Chapter 23: Zagreb

Spent pretty much all day wandering around Zagreb, and really enjoyed it. Lots of statues, wide open areas (like parks and squares), and also some of the typical European buildings.. like your churches and theatres etc.

Also had the utter crap scared out of me in front of Lotrščak Tower. I didn't realise that at every day, at noon, they fire this cannon from the top of the tower. Its a real earth shattering kaboom, I was thinking a bomb had gone off or something.

It really is worth a visit here, and I'm not getting paid by the Zagreb tourist commission or anything.

Later that night, I went to "pick up" Dorotea at her hotel, The Regent Esplanade. When I arrived, she sent a text to come up to the room - just so she could show off the luxury accomodation. Talk about swish!

Went out for dinner at Boban's, which was good. Wasn't exactly a massive celebration, Dorotea was off the booze and I was feeling sick since breakfast (dodgy hotdog maybe). However, it was nice to spend my last night with my Croatian teacher. I couldn't think of anyone else more fitting. Without her, I probably wouldn't have been in Croatia, let alone Zagreb.

And with that, my trip was over! I'm about to go jump on a plane, and spend 30 odd hours doing a whole lot of nothing. Not looking forward to it, but what can you do?

See you soon, Australia.

Chapter 22: Dubrovnik

Well, I've made it to Croatia. I feel a bit more at home here than other places – for one thing there is no Cyrillic to confuse me, and its the country that I have the best chance of recognising words I know.

I'll start by stating the obvious: Dubrovnik is beautiful. I was very impressed. The only drawback is that because its so nice, you have to fight through 20 billion tourists. Busloads off people were getting dropped off all day long.

We also had the last night of the tour tonight, so we had our final “official” group dinner and said our goodbyes. Most of us are staying on in Dubrovnik for a little while though, so we'll no doubt bump into each other. By the power of the interwebs, I'm sure we can catch up with one another.

I promised Ethan I'd report back about the Croatian women anyway. Dorotea assures me they are better than Serbs, but there may be some bias there! So far I wouldn't have a clue, its too difficult to distinguish between locals and tourists.

Looking forward to sleep in tomorrow, then checking into some luxury accommodation (well, compared to what we've had so far anyway). Its at the other end of Dubrovnik, so that will be an interesting change of scenery. Place I'm in now is not bad though. Its literally metres from the Pile Gate, right near the old town.

I also stood out the front of the “Fuego” Latin club – aka Club Britt Lapthorne. I didn't realise it was so close to where we were staying. I don't know how anybody could go missing there, or at least not be seen. Its right in amongst where the hordes of tourists are. The real question though is why anyone would want to go there in the first place.

Dubrovnik: Day two

Checked into hotel, which was right near the bus stop from town thankfully. One of the locals told me that the 10 min trip to/from town would take over an hour in the peak season... nobody moves anywhere!

Its nothing super flash – and the “ocean view” from the balcony is a bit of a stretch (you can see smidges of blue water) but I'm not complaining. Plenty of beaches nearby, which I took a look at today.

The third one I went to was Cave Beach, which is about 150m from the hotel. It was small, but OK. As I walked around the rocks I saw a woman sun baking topless, which was no big deal. I mean its Europe, after all. I walked on a little bit further and OH MY GOD MY EYES! THE HUMANITY!

There was a crowd of old people, all walking around fully nude. I then noticed the spray paint on the rocks which said “FKK” - which was also pretty close to what I was thinking at the time – and remembered that in Croatian it designates nudist beaches. I'm fairly sure it translates to “Beware: you will see things you can't un-see.”

Met up with Nes and Sew for din dins back in the old town. I had yet more seafood, but its certainly the place to do it. Its all been great. We were also talking about how weird it is that we won't be bumping into our group around town anymore. You still kind of expect to see them somewhere.

Side note: came back to the hotel to see Ricky Gervais on the Conan Obrien show. His new movie looks absolutely hilarious. “The Invention Of Lying”. Not sure if its out (hell, I don't even know who is in the grand final) but go watch it if it is.

Dubrovnik: Day three

Was meant to be going on an all day cruise today – but I literally missed the boat. I was standing at the pier that I thought it was leaving from, when I saw a ship pull out from the other side. It was, of course, the one I was meant to be on. So I watched them sail off into the distance, along with my money.

I got a taxi over to the new port, hoping I might catch them there. Sadly, no luck. I even looked at getting a ride over to the first island the boat was stopping at (Korčula) but as it was Sunday, there wasn't a lot happening. Certainly none in the time frame I needed. So I was a little bit disappointed... in the same way the pope is a “little bit” Catholic.

I did go back to the old port, and go on one of those 45 minute glass bottom boat rides. I really only went around the town, and was a pale comparison to what I should have been doing... but better than nothing. I guess it means I will have to come back one day, and maybe see the other islands too. Who's with me?

Off to see the sights and delights of Zagreb next, which is my final destination (hopefully not like the movies). Looking forward to catching up with Dorotea there, so much so that I don't even care that's its my shout for dinner. Gasp! Will not only be my last night in Croatia, but the last night of my holidays... so celebrations are in order!

Chapter 21: Kotor

This will be short and sweet. Kotor was nice, but I don't have a massive amount to say about it. We really only had the one day there, and I think that was probably enough. Not to mention I'm also getting lazy, and can't be bothered writing blogs!

So what is there to say? Hmm... it seemed a little less touristy than Budva, and it also had that lake smell. Vaguely like Lake Illawarra.

In the morning, some of the group went kayaking, and the rest (me) hiked up the 1,355 steps (no, thats not a typo) to the fortress on the hill. Once again, views made it worth while. However, the view was better at about 75% up than at the top, which was a little bit of a kick to the pants.

Bummed around old town for a while... went to the markets... had seafood for dinner. Didn't do anything else too exciting really!

Just

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otherwise

photos

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mental.

That

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enough.

Chapter 20: Budva

I think Budva pretty much halved our group down the middle, in terms of those who liked it, and those who thought it was cheap and tacky. I'm somewhere in between. I liked the old town, and the views from our little boat trip were great. Admittedly, the boat did stop for lunch in a nicer town than Budva, but what can you do.

It did have a lot of the usual tourist traps, but the beach lifestyle reminded me a little of Ohrid. I still prefer the good old sand between your toes though, rather than pebbles... or lowering yourself in off a rock for that matter. The water was once again quite clear, but Tadas tells us Dubrovnik is even better. Least it wasn't all that cold.

What else to say? We bummed around town, swam at the beach, had a boat ride, drank cocktails (which sadly didn't have manly umbrellas)... um... yeah, that's Budva.

Chapter 19: Ostrog monastery (aka Party Central)

Well, I can now say that I have spent my birthday inside a monastery. Not many people would have that claim to fame... except monks, I guess.

The day started at about 4:45 am, as the first birthday text messages started to come through. I was then up and leaving Sarajevo around 6 am. The bus ride to Ostrog was meant to take about 6 hours, and when we first got on the bus it looked fairly full. We had seats reserved though, which a bunch of old people had kindly decided to keep warm for us.

There wasn't much English going on, so I did my best to say sorry, but seats 9 -19 were reserved. I'm not sure if it made sense, maybe Pete or Dorotea can grade me.

“Žao mi je. Sjedalo devet – devetnaest. Reservacija!"

The response I got was all over the shop, I had no idea what they were talking about. I just know they didn't want to move, and didn't comprehend the reservation system (or didn't care). Anyway, I finally kicked them out and we got seats.

Got to Ostrog, and dropped off our stuff in the tiny little rooms (making sure boys and girls were kept seperate). Ethan was also in hitting distance of my bed, so every time I snored I was going to cop it. So much for birthday priviledges! There was also no hot water, and only a tiny little trough like construction for showers. Oh well, its not like we are going to be doing anything to work up a sweat...

So - we hike up a mountain to the upper monastery. The priest there let us into the smaller chamber of St Basil. He's basically a little dead guy, with tiny shrivelled up hand. Just by walking in there, we supposedly get his blessing. The locals were kissing lots of various objects, and leaving their donations. I found it interesting that they also leave by walking backwards, there is no turning around.

As we went back down the mountain, the guys had a little birthday moment for me. I got a card, some booze, and also some rather interesting cake. We made our way to the closest restaurant within walking distance for dinner, and had a few drinks there. I shared around the grog, and the waitress was very good with providing shot glasses (and cake) for everyone. She got a tip for her trouble, and we went back for breakfast the next morning.

After that, there was a bit of stumbling back to the monastery – to make sure we were in bed by 10 (or we get locked out). By this stage, in a decision probably fuelled by alcohol, a few of us had decided we were going to sleep at the upper monastery instead. Out under the stars, on little mattreses with blankies...

But there were no taxis, and I'm not hiking up there twice. Its my birthday, dammit.

Chapter 18: Mostar

Technically, this was a day trip out of Sarajevo, but I felt it deserved its own category.

Mostar (or “keeper of the bridge”, if you will) was kinda cool for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious one is the Mostar bridge. Depending on who you ask, its about 30m high, and locals jump off it if they get paid enough Euro. They then plummet into 2m deep, icy cold water.

Tourists used to be able to do it, but too many ended up with broken wrists or legs etc. After watching these guys, there is no way in hell I'd attempt it. They have to land a certain way, and have their arms in particular positions – the last being to protect their marsupials just before they hit the water. Sadly I missed them mid jump, and only got the before and after shots. I'll probably just annoy someone for a copy of theirs.

Back to the other “attractions” of Mostar. One important one is you can see a lot of the damage from the war, some buildings looking like the war ended yesterday. The war here was even crazier: the Bosnians and Croats worked together to fight off the Serbs, but once that was done, they turned on each other. Later on they made up, and once more teamed up... its so bizarre.

I should point out that the Mostar bridge itself was bombed, by the Croats at the time I believe. It was amongst several nasty things they did in the same era. It has been rebuilt however, thankfully in the original stylings.

There is also the typical foody and shopping districts, with streets once more lined with cobblestones. The were mainly closed however, as it was the end of Ramadan – which means several days of public holiday. Take note Australia.

Another tourist attraction, is the little known Mostar rollercoaster. Its called the “Mostar Monster”, and it darts in and out amongst the bombed out buildings. Very little is known about it however, and you probably won't read about it in Lonely Planet. You'd need to ask Ethan for the details...

At the end of our Mostar trip, we went back to our accomodation in Sarajevo. I can't remember if I whinged about it before or not? Anyway, our B & B like accomodation had noticeably improved, as our hosts now seemed in much better moods – perhaps they were just hungry. They even cooked us up some burek and baklava style sweets.

As for photos, I'm going to attempt super mega size mode. Lets just say I hope you like river and bridge shots.

Chapter 17: Sarajevo

“War. War never changes.”

That thought and more popped into my head when we first arrived in Sarajevo. You can see the buildings are absolutely peppered with bullet holes (or worse). You can only imagine what life must have been like living here during those years... even simple tasks, like going down the street to pick up some water, could end with you being shot.

It also reminds you of just how nasty humans can be to one another. Take the Serb snipers for example. They would shoot people in the legs, to attract Bosnians to try and aid them. They would then cop a bullet in the head.

I found it kind of strange what they bombed though. The Serbs surrounded Sarajevo and laid siege basically. Mortar fire all over the place – but seemingly at completely random targets. They didn't take out the Sarajevo TV station or printing press; but there were big blasts in the middle of an empty street?

The destruction though I was prepared for. What I didn't expect was some of the reconsctruction (and renovation of existing buildings) that make up a fairly bustling cafe/shopping/typical European bludging district. I mean, the place on the whole does have a long way to go. But if you think Sarajevo is pretty much one big pile of rubble, you'd be pleasantly surprised.

Sadly, probably the first place since Budapest (grr) that I've felt I need to keep an eye on my stuff. We had a local tour guide show us around town, and as he was standing there talking to us a number of kids came along begging for money. They certainly weren't shy about it either.

Had great chevapi for dinner first night – which is apparently a Sarajevo speciality. You can buy chevapi everywhere over here, but the Bosnians have their own secret eleven herbs and spices. Second night was even better, at a little restaurant tucked away on a side street. Had veal wrapped in smoked ham and cheese, with yogurty spicey stuff.

I should also mention our first little foray into Bosnia. We did all the passports inspections leaving Serbia, then again 2 mins later entering Bosnia. That was all fine. I was enjoying the Bosnian countryside – lots of mountains and rivers and things. Then the bus driver pulls over – but only TO DO UP THE WHEEL. That's scary enough, considering we are winding through mountains. He then pulls over a second time, and we hear him clunking around underneath, doing god knows what.

Anyway, we hear this almighty grinding noise – which is shortly followed by our third stop. The bus driver takes a look, then comes back inside and tells us we need to change buses. Ahhh, the Balkans! How I miss stuff that JUST WORKS.

Also, tomato sauce. Ajvar is good, but just not the same.