dtravelsround

Brela, ela, ela

When I booked my trip back in January, I had strategically chosen Croatia as my ending point. Why? Well, at the time it was my favorite place in all the world. Until I was introduced to Spain. But, as Katie and I boarded our bus to Brela from Mostar, I couldn’t help but feel anContinue reading “Brela, ela, ela”

Touring the Mostar region

“Hi D!” Katie typed into Facebook chat as I sat at Madja’s Friday night. “I’m coming to Mostar tomorrow!” Sweet! “Cool, I will be on the tour all day — its 14 hours — so I won’t be back until late, but I will see you Sunday,” I responded. We chatted a little longer andContinue reading “Touring the Mostar region”

A sniper’s point of view

Aldina, a girl who worked at Madja’s Guest House, picked me up from Mostar’s bus station as the sun was setting. “Over there,” she said, pointing out the car window to a towering building with all of it’s windows blown out, “that’s the bank. During the war, Serbian snipers would sit in there and shootContinue reading “A sniper’s point of view”

Help from America

After four days of waiting (kind of) patiently for my iTouch, it arrived. The days were filled mostly with morning coffee with another American I met, Katie, walking around the city, grabbing a Coke Light or lunch at a cafe and writing, and then heading back to the air-conditioned common room at SA, watching “Scarface”Continue reading “Help from America”

Chasing Angelina

When I was purchasing my iTouch, the girl at the counter mentioned Angelina Jolie had been in town. She was meeting with people to film a movie about Bosnia. For a few minutes, the girl spoke of her disapproval about the film, saying she didn’t think it was right for Jolie to make a movieContinue reading “Chasing Angelina”

Sarajevo … surrounded

My first evening in Sarajevo, I took AK’s walking tour. An enlightening five-hour walk through the city, learning about it’s history from Ottoman rule to today. There were times where tears filled my eyes as he spoke of the war, the mortars, the Sarajevo roses that fill the holes were people were killed and serveContinue reading “Sarajevo … surrounded”

The City of Roses

iPod. iPod. iPod. Music. Music. Music. The four hour bus ride from Budva to Sarajevo left me sitting in my seat longing for music. The thought of listening to music consumed me as we weaved through the mountain roads, crossing the border and eventually ending up 12 km outside of Sarajevo proper. I sat inContinue reading “The City of Roses”

Backpacking Awesomeness

I was still tired when I woke up the next morning at Hippo. Not sleeping and being in transit for nearly 40 hours can do that to a person. But, I had a one-track mind: the Adriatic. After a quick breakfast (Hippo gives you eggs to do up however you like), I grabbed a beachContinue reading “Backpacking Awesomeness”

Trains versus buses — which is better? (The List)

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js // <![CDATA[ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ]]> Given the fantastic experiences I had on the trains through the Balkans, I decided to write-up a pros/cons list of taking the bus versus taking the train through most of Europe. Both can be good. Both can be bad. Often times — at least inContinue reading “Trains versus buses — which is better? (The List)”

The longest day

In theory, I should have arrived to Bar, Montenegro from Belgrade, Serbia around 8:30 p.m. Which, in theory, would have given me plenty of time to catch the bus from Bar to Budva and check-in to Hippo Hostel. In theory … Unfortunately, that was not the case. As I sat in the train at theContinue reading “The longest day”