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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 17

    Dulles - Worry Wart in Washington

    August 21, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    This was almost Colombia all over again...except I pulled a Bulgarian, the Canadian way ;)

    My heart began to race as soon as I walked off the plane and into a room full of hundreds of people who were all waiting to go through customs. With only two hours until boarding (the exact same scenario we were in when we flew here from Panama City in April) I knew I was going to miss my flight to Ottawa. What could I do? I overheard the woman in front of me talk about some sort of mobile passport app that would allow you to bypass the herd, so I immediately befriended her and asked her for more details. We became fast ‘friends’ and exchanged numbers on WhatsApp as she assured me she would hold my place in line just in case this ‘short line’ didn’t actually exist, but if it did then I would send her a message so she and her daughter could take advantage of it as well. As I wearily made my way to the “mobile passport line” I asked every employee I could for reassurance that this was legitimate. There were only 9 people ahead of me!! I could hardly believe my eyes!! As I waited in line, I then started chatting with an employee who seemed to be directing traffic. I guess I must have killed her with kindness, as she let me enter a “Global Entry” kiosk line that is apparently a paid service, and I just heard her decline a fellow traveler who was worried about missing his flight to Denver, so a line of 9 quickly turned into 0, as they were serving me next!

    How was I slithering my way through so smoothly? Next obstacle - the customs agent repeatedly took my photo, but it wasn’t recognizing me for whatever reason, so I cracked a joke about being so short as the reason it wasn’t working, so he told me not to worry about it, wished me a great day and let me through...seriously what is happening? I raced to the baggage claim area and had the biggest smile on my face when I spotted my backpack. As I dropped it off, the gentleman working the check-in counter chatted with me for several minutes and told me not to forget my “baby,” aka my backpack when I landed in Ottawa or else he’d be upset - seriously why are people being so friendly?!?

    I found my gate, confirmed my departure time, and just like toucan Sam I followed my nose to...the closest bar. Currently at a place called “American Tap Room,” and boy let me tell you beer has never tasted so good, as sheer minutes ago I was sure that I’d be resting my head in Washington for the night. Although it’s not a Maple Leaf Lounge, I sure feel like a VIP today. For anyone who has travelled through Dulles before you’ll understand, so one huge piece of advice, download the Mobile Passport app in advance and save yourself the stress! KK    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 17

    London calling

    August 21, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Fourth airport and three flights and one more to go. What a ridiculous route home. I really should fire my travel agent. Oh wait, that's me.

    Found the maple leaf lounge and got in for free with my gold card. Now, this is where it's at. Free drinks and food with couches and even a few beds. Sipping a Chardonnay lol as I type this.

    It's my first time in one of these. I feel like such an imposter here and that I've crashed some elite party lol.. and that any moment someone will boot me out. -SP    Read more

  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day 17

    Copenhagen

    August 21, 2018 in Denmark ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Zagreb airport was kinda freaky. Attaching a pic of it. Copenhagen is weird. The entire airport has hardwood flooring. And my gate has about 10 seats.. am I flying in a Cessna to London?

    First flight this morning was at 6:30am, so arrived at Sarajevo airport around 4:20am only to be told airport doesn't open until 5am. Had to wait on side of road for 40 minutes before guard would let us enter airport property. -SPRead 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

  • 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 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 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 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 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

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