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20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 9: Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina


20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 9: Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY

PART 9, DAY 12: FOOD FOR THOUGHT 
IN SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Having spent the better part of the day in Mostar - the fifth largest city in Bosnia-Herzegovina and home of the country's most iconic bridge - it was time to head to the capital city, Sarajevo. Sarajevo seems like an obscure travel destination, being either a city that doesn't register on the mainstream mind map (Bosnia-Herzegovina itself being one of the least-visited countries in Europe) or a city that brings to mind images of desolation and destruction. Of course, now that I'm a little past halfway into my series 20 Days, 20 Cities, and 6 Countries in Austria, the Balkans, and Italy, you'd know by now that the catalyst of my 3 week road trip was my fascination with Yugoslavian history. I have heard Croatian and Serbian perspectives on the turmoil that seems to shadow the former socialist state, so now it was time to see the story from the Bosnian side. I knew that Sarajevo wasn't going to be all sunshine and roses, yet I wasn't completely prepared for the darkness that haunted this beautiful city...


October 14, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 9: Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay... 20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES. AUSTRIA  •  SLOVENIA  •  CROATIA  •  BOSNI...
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20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 8: Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 8: Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY

PART 8, DAY 11: UNEXPECTED OTTOMAN EMPIRE AT MOSTAR, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

"Hey now, you're a Mostar, get your game on, go play..."

Before heading from Split to my next Croatian city, Dubrovnik, I made a detour and drove across the border into one of Europe's least-visited countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina. My 20 Day, 20 Cities, and 6 Countries Balkans road trip was inspired by my recent reading list of Yugoslavian history* - more specifically, the events surrounding its collapse in 1992 (I was especially haunted by the scenes depicted in Joe Sacco's journalistic graphic novels Safe Area Gorazde and The Fixer: A Story From Sarajevo) - so it was inevitable that I would eventually find myself in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was a long drive from Split, Croatia to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, so I decided to break up the journey by stopping midway at Mostar - a city of great architectural and natural beauty with Turkish influences that was a world apart from anything I had seen on this trip thus far.

*Yes, it's not the most romantic reason for a "holiday" - Other people: "I want to go to Paris because l'amour!" Me: "I'm going to Bosnia, because war..." - but I've always been a nerd for conflict history and socio-politics. 

October 11, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 8: Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay... 20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES. AUSTRIA  •  SLOVENIA  •  CROATIA  •  BOSNIA-HERZEGO...
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20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 7: Split, Croatia

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 7: Split, Croatia

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY

PART 7, DAY 10: CATCHING FEELS IN CROATIA - 
A SENTIMENTAL RETURN TO SPLIT

Even before I embarked on my epic 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip across Austria, the Balkans, Tuscany, and the Italian Riviera there was one particular city in my itinerary that filled me with equal parts trepidation and anticipation. As the calendar inched ever closer to Croatia, the butterflies fluttered more rapidly in my stomach at the thought of Split. Not because it was a hitherto unknown destination to me; but because I have, had, and have had strong feelings for this Dalmatian coastal city. It was a little over a year ago in this very city where two people reunited then parted (not for the first nor last time, in many cities across the world) - or should I say, split. A summer later, I returned to the stage where last summer's love story played but the leading man was thousands of miles away. Despite my solo encore, the other star was there in spirit, which made my return to Split, Croatia, all the more bittersweet. 💔

October 09, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 7: Split, Croatia

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay... 20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES. AUSTRIA  •  SLOVENIA  •  CROATIA  •  BOSNIA-HER...
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20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 6: Trogir, Croatia and Kotor, Montenegro

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 6: Trogir, Croatia and Kotor, Montenegro

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA •  MONTENEGRO • ITALY

PART 6; DAYS 9 & 14: DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE PARTS 2 & 3 -  DRIZZLY DAYS IN TROGIR, CROATIA AND KOTOR, MONTENEGRO

When it rains, it pours. 😫  I thought I had used up a lifetime of getting soaked - having endured a 6-hour nightmare trek through a thunderstorm in one of Croatia's most breathtaking natural wonders, Plitvice Lakes National Park - but even after having sworn off the great outdoors my wet weather woes were far from over. 😭 Now, I'm all for posting in chronological order but the thought of writing two separate posts on getting caught in the rain in two different countries gives me the chills - so today I'll recant Day 9 (Trogir, Croatia) and Day 14 (Kotor, Montenegro) just to get the showers out of my system. Like ripping off a bandaid all at once instead of peeling it back millimetre by millimetre. On the morning of the 9th day of my 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip, I woke up in Hotel Jezero at dawn - without a cold, miraculously - and without even looking back I quickly revved the engine and set the coordinates to the Old Town of Split.


October 06, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 6: Trogir, Croatia and Kotor, Montenegro

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay... 20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES. AUSTRIA  •  SLOVENIA  •  CROATIA  •  BOSNIA-HERZEG...
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20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 5: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 5: Plitvice National Park, Croatia

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA •  MONTENEGRO • ITALY

PART 5; DAY 8: DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE PART 1 -   
GETTING SOAKED IN PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK, CROATIA

Blue is the warmest colour? You jest. 🙄  Not even the sapphire blue waters of Plitvice Lakes could convince me that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse hadn't cometh on a giant storm cloud, their hooves clanging like crashing thunder, stabbing from the skies with spears of lightning. It was Day 5 of my 20 day road trip across Austria, the Balkans, and Italy when the weather took an abrupt turn for the worse. I'm not talking about the occasional shower here and there; I'm talking about freak storms across Croatia for the first time in 3 very hot, very dry weeks. Where was the rain when wildfires were spreading across the countryside?! Waiting for me to show up so that it could ruin my holiday like a literal wet blanket. 😩

I refuse to let the unseasonable showers put a damper on my diary-keeping, so for the sake of posterity here is the (possibly overdramatic) story of how I nearly drowned in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. This is just Part 1 of my three-part 'Don't Rain On My Parade' series - there's also Trogir, Croatia; and Kotor, Montenegro (I'm not even going to mention the wetter days in Split and Dubrovnik 😶 ). Wrap up warm and pour yourself a hot toddy because this is going to give you the chills... ⛈

October 05, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 5: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay... 20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES. AUSTRIA  •  SLOVENIA  •  CROATIA •  BOSNIA-H...
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20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 4: Zagreb, Croatia

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 4: Zagreb, Croatia

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA •  MONTENEGRO • ITALY

PART 4, DAYS 6 & 7: CHASING CROATIA IN ITS CAPITAL CITY OF ZAGREB

Croatia is a country that is very near and dear to my heart. So much so that I sometimes catch myself singing, to the tune of the famous Tourism Malaysia jingle: "Croatia, truly Aaaaasia!" (Wot). It's not that I know every nook and cranny of the country - far from it, my first and only (up to then) proper visit to Croatia was a sultry Summer of Love 2016 in Split. Rather, my affection for this gorgeous country is because someone close to me is half-Croatian, and their own embracing of their heritage (including egging me on to drink fiery shots of rakia) has made me also love Croatia by osmosis. 😚  Aside from Split, the only other time I had been to Croatia was passing through Dubrovnik to get to Montenegro.  

I was more than ready to see more of Croatia than just the Dalmatian coast. So it was with eager anticipation that I left Ljubljana, Slovenia for another capital city - Zagreb. ðŸ‡­ðŸ‡·


October 03, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 4: Zagreb, Croatia

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay... 20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES. AUSTRIA  •  SLOVENIA  •  CROATIA •  BOSNIA-...
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My Top 3 Travel Companions (did YOU make the cut?)

My Top 3 Travel Companions - Posh, Broke, & Bored
OF COURSE I HAVE TRAVEL BUDDIES - WHO DO YOU THINK TAKES PHOTOS OF ME? BAG DOLCE & GABBANA


"Are we there yet?" 
"JASIMINNE SHUT UP"

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and the few who can tolerate your quirks and idiosyncrasies for more than 24 hours without wanting to wrap a hairdryer cord around your neck closest. ðŸ˜ˆ  As in, their names written down in your black book of 'people to travel with'. I mean, the world as it is can hardly contain my special brand of obnoxiousness, never mind hand luggage restrictions (what do you mean I have to stash my purse in the overhead compartment?!) that are barely big enough for my Travel Privilege. Self-deprecation aside, I am a dream to travel with if you need skincare and beauty products, a photographer (and retoucher), and an endless supply of plasters (you'll prise my pretty-but-impractical shoes off my cold, dead feet). Travel companions, sorry, consistent travel companions are hard to come by - RIP the scrub who'd happily take up a free holiday and hotel stay on my press trips in exchange for taking a few photos of me, but would mysteriously develop back pain whenever I needed help with the camera 🙄  - so in celebration of this month's #TRAVELLINKUP here is my tribute to the 3 people I haven't yet throttled (and vice versa) while in pursuit of new horizons. Visas, valium, and wine at the ready... 😅

#TRAVELLINKUP

October 01, 2017

My Top 3 Travel Companions (did YOU make the cut?)

OF COURSE I HAVE TRAVEL BUDDIES - WHO DO YOU THINK TAKES PHOTOS OF ME? BAG DOLCE & GABBANA "Are we there yet?"  ...
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