Knowledge of the Unknown - Eastern Europe In The American Mind (Part One)

When I tell people where I am traveling, they often look at me as though I am some kind of alien creature who has descended upon the earth from outer space. Hungary elicits a blank stare, Poland a hesitant nod followed by nothing much at all. Transylvania raises an eyebrow due to the Dracula connotations, though never once has anyone asked me where it is located. Greece receives a better reaction. That was until I mentioned Thessaloniki. Only Athens and islands count as Greece in the American imagination. I never stimulated anyone’s curiosity about Thessaloniki and its Ottoman-era history. The Ottomans would surely have been mistaken for a piece of furniture.

Lack of Curiosity - Ignorance or Indifference

Montenegro never did much for anyone other than me. I have the experience to prove that. One time a colleague who had heard I was going to be out of the country for a couple of weeks asked me where I was going. When I said Montenegro, her response was “What is in Montenegro?” I replied, “I have never been there and want to visit all the nations that used to be part of Yugoslavia.” By the puzzled look on her face, I knew that she had no idea where Montenegro was located or why anyone would want to go there. I was not surprised that this quickly ended Montenegro as a topic of conversation between the two of us.

Her question might have been different if I had mentioned Bosnia. (Note: I never say Bosnia-Herzegovina because to an American the land beyond the hyphen sounds insanely exotic.) This can lead to a look of fear in an American’s eyes, followed by the inevitable question: “Is it safe?” Bosnia of course, is considered infamous and dangerous because of the nasty war that occurred there thirty years ago. Some would call this lack of American knowledge about Eastern Europe ignorance. I would say it has more to do with indifference. I have long since decided to keep my fascination with Eastern Europe mostly to myself. Unless I meet someone from the region, I avoid mentioning it. As the Hungarian writer, Sandor Marai once wrote, “Is disinterest not the essence of every human relationship?” I can answer that in the affirmative when it comes to discussing Eastern Europe with my fellow Americans. Eyes glaze over as soon as nation ends in -ania.

Shared Experience - Booked Through To The Balkans

There has been one notable exception to American indifference. This came from one of my travel companions who has made a couple of trips to Eastern Europe with me. Not long after we first met eight years ago, the two of us were on the sunbaked high plains of Wyoming following remnants of the Oregon-California Trail. While riding along on a two-track we began discussing books about the region. That was when he mentioned a very large book he had read on the Balkans. He said it was by a female writer, but he could not recall her name right off hand.

I thought for a moment and was soon able to visualize the book with its thick binding and seafoam green color spine. On the cover was a photo of the Old Bridge (Stari Most) in Mostar. Suddenly it came to me. The book was Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West. It is quite possibly the greatest book on the Balkans ever written in the English language. Our bond was sealed by that shared experience. He was one of the only Americans I have ever met who showed a popular interest in the region. That moment makes up for the dozens of dumb founded looks I have received over the years at the mere mention of Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, those looks are something I have trouble forgetting.

Somewhere in middle age, I finally realized that most people are not interested in places they are unlikely to ever visit, particularly in Europe where cities like Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Venice dominate travel itineraries. Everything else is considered the leftovers. Anything east of the Rhine is generally ignored with only a few exceptions that have made Americans vaguely aware that a sizable portion of Europe is worth their attention. One of these is Prague.

Because of its stunning architecture and Old-World aesthetics, Prague is one of the quintessential European tourist attractions. It has more in common with the mainstream of European travel than with most of Eastern Europe. I have heard so much (well-deserved) gushing about Prague that it feels to me more like Florence or Venice than a part of Eastern Europe. Of course, Prague is in Central Europe but to Americans (including myself) the Czech capital’s location behind the Iron Curtain for over four decades means it is associated with Eastern Europe. One of the ways of bamboozling Americans who have been to Prague is to mention that Vienna is actually further east. This is a mind-bending bit of geographic misdirection that challenges assumptions of what really is Eastern Europe.

Eastern Influence – Bratislava & Budapest

The other recognizable area in Eastern Europe happens to start just beyond Vienna along the Danube River. Large numbers of American pensioners cruise to Bratislava and Budapest each year. Bratislava used to not register on waterborne traveler’s itinerary, but the Slovakian capital has undergone an incredible makeover. The Old Town is small, quaint, and spectacular. In the past couple of years, I have heard Bratislava mentioned by those who took cruises on the Danube. They are not so much surprised, as shocked. No one told them Eastern Europe could be this fantastic. As for Budapest, it is often the final destination on the Danube for cruises. It leaves a lasting impression.

Anyone taking an early morning flight out of Budapest in the spring, summer or autumn is likely to meet legions of American pensioners still starry eyed and spewing superlatives from their visit to the Hungarian capital city. Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest are the image Americans have of Eastern Europe. This is true not just of pensioners, but those in college who follow a similar itinerary. They get a small sample of Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, everything east of Budapest is a blank space in the minds of Americans. Eastern Europe only exists for most of them as urban areas that either culturally (Prague) or geographically via the Danube (Bratislava and Budapest) adhere to their more familiar ideas of Europe.