Belgrade, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik

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The train to Belgrade was straight forward enough, 12 hours overnight in a 3 bed carriage with no other travellers in it! Luxury!

The last few days have been the most enjoyable Ive had I think.

I fell in love with Belgrade pretty quickly, its such a vibrant city. Loads of cafes and bars, a really cool fort at the top of town and it wasnt far to a massive park with loads of bike paths and walking trails surrounding a huge lake.

I rented a bike and bombed about for a bit through forest trails and came to a point on the lake where they had a rig set up to waterski on. It was similar to a ski lift in the you grabbed a wire and it pulled you in a circle around the lake which had a few jumps and obstacles.

I gave it a go and learned the hard way that I can not waterski... It took 5 failed attempts to get going before I gave up and had a go on a knee board which was fun although not the coolest method of getting around the lake!

The night life in Belgrade was awesome as well, loads of cool bars and clubs to hang out in. Ended up getting pretty boozy with people from the hostel.

After 2 nights in Belgrade I got the train to Sarajevo in Bosnia.

Sarajevo was the complete opposite of what I expected. There was relatively little evidence of the recent fighting that took place and the old town was full of really cool metal work stalls, carpenters and various shops.

There were some pretty shocking museums that showed what happened in the city but it seems as though Sarajevo itself has recovered fairly quickly.

Again, I ended up sinking a load of booze which made waking up at 530 to get the train really fun...

The only reason I got up that early was because the morning train took a route which I heard was one of the most scenic in Europe. However, as it took half an hour to pull out the station I managed to fall asleep for the first hour and a half of the two hour trip... Pretty stupid

The train stopped in Ploce, Croatia and from there I got a bus to Dubrovnik on the south coast.

I think Dubrovnik is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. Im in the only hostel in the old city, surrounded by huge stone walls, churches and the main clock tower.

The only downside to it is that it is massively touristy, there are tour groups everywhere and loads of families on holiday which I havent really seen in the other places Ive been.

Had a good night out here too, although some piss head slammed the toilet door and my finger in one place so thats nicely swollen and cut up.

The hostel seems to be popular with the finance world, there are two girls who work at PWC here as well as a financial adviser from New Zealand. No KPMG presence though...

Today I was going to go to the beach for the day but it decided to pour with rain, so Ive ended up spending quite a lot of time in the hostel reading and out at a bar watching the tri nations.

The only trouble with this is that beer is stupidly expensive out here, almost 4 quid a pint in most places. Im looking forward to getting back to Durham...

Tonight I am getting a bus to Zagreb which I dont have time to see as I am going straight to Ljubjubjbubjbubjbuaianana in Slovenia and then to Bled, which is meant to be absolutely stunning.

After Bled I am shooting up to Krakow to meet the Hyde for a cultural tour of Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Oktoberfest. I think were going to go to a lot of museums and galleries and probably spend a lot of time in cathedrals and churches too. Should be fun!

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