Budapest, Prague and Vienna are three beautiful cities right out of a fairy tale.

Vienna

I don’t think I have ever appreciated living in New York as much as I do now after my third visit to Europe. Any long trip has its ups and downs and for me, the worst part of my two month sojourn was being in Croatia. In fact, just being in Eastern Europe opened up a whole Pandora’s box of issues for me with regards to race and skin color. However, I will admit that inspite of it’s unfriendly people, Croatia is a very beautiful country.

I decided to take a day trip from Croatia to the beautiful town of Mostar in Bosnia which was ravaged by war a couple of years ago. Mostar was named after “the bridge keepers” (mostari) who kept the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva river. During Turkish occupation, the Old Bridge was built and became one of the symbols of Mostar. This bridge was destroyed during the Bosnian - Herzegovian war in 1993. I doubt I can put into words the emotions and feelings that this particular trip evoked. To stand in such a beautiful setting and witness firsthand the evidence of war, to see the shelled, partly ruined buildings and talk to people who fought in the war, a useless war that had no reason to touch Mostar, was a moving experience.

Ljubljana and Lake Bled, Slovenia

Eastern Europe is also home to Europe’s forgotten and overlooked population. The Roma or Gypsies with their unconventional lifestyle face immense prejudice and schools are sometimes segregated with signs reading, “White Only”.

Here a Roma musician plays in front of Slovenian graffiti saying ‘Drop Dead’.

Bratislava, Slovakia