is located; and Vis, a favourite among locals, a little less busy than the others and boasting the spectacular Blue Grotto.

Take a boat-tour or hop on the public ferries and meander your way around the islands that are quickly making Greece yesterday’s news.

QUICK HISTORY

In the seventh century, the Slavic tribes were pushing west - reaching their most western point in Istria, stopping just short of Italy – and south, destroying Salona, the capital of Roman Dalmatia.


The Romans, who already occupied most of Dalmatia, and the Slavs co-habited the land peacefully for many years. Their civilizations were completely different, but they worked out a trading system and compromised on their language and tradition. The Slavs lived in the countryside, the Romans lived in the cities, and everyone was happy.

One major difference between the Romans and the Slavs was their language: latin or glagolitic. By the 12th century, the papal authorities had turned the Croatian Church into a Roman Catholic one, and the glagolitic language survived only as a secular one (although it is still a national source of pride).

But Empires changed and depending on who married who, the rule of lands swapped hands every few years. The first major struggle that had repercussions for Croatia was between the Byzantines and the Franks (under Charlemagne). After the battle of Aachen, the Byzantines were given the Roman cities, while the Franks got the rural hinterland. This split up Croatia for the first time, and they worked for centuries to re-unite it. At the time, there was also a fledgling Croatian state in Slavonia.

In the 10th century, the Croat ruler Tomislav stopped an invasion by the Hungarians and Bulgarians, and gained a lot of respect for protecting the country. The Byzantine Empire allowed him to rule their cities as the Emperor’s pro-consul. Tomislav was a successful leader, and very politically innovative; he was the first to divide Croatia into 11 administrative districts.

In the 1100s, the Croatian crown was given to the King of Hungary, who guaranteed that the Croatians would have an unequal, but separate, existence within his Kingdom. The Croatians were to keep their sabor (parliament) and local authorities.

But over the next few centuries, Croatian nation-building was blocked even further. Venice bought all of Dalmatia in the 14th century. The Turks were approaching, and after the King of Hungary was killed at the Battle of Mohacs, the Croatians turned to the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand for help. The pirates of Senj revolted, the Krajina (military border) was controlled by Vienna, and Croatia was referred to as “The remnants of the remnants of the once great Croatian kingdom.”

Dubrovnik was the only success story in the whole divided country. It was known as Ragusa then, and it was full of skilled artisans, was the main trading partner with the Ottomans along the Mediterranean, and maintained its independence as a republic (which saved it from the Ottoman attacks that the rest of the country was prey to).

Dalmatia (particularly Hvar) was a hotspot during the Renaissance, with Croatians studying in Italy and Italians coming to Dalmatia to work on the magnificent building projects of the time (which can still be seen around the islands).

When the Ottoman empire was finally defeated in the 16th century, the Habsburgs tightened their control over Croatia, taking the Krajina completely out of their hands. Two noble Croatian families, the Frankopans and the Zrinskis, were tired of such treatment, and plotted to eject the Habsburgs from their country. But word of their plot got out, and Peter Zrinski and Franjo Frankopan were beheaded in Vienna. Croatia was now completely under the Austrian thumb.

During this time, the Habsburgs attracted their own people into the Krajina by ensuring that Serbs could practise their Orthodox religion freely. Consequently, in 1819, over half of the population there was Serbian (a source of tension later).

There was a brief period of French rule during the French Revolution, in which Dalmatia and Dubrovnik was also occupied. When it ended, Croatia was returned to the Habsburgs with all its pieces together. While the Hungarians were struggling to gain equality with Austria, a sense of nationalism rose in Croatia as well with the emergence of the Illyrian movement. There were calls for the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia to be reunited.

Josip Jelacic was the Croatian ban at the time, and he fought on the side of Vienna against the Hungarian uprising, hoping to gain favours. But the Austrians tightened their fists, subdued any nationalism movements, and Jelacic without seeing the independence of his country.
The Illyrian movement eventually split into two, with one half looking to unite all of the Slav people into Yugoslavia (under Josip Strossmayer), while the other half (under Ante Starcevic) seeing that broad union as far too problematic, and hoping to see an independent Croatia on its own.
When the Austria-Hungary empire was created, Dalmatia was left under Vienna’s rule, while Slavonia was given to Hungary. Aspirations for a united Croatia were dashed until WWI, when it was united with the other Slav countries into Yugoslavia. Croatia was not entirely happy about this, because it seemed that Serbia saw the union as an extension of their own country.
Stjepan Radic was a separatist who did not support Yugoslavia, and campaigned for Croatian independence. When he was assassinated in the middle of a Parliamentary meeting, the debate got even more heated, resulting in the rise of the far-right Ustashe movement (which traced its establishment back to Starcevic), and the far-left Communist movement.
In WWII, Yugoslavia was occupied by Hitler, and the Ustashe were installed into government by Mussolini. The Ustashe cooperated with them, hoping to exterminate all minorities within their country (including the Serbs and Bosnians, so that Croatia was finally its own country). A three-way fight over the country emerged: the Ustashe, the Communists, and the Cetniks (Serbian royalists).

The Communists eventually won the fight, under the charismatic Josip Broz Tito. Yugoslavia was now made up of Croatians, Serbs, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians and Montenegrins, all sharing power.

Although Communism had quelled fighting for a few years, most Croatians were not happy to be ruled by that party, particularly because it persecuted the Catholic Church.

Mass tourism helped Croatia to prosper, it gained back Istria from Italy, and it was doing quite well for itself. But there were feelings that it was bringing all of the money into Yugoslavia, holding up its less prosperous partners, without getting anything in return. A small uprising by Croatian nationalists was put down by Tito, but when he died in 1980, foreign debts started to spiral out of control, and Communism started to lose prestige these nationalist feelings re-emerged, not only in Croatia but in Serbia. Slobodan Milosevic took power in 1987 and started to violently enforce Serbian authority over the other republics in Yugoslavia. First, he took over Albanian-dominated Kosovo (a historic place for Serbs), then Montenegro. Milosevic had suddenly ended the 45-year union, and with that, the countries decided to look after their own interests.

In Croatia, Franjo Tudman was elected in 1990, and within a year, war broke out when Slovenia, and then Croatia, declared independence. Their dream had been realized, but at the cost of many lives.

The dissolution of the former Yugoslavia cannot be reduced to religion, politics or money. Historians still can’t agree on who was to blame in the conflicts, where the source of disputes originated, or even the number of people who were killed in the 1990s wars.

Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic has written many books about the subject, including They Would Never Hurt a Fly, in which she sums it all up as well as anyone:

Once upon a time, in a faraway part of Europe, behind seven mountains and seven seas, there was a beautiful country called Yugoslavia. Its people belonged to six different nationalities, were of three different religions and spoke three different languages. They were Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Albanians, Bosnians and Macedonians, yet they all worked together, went to school together, married each other and lived in relative harmony for forty-five years. But because this is not a fairy tale the story of this beautiful country has no happy ending. Yugoslavia fell apart in a terrible and bloody war, a war that claimed some two hundred thousand lives - mostly in Bosnia - displaced two million people and produced several new states: Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. Albanians and Montenegrins are still struggling for their independence. This all happened in the middle of Europe not so long ago, between 1991 and 1995. The whole world was surprised by this war. We, the citizens of Yugoslavia, were even more surprised.

Even if it appeared so to us, the war, however, did not descend upon us overnight. In the late eighties communism collapsed everywhere in Eastern Europe and in what was then still the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia was unprepared for the political changes that followed the collapse. We had not developed any democratic alternatives as Poland and Czechoslovakia had done, and the political vacuum was suddenly filled with nationalist parties. They all had the same programme: independence and nation-states of their own. Simmering nationalism was soon spreading like a fire ... Slovenia took the first step, and by June 1991 it was out of the federation. The break-up had begun. The Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija (Yugoslav National Army) tried to stop Slovenia from leaving but, as it had no minorities to speak of, the army let it go ... But Croatia had a large Serbian minority, and Slobodan Milosevic, as President of Serbia, had the perfect excuse to send his army to ‘protect’ the Serbs there. That meant real war ... In Bosnia, where Serbs, Croats and Muslim lived together, the war started in April 1992. Because of the mixed population, it also took on the characteristics of a civil war.

My father never spoke about the four years he fought as a partisan under the command of Josip Broz Tito in the Second World War. He wanted to forget it, and for a long time I saw this as a sign of sanity and self-preservation ... And the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the combination of his silence and the official version of the historical events of 1939 - 1945 made this latest war possible ... Only now can I understand how easy it is to start a war in the absence of facts.