Interesting places in the Balkans

[Brenus]

Srebrenica: Quite lost in the mountain, so depending on what you want, for the same purpose Sarajevo is good to show the result of civil war based on prejudices. And as we approach the 100 years of the start of WW1, you can show them where all started, where Gavrilo Princip, by pure luck (for his point of view, not the Archduke’s one) succeeded THE terrorist act that changed the World.
Bosnia is a beautiful country.

Zagreb is a small town, with a little to visit. Vukovar was nice, but now, deserted by the Serbs (well, there were pushed to be fair), they try to repair, but…
The Montenegrin Coast and its Pirates harbours is fun, but by buses and with children, take bags. The country is between Mountains and Sea. Lot of climbing to visit the castles, but good see food. Hotels were not that great, but they may have improved.

My Favourite City: Novi Sad, along the Danube and not far from the Fruska Gora, crossed by the Road of the unity that is in the same state that Yugoslav’s Unity. Nice ice cream, and fabulous people. Not much to do except the Strem. If the trees are back, I mean (Samartian, what did they did to the beach I loved!!!!).

I didn’t like much Macedonia, and if the Lake of Ohrid is a great view, I am not sure it is worth of the trip.

[Sarmatian]

My Favourite City: Novi Sad, along the Danube and not far from the Fruska Gora, crossed by the Road of the unity that is in the same state that Yugoslav’s Unity. Nice ice cream, and fabulous people. Not much to do except the Strem. If the trees are back, I mean (Samartian, what did they did to the beach I loved!!!!).

Well, not much to do when you're coming from London or Paris, but for a bunch of Viking teenagers, there's plenty to see :).

And I'll be more than happy to answer your question as soon as you tell me what Strem is

[Fragony]

If you insist on going to Serbia go to Belgrado. There will never be such a thing as innoncence ever again, and Norway is in serious need of some vice and recklessnes

[Fisherking]

Maybe today we find out if he got shot down by the Queen Bee or if he is making the trip.

[HoreTore]

Maybe today we find out if he got shot down by the Queen Bee or if he is making the trip.

Extended deadline

The plan, mostly based on Sarmatian's post, was recieved very well, but getting it all under budget is a challenge.

[Fisherking]

Great! Congrats and good luck.

[HoreTore]

Thought I'd might share how things turned out, if anyones interested.

The plan is approved by the parents, after two hold-outs finally caved in(their reasons for opposing it was, basically, rubbish).

It looks a little like Sarmatians plan, but instead of crossing over into Serbia, we're going back to Croatia. The reason is boring: it's a lot cheaper to use one airport instead of two. We'll visit a conflict resolution center in Sarajevo, and added two more towns in Bosnia, Mostar and Screbrenica. Since we're lacking Serbia we're trying to find a "rent-a-serb" service, either on the trip or before we leave.

There will be three goals for the trip. First, it's the older history of the area, looking at architecture and all that. Secondly, it's about conflict resolution. I have high hopes for that center on this. Also Mostar should be interesting in that regard, as I hear it's still a very divided town, and someone should be able to tell us how they are capable of living with an unresolved conflict hanging over their heads day and night, with the "enemy" so close. Thirdly, it will be on propaganda. When three people from three different sides tell three different stories, and none of them are really lying(except by omission), how can the students analyze and make sense of it?

The trip was also a huge success with the students. As I said they have 4 trips to choose from, and after I presented it almost everyone wanted to go the Balkans. I have some doubts on how I presented it though, as it seemed most people wanted to go because they thought it was close to a vacation... One of them even asked my boss what kind of bus we would use, as "she didn't want to go if the bus was uncomfortable"... I've given them a clearer picture of what level of work and egagement I expect from them on the trip now though, so the number of interested students are on a more manageable level.

Anyway, thanks to all for your help!