Banja Luka

Things we have learned about Bosnia and Herzegovina:
*Don't drive or hike unmarked areas (due to landmines)
*They drive very fast and aggressively (driving looks intense)
*You must leave your headlights on at all times while driving
*Don't pet stray dogs
*Don't drink the water
*Do not cross the road without REALLY looking
*Lays claim to last jungle in Europe
*Known for best lakes, rivers, and waterfalls
*11th in world in coffee consumption

We set off for our just under 3 hours drive in our orange VW T-Cross. Searching online for information on local things here, in southeastern Europe, has been unreliable at best. We couldn't find very much information on border crossing and anticipated about an hour. We just built in a little buffer, knowing that things usually run slower. Little did we know that we underestimated our buffer time by a lot. We waited 3 hours and 45 minutes in a line of cars 1.5 kilometres long with our AC fighting the 108 degrees outside. Then, we realized that was to the turn and we had another 400 or so meters to go.

Then we saw the sign "Welcome to Bosnia." Funny way to welcome us to your country. We are still curious if this was a normal day, lunch break time, or if it's the one crossing point you should avoid. We will never know, because the internet knows nothing.

We made it to another country and headed for a city called Banja Luka. The podcast we were listening to stated that it is a good place to pick a wife, because it's been told they have the prettiest women in all Europe and ratio of 7: 1 women to men. Our goal for this country was to see several parts and break up the drive into shorter segments. We chose our cities based on me searching top cities to visit. Very official research on this one! (Sarcasm)

After our much longer than planned day on the road, we were ready to chill in our apartment. We have primarily been using booking.com to find places to stay, which has served us well. This place was rated 9.3 out of 10. This place was FAR from that rating, so much that Seth almost just walked out to get another place. We were all too tired of being in a car for that, so we stayed because it was only for one night. We tolerated this bachelor pad that had a faint smell of smoke & air freshener for one night and survived. I did hear graffiti artists at work below shaking their paint cans during the night. Luckily, we were on the 6th floor, so I couldn't yell at them. Here, we received a great bargain on the adventure rating for the Blancks.

This is the second biggest city in Bosnia and it's known for some waterfalls, an umbrella street and Christ the Savior Orthodox Church. This church was bombed by the Germans during WW2, then ordered to be deconstructed completely during socialist Yugoslavian reign and then rebuilt many years later with travertine straight from Mesopotamia. In the 90's there was a great religious war involving many Balkan countries, which much of the countries are still recovering from. There are still strong disagreements over beliefs and languages, so much so that the national anthem is wordless. There isn't even an official language for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite all that, the people we have actually interacted with have all been warm and kind.

With our day shorter than we planned due to travel delays, we opted to hit the highlights. We arrived at the "umbrella" street to find they had replaced them with lamp shades. Demi said it looks more her style with lampshades than umbrellas anyway. She has lots of style preferences these days and it's fun. We found a place to eat and I laugh because it's basically all meat and who knows what kind. I keep thinking one day I will eat mostly plants again. It did have a cabbage slaw that was very tasty and something for everyone to enjoy.

We were heading back as the sun was setting and we heard the girls simultaneously squeal "awwwe." This usually means they spotted something little and cute, typically an animal. On the top portion of a pharmacy several small black cats/kittens were playing tag. They scaled the side of the building and would surprise each other by popping in and out of these holes. The girls thought this was hilarious and wished their friend, Olive, could see it.

The girls played at a park until they all reached melting points. Then we were off to sleep in our bachelor pad. We ended up all sleeping together on this huge pull out couch and the girls loved it. Making memories is what the adventure is about anyway. They seem to always see the good, well, unless you are making them walk all day. Ha! We hoped the next place was closer to the ratings it has received.Read more