Yugoslavia was a country made up of what is today known as six different countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. In addition to these countries is the partially recognized Republic of Kosovo. While the recognition of Kosovo is still disputed, the last of these countries declared independence in the early 2000s. As Sybil was traveling in 1980, the country had not yet separated and was still known as Yugoslavia.
Upon entering the country, Sybil found their travel arrangements lost. Instead of holding up at a hotel to wait for the guides to rearrange travel plans, Sybil and Cliff explore Belgrade alone, eager to take in as much as possible. There were over twenty travelers in Sybil’s group. All but four, including Sybil and Cliff, stayed behind. Unafraid of adventure away from the mainstream, we can interpret this act as a way Sybil stepped outside the typical western travel norm.
The next morning their travel guide, Centro Guide, apologized and cleared up the arrangements. Later that day the couple was on route to Sarajevo. They stop briefly to take pictures on the Latin Bridge. Sybil describes this bridge as the “Princip Bridge” for its fame leading up to WWI, Gavrilo Princip being the Black Hand assassin that killed the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. This event was one of the key moments that led up to the First World War.
After a bus ride to Dubrovnik, Sybil and Cliff explore the walled in city in addition to some time at the beach. After returning after a long day to their hotel, Sybil notices a change in the air at their hotel. Apparently Margaret Thatcher and her husband were visiting the very same hotel for a private dinner and the hotel insisted the air conditioning stay on for the duration of the prime minister’s visit.
After a boat ride on the Dalmatian Coast, a stop in local caves, and visits to several different churches and chapels, the couple is made to wait six hours before their flight back to New York. “It provided prime time to reminisce over our memories of fantastic Yugoslavia.”