Blogs from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Europe - page 12

10 June Nice day. At Sarajevo. Hostel had dining area and kitchen so able to do breakfast there. Went on a walking tour at 10 with Neno, who was a very enthusiastic guide, it was a free tour, just give a tip at the end! Got a great insight into the history, what an interesting city! Sad stuff happened in the ' 90s of course, learnt lots about that. So different and with such cultural and religious diversity - Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Catholicism all co-existing together. There is a mosque, Catholic and Orthodox church and a synagogue all within the small city area. The influence of the Ottoman empire is very evident in the architecture of the city. Had lunch at a small self service place, very interesting food, we joined with a British couple ... read more

Arriving in a capital city is never easy. Roads in generally tend to be freeways. I do try to keep away from them where possible. But, it's not always possible. And so, after what was over 20km of non-stop roadworks and single lane traffic it was almost a relief to see that car only sign. Yay! A little bit of space for me and the cars can do as they please without the feeling of guilt getting in the way. And the beauty of travelling in these countries is they don't care if you're on a bicycle on a road meant only for cars. No honking of horns. Nothing. Just maniacal driving. It wasn't long before the cars only stretch of road changed to accommodate all other modes of transportation - buses, trams, trolleybuses, taxis, pedestrians ... read more

All safe and well in Banja Luka yes but man it was one helluva ride to get here (but not on a bicycle). That action is still to come. No, I bought my bus ticket as planned although I had wanted to leave on the Wednesday if it was possible. No, no bus on Wednesday. OK Thursday it is which means I can still go to see the Marionette Theatre in Duesseldorf perform Never Ending Story. Yay. I know I'm a big kid at heart. I love puppet shows, children's books and children's toys. My auntie thinks I'm weird. Not sure if she really appreciated being dragged along on Wednesday night to see the performance (actually I know she didn't) but for me it was worth it. It was a wonderful way to cap off what ... read more

We had hoped the showery weather from yesterday might have cleared this morning to give us a day of travel in dry conditions but we weren’t in luck. The cloud was still low over the hills and although the heavier rain that had fallen through the night wasn’t happening there was still a light misty drizzle. We paid our hostess for the stay and got into conversation about her time in the local area and were surprised to some degree that the area had seen Serbian occupation during the part of the Balkan War that involved battles between Serbia and Croatia when the latter wanted to cecede, as Slovenia had done, from the old Yugoslavia after the fall of communism. The area around the Plitvice Lakes had been divided between Serbs and Croats generally living in ... read more

Another day and another dollar or so they say. Suzy was ready for her Bosnian adventure. She was looking foward to adding another country to the list that she had been to. England and Wales if you count our home two, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia so far and today Bosnia would be added. We had heavy rain last night and it sounded like cats and dogs on her roof. Not a good day for travelling. After a quick breakfast and shower we went to pay our hosts for our nights stay. Unfortunately as it was out of season the receptionist had gone home for 15 mins and no-one could take our money until she returned. We struck up another conversation with our Dutch neighbours discussing life in Britain and Holland ... read more