The climb

The days are quickly passing by and Martin and I are desperately trying to keep up with the fully packed schedule. Now we have moved from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we strolled around the old parts of Sarajevo and Mostar, to Croatia, where we enjoyed the sun and ocean in Split and Zadar, to Slovenia where we only had time for a very short visit in Ljubljana. City girls, beach boys, castles and dragons, there is a time and place for everything.

Bingo!
Our hostel was owned, ruled and controlled by an older woman. Young people were walking in and out, while both an unknown man and a child were screaming at her from different stairs in the building. We had barely given her the money for the room, before she stuck a full map of Sarajevo with 50 different marks on it in our hands.

• “Now go out and see something”

The woman screamed back at the stairs while a Turkish man walked into the room. I was looking at the map, at Martin and then back on the map again:

• Ellen “We should be able to see all of this tonight”
• Martin “It will be a long walk and evening”
• Ellen “Uhhhh, lets play bingo and cross of the marks as we go!”

We were going to leave for Mostar early in the morning, so we only had the rest of the evening to do all of Sarajevo, however we had a lot of experience and had already concluded, that there is not a city, which we are not able to see in a day! Good walking shoes, strong legs, a map and acceptance of the fact that you are not going to drink, eat or sleep are the keys.

As expected we managed to see all of the 50 marks on the map and even get a Bosnian beer at a bar. We were both completely exhausted and when we were finally home and done, I eagerly climbed the stairs to my bed in the hope of some sleep before the early morning. As I dropped my head on the pillow and closed my eyes I became aware of loud chrushing, ratteling and whimpering noices. Apparently the Turkish man was snoring, and I was not ment to get any sleep that night either…

We managed not to break a bridge, shoot a prince or start a war
Which makes both me and Martin successful visitors of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When you also take into count that we ate Cevapi, drank local beer, drove through the mountains, saw the bridge in Mostar and the 50 sightseeing point of Sarajevo, I think we did a pretty good job! Things you have to see:

1. “The yellow fort” on top of a really steep hill is a must. On the way you get to enjoy the beauty and emotions of a cemetery filled with white gravestones as a monument to the people fallen during the Siege of Sarajevo, and if you you manage not to give up due to exhaustion and get to the top and the fort, you are rewarded with a bench and a gorgeous view of the city.
2. Benderija’s house also known as “the spite house” is really a sightseeing point in my taste. This house is meant as a pure example of the stubbornness of the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The story goes that when the Austrian-Hungarians occupied Bosnia, they wanted to construct a lot of buildings and where this man (Benderija) had his house, they wanted to place the city hall, but Benderija refused to move. After long negotiations he said “fine, you can get this land, if you move my house to the other side of the river, brick by brick”. They did and here it is.
3. Mostar is a small city located about 2.5 hours from Sarajevo and is definitely worth to pass by. Here you really have the chance to sit by the river and enjoy a mighty cevapi, stunning nature, old architecture and the fun of tourist-spotting.

We went through most of Bosnia and Herzegovina with bus and managed to visit 2 cities in just a little bit more than a day, but I could definitely spend some more time here!

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you are ice cream
After thorough observation Martin and I have come to the conclusion that all people in Croatia exclusively live of ice cream. If you had to buy one ice cream at every place it was possible on the Croatian coast, there would be a distance of approximately the width of 3 British tourists. Both Split and Zadar definitely attracted tourists in a way, that we had not experienced a lot in the former places we had visited. Especially Split was fully packed with British tourists and kids who wanted to party even though their age should have been a limit to their drinking.

We had almost three full days on the Croatian coast, and the rides were at least as beautiful as the destinations. Here we did not rush around with a map and a tight schedule but strolled around on the piers with a ice cream in our hands. The weather was perfect, and it is really easy to understand, why many people go on vacation on these locations. In Zadar they even have a perfect spot to watch the sunset, so of course we also grabbed that chance… together with 200 other people who had the same idea.
I know these cities have a lot of remains from old times, and we did also have time to visit these sights, but I would always prefer a capital and full city experience over a sun vacation with beaches and sea.

Castles and dragons but the knights stay in chess
How do you approach a city, when you know you only have half a day to see it? No idea, you just panic and walk around in circles. Due to easter we had some minor changes in our plans and realized we had to leave for Vienna in quite a hurry. Luckily Ljubljana is not the biggest city, and we at least had time for a few stops like the opera, the castle and a walk on the bridge with dragon statues! I would recommend something to see, but since I barely saw anything, it would not be a qualified recommendation. The city felt somewhat like a hidden gem, and I could definitely see myself coming back to explore further!

But it’s just the price I pay, destiny is calling me
Mr.Brightside is playing of the speakers, and I am singing with no regard for the 3 other persons on the bus:

• Martin: “This is probably the first song you like, that is not aggressive”
• Me: “My music is not aggressive, it just prepares me to figtht”
• Martin: “Fight? Good, then you can protect me when I continue to listen to Beyonce”

I have tried to argue that my music is not aggressive, but Martin refuses to listen just because my playlist is called “rock when you don’t give a fuck” and contains two songs from a band called the “Foo fighters”. The word ‘fighters’ is too scary when you are used to songtitles like “Let your heart hold fast” and have routines that take more than 45 minutes in the morning.

Will be continued…