8 Cities, 7 Nights, 6 (hundred) Mosquito Bites, 5 (hundred) Jewelry Shops, 4 Currencies, 3 Countries, 2 Teachers, 1 Great Trip!

I'm going for the "longest blog post title" record.

    Last Thursday, my colleague and friend, Kilah, and I, taught our last round of summer camp, and went straight to the airport for our trip to Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro.

    We flew into Dubrovnik, Croatia just in time for dinner with a view:

I ordered veal medallions with mozzarella, vegetables, and a sauce. 

 
     The next morning, after enjoying breakfast at our hostel as the sun rose, we made our way to Sarajevo, Bosnia. We were wasting NO time on this trip!

The 7 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo sounded terrible at first. Once we took off however, I was very pleasantly surprised with the CONSTANT of beautiful views. I was occupied by discovering how beautiful Croatia and Bosnia are the whole time. It was the loveliest 7 hour road trip I've ever had.

Now coming back on the other hand...was a different story. We were in traffic at the Croatian border for about two hours...all the while, the AIR CONDITIONER in our old rickety bus BROKE! I don't even want to talk about how hot it was. I'm not being dramatic when I say that I thought it was the end for me.

Sarajevo, Bosnia

      Hands down, Sarajevo was my favorite part of this trip. I didn't know what to expect out of this city, and was surprised and intrigued every minute. 

      So Stuttgart, Germany is quite a safe city. Living here, I do not feel the need to have a "death grip" on my purse, and a million places within to hide my money. Compared to Stuttgart, once in Croatia I felt the need to be more cautious. And then I went to Bosnia. 

    Bosnia made Croatia look like an angel. Upon our departure from the bus in Sarajevo, we were immediately greeted by two beggar children. This is something the bothers me immensely. It bothers me because chances are, these two little (7 or 8 yrs) girls were put up to this by an adult. Told to wander around the bus station begging tourists for money, because "who can say no to a cute little girl?" Who knows who or where these adults are? Will they sneak up when you open your purse, and grab things? Have they trained these little girls to do that? No idea! Needless to say, I sure did have the tightest of all death grips on my purse in that bus station. It also bothers me that these children are taught to be very invasive. Without eye contact, a smile, or acknowledging their existence, these girls came up to me, and repeatedly tapped on my arm, most likely saying in Bosnian, "Can I have some change". Even when I shifted or moved (couldn't go far, I was in a line), they persisted. Eventually I made eye contact, and just shook my head "no". They still continued for a few more moments. I suppose I have a very kid-friendly, cartoonish, approachable look about me. 

     Another time which called for a purse death grip, was at the bus stop near our hostel. At 9 am, a very obviously dirty drunk man, with a freshly broken nose, stumbled upon us. Tried to sputter in English "Where are you from" and "friend". The fact that he threw his cigarette at a bus that came by, followed by a violent smack to the door, kinda made us feel that we didn't want to be his friend, tell him where we are from, or be around him in general.

      Sarajevo reminded me of Russia. Some things didn't work, or, if they did work, it was backwards to me. Example: the sink in the kitchen didn't have knobs to turn the water on. After a long confused stare at the contraption, I discovered you twist some part of a connected pipe to turn it on...needless to say, we opted not to drink this water.  Another example: power went out one night. I've never stayed anywhere that the power has gone out...when there wasn't even a storm. Another example: our toilet was barely connected to anything, and barely flushed. Also, Bosnian is a slavic language...Russian is a slavic language...there were definitely some similarities/shared words. Also, like Russia, in Bosnia, a smaller percentage of people spoke English than in other European countries. 

         After we checked into our hostel, we settled our things in our room, and wanted to head out. Only problem...we were locked inside of the hostel! The hostel dude at the front desk, was NO WHERE to be found. Imagine...lights dim in the whole place, old, messy kind of building, locked inside, when suddenly..it begins to thunder and lightening outside. As I tiptoed up the stairs of the dimly lit hostel, cautiously creeping around every corner, and shouting the hostel guys name (whose name sounded like "Pharaoh"), I once again, thought it was end for me. I'm not being dramatic. 

        Our hostel didn't have AC...so we slept with the window open. The window didn't have a screen. I received many-a bug bites in Sarajevo. :/ They always get me. Everywhere I go. 

You think I'm almost done writing about Sarajevo, don't you? Well, you're wrong. I'm just getting started! I'll break it down into categories: 

Food: 

This is "Cevapi".  Kilah ordered it at the first restaurant we went to in Sarajevo. It was delicious. So I am not kidding you, we proceeded to order Cevapi for nearly every meal. We had Cevapi in three different countries this week. Must be a Yugoslavian dish, because it was everywhere! Each country, the dish was a bit different. In Sarajevo, the scrumptious little sausages are put into a bread pocket, and served with onions and some kind of hummus/butter type spread. I'm legit not trying to be dirty in that last sentence, I'm pretending to be a culinary connoisseur, simply describing the food. 

Religions:

I had no idea what to expect as far as the practicing religions in Bosnia are concerned. Turns out, it is about 40% an Islamic country.

This is because Bosnia was part of the Ottoman Empire.  Muslims have stuck around in Bosnia and Albania after being part of the Ottoman Empire. 

 Another present religion, is Eastern Orthodox. Which is another reason it reminds me of Russia.

A 3rd present religion, is Catholicism. 

Walking around the old town, I could tell which religion a person was, based on their clothing. Eastern Orthodox women wear a scarf to cover their hair (when they are in church). Muslim women wear hijabs, burkas, etc. I assumed the rest were Catholic. ;) Kidding. 

Shopping: 

    When I travel, I like to buy jewelry as my souvenir from different countries. Bosnia was super cheap. Seemed the perfect place to look for new earrings! And literally, every two steps in the old town, there were jewelry stores. 

...The Old Town..

    Eventually I had the "I MUST have those!" moment with a pair of silver/mother of pearl earrings in a window. 

I bought them for about 35 Bosnian Marks...which is equivalent to about $20. Would I pay that price at Macy's? HA. Never. I had decided that my mission for the rest of the trip was to find a ring to match these earrings. By the end of the trip...I would have looked inside every single jewelry shop in Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, Budva, and Kotor (Montenegro). All of the store clerks new my face...and voice. 

Stop trying to find my gray hair. That is the side of my head where it resides...

Everything was so cheap in Sarajevo...I thought "why not get two more pairs of earrings!?"

Recent History: 

    The Bosnian War took place from 1992-1995. During that time, Sarajevo was under constant siege from the Serbs. Causes of war of complicated, but basically what I got was that Bosnia wanted to be independent from Yugoslavia...and Serbia didn't like the idea. So they attacked. Sarajevo is surrounded by mountains, they are in a bowl, and the Serbs built their trenches on three sides around the city. 

       Kilah and I took a tour about the Siege of Sarajevo, and our guide took us to this viewpoint first to get a basic idea of the lay of the land. 

       When I say constant siege, I really do mean constant...everyday. Bombs, bullets, fires, death became part of the everyday during those three years for the people in Sarajevo. 

 20 years after the war, and just about every building still has scars. If doesn't have one, its 20 years or younger. 

       People could no longer get water from their faucets. They needed to go into the city to get buckets or jugs of water, for cooking, and drinking. This was a huge risk. Many people had to pass through the skyscrapers, which became known "Sniper Alley". Snipers would stake out on the buildings, and shoot anyone and everyone who passed through. During the tour, we saw footage of people literally running through this part of town...just to get some water on the other side. Remember, the city is surrounded by  mountains, where the Serbs were also staked out. So it's not like the people of Sarajevo could escape through the mountains to get some water. 

      You know who didn't make matters better for Sarajevo? The UN. Allegedly, in an attempt to create peace, the UN took away the right to bear arms....for Bosnia! Yes, the ones being attacked were no longer allowed to have these things which protected them from the Serbs. The Serbs...still had their weapons. The UN also sent food to the Sarajevo's people. Do you know what they sent? Old cans of meat/vegetables from the 1950s and 60s. Because of this, people referred to the UN as "United Nothing". Our guide made sure to tell us that only people in charge in the UN were to blame, not the actual UN soldiers. 

        In order to get better food/water, and smuggle war supplies into Sarajevo, members of the resistance build a tunnel underground. 

The entrance to the tunnel was through this house. The woman who lived in this house during the war, would give the men coming out the tunnel food and water. She is still alive and living in Sarajevo today. They called this the "Tunnel of Hope".

   I am 5'2, and had to duck in this tunnel. Imagine a grown man carrying heavy weapons, or food/water, hunched over in this tunnel for over 2 hours. Our guide told us that today in Sarajevo, a lot of people in their 40s/50s have hernias from this. 

     Today, you can see the impact from the war.  Sarajevo lost all of its trains/trams for public transportation. Now they use super old trains, and I think they are given to them from other countries. 

Let me tell you, those trains are very rickety and definitely lack AC. 

         There were these red splotches throughout the city which I noticed before the tour. Our guide told us that they are left on spots where there were massacres, so that people remember. It is called the "Sarajevo Rose".

    So by the way...1992-1995 was in our lifetime. This war was very recent. Walking around the city, I wondered how many of the people I saw where there during the siege. Our guide showed us a hospital and said "That is where I was born. During the war, it was bombed, killing 4 babies. They have since built a new one. I may have been over-stepping my boundaries, but I asked our guide "...what year were you born in that hospital?" I wanted to know how old he was and if he was here during the war. He was born in 1987, and five when the war started. I asked him if at five, he had any idea what was going on? He said his only concern was "why can't I go play with my friends outside anymore?" He said that his family moved to Geneva, Switzerland in 1994. I asked how his family was able to get out...to which he replied "my mother still has not told me". 

     It is so crazy to think that all of this happened in my lifetime, and people around my age, lived it. It is also crazy to think that people around my age...have never heard of this war. To be honest, I only know about it because in 2008, I was in a play called "The Music Lesson", where I played a 12 year old girl living in Sarajevo during the siege. 

      After the tour, back at the hostel, Kilah and I watched "No Man's Land", a filmed based on this war. It is in Bosnian, but has English subtitles, and so worth watching. I usually get bored and fall asleep during movies. I was engaged totally in this film...even though I had to read subtitles the whole time. 

OK. Now I am done writing about Sarajevo. :) 

Dubrovnik, Croatia

     Phew! Talk about tourism. Dubrovnik is absolutely infested with Game of Thrones fans. Too many. One of my tour guides during the week actually told me that a guest they had earlier said "Wow. I can't believe they built this whole city just for Game of Thrones. Wonder how much money that cost". 

Get. Out. 

What a pity. 

    Speaking of naive tourists, let me tell you a true story about a taxi driver. So when Kilah and I flew into Dubrovnik on day 1, we took a cab from the bus station to our hostel.   Something I do before I get into a cab, is ask the driver how much it will cost, and look for the meter. This cab had a reasonable price of 75 Kuna (maybe about 12 dollars). So there is that. When we returned to Dubrovnik from Sarajevo, we wanted to take a cab from the bus station, to the same hostel...just as we did a few days earlier. We knew how much it should cost, and we approached a taxi driver. We knew how much is SHOULD cost, so we skipped that question. He shuffled us into the taxi, then corralled two other boys to come in the cab too! I said "ummmmm, they aren't with us.". He shuffled them into the cab too. He dropped the boys off first at the Old Town...at  a location which was closer to the bus station than our hostel. The driver charged these guys 100 Kuna! Kilah and I knew this guy was up to no good. When he got back in the car, I asked "...so wheres your meter?" Suddenly, he forgot English and didn't know what I was saying.  I proceeded to tell/warn him that "You know, on Thursday, we did the same thing. We left from that bus station and went to our hostel in a taxi...same thing." I was hoping he'd put it together that we know how much it should cost for that ride, and he wouldn't try to be a cheapskate. We finally arrive to our hostel, get out, and he says with stupid smile on his face "120 Kuna".

HA. 

HA.

Well, Kilah got Kill-Uh reeeeealllllllly fast on this guy, with an intimidating "NO", and some other "reaming into ya" words. He comes back with "yes, but we go to Old Town first". Kill-Uh shut him down. So he says "But what about the luggage, I take it out for you..." "Ok, you pay 100 Kuna"...at this point he was just digging a deeper hole in the ground. When he was legit grabbing the taxi fare out of hand, I became very 2nd grade teacher on this old man with "Excuse me! You do NOT grab money out of someone's hand! That is so rude, you will wait until I give it to you!" We were going to pay him 75 Kuna, but then in a very 2 year old temper tantrum fashion, this guy flung the 5 Kuna coin out of Kilah's hand. So we only paid him 70 Kuna. So, have it your way. 

As he got into his cab, I walked away with a smile on my face, a foot kick, a twinkle in my eye, and a condescending wave as I passive-aggressivley said "Toodles, good luck ripping off the Americans!"

     

Anyway, here are a slew of photos of Old Town, Dubrovnik:

I really do love to look at photos I have taken, where there are a lot of tourists in the shot. So lets play "Guess Who Is Thinking That!" I will say a quote, and you guess which person in the picture in thinking that. :)
"Ugh, this city is beautiful to see...but not to smell."
"Oooo, I like her Game of Thrones purse...wonder which over-priced souvenir shop she got ripped off with that one?"
"Why am I such an idiot! I should've taken out more cash. No way I'll be able to pay for my date in this town.."
"Ah. Sunglasses. I need my sunglasses!"

Here is that Cevapi again...Croatia was the second country where I enjoyed this dish. Here, it is not served with the bread pocket. I had it with zucchini. 

Look how slippery the floor is...there were times I didn't lift my feet at all.

I really love little alley ways...

         Kilah and I booked a kayak and snorkeling tour in the Adriatic Sea. I thought there'd be more snorkeling than kayaking. I was wrong. There was more kayaking than I thought. About 4 miles more. I will tell you...kayaking is a lot harder than it looks! Oh me oh my! By the time we got to the cave thing where we could snorkel...I was too exhausted! 

We started on the side of the old town that is facing out to the sea. We kayaked to, around, and away from the island in the left part of the picture. 

Somewhere around this island, we were "lucky" enough to pass a nude beach. A nude beach predominately populated with old men. That's all I'll say about that. 

But seriously, kayaking is one HECK of a workout! The first 15 minutes are fun...after that it's full body burn city...especially when you hit some waves! By the by, we kayaked in pairs.  Kilah and I were the only pair of two females...every other pair consisted of a girl, and a very muscular man. So, for a complete female kayak team, I think we did a really great job. I may have thought "this is end for me" a few times...but by golly, we made it! I walked away from the experience with a sense power...and a fungal rash on my back from the life jacket. :p 

No really...just refuse the life jacket people. You won't fall off the kayak. Who knows how many other people wore and sweat in that thing. I don't feel bad that I may be grossing you out. Hey, it could be worse. You could've  been one of the lucky persons who I sent a picture of said rash to. ;) 

Worry not, I saw my doctor first thing once I returned to Germany. He hooked me up with all kinds of creams. 

This is where set off from.

 We reached this cave thing..

 ...where we could swim and snorkel! Or regain your energy/strength by literally scarfing down the nasty/very salty sandwich given to us..like me. Thats what I did. And prayed for the strength to carry on. I'm not being dramatic. 

This is sweaty, fungus-y Gina. Post kayak. 

Montenegro

      We had a small group private tour booked for a day in Montenegro. A country, which is just about the youngest in the world. It gained its full independence in 2006.  Two vans showed up the morning of the tour, and you won't even believe it. They separated Kilah and me! They put her in one van, and me in another! A whole day of road-tripping, in separate vans. And do you know where I was made to sit in this van?! Front and center. Front, middle seat. Smack dab between the driver, and the tour guide. Half the time we engaged in conversation, the other half of the time, I twiddled my thumbs as they spoke Bosnian/Croatian across me. They, actually, were the ones who told me about the dumb Game of Thrones fan...

     I also got a bit of the inside scoop from being up there. They told me how Montenegrons (is that a word?) are lazy. This was proved when we got to the border, the guide took all of passports in, and the guys said "Just go, we don't want to check, we're eating". Darn. We could've snuck so many people across the border. They told me how 43% of this tiny country is unemployed. I asked why, and how/do they get money to survive? My question was never answered exactly. The driver instead gave a long-winded explanation about Montenegro's prime minister...who was first prime minister when he was 25! Then went to president, then prime minister again. The prime minister (supposedly...according to my mini van driver to Montenegro) really loves being a "god", and allegedly has ties to the mafia in Italy, and has smuggled cocaine across the Adriatic. But the people in Montenegro love their prime minister, and will not speak against him. This is all according to my mini van driver...who, by the way, has long term goals of being a bus driver in Germany. He said "that is where it is AT." 

Throughout our road trip, we had a few pit stops..at which time I could reunite with my travel buddy! 

   

We went to 3 different cities in Montenegro: 

Budva: 

I was told that Budva is like the Miami of Croatia. A lot of Russians have moved in and bought/set up businesses. Russian is spoken a lot, and on many-a-signs in Budva. 

Montenegro was the 3rd country where I had Cevapi. This time with mixed veggies. 

Kotor: 

   We had a walking tour in Kotor, but honestly I can't tell you much about it. I was too busy engineering a fan the guide gave me, I couldn't focus on his stories. All I really got was "it was built by the Venetians", "theres a wall that goes all the way up the mountain you can climb" (IF YOURE CRAZY IN THIS HEAT) "heres a church" "theres a church" "theres a palace", blah, blah, blah. 

That wall that only psychos would climb in 100 degree weather....

   Once we had free time in Kotor, I FINALLY, after searching in 3 countries...found my matching mother of pearl/silver ring!

  I showed my new mini van friends up in the from seat. They thought it came together as one set. I had to explain how I searched high and all over for a match. 

Perest:

This was the last stop in Montenegro. Here, I made a cat friend. They love cats in Montenegro. They even in a cat museum (in Kotor).

This is my favorite picture from the whole trip. I think I'll paint it. 

The Elaphite Islands

    Our last excursion, was a day sailing cruise to the Elaphite Islands, which is part of Croatia. We stopped at 3 towns, on 3 different islands. I cannot remember the names of all of them. But, here are some photos: 

On this one island, we had to pee, and there literally were no toilets to be found. We hiked up through the vegetation to find a natural toilet if you know what I mean. In the process...I cannot even tell you have many mosquitos I got! I told you, they love me.

1. Look how clear that water is. 2. I found about a million little stones just like this on the beach in Savona, Italy. At first I thought it was glass...but it can't be with that many in the sea!

Well, that's it folks! I had a great time on this trip. I got to explore, relax, learn, and push myself! 

-Gina

P.S. If you are wondering what the "4 Currencies" are, mentioned in the title...they are: Euro (Montenegro), Bosnian Marks, Croatian Kuna and.....DOLLAR! These were all the currencies in our wallets by the end of the trip. (dollar was taken out of an American bank on base to exchange to the other currencies.)