Just a number of years in the past, these individuals — who make me a sandwich, direct me to a computer terminal in the cyber café, stop for me once I cross the road, showcase their work, and direct the church choir — were killing one another. It’s clear we’ll be very late to our lodge, so we gird ourselves for the worst meal of our trip and have a rest-stop dinner. We walk through the smoke-crammed bar — crammed stuffed with angry tattoos and males who seem like they may kill you without breaking a sweat. I can’t assist but surprise which of these burly, aggressive guys might have been a killer or a rapist within the war that put “ethnic cleansing” into our vocabulary. Friends who went to the concert recalled that she was in her helicopter, lifting up over the stadium on her means out of the country three minutes after singing the last verse of her last track. And then, you get out of the backcountry, and the energy and focus are a lot different. On Montenegro’s coast, persons are nonetheless speaking in regards to the current concert events featuring Madonna and the Rolling Stones. Both visited Montenegro and sold out (30,000 tickets at $50 each — a lot of gross for a small, poor nation). Eating my meal, I was surrounded by poignant sights and sounds. While the bar is packed, the adjoining restaurant is empty. I ask the boy caught on the cafeteria line what he’d eat. In his estimation, the mushroom and hen with potato croquettes or gnocchi was the least of evils. On the expressway — the place folks spend $8 a gallon for gas and luxuriate in Western-type snacks in mini-markets — you see there’s a no-nonsense affluence to the former Yugoslavia that’s a long way from its humble but colourful previous. It’s a land where dads with new automobiles teach their children to help squeegee the windows. Ponder the tragedy of Mostar’s latest previous and the hope symbolized by the bridge upon which you stand — as soon as bombed and now rebuilt. Then pay the kid within the bathing go well with to make the dizzying leap from there into the river method, means below. The Stones realized native words, referring to the nation by its native name , wishing all a dober dan , and so forth. They thrilled the euphoric crowd with a strong encore set. Madonna, however, didn’t relate to something native, by no means talked to the people, and ignored their pleas for an encore. Wherever you journey, meet the individuals, and understand the historic and cultural context of your sightseeing. Equip yourself with the best data and expect yourself to journey sensible. Take the initiative to not just see your destination, but to expertise it. In Bosnia, at the crest of Mostar’s single-arched bridge, survey the city that simply over a decade in the past was a killing area of sectarian strife. Take within the cityscape of crosses, spires, and minarets. Next week the Rolling Stones are taking part in in Montenegro, and all 60,000 tickets at $50 every are bought out. Obviously not everyone is selling paper cones of walnuts. Every nook of Europe presents magic moments like these to good travelers.