The Balkans

Slovenia

Ljubljana

It was a beautiful, picturesque town in which we took very few pictures. The town of dragons.

We found ourselves feeling a little burned out and needing to plan further travel and rest there. 

Lake Bled

Nest we were off to Lake Bled. It was beautiful when we arrived. We were keen to start some adventure activities, so we booked zip lining immediately.

It was going to rain over night and maybe a little the next day, but we're from Canada, no big deal.

Instead it decided to snow on the mountain range just behind us and only around 1500m freezing level. So we thought horseback riding would be a better activity for that. Us dragging the horses out in gusting winds had them looking at us sideways.

Thomas and Travis decided if the rain was going to fall and they would be wet anyway, they might as well try canyoning. Zoe and I decided to sit this activity out.

Fortunately we were staying in a lovely guesthouse with beautiful views to hunker down in.

Croatia

We were planning to travel down the coast in Croatia and spend some more time there, but we were not able to book the travel that we wanted to and so we decided to transit through Zagreb and Serbia to get to Bosnia.

Serbia

Where we spent one night in the pouring rain

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Four nights in four countries. Finally we arrived somewhere we planned to spend a few nights. 

Sarajevo

We stayed near the old city and bazaar which was a very cool area.

Where east meets west, literally. 

And also has a very somber history.

Where Franz Ferdinand was shot starting WWI

And signs of the Bosnian war. 

On our way out of town we stopped at the Tunnel Museum. A tunnel constructed in 1993 during the Siege of Sarajevo in the midst of the Bosnian War. It was built under a family’s home in order to link the city of Sarajevo, which was entirely cut off, with territory on the other side of the Sarajevo Airport, an area controlled by the United Nations. The tunnel allowed food, war supplies, and humanitarian aid to come into the city, and allowing people to get out.

Driving to Mostar. The scenery was a little like home.

Blagaj Tekke

Famous Dervish Monastery built directly beside the creek

Mostar

Most famous for it's old town, it a popular day trip from Croatia.

One of it's most famous sights is Stari Most (the Mostar bridge). Built in the 16th century, it was destroyed during the Bosnian war and later reconstructed and reopened in 2004.

A great spot to get a view of the bridge was the minaret close by. Zoe and I had a great spot to get a view of the people taking pictures of the bridge, including the one we got of Travis and Thomas.

The bridge was often crowded with tourists and the young men that would jump off the bridge if they were paid enough (at least 40 Euros)