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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 7

    Coulda, Woulda, Budva!

    August 11, 2018 in Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Getting from Shkoder, Albania to Budva, Montenegro typically involves going inland through Podgirica, but I figured it would be amazing to head immediately southwest and make our way north along the dramatic Montenegro coast instead through Ulcinj.

    Busing to Ulcinj costs 12 euros each. But I found a taxi that would do it for 35 euros and leave immediately. Pretty easy decision. By the way, this is the third border crossing we did via taxi. That's just how we roll heh. And the decision paid off as the bus ride from Ulcinj to Budva was amazingly beautiful. This entire trip has been through huge mountain chains but finally we were on the sea. -SP (to be continued)

    Arrived in beautiful Budva, and spent two hours at the beach, and watched a huge lightning storm light up the mountain chain right next to us while we baked in the sun and splashed in the warm waters.

    Wandered into the very impressive walled old town where the passage ways were narrow and only pedestrians could squeeze through the streets. Americans beware, this is not one size fits all ;)

    Had the house specialty which was an amazing octopus in a pot which we feel is the best meal we had this trip... And that's saying a lot as the food has been phenomenal. Honestly, I'm a bit sad all this amazing food at rock bottom prices is a limited time offer. Prices back home will be hard to take. We paid 50 euros for a good bottle of wine and a massive octopus feast that we came nowhere near finishing.

    Finished the night at a cool lounge outside the castle walls and staggered back to our cute guesthouse two very happy travellers. So spoiled by all the beauty and it's just too hard to even capture in photos or describe. It's overwhelming and I know we have some crazy locations still coming up. -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 8

    Krazy for Kotor!

    August 12, 2018 in Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    First, let me say what an incredibly short and easy travel day this was. After a quick blink of our eyes on an hour long bus ride, we found ourselves behind the fortified walls that protect the gem that is Kotor’s old town.

    Although getting here was effortless, finding our hotel room was no easy feat. The addressing system, or should I say lack there of, is very sporadic here. It seems as though some store fronts are labelled with numbers, but many are not. Even the handful of locals that we spoke to couldn’t guide us in the right direction.

    Insert Hakan. A man with a friendly face, who was sitting outside of his tapestry shop. When we asked for his help, all it took was a quick phone call and voila, someone was on their way to let us into our room, which was only a few doors down from his shop. Little did we know that he was friends with the hotel owner, or that he was so well connected, which proved very beneficial for us. Kotor is the first place we decided to spend more than one night in, which was an incredibly easy decision to make by the way (it’s like you’ve gone back in time into the Middle Ages, not to mention the awe that you feel as you stand surrounded by sky-high mountains), however we only booked accommodations for one night. Fortunately, not only is Hakan a business owner, but he is also a landlord so he was able to find us a room to stay in tomorrow. Not to be a broken record, but Hakan’s hospitality was rather outstanding. It was like having our own personal tour guide on speed dial, whatever we needed he assured us that he would help. He even offered to take us out for a traditional Montenegrin dinner tomorrow evening.

    As a mini afternoon excursion, we made our way to a small town called Perast, which the Lonely Planet book describes as looking like a small chunk of Venice that has floated down the Adriatic. With a population of 350, we walked down the one and only main street and indulged in some gelato, some of us more than others ;) - if you know Sean at all you know his love of ice cream.

    Upon our return we had an excellent seafood dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by one of Hakan’s friends of course, and then we spent a better part of the evening playing cards, wandering the cat-strewn streets and getting lost in the magic. KK    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 9

    Krazier for Kotor - Day 2

    August 13, 2018 in Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    In addition to the fortified old town, Kotor also has fortifications that travel to the top of the mountain that sits behind the old town and 1350 steps to reach the uppermost fort. We spent our morning ascending the wall and enjoying the spectacular views. And also trying to stay in the shade as it was over 40C. Easily the best hike and views of the trip so far.

    After that, spent our afternoon wandering the maze of cobblestone streets and taking a cue from all the lazy Kotor cats - lounging around sipping on cold drinks in the shade and watching the mass groups of tourists getting shuffled by us. First time of the trip where we had no travel agenda and while it's fun to visit a new place everyday, was great to not be rushing off somewhere too.

    We did have plans though. Our new Turkish friend Hakan insisted on taking us out for supper at a local seaside Turkish restaurant at 8pm. We were treated to red wine, raki (like ouzo), and a number of food platters with grilled meats and vegetables and delicious desserts. The owners sat down with us too and we never came close to eating everything provided. Even though we insisted on paying the bill, Hakan was having none of it. We feasted like kings all at his expense.

    Got back to old Town around midnight and finished our night watching a small band performing in one of the narrow alleyways outside a pub. Pretty sweet day. -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 10

    Dubrovnic sticker shock

    August 14, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Our bus ride to Dubrovnik from Kotor was about 100km. But we're in the Balkans. Everything leaves on schedule and arrives like my tenant's rent cheques. Took 5+ hours instead of the scheduled two hours.. aye yie. Getting through customs was about 90 mins alone. Fueling up ate another 30+ minutes.

    But forget that, we were finally in the grandest of citadels. The fortified walls were 20-30 feet high. Everything is marble flagstone and pedestrian only, but main through fares are wide enough for three lanes of traffic. Off the main strip, narrow corridors rise up sharp inclines, littered with restaurants and shops everywhere you turn. Some led to castle wall openings and cafes on the sea and views of nearby mountains and blue waters. It is all incredibly impressive and grand. Except...

    We weren't the only ones here. Unfortunately, the hoards of people drowned out the beauty of it all. And that's quite the feat. I don't recommend visiting in August. Also the prices of everything were inflated and far beyond what we had been paying everywhere else. Instead of paying $2-$3 for a beer, now it was $9-$11. Same for food and accommodations. If we had arrived here from Canada, it wouldn't have seemed as bad. But backpacking through Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania and even Montenegro lowered our cost expectations considerably. Plus there was much more of an 'off the beaten path' feel to many of those places. Prior to Montenegro, we had hardly seen any backpackers or heard any English. In Dubrovnik, British and Americans dominated the masses.

    Still, had a great meal in a cute narrow corridor cafe, and drinks on the water, trying hard not to think about those pesky price tags on everything. We missed climbing and traversing the high fortifications as we didn't know it closed at 7pm... So we found a really pretty spot in the middle of a plaza to sip on cold beverages and marvel at the pure volume of people trying to slip past each other. There was something very satisfying in being a spectator and not one of the herd. -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 11

    Lazy day in sleepy Korcula

    August 15, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Although we went to Korcula today, that wasn’t the initial plan. With a very early start to the day, we woke up at 5:00am in order to catch a local bus at 6:05am that was to take us to the port, in order to catch a ferry to Hvar. As one of our taxi drivers so kindly pointed out, us vacationers must have left our “brains at home,” because the morning ferry was sold out. We were assured by our Airbnb hostess that we did not have to purchase tickets in advance, so we mistakenly took this advice without investigating for ourselves.

    What to do next you might ask, why hop on a bus to a place called Orebich of course! Finally, after a two hour long bus ride, and a quick hop onto a ferry, we found ourselves in Korcula, a place that Sean’s friend Calvin recommended we go to.

    What an incredible change of pace from the hustle and bustle of tourists in Dubrovnik. With tiny pebbled beaches and a much smaller old town area to explore, we must have seen the entire island at least 5 times if not more. A vast majority of cafes and restaurants were named Marco Polo, as Korcula claims to be the alleged childhood home of the Italian explorer.

    We enjoyed a pizza dinner by the water, and then we found the ticket office to purchase our ferry tickets back to Dubrovnik tomorrow morning - see, you can’t fool us twice ;) While sipping on local wines and craft beers amidst tiny cobblestoned alleyways we tied our rummy 500 score, 5:5. For some strange reason, the (male) waiter at the wine bar across the way insisted that I was bending the rules to work in my favour...2 against 1 not fair! As most places closed at 11pm, we wrapped up the evening at a place called Lole, a wine and tapas bar that has a perfect score on TripAdvisor.

    Stay tuned as we escape the expensive price tags of Croatia and discover what Bosnia has to offer, as we make our way to the last country of the trip! KK    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 12

    Grapes and goulash in Trebinje

    August 16, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Started the day with a morning ferry from Korcula back to Dubrovnik and then caught a bus to Trebinje, Bosnia. Btw there's a very odd policy in Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia to pay the bus driver one euro for every bag stowed in the luggage area of bus. Lame. Pretty sure this goes directly into the driver's pocket.

    Prices in Croatia were killing us, so we were anxious to get back to the balkan costs of living away from the Mediterranean coastline. Trebinje, bosnia definitely filled that criteria. Normal sized beer ranged from $1cad to $2.50cad. Had a large goulash meal for $5cad. And our apartment rental was $30cad, and can honestly say it was overpriced heh. Won't make that mistake again.

    The old town was cute but considerably smaller and less maintained than the places we had just visited. But still a nice place to wander around before heading north to Mostar and Sarajevo. Passed lots of vineyards on the way here and learned it's Bosnia's main wine region. So that's where we started our day...

    Saw a major winery was within walking distance of our apartment and headed off. I swear it's not my fault, but there are crosswalks all over without traffic signals and you have to step into traffic and everyone stops for you... Which they did for us, but a trailing car crashed into the car that stopped for us and a huge argument ensued between drivers finishing with the guilty party hopping back in his car and taking off. And lol followed by other drivers getting out of their cars to argue about something with the victim. I was gonna record the altercations but then thought better of it and moved on. Bosnians are a feisty lot.

    Passed by a bunch of war-bombed-out buildings immediately before reaching the state of the art winery building. So much contrast everywhere. After some great wine there, we walked back and found a beer festival setting up, but unfortunately a huge storm was coming and couldn't stay for long. Got caught in a huge rainstorm earlier in the day too so left and finished the night in the old town. Pretty chill day, but have had lots of early mornings and no A/C lately, and it's starting to wear on us a bit. But with Mostar up next, getting rested is ideal. -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 13

    The Starriest Place in Bosnia: Mostar

    August 17, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Immediately, you might ask yourself what makes Mostar the “starriest” place in Bosnia, the answer: Stari Most bridge. After an extremely windy bus ride that lasted roughly three hours (it was so windy that a fellow passenger vomited multiple times throughout the course of the trip), laying our eyes on this magnificently rebuilt stone arc made it all worthwhile. As the aquamarine water of the Neretva river sparkled below, our hearts were filled with incredible joy as we both knew this was the most photogenic scenery we had seen yet. Our timing was just right, as we also got to witness a diver leap into the freezing cold water.

    If you happened to notice that I mentioned the version of the bridge that we saw was a 21st century rebuild, that’s because the original was destroyed during the Civil War in the 1990’s. Graffiti artists have tagged building walls with the words “do not forget.” So although the historic centre has been restored, remnants of bombed out buildings and bullet holes plaster the architecture here.

    It’s hard to imagine such juxtaposition, but here’s an example: our super luxurious two-bedroom accommodations were just built in May of this year (this was easily the nicest place we booked throughout the entire course of the trip, we even jokingly said we would rent out the second bedroom on Airbnb), meanwhile across the street laid the crumbled remains of a high school, just one of the scars left lingering behind after the heartbreaking Civil War.

    With that in mind, we haven’t taken one step for granted, as we have so fortunately had the opportunity to enjoy the treasures this old town has to offer. While drinking and dining by the riverside, we shared a mixed meat plate for dinner, sipped some great craft beers at Old Bridge Brewery and enjoyed the live music at the Black Dog Pub. Rather coincidentally, as we were sitting outside of Marshall Cafe, Sean was spotted by one of his coworker’s brothers, all thanks to a “root of all evil” Whiprsnpr t-shirt he was wearing, what a small world!

    Tomorrow we booked a day trip with iHouse tours, so we’re looking forward to seeing Kravice waterfalls. This is only the second place we’ve stayed in for more than one night, so it will be nice to very temporarily lay our roots and not have to rush off and catch some form of transportation in the morning. KK

    Adding some extra context to meeting my coworkers brother. We didn't know each other. He spotted my ottawa brewery tshirt as he was walking by and decided to approach me. After chatting for a little bit, I invited him and his gf to join us for a beer and thats when we talked more about back home/work and realized he's the brother of the guy who sits next to me at work. So weird! -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 14

    Mostar day 2 - The sequel

    August 18, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    For our second day in Mostar we signed up for a day tour of some local sights outside the city. First stop was at Blagaj, a Muslim spiritual sufi-house that is several centuries old where people would come for deeper learnings on life and philosophies (and religion). The scenery was striking as the tiny village butted up against a massive cliff that hung out over the closer buildings. But much more eye-catching was the river that started right at the cliff face, which is a really bizarre sight for a river to start at a rock wall , which comes from an underground river below the towering cliff. Oh ya, the best part... Kristin had to wear some Muslim garb to enter haha.. she's not aware I'm posting her pic in it :)

    Second stop was at a Muslim medeival mountain side town (Pocitelj) mostly in ruins but still inhabited somehow. The people there survive selling figs and natural juices to passerbyers. Tour guide dropped us off at the top to find our way to the bottom. Wandered through the cobblestone paths and climbed to the top of a very structurally suspect tower and then had to escape the heat and find our way to the bottom.

    One more stop at a historically significant orthodox monastary and then on to gorgeous kravice falls which is not one large waterfall, but numerous veins that spread across an arching ushape area splashing down into pools below. It was especially fun because you can splash around in the pools and also climb up the rock cliffs to get near or under many of the cascading falls. It felt almost tropical like we were in Colombia and not what one might envision as a Bosnia locale. Bosnia by the way is impressibly scenic. Extremely mountainous and many rivers that all have a striking green-bluish color and clear waters. I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it.

    Finished our day sharing a beer with our tour guide, and chilling out at famous black dog pub on the river and calling an early night so we're good for sarjevo tomorrow. Also had another yummy sharing platter with grilled meats and vegetables plus dolmas, stuffed peppers and onions. My God I wish we had stuff like this back home. So good and so affordable. Why are all our platters back home deep fried crap? Forget french cuisine and carb heavy italian, Balkans has it nailed! -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 15

    Sarajevo:Hijabs & beer, together at last

    August 19, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Sarajevo is in many ways the perfect place to wrap up our trip. There's no iconic landmark here to photograph and show you. It's a city that has survived two world wars (including the event that started WWI), and the longest city siege in world history from 1992-1995. They've rebuilt everything but if you pay close attention to your surroundings, there are bullet holes in buildings everywhere. It doesn't embrace the remnants of war quite like Mostar did, mostly because it's the capital and needs to re-establish itself as a key European center as Bosnia tries to join the EU. But don't get me wrong, no one here forgets or doesn't care.

    The downtown/old town has an energy not seen anywhere else we've been. For centuries, Muslims, Jews, orthodox and Catholics lived harmoniously and you can see evidence as mosques reside metres away from synagogues and cathedrals. Every street and side alley has lively cafes with pillows and cushions to relax at, like you were in Istanbul. Sarajevo was under Ottoman rule for over 400 years but it was a peaceful existence for every culture, and not just for Muslims.

    We spent our first day relaxing at different cafes, sampling the local cuisine and beverages, and drifting in and out of the numerous Turkish markets that sprawl everywhere downtown. Unlike many other balkan destinations that had a large Muslim presence with mosques or Turkish styled old towns, this city was far more vibrant with hijabs and niqabs on every block, actively shopping or sipping coffees, or taking the family for food somewhere.

    Later that evening, met up with my coworker's brother (Chris Manor) and his gf (Jane) again for some craft beers at a cool spot called Vucko with 100 beers on the menu. By the way, those two are backpacking the world for twelve months! Amazing. My mom would probably have a cardiac arrest if I ever did that, but I'll admit it's a very appealing concept. Logistics of many sorts will make it impossible... Dare to dream and all that.

    Finding craft beer has not been easy at all this trip, but has made for some fun find-and-seek, where's Waldo type excursions which has almost always been a rewarding endeavor - sometimes the destination, sometimes the journey, and usually both. Sarajevo easily has far more options than anywhere else and we've enjoyed our final hours unravelling that reality. -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 16

    Signing off in Sarajevo

    August 20, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We've travelled the Balkans for over two weeks and while I knew it's history, nothing has made me really take notice of it's ugly history until we entered Bosnia. I overheard a local woman recently muse "its funny, we fought so hard for so many years to all be separate, and in a few years we'll all be joined together as EU members. What was the point of all that bloodshed?". She's got a point.

    Took an amazing city walking tour this morning that went into graphic details about what Bosnia was like under Tito as president of communist Yugoslavia to the chaos of the Serbian attacks from Milosevic and where they are now. Bosnia has 40% unemployment with no immediate signs of improvement. It is the only country in the world with 3 simultaneous presidents who all have equal power and veto rights. The three presidents represent the bosniaks (Muslim), croats (Catholic) and serbs (orthodox). Elections are this year and there are 192 different political parties. Imagine what their ballot card looks like. As the tour guide said, "welcome to the craziest developed country on Earth". Indeed.

    Lots of rain on our final day, so in-between rain storms we sought out a few local breweries. Found a great tiny microbrew that had a dozen different taps and even had sours. They were kind enough to let us enter the back room to see their equipment. I was shocked they were doing everything with small kettles. They really were 'micro'.

    And that's pretty much how we wrapped up our balkan adventure. Grabbed a late night meal at our favorite restaurant Barhana on the way home and then off to bed for a very early morning coming up. -SP    Read more

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