Mocasins, Trainers or... Borosana?
As well as during the current one. Over the Yugoslav years, Serbs and Croats managed to get truly attached to those white shoes. When the federation dissolved, a row between the two republics erupted over the right to manufacture Borosana. It was further fueled by the fact that the original manufacturer – a factory in the village of Borovo, ended up on the border after the split, though on the Croatian side, in Serbian Krajina. It is unclear whether the old rivalry or pure marketing genius gave rise to the slogan used by the Borovo factory to brand its product: “If it is not Borovo, it is not Borosana!”
Either way, these shoes became so inextricably linked to the tourism industry developed during Tito’s time that, nowadays, they can be seen both in the classic Belgrade Hotel Prague and across the restaurants and hotels of Croatia’s oldest resort, Opatija.
Recently, their existential value was humourously depicted in the one-woman play The Influence of Borosana on You. In it, Croatian actress Nina Violic considers the foot and shoe fetish as an expression of modernity’s absurdities and even sings a song about Borosana. | Nina Violic, wearing white borosana, in a a scene from The Influence of Borosana on You. |
The Borosana shoes also seems to have an international appeal. A look at a current
fashion magazine shows that the model also penetrated the prêt-a-porter aesthetic and – with very few modifications – it can be seen as part of Balenciaga’s fall 2007 line.Epicure
Serbia
Serbians' Buttery Pride
Like all nations, the people of the Balkans also have their culinary obsessions: the Turks put aubergines over everything, the Greeks – oregano, and the Bulgarians – a herb known as tshubritsa Full Story
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
Annoyances in the Balkans
Balkans
Relentless Homophobia Rages in the Balkans
Be IN-tolerant! Be normal!, appeals a poster (pictured above) that recently flooded the streets of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
As the first gay pride parade in Bulgaria is about to take place, amid strong opposition by nationalistic organisations and a large part of society, the high levels of persistent homophobia in the country and the Full Story
Insiders' Advice
If the relentless homophobia is already that bad, what's the attitude in general towards HIV/AIDS, given the rather worrying HIV-prevalence in Eastern Europe and Russia?
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Is it easy to drive in the Balkans? Depends. If you are looking for adrenalin, this is a cheap way to get it. Expats say the best tactics is not to get annoyed.
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How to pick the right time to go? Winter is beautiful in the high mountains, the problem is, it can be so cold! Then again, who cares how cold it is - the locals have a cheap cure: heavy red wine. Sometimes warmed up.
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You can't trust local maps. Nor some international travel guides. One of them, for instance, says, that Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina flows FROM the Adriatic towards the inland of the Balkans, never reaching the sea. OK, how about the Neretva delta and channel in Croatia?
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The Big Book of Travelling
United States
The Rise of Burlesque in New York: Tassels and the City
Burlesque – the more audacious relative of commedia dell'arte, is in revival. A reality in “upside down style”, this creative, witty and softer version of striptease is back on stage, following an absence of nearly 80 years. In New York, Anjeza Bojku scoped out several burlesqee venues for BalkanTravellers.com. Full Story
Thailand
A Short Guide to the Peculiarities of Thai Food
Travel News
4 September 2008 | Representatives of several municipalities in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and Serbia met recently for a roundtable discussion of alternative tourism development as a basis for economic development, Bulgarian media reported on Wednesday.
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