BALKAN COFFEE CULTURE

            Interesting Culture

            Everywhere we visited throughout the Balkans we ran into the coffee culture which fascinated me.  Coffee bars line the narrow streets and alleys in every town and village. They stand side by side and are interspersed among sidewalk cafés and restaurants. Strong Turkish coffee is the only coffee available, and it is served in tiny porcelain cups which contain about two swallows. Of course it is sipped in tiny amounts. Desserts are available it the coffee bars, but no other food. Desserts are sweet, but everyone loves them.

One can sit all day long with one cup of coffee if desired. No one ever tries to hurry or rush you away. And people do sit for hours visiting or just as often by themselves. People read, work on computers or visit with friends. The coffee bars open early in the morning and remain open late at night.  No one ever seems to be in a rush.

            I found it amazing that in spite of the really tough times these people have experienced and are still living that they never had their hand out. They always seemed surprised and delighted with a tip, but it was never expected and if it was not given there was no grumbling or nasty looks. They are a kind and gracious people.

            We have our own coffee culture in the United States and it is called Starbucks. But it is quite different than that in the Balkans. First the coffee is different. And we mostly drive through or enter, get our fix and leave with disposable coffee cup in hand. In the Balkans there is no disposable coffee container and one does not walk about on the street drinking. We have a much more rush and move-on mentality where the Balkan people are relaxed. Both cultures are interesting---I am familiar with one and fascinated by the other.

FIGHTING FOR A FLIGHT

                                            Sometimes It's Easy, Sometimes It's Not

            After one travels enough you know what flights you want and I for one am not willing to tromp all over kingdom come with multiple plane changes to get to my destination. When we went to the Balkans we were to start out in Vienna. The Vienna stay would be short and I had several things I wanted to accomplish.

Months before the trip I learned that most likely I’d be routed through Frankfort, Germany and not arrive in Vienna until 2:30 or later in the afternoon. After traveling all night that was not satisfactory! Returning home from Zagreb we were stuck with Lufthansa Airlines or one of their partners so I got on the web to see what US city had a direct United flight to Vienna. It was not a problem for me to get to any US gateway city.

            When I found a direct flight from Dulles, Washington, DC I called the tour company requesting that flight. We had quite a confrontation on the phone with my not being allowed to talk to the travel department and being informed that they did not take requests plus a lot of rhetoric about restrictions, contracts etc. I was not about to take no for an answer and informed them I would be a pest as, since it was my fourth visit to Vienna, I knew what I wanted to see in Vienna, where I wanted to go and what I wanted to buy and I did not want to waste the day flying especially after flying all night. About two and a half weeks later  I got my airline schedule in the mail which did put me on my requested flights.

            Our guide met the flight and we were actually in our hotel at 9:30 AM. Of course our rooms were not ready, so I left my luggage with the concierge, got directions to Stephenplatz and took off by myself as everyone else wanted to rest. I had until late afternoon before my travel buddy arrived from L A. I accomplished my goals and was back at the hotel about ten minutes before she arrived.

Coming home there was little chance of avoiding Frankfort, Germany so I just had to cope with that miserable airport and its disagreeable people. But coming home I didn’t care, and if the dirty laundry got lost---oh well. As it turned out we sailed through the Frankfort airport and because the security area we chose was very quiet we even chatted with a couple of friendly young security fellows. It was the easiest pass-through at Frankfort I had ever had.