06 Dec 1985, Posted by Scott An Chora in Travelogue, No Comments.

12/06 Split, Yugoslavia

We charted a bus north up the coast into Split where I was able to see the beautiful coast line.  One of the advantages of traveling in baby steps is that we could stop at those beautiful places and not neglect the details that make each special.  When we reached Split we headed through the walls of the old city seeking a room for the night.  We either were appalled at the high prices for a room or they didn’t have any available.  Since our budget was deflating I posed an option to Jenni.  Let’s see the city, have a really nice meal and head out on a late train.  Or just fork out for a room and eat from the local market.  Jenni selected option A.  So we headed back toward the station and procured two train tickets heading north.  We wandered about the city taking in its history and checked out a few of the better restaurants, selecting one that matched the money we had left.  We didn’t feel that we were going to be missing much by only staying a day.  I suppose if the sun had been out, the beaches probably would have convinced us otherwise.  We were hungry so we sat down to a nice bottle of wine and an excellent meal earlier than we had planned.  We ended up claiming a bench on the water front but when the sun went down the chill that arose from the water was hard to tolerate.  We attempted to keep warm with no success so we wandered over to the train station hoping that we could hide from the cold.  There was no enclosed waiting area so we laid blankets down against a wall off the platform.  At the moment I fell asleep a conductor came by and kicked me, “No sleeping here”.

We wandering about and eventually ended up on the same bench we had abandoned earlier.  I don’t know what we were thinking because it wasn’t getting any warmer.  We were too cold to sit in one place and had no local currency.  Then Jenni mentioned that she still had the hundred dollar bills in her wallet from Athens.  “Perhaps we could get a local bar to exchange one” she suggested.  I was game to do anything to locate some warmth.  We entered through the old walls and just to our right was what seemed to be a lively enough place.  Jenni enter the bar wearing a smile and approached the bar tender.  “We’re thirsty and I have no money…….” They didn’t let her get out another word out and so she never completed her question.  Before I could get a word in edgewise there were two drinks in front of us.  “Yugoslavians, big hearts”, the bartender said twice.  “No, no we only need to exchange a hundred”, I explained.  Our conversation placed us into the center of attention and expanded to include more and then more patrons.  “Big hearts” was emphasized by two more free drinks placed in front of us.

Then suddenly our attention was dethroned by the town drunk.  What occurred next could was pulled right out from an American Western.  The drunk wandered in smelling like he had been sleeping on the streets for some time and the last drink he had spilled on himself.  He was willing to do anything for another drink.  They all told him if he wanted a drink he would have to pay for it.  That only began to turn his wheels toward begging, play his sympathy card.  Then one of the guys sitting at the bar to my right turned on his stool spit on a Dinara note and placed it on his forehead.  He didn’t attempt to remove it as if that ritual had been done many times before.  Then they requested him to dance.  “Dance if you want a drink”.  The way he was treated was embarrassing, especially when they made him sing.  They all laughed and when he was done with that drink they literally booted him out onto the street.

Jesus said, “They hate me for exposing their weakness” “Whomever exalts themselves will be humbles and who ever humbles themselves will be exalted”.  I didn’t turn away any free drinks and nobody asked me to sing.  Even though inside I felt bad by the way they treated him I didn’t risk being cast into the same lot.  I know I was weak but I told myself that next time I’d try harder.

Come down, please lift me higher, eternal hills, I’ve never seen
though I strive to reach, never ending heights, still one, who’s lacking wings

Sunlight, I see is brighter, eternal hills, I cannot see
heights I cannot find, supreme desire, still one, who cannot be

My God, please lift me higher, above all, I know to be
and clear the clouds and fit me wings, eternal hills, I long to see

After filling myself with alcohol; I tried everything they put in front of me.  I had visions of sleeping like a baby and waking up in Austria, but when the train pulled into the station it was filled to its brim.  Luckily we managed to find a place to sit but any sleeping would have to be accomplished in an upright position.  Sometimes getting a place to sit depends on which train you decided to board, a few steps behind and you might be standing.  I probably dozed off a couple of times but nothing that resembled sleep.  The closer we got to Ljubijava the stronger the snow flurries.  When we reached Ljubijava we were in the midst of a full blown storm.  It was cold, and neither one of us planned on venturing too far and stuck relatively close to the station.  Still we had no local currency and were very hungry.  The drinks from the night before weren’t helping either.  Soon we would be in Villach and then we would eat.  Boy would we eat.