Philology, particularly literature studies, is neither a science, nor an art, but a philosophy. Peculiarly, though, it's one that customarily adopts the prevailing philosophy uncritically as its own.
Don't mind me, just padding out the chapter in Bartlett's.
Was nervous about the political situation, but things are very calm, rational and economically thriving. Basically Brooklyn during a particularly contested mayoral election. The odd black banner or (Cyrillic, notably) graffito. I learned in Mostar to pay attention to the graffiti in order to suss out the (hyper-)local mood.
Food prices a bit high. There's clearly an effort to make staples available -- you just have to comparison-shop the chains to find the full array. Troublingly, things like Eurocream seem to be generally made available. Le pate des bourgeois. Quite the contrast to the easten Balkans (which are the Western Balkans), where food prices are very, very good at the moment, even though the politics are similarly convoluted. Like the Greek actors, I travel freely between warring city-states, but like every 'tomato tourist', I keep a cautious eye on both the prices and the politics. On the rare occasions of looking up from the books.