Vukovar and Osijek, Croatia

Monday, October 26

This morning we arrived in Vukovar, Croatia. After breakfast, we were treated to a lecture from a law student from Croatia. This area of Croatia, known as Slavonia, is surrounded by the Danube, the Sava, and the Drava rivers. Until 1918 it was part of the Austo-Hungarian Empire.

We boarded our coaches for a quick tour of Vukovar. This is where the war with the Serbs began, and the city still shows signs of the devestation, with bombed and bullet ridden buildings everywhere.

Next, we continued on to Osijek, the capital of Slavonia. It, too, was heavily damaged during the war, but they have done a remarkable job of reconstruction. We toured the old city and a church and monestery. The highlight of our day (and possibly the whole trip) was our lunch with a local family.

We were split into groups of 9 or 10 and dropped at the homes of different families. Our host had been an ambulance driver during the war and shared some pictures with us of his house when it was just an empty, bombed out shell. He told us he rebuilt it, and the house next door (where we were having our lunch) with his own two hands. We enjoyed a local lunch of soup, meat patties, rice, cole slaw, and poppy seed cake. And of course, the local wine and home made apricot brandy.

After dinner, another performance by the local Tambura Band.