Sarajevo and Eastern Croatia

The first two shots here were taken in Sarajevo, the rest are from the journey from Sarajevo and my travels through eastern Croatia.

This is a sign warning to beware of landmines in the area. There are a lot of these signs. This photo was actually taken as we were stuck in traffic due to a team up ahead clearing mines.

This is one of the rail stops in Eastern Croatia.

Ancient Roman ruins out in the woods.

My hosts in Voloder roasted chestnuts for me!

A museum in Zagreb

Split, Croatia

My new favorite place on Earth...

Phew!

Back in ireland again. Wow, what a journey. Croatia was amazing, I'm still processing it all. Again, I owe so much to couchsurfing. The people I met through that program really made a world of difference. From advice on where to find great food in Sarajevo to a firsthand look at the devistation of Vukovar, a small town on the Croatian/Serbian border. I drank with the locals, danced with a sea of sweaty Croatian men, watched team Hrvatska win a football match, ate pizza under the night sky in the shadow of the fortress that protects old town Osijek, walked through the woods near Virovitica and gathered mushrooms that we ate for breakfast the next day, tasted boiled chestnuts and didn't like them so much, tasted roasted chestnuts and liked them better, got completely lost in Zagreb and couldn't find a toilet, tried dried figs for the first time - oh! sweet heaven! played for an hour with a 5 year old boy with only a handful of shared words between us, fell in love with the Adriatic coast, ate the best pizza I have ever tasted, had the motto "Nema Straja!" bestowed upon me (if means No Fear), sat in many terasas drinking scrupmtious beverages, climbed the gorgeous bell tower of Spilt, ate grapes that tasted like they had been filled with perfume, marvelled at plethora of produce at the green market in Split, went to a Croatian rock concert, had the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in all to myself, ate fish soup with Igor and Pavel, had a teeny sip of tripe stew at lunch with Vinko and Kosta, chocolate coated sour cherry honey cakes with Zarko, the best shish kabob ever with Emre and Umit, and too many delicious things to list with Spomenko and Suncha. This weekend I plan for the leek soup detox.

Loads of pictures but I'm actually still in Dublin, so pictures will have to wait a few more days until I'm back with my computer.

For those who are interested, here is the recap of my route...

Day 1 - Carndonagh to Dublin, spent the day rummaging through Dublin
Day 2 - Morning/afternoon in Malahide, a town north of dublin, evening flight to Zadar, Croatia.
Day 3 - Bus from Zadar to Split
Day 4 - Split
Day 5 - Split
Day 6 - Bus from Split to Sarajevo, arrived very late at night
Day 7 - Sarajevo wanderings
Day 8 - Sarajevo wanderings pt 2
Day 9 - Sarajevo to Osijek, Croatia
Day 10 - Osijek
Day 11 - Osijek to Virovitica
Day 12 - Virovitica
Day 13 - Virovitica to Voloder
Day 14 - Voloder
Day 15 - Voloder (but spent most of the day in Zagreb)
Day 16 - Voloder to Zagreb to Zadar to Dublin
Day 17 - If all goes right, Dublin to Carndonagh!

Hrvatska!

Yipee! I love Croatia! Well, to be honest I can only say I love Split, Croatia! I've been here for three days and it's one of the greatest places I've ever visited. The vibe, the buildings, the food... everything is dead brilliant! I really don't want to leave but I was actually supposed to go to Srajevo yesterday but couldn't tear myself away from Split! So today I'm off to Sarajevo, and it's goodbye to the Adriatic, bummer. But I hear Sarajevo is amazing too, so I am quite eager to see it. Gosh, I just want to melt into the streets of Old Town and stay here just loving life.

It's a very good thing that this place has been so amazing, as while I was here I got the dreadful news that one of my beloved rats, Tresiallian, had died, and, AND Team Etruria headquarters got robbed and a lot of stuff was taken, including most of my jewelry, which was pretty must just costume stuff, not worth much of anything other than the sentimental value for me. It's good to be travelling actually at a time like that, it's easier for me to remember that people on the whole ARE basically very good, it's just those rotten eggs that spoil it. On the down side, it's very very difficult being away for Tresillian's death, knowing that I'll never see her again or smooch her fuzzy belly. Plus there's the horrific guilt that wonders if she thought I abandoned her.

But overall I am having a great great GREAT time and have found another spot I can daydream about one day calling home :)

Neglecting the Blog

Sure, yeah it's been a while, been too busy eating scones and shivering to post. There is no heat in my flat, and my roommates left for the weekend and left me with no coal for the fire. After a teeth-chattering Saturday afternoon and evening, I eventually had to throw myself on the mercy of my employer who has a car to deliver me a big beautiful bag of coal on Sunday. Then it was toasty warm firey goodness.

Went to the Inishowen Gospel Choir concert last Thursday. My employer is one of the members and her sister is one of the head honchos. It was a great time, there were a few other acts as well, so it was a whole evening of entertainment. It was just a really lively atmosphere and fun times.

I witnessed the great excitment of Gaelic football the other day. I've heard tell that Seattle has it own's league or something, but I had never seen an entire game til last Saturday. It was great craic. The local Carndonagh team was playing, there was a lot riding on the game, if they won they'd be playing in the semi-finals next weekend. Well they housed the compitition! W00t! It's a super fun game to watch, a fab cross between soccer and american football with a wee bit of volleyball thrown in. Plus it's lots of fit young men jumping around and getting muddy. Dream-tacular!

Went on a pub crawl last Saturday with Marty Kelly and a gaggle of boys, and managed to keep my own even better than I hoped I would. In the course of far too few hours I had...

1/4 bottle of red wine
1 shot of this super yummy stuff called Mickey Finn's
1 pint of Guinness
A glass of whiskey and lemonade
Vodka and orange flavored liquid
Shot of baby Guinness (Baliey's and Tia Maria)
Something purple
Something amber
Something green mixed with something fizzy

There was much laughing, much dancing, and amazingly, no puking and not such a bad hangover. Go figure. My liver can't wait til I go back to Seattle and stop abusing it.

So I'm off to Croatia and Bosnia tomorrow, with a day stop-off in Dublin. Excited to find out what adventures lay ahead!

Business As Usual???

Gearing up for Croatia and Bosnia! Head out on 8 October. My initial excitment was briefly replaced by nervousness, but now it's back to excitement again! I've lined up some great folks to stay with, and I'm really excited to learn about the culture and land. Good times ahead!

Last Saturday was friend Edel's birthday, good craic indeed. Poor Edel sliced her finger whilst getting ready, and was decked out in her finest birthday blood-stained bathrobe when we arrived, but she was all smiles and silliness and I love her for it! Some pictures are picture below.

Other than that it's business as usual, however usual one considers this business of mostly play, when trying not to eat too many scones is the hardest thing you do in a day. Mmmm, scones......

yep.

A plethora

Pics Galore!

In Edinburgh