Rainy Day in Dubrovnik

I didn't have much planned for today since the forecast called for rain.  I headed on the bus to old town at 10:30. The weather was overcast with some brief drizzle, so I walked around the area inside the walls, took a few pictures, & bought a few souvenirs.  I went to a local restaurant near the apartment for pizza, pretty good & much cheaper than in old town.

I am taking a 4.5 hour bus ride to Split, Croatia in the morning.  I will be spending 2 nights there.

Montenegro

I signed up for a group tour to the coast of Montenegro as this was not the type of trip that would feasible to do on my own.  I was picked up by the bus at 7:30 am, there were about 20 people on the tour.  Most were Americans & Canadians, so the tour was conducted in English.  The tour guide Ana was very good & had a nice sense of humor.

We stopped at a nice scenic overlook of Dubrovnik & then on to two border stops for passport checks.  We took a 5 minute ferry ride across a bay to get us on our way to Buvda.  Buvda is a beach town nicknamed "Moscow on the Sea" since the Russians own about half the real estate in town.  Most of us ate at a nice seafood place on the water.  I had a large plate of fried calamari for only $10.  We did a quick visit of the old town & then off to Kotor.

Kotor's walled fortress that dates back at least 700 years, although there was some damage to about half the buildings from an earthquake in 1979.  Unfortunately we had a little rain when we got to town, but luckily it only lasted 30 minutes.  We had 90 minutes to explore the town on our own.  I took the walking path up to the base of fortress overlooking town.  There were some terrific views of the town & harbor.  I even saw a Russian couple heading up to small church on the mountain to get married.

The last stop was the small town of Perast. I was hoping to see the famous church of the rocks on a small manmade island near town, but unfortunately it was closed.  Here is a link to the history behind it.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Rocks

We took a back way through a little used border crossing & were quickly on our way for the drive back to Dubrovnik arriving home around 7:00 pm.  Overall it was a good trip & worth the $50 price.

I don't have much planned for tomorrow since there is supposed to be rain during the day & I need a day to take it easy.

Church of the rocks

Dubrovnik

The bus for the 3.5 hour ride to Dubrovnik was fairly new & only about half full.  I met a couple from South Korea waiting for the bus that were near the end of a month long European trip.  The trip was fairly uneventful with some waiting at the border to get our passports checked.  Arrived right on time in Dubrovnik & got to to my apartment at 2:30.

The apartment looks as though it had been recently updated & is only a 5 minute bus ride to the old town.  I decided to walk the city walls & to do a cable car ride that afternoon since it was supposed to rain on Tuesday.

The city wall walk was really interesting, although a little crowded due to a cruise ship docked in town.  The area inside the city walls is also nice, although very touristy.  I did a cable car ride up to the top of mountain overlooking the city.  Great views from up there.  Long day, but glad I saw many of the sights while the weather was nice.  I have an early wake up in the morning for a day trip to The Montenegro coast.

Mostar

The town of Mostar is very famous for it's unique bridge which had been built in the mid 1500s, but was destroyed during the war in 1993.  An exact replica of the original bridge was built in 2004.  The bridge & the old town attracts lots of tour groups during the day, but things are much quieter in the evening & the morning.

I spent 1 full day here & it was nice place to visit, the old town was interesting.  I ate at a traditional Bosnian place for dinner & had cepavci for 2nd night in a row.  For lunch I had a large pizza for only $4.  The waitress was very funny, she mentioned to some young girls at the next table that were ordering that the pizza was very good because the American guy at the next table liked it.  I guess Americans are authorities on pizza.

There are still visible signs from the war with some abandoned buildings in town & a large cemetery of young people that died in 1992 & 1993 during the war.

The small 4 room hotel that I stayed in was very nice especially for $20/night & the owner was very friendly.  Only a few minutes from old town, but very quiet.

I leave in the morning for a 3.5 hour bus ride to Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Train Ride From Sarajevo to Mostar

There are only 2 trains per day for the 2.5 hour journey from Sarajevo to Mostar, one at 7:15 am & the other at 7:00 pm.  I went on the morning train.  The train station was not very nice & is not very busy since most travel in Bosnia is done by bus.  I chose to take the train because the trip was supposed to be very scenic & cheap ($5.75).

Surprisingly the train was fairly full.  I shared a 6 person compartment with 4 other travelers including a backpacker from Ireland.  The initial part of the trip was very not scenic until we reached the mountainous area along the river.  I believe we went through at least 50 tunnels.  Overall the trip was nice, but I had to open the window to get some photos since the windows were very dirty.  

My hotel was an easy half mile walk from the train station.  

Sarajevo

After finally arriving in Sarajevo at 9:30 pm, was glad to get some sleep although I am still adjusting to the 5 hour time difference.

I visited a few museums in the morning, went to the skyscraper with a nice view of the city, and stopped by the street market called the Bascarcija.


I went on a tour about the siege of Sarajevo which took place from 1992-95.  The guide lived in Sarajevo during that time and lost several family members, so he had many stories to share about that time.

We went to the tunnel museum which was a supply tunnel to the Bosnians funneling relief supplies from the United Nations.  800 people were shot by snipers at the airport trying to escape from town and over 11,000 civilians were killed during the seige.  We also visited some of the 1984 winter Olympic sites which were used by the Serb army that surrounded the city.

Sarajevo is city that has an interesting history & is still rebuilding 20 years after the end of the war.  They have an good system of streetcars, but some of them must be 40-50 years old.

I have to get up early in the morning for a train ride to Mostar.  It is supposed to be very scenic.

Here are a few photos from my day in Sarajevo.

The Longest Day

Well unfortunately my optimism was short lived.

First flight from Charleston was 1 hour late & had to run very quickly through the airport to catch my flight leaving 20 minutes later for Zurich.  I was the last one on the plane & totally out of breath. Unfortunately there was a mechanical issue that forced a plane change & a 3.5 hour delay in arriving to Zurich.

I am now in the Zurich airport for 5 hours & will hopefully arrive in Sarajevo about 9 hours later than planned (27 hours traveling with no sleep!).

By the way, I think Zurich is one of most expensive cities in the world.  A Burger King meal is almost 20 U.S. Dollars.  Luckily I have a free meal voucher from my delayed flight.

I am hoping the worst part of my trip is behind me!!!

Check out this photo of the guy in the line with the all green outfit.

Only one day away

The bags are packed and tomorrow is the start of my trip to Eastern & Central Europe. My longest trip prior to this one was a 17 day trip to Scandinavia. This trip will be a month longer than that one.

I am excited about the trip, as the 10 countries that I am visiting are ones that have always interested me.  The weather looks nice for traveling tomorrow, so hopefully no delays on my flights since the total travel time will be at least 16 hours.

I will post an update once I arrive in Sarajevo on Thursday.