Montenegro

Forgive the extended absence – I have spent the past few days at the end of the world.

Fjord in Kotor, Montenegro

The past few days have been a vacation from the traveling, as some mates and I headed down to the Neverland of Crna Gora, just south of the Croatian border.  Kotor is a small town that lies on the only European fjord south of Norway.  Put the quaintness of a small medieval walled town right on the coast of the most dramatic waters and scenery I have seen since New Zealand (and at times, even better than New Zealand), add five awesome travel companions, an apartment to ourselves, and a fantastic fresh veggie market, and you will understand why I haven’t been in touch for a bit.

View of town from the shore

Luba, Lea, and Taylor in Town

The mystery of Montenegro

Jake and Jack dumping Oliver in the H2O

Six backpackers, one rental car

Montenegran flag from Fortress

Team Dinner

Fjord in Kotor, Montenegro

And as the pictures will also show you, I have found the next place we all need to be buying property.

Dubrovnik

Old City

It’s not that I don’t like Dubrovnik.  It’s just that everywhere I go in this town, I feel like thousands of people have come before me, and taken the exact same photograph.

On the one hand, I can’t blame them – there are some good photos to be had here.

View of coast

On the other hand, having so many people around can get annoying.

Especially when we are going down stairs

I’m glad I came here.  But I’m glad that I decided to squeeze in all my city and research time into 24 hours so that I have more time to spend in Montenegro, where I head tomorrow.

Highlights from Sarajevo

My postcards home all start with “You guys have to come here.”

Well, this time I really mean it.  This city is not to be missed.

Emperor’s Mosque

Sarajevo Streets

At the Market – of course!

View of Sarajevo from hostel

Sebilj Water Fountain and center of city

Sarajevo Streets

Bridge over Miljacka River

Graveyard by hostel – 90% of tombstones from 1992-5

Persian Rug in Husrev Bey’s Mosque

Tay with tray of Bosnian Coffee

On the train to Mostar

The Bosnian Spirit

Mostar is known for its Stari Most that spans the length of the town’s river.  I confess, I never saw it.  Nor did I wander through the old town, or into any of the churches or mosques there.

What I did do was hop on a hostel tour that took us through the land around Mostar and the region of Hercegovena.  13th century fortresses, amazing waterfalls, a quiet monestary that holds the soul of the land.

The message of the tour was that the soul of the land is alive, as is the Bosnian spirit.  Despite the horrors of 15 years ago that continue to haunt people today, despite the frustration with poor living standards and little employment opportunity, the people are still among the best I have ever met.

I left Bosnia this morning with a heaviness in my heart.  I could have stayed longer.  Someday I will go back.

Tired backpackers at the end of a 14-hour tour

The fortress – 13th century

Waterfalls outside of Mostar

Bosnia looks a lot like Colorado

Sunset on the river

Tunnel of Life

It was 1 meter wide, 1.6 meters tall, and 800 meters (half a mile) long.  That was the one opening between Sarajevo and the outside world during the 1990s war.  From 1992-1995 Sarajevo suffered the longest siege ever endured by any city.  And this was the one passage out of the city, the one passage to life.

Today Sarajevo is a fantastic city to visit.  Most of the damage has been repaired, smiles have returned to most people’s faces.  The market is vibrant, the architecture beautiful, the food absolutely delicious and the hospitality unforgettable.

But when you start talking to people, it doesn’t take long to get their haunting accounts of the war.  10,000 dead in Sarajevo, a city of 500,000.   Horrendous lines for food, water.  After one year the first UN plane touched down at the airport, carrying a load of medicine.  But all the medicine was for malaria, the last thing that was the problem here.

It’s disturbing to walk among streets so peaceful, and think about what a nightmare was the recent past.  It’s haunting to walk down the streets and every once in a while come across a Sarajevo Rose, the blast marks in the pavement that show where a grenade exploded.

And it’s unbeliavable to think about how clueless we were about the whole situation, and how far it is from our radar today.

Is this the bridge that launched a thousand ships?

Yes.

Latin Bridge. Site of assasination of Archduke Ferdinand, beginning of World War I.

Greetings to all from Sarajevo.

Zagreb

City Skyline at Sunset

They say it’s really worth it to spend one day in this city.  I agree, even though I spent two (that is why i am all caught up on my e-mail, and Facebook, and everlater, and life).  First of all, I have never seen a place with this many cafes, nor with this many people chilling out in them:

Croatian Cafe Culture

And second of all, I never in my life could believe that this previously war-torn capital could be so beautiful.

So it was good for a day, and good for my research.  But I’m ready to go on now ).

Colorado Connection

Dunia, Taylor, Nadya, and Bled

Dunia and Nadya are sisters, and they were my Colorado friends from my hostel in Ljubljana.  It was so much fun being around people who spoke my own language (Coloradan), and they are two of the coolest girls ever.  But they made me miss my travel companions of yore, particularly that one with whom I share DNA.

Photos from Slovenia

I wasn’t able to get these up before, but now here they are, coming your way ).

Downtown Ljubljana

Panorama of Ljubljana

Canal in Downtown Ljubljana

Lake Bled

Urban and Breda’s son walking on the wall by the Adriatic :o)

Delicious Dinner with New Friends

Sunset on the Slovenian Coast

Ljubljana – Expat Time

Sorry that I have been out of touch for the past couple of days.  I have been having a blast in Ljubliana, Slovenia, and between walking, biking, and planning my move to this country, I haven’t had time to blog.

Seriously, Slovenia is an amazing place.  This is one hard country to leave.

Slovenia is a small country between Italy just to the east of Italy.  It doesn’t get a lot of attention in America, and really, that is a sad, sad mistake.  Think a hint of Austria, a touch of Italy, and an orderly, pleasant beauty all of its own that you can just get into and never leave.  This also is the opposite of Moscow, and I have to say, it’s been great.

Ljubljana is a small, beautiful city full of amazing side streets and tons of cafes.  The people smile, are friendly, and are incredibly active!  Everybody runs, rollerblades, bikes, and put most of us to shame when it comes to activities.

While here I met two girls from Denver – Dunia and Nadia – who were great.  Awesome to make the Colorado connection and have friends to hang around with for a couple of days, and check out the mountanous castle capital of Bled.

I had also been put in touch with Urban and Breda, an absolutely fantastic couple who treated me to an evening on the seaside.  With the coast of Italy on one side of us, the coast of Croatia on the other, the Adriatic sunset in front of us and an absolutely amazing small town surrounding us . . .  and the most fun conversation and most amazing fish dinner in front of us, well, let’s just say I had fun.

I’m off to Croatia today, but I leave with a heavy heart.  This place has been fantastic.  And yes, there is good running to be had here too!