Now, wherever I looked, I saw discolouration and rubble. Temples, mosques, churches and houses pockmarked by history's debris and dust. The famous stone and wood pier that had introduced European engineering to the Balkans and had then been reinforced with iron around the time I was born, stood encrusted by algae and rust. A reef constituted of refuse, sewage and bloated animal carcasses, barricaded Homer's wine-coloured sea. Even the sand on the nearby beach straggled lustreless as if long untouched by children's games. And those buildings that had remained erect stared eyeless at the world with scorched windows.

  email this article     print-friendly version
Last modified on September 10, 2008  | © Telegram 2005