 |
| Black Water Bay by night. From our room! |
First stop was Dubrovnik. We were staying in this place where the windows opened onto this bay that was used as Black Water Bay in Game of Thrones. Naturally, GoT themed walking tours were easy to come by, but apparently that's "nerdy". Hmph. So instead we spent a few days wandering the streets in the Old Town, sampling the fresh seafood and enjoying the warmth.
We walked along the City Walls, which gave great views of the harbour and the city and also (thankfully) a fresh sea breeze. On this walk, we started to learn a little bit about the conflict in the area all centered around the breakup of Yugoslavia, which became something of a theme for the trip (hardly surprising, considering our itinerary).
That evening the funicular whisked us to the top of the local hill (a year later I can't remember it's name, but it's the only funicular in town!) for gorgeous views of the sunset. I though I nearly lost Kyle for a moment there when he decided that the optimal place for a photo was down the shingly hill a bit. I had roped in a guy to help me rescue him, should the worst happen, but thankfully (for us both, I think) his services were not required as Kyle's mountain goat prowess prevailed!
 |
| Nawww... puke! |
A short boat ride away was a small island called Lokrum, which we visited for some lunch and a bit more of a walk. We almost had to share our food with the local peacocks, almost.....
Once we'd sampled all we had time for in Dubrovnik, we jumped onto a ridiculously slow bus to take us into nearby Bosnia. First off, we stopped in the small town of Mostar for a night, famous for it's bridge... which guys jump off for money, as you do. We climbed the minaret in the nearby mosque to get the best view.
 |
| Look at him go! |
 |
| Om nom NOM nom NOM! |
We also had a meal here that I may well remember for the rest of my life... Bosnians know what to do with meat.... oh my goodness! I think two pairs of eyes rolled back in their respective heads throughout this amazing (and cheap!) feast. If you're in Mostar, you HAVE to go to Irma Tima's. You just have to. Have the mixed grill and thank us later.
A small town Mostar may have been, but it still carried fairly obvious reminders of the war from the 90s, which was quite shocking to a couple still quite used to safe old NZ.
Although we both remembered hearing about the war when we were kids, seeing the damage caused by it was something completely different. All the cities we've visited that were wrapped in WW2 have had time to rebuild, so it's no longer really noticeable. Twenty years later, Bosnia's still working on that.
Next stop? Sarajevo. And if Mostar was eye opening, well, that really was just the opening act. We stayed in a place on the hill on the outskirts of the city and just looking out the window you could tell this place had survived.
 |
| Dusk falls over Sarajevo |
Our time here focused on that survival. First, we visited the Tunnel of Hope that had been used during the three year siege to bring food, medicine etc in from outside. Only a small section of it remains, as it had passed underneath the airport, but they let you walk down it so you could try to appreciate how tight the space was. We were dropped off and picked up by the guy from our hotel who, around our age, told us about how he remembered his parents shipping him off as a child to stay with family in Germany to escape.
 |
| Putting on a brave face |
Enough of that! Back to Croatia... A short all day bus ride and a broken tooth later, we were in Split. Sadly, we only had one full day, so no real opportunity to get around the nearby islands. Instead we went to this fabulous guy to get Kyle's tooth fixed. He was meant to be on holiday, but he was a total champ, so instead, Kyle was in the chair while a guy in tshirt and shorts fixed him up on the fly. What extortionate sum did charge us for such an amazing feat? 10 euro. Brilliant! That night we met up with some of the group we'd be spending the next week with... Mad bunch that they were, in all the right ways :)
The next morning we bid Split goodbye and headed for Zagreb, where the order of the day was a pub crawl. The less that is said about the group rendition of Paradise City, however, the better...
The real fun began when we got to Slovenia..... Ah Slovenia, what an amazing place! We passed through Ljubljana, but the couple of nights spent by Lake Bled were a real highlight. We had such an amazing time here. In one day, we crossed I don't know how many things off the bucket list. We had a go at Paragliding over beautiful pristine countryside. "Just run off the side of the hill", they said. "Err, no problem?"
 |
| Slovenia is right into its Golden Horned Goats |
The day after that was jam packed with fun and adventure... white water rafting, hiking, swimming in an ice cold waterfall cave and even a midnight surprise swim. Kyle (the brave one) also jumped off a 12m bridge... We were exhausted by the end :) Oh. And they make this amazing cream cake stuff over there which we totally earned.
After that, on to Bratislava, Slovakia. As with Sarajevo, we learned a lot more about past conflicts here, particularly in relation to the creation and enforcement of the Iron Curtain. We went to a bunker that Hitler had visited after he'd sneakily acquired possession of the then Czechoslovakia and saw a section of the Curtain that had been retained to make sure no one forgot. We also visited a castle, a bridge that joins Austria and Slovakia and Bratislava's own Shard.
 |
| One foot in Austria (Osterreich), one in Slovakia |
The beer in Bratislava is insane... comes by the litre and if you can't decide if you want light or dark beer, don't worry! You can have both in the same
 |
| Our relationship, in one simple photo |
 |
| Pity he left his tassles at home. |
Saying goodbye to Bratislava meant saying hello to the final phase: Prague. Kyle managed to pick something up on the way out of Bratislava, which meant a pretty quiet day the next day... So what does that mean? Why, a visit to the sex machine museum of course! Three floors of kink, which got more eye popping the higher up you went.
 |
| Cough, no explanation necessary? |
Prague was gorgeous - much more than just a clock, although that was worth a look too. We steered clear of the absinthe ice cream, but did partake of the meat and various sauces. We also got our feet poked and prodded by evil women who called the poking a "massage" and us "big babies". And we paid for the privilege.
Such a crazy combination of medieval history, beautiful architecture, ethnic diversity and kinky fetishness. A heady mix, for sure! The Jewish Quarter was beautiful and calm; just moments walk from public sculptures of pixelated naked women. Makes me sound prudish, I guess, but it was interesting!
 |
| Yeah baby, work it |
The group tour was amazing. We met a fantastic group of people from all over the place and a stupidly great time. It inspired us to give another one a go later in the year. But that's a story for another day (not in 6 months...). Peace out xxx
 |
| The Motley Crue - Bohemian styles |
No comments:
Post a Comment