Photos: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Picture 1: Outside the old city's walls. The beautiful Adriatic on an absolutely fantastic day. The Sun was out, it was slightly cloudy, and everybody was about their business. Winter seemed to be a thing that never happened. You can see a fisherman in this pic. I'm not sure if he was looking for anything specific, but a few other people were out on these rocks fishing. We saw one guy catch a fish, unhook it and chuck it behind him into an alcove in the rocks. I felt bad for the fish and wondered why the guy didn't put him out of his misery, but I guess to each their own, culture-wise that is.

Picture 2: A view of the old city and a nearby island on our way up to the old fortress and museum at the top of the hill. It seems the first three places we were going to be at (Sarajevo, Dubrovnik and then Kotor) were going to have impressive hills that would provide awesome views. Can you make out the walls of the city?

Picture 3: The bay for the old city. Lots of little boats. This view is from up on the wall. You can actually take a tour of the city from the walls but it cost more than we wanted/had to spend so we were only able to be on a portion of the wall. Thankfully, it was one that gave a nice picture.

Picture 4: Outside the walls on the sea again. This time looking the other direction than the fisherman picture. Not much to say other than that there was really blue water below me.

Picture 5: The terrifying pigeons of a square in Dubrovnik's old city. It seems that everyday at noon, these pigeons will get fed a ton of feed. Starting about 1115 when the bells of the church ring every 15 minutes, every pigeon within earshot flaps its way to this square. This was the indication to me (thankfully) that they could not tell time. They came, they left. But then, it was noon and they came and so did a guy with a huge bucket who very ungracefully chucked it on the ground. The pigeons swarm to the very small area the feed is covering and I can only assume many are smooshed in the ensuing chaos. It is so chaotic that the feed is kicked up and moved around and so there is a wave of pigeons taking off and then landing and then taking off and landing and the whole group moves in one direction.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Days 4-6 of our trip through the Balkans found us in Croatia. Our hostel turned out to be a full on family owned affair. Mostly because, I think, it was the off season, we were treated as VIP's. This means we were on the floor that they live on and our common area room was their living room and kitchen! Basically the mom got 3 more kids for 3 nights. Firstly though in case you missed it, I posted a separate blog just before this one that is a tiny story about the trip between Sarajevo and Dubrovnik. Upon arriving at the bus station, we were met by a couple people who were staking out the station for backpackers. We unfortunately had to tell them that we already had a place but thanked them for the offer. Our host came and picked us up, was very nice and excited to meet us. Something we were told about but not offered in Sarajevo was the welcome drink and when we reached the apartment, honey brandy was poured into my small pewter shot glass. I may have found my favorite hard alcohol. It was so sweet, smooth and easy to drink...I bought a half liter off of them before I left. :) This family was amazing and so loving. They just loved having us there.

We were situated 30 minutes by foot away from the old walled city. The afternoon/night we arrived was stormy and rainy, complete with lightning. But the next day dawned bright and fair and huddled nearly all day at a comfortable 15 degrees C. We walked around one of the hills and then made our way very nearly along the coast down to the old city. We had purchased the night before a loaf of fresh bread, some pepperoni meat and a smoked cheese and we ate this in a garden area on the coast around 1130. Wandering through the city, we noticed (as it had been mentioned to us by our hosts) how the city is half venetian and half ottoman in that the lower part closest to the coast is more haphazardly arranged, unlike the upper area which is very even and uniform in building distribution. A little treat awaited us at noon in one particular square of the old city: feeding time for the pigeons. It seems that everyday (unless the pigeons can really tell the difference between days) at noon, the church bell rings and somebody from one of the restaurants surrounding this particular square comes out with a huge 5 gallon barrel full of feed and just throws it onto the ground. The pigeons know this and they wait. They were on every roof but I only noticed the several dozen on the ground around the central statue. Noon tolls and every stinking one of them takes off at once while simultaneously the ones from the roof and any straggler in the city comes rushing into the fray, all hovering and flapping 7 feet off the ground. I thought they were spooked until a man came out and dumped the feed. Instantly the air was clear and a mass of distracted pigeons was on the ground. Crazy. I'd never seen pigeons act like that before.

We did not take the tour of the wall but we did find a portcullis if you will in the wall that led to a stepped area outside on the rocky coast. It was so beautiful with sun out and the sea blue and calm that we took our siesta there. We doubled back there for the sunset and my hopes were high with the clear skies for a chance to see the green flash. Alas, there were some clouds far out at the horizon that obstructed the final setting. Oh well, it was still beautiful from that spot.

The next day was cloudy and much cooler so we hiked down to the bay near to where we were staying. It was a nice walk around the bay looking at the boats. They had some older style boats moored there as well. We wandered again to the old city, had coffee and ice cream at a cafe we'd seen in pictures (a weird feeling being at a place one had only seen in pictures) and then went outside the wall at our spot again. That night we enjoyed a gnocchi dinner, more honey brandy, the Croatian Who Wants to be a Millionaire(in Kounas) and then a movie with the family called Bottle Shock, starring Chris Pine (the new Kirk), Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman. It was actually a very well done and interesting movie about the Napa Valley in the 1970's. We had wine while watching it and it just seemed right.

Lastly, our host's son took us up to the old fortress on top of the hill, which gave us a magnificent view of not only the city below us, but Bosnia and Montenegro as well. I'm learning a lot about the history of this area and that tour was very insightful. I found a piece of shrapnel while walking around. It's hard to believe what the state of these places was less than 20 years ago. All in all, Dubrovnik is a beautiful city, even in the off season and if we had been staying directly in the old city we may have wanted to stay longer. As it was we felt good about all we had seen and gotten to do, not to mention the incredible hosts we had. As before, I'll post some pictures as a separate post and you can search for a link here or by keyword Dubrovnik. Cheers!

Bus from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik

So our plan from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik was supposed to take us to the city of Mostar in Bosnia for a few hours first. Unfortunately, it seems life wanted to throw us a curveball for this one. The lady at the train station in Bosnia was so helpful for getting us two separate tickets for Sarajevo to Mostar and then Mostar to Dubrovnik. It just wasn't what I was expecting. The first thing that caught me funny was that the bus was actually just a large van with seating for 13 and standing room for 2, assuming no large amounts of luggage. It was amusing. The 'bus' had many stops and people would come and go, paying as they got on the bus. About 30-45 minutes in, we passed by a landslide that had occured. Police had the 2 lane road down to one as they cleared the road. The reaction of the woman next to me as our driver talked to the police suggested to me that somebody had been injured. Moving along though, we continue and begin to follow a river with misty hill tops. It was very pretty but pretty soon it began sprinkling. This would eventually become the storm that accosted us our first night in Dubrovnik. Anyway, about an hour in to the trip to Mostar and what turned out to be 45 minutes from Mostar, the traffic slows down and comes to a complete stop. People are turning around ahead of us and our driver gets out, lights a cigarette and starts jabbering with some other drivers. One of our passengers actually gets out and starts walking down the line of cars, which disappears around the corner of the mountain. Our driver gets in, pops a U and we head back. I wondered what we were going to do about the other guy and also how I hadn't noticed any other signs or way to get to Mostar. Our driver pulls off at a restaurant on the river. There doesn't seem to be any town associated with this restaurant. He says something to us all and gets out.

Jeff goes up to our driver after about 10 minutes of us pacing and wondering what is going on. He tries English first but the driver doesn't speak it so he trys German. Bingo. Turns out German is your next bet after English in Bosnia. Anyway there was another landslide and we might be at this restaurant for a couple hours! Our layover in Mostar was only a couple hours but seeing as how there was nothing we could do, we got espressos and then some food along with the other passengers. I bet that waiter wasn't expecting that much work right then! We keep our eye on our driver and a little over an hour later he head motions to us and we carry right on to Mostar. Luckily the bus we were going to connect with was also delayed (for the same reason? most likely) and so we did not miss our connection to Dubrovnik. That bus was uneventful. Pictures to follow in the future. Prost!

Photos: Sarajevo, Bosnia

Picture 1: There was nothing finer than beginning a day with some coffee and here it is primarily Turkish coffee.  I tried looking up the actual name for the method of preparation and it seems to really be called Turkish coffee.  While in Bosnia though, it was called simply kahve or Bosnian coffee.  The cup came filled with Turkish Delight, sometimes doused in powdered sugar and sometimes with coconut.  The individual serving would fill the cup twice, although by the end the dregs were a substantial portion of the cup.  The coffee was always served with water, no matter where we went and as far as the coffee went, it was perfect every time.

Picture 2: This is the view from one of the many cemeteries dotting the hillsides around Sarajevo.  We met the groundskeeper and spoke with him for a while in German.  After chatting, we made our way around the grounds.  There was this structure overlooking the valley and I do not know what it was for.  I saw no plaques or writing.  It just was.  It was hard not to think about the history of the place when standing there looking down on a city still recovering in some areas. 

Picture 3: This is just a part of a normal, heavily trafficked sidewalk that happens to have shrapnel or explosive damage from a grenade or other device used during the 4 year siege of the city.  The residents, instead of repairing the damage, filled in the holes with a red resin as a reminder/memorial.  We spotted them all over the city and also other holes that weren't filled in.

Picture 4: Sebilj fountain and Bascarsija Mosque.  They say if you drink from this totally potable fountain that you will always come back to Sarajevo.  Rachel drank from it.  I took a picture.  The mosque in the background, according to the friend we met who then took us on that tour of the city, was commissioned to be the leader's mosque.  Upon arriving though, he mistook a different smaller, but perhaps more elaborate, one across the river as the mosque for him.  It was a funny story and I have messed up the details no doubt, but the idea is there.

Picture 5: The local beer of Sarajevo at the brewery.  It wasn't bad.  We went there two nights in a row.  The establishment had a large central room with alcoves in various places for additional tables.  The ceiling was vaulted brick and quite cool.  Large bar and moderately friendly staff.  I recommend at least going for the beer.  We never ate there.  Oh well. 

Sarajevo, Bosnia

Thankfully, I have access to the internet here in Croatia and can begin writing the blog posts for the various cities I'm visiting on my epic adventure. Pictures taken by my beautiful girlfriend Rachel will of course have to wait for another time. Also, I will try to hit the big points of the trip (since so much happens that is worthy of mention) and as such my flow or style of writing may be hindered. So let's go!

Our journey began like any other in that we had problems with the train system. Instead of flying out of Frankfurt-Hahn like we normally do, we flew a different airline and flew out of Köln. Landing in Sarajevo was a little freaky as it's in a valley. A pretty tight valley at that and there were quite a few wind shears shaking the plane around. I am usually ok with pitch and even roll, but when yaw comes into play, that just freaks me out. Needless to say, I'd like to not ever fly to Sarajevo again. Once there though, we pace back and forth outside the airport trying to find the bus that we know would take us directly to our hostel. Instead, we finally give in and pay for a taxi (which turns out to be pretty cheap and quick, i.e. a good choice) and arrive at our hostel.

I should also mention briefly that I am sick and got sick one day before leaving. Fantastic. Anyway, Sarajevo is in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains and cliffs that are dotted with houses. The signs of the recent wars are still visible. Houses are pock marked with bullet holes and there are depressions and blast patterns still in the streets and sidewalks. Many houses all around the city are still abandoned and we were taken one time into a neighborhood named the Court of Maria which had a large 3 story structure with no floors or roof. Only the walls remained. There were many vivid contrasts, old Eastern Bloc architecture with new constructions all right next to each other. There are a great many mosques. There was one every few hundred meters. Every now and then, depending on where we were, we would hear the calls to prayer. We visited the area where there is a mosque, cathedral, synagogue and orthodox church all within a hundred meters of each other. Really cool.

We hiked up both the north and south 'hills' and visited several of the cemetaries. The view from up these steep mountain sides was breathtaking and imagining how this city was under siege with artillary and snipers all along the mountain tops was moving. The local beer and brewery, which is made with a spring underneath the brewery, was amazing! We went two days in a row and paid, it seems, top dollar for this tasty dark beer. It's funny. We did not know how much English might be spoken here, but the first night we were there, we found the brewery and walked inside. We sat at the bar and Rachel and Jeff hesitated for just a moment when the barman came up so I blurted out the universal word: beer? He came back with "dark or light?" to which we said "dark." Then he said "big or small?" Of course we said "big." So there you go.

On our last night in Sarajevo, we were heading towards the brewery for a third time when Rachel stopped to take a picture of a church which is perhaps 70 meters from the brewery. A young man of our age (28-30) came up and commented on us taking a picture and how this church was one of his favorite spots. He was 'happy' drunk we think and before long we were talking about all manner of things and he was telling us all about his city. It was amazing and I will admit my initial hesitation to following him around but after a while I realized he really loved showing us around. We started on one end of the city, didn't go to the brewery (because he was going to take us somewhere better), and ended up walking through nearly the entirety of downtown and surrounding Sarajevo with this fellow for the next 2 hours. I wish we'd found him sooner, but now if we ever go back, he said he would put us up.

All in all, we enjoyed our trip to Sarajevo immensely. We learned a lot about how to get there and what to do while there. 3 days was a good amount of time and we do hope to go again. Once I have pictures, I will include a link or you can search the labels for Sarajevo.

Big Trip

So Rachel, Jeff and I have a big trip planned.  Next Tuesday, the 23rd, we will begin a 16 day trek through 7 countries.  We will be visiting Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo, Hungary and Slovakia.  Our tentative itinerary is as follows: 

Sarajevo, Bosnia - (arrival) by plane - 3 nights

Dubrovnik, Croatia - by bus - 3 nights

Kotor, Montenegro - by bus - 2 nights

From Kotor to Prizren is currently going to involve an overnight bus from Podgorica, Montenegro to Pristina, Kosovo and a bus from there to Prizren.

Prizren, Kosovo - by bus - 2 nights

Skopje, Macedonia - by bus - day trip

Belgrade, Serbia - by overnight train - day trip

Budapest, Hungary - by overnight train - 3 nights

Bratislava, Slovakia - by train - day trip

Many of the hostels we've looked at, and have pre-booked, have internet so I hope to be posting tidbits of what we're seeing as we go.  That way I won't have so much to do when I get back, since my return to Giessen on March 11th is only 3 days before my sister comes to visit me.  

Struck Out

Well friends, it seems a third time has come in my experiment where I did not write during the day.  Alas, I think I'm done.  The deep drive to see if writing was something I could do has revealed an appreciation for conversational writing styles, but nothing in the way of ordered writing.  It is beyond me, but I will continue to exercise my wit and humor as best I can through pleasant monologue discourse (I think there is an oxymoron in there, but he's hiding).