The word is a very exciting place

This is the sad post about Sarajevo. As most of you probably know, yugoslavia broke up, and a huge war and ethnic cleansing campaign began. The city of Sarajevo was mercilessly shelled, and much of it was razed to the ground. There are many memorials to those who lost thier lives, most poignant and noticeable of all, is the Sarajevo Roses. These are just pictures of a few, there are dozens around the city, although many have been lost in recent years when the pavements and roads are Repaved. When a mortar or shell fired into the city killed someone, the ensuing holes left in the pavement were filled with a red resin, to signify someone had died there. It's a rather touching and personal tribute, and one which was most memorable for me. This is perhaps the most distressing of memorials. I took this in the war child museum. It's a collection where children who lived and survived the war in Bosnia donated thier toys and objects, along with a message about wha...

From Banja Luka (on a never ending bus journey) I went to Sarajevo. I've decided to dedicate a whole post to the bobsleigh track from the 1984 winter Olympics. It was absolutly incredible. When I did a bit of research on it the Internet said some restoration work had been done on it, and it was occasionally used for training, but I didn't really see any evidence of it. It was phenomenal. I walked the entire length of it and back again, and only left becuase it was getting dark. It's covered in graffiti, which stands out against the concrete and metal. It really is an awesome place to visit! It's quite spooky, as I was the only one there til the very end, when two other tourists turned up for a bit. It's stunning though, it really takes your breath away when you first see it. Really is worth a look! 

What to say about Banja Luka. It's the capital of Republic Srpska (One if the entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina), it's a small city, it's got a huge bustling city and a nice museum/gallery, but apart from that, it's not a must see destination. Here's a few pics from the city: And that was about it! 

The final part of my trip to Zagreb! This post is about all of the quirky little bits and bobs round the city.  Čevapi! Goodness I think my favourate meal so far!  This is part of the glass exhibit in the mimara museum. Some of this glass was nearly 3000 years old!  Sunset over Zagreb, from the observation deck on the tower near Ban Josip square.  Ban Josip square in the daytime. It's a very well connected place, most trams stop here. Of course, no city is complete without an ethnographic museum, and a shrunken head! A good place to stay in Zagreb is the Whole wide world hostel. It's close to the centre of town, has a good kitchen, and even a bar! It's a great place to hang out with people and to exchange travel tips and stories! If you like shocks, then you are in for a treat. Make sure you pay a visit to the bell tower. You can catch the funicular to the top of the hill. But be warned. At 1pm, a cannon is fired from the tower. And jesus, is i...

Zagreb is surrounded by forests. I'm not a huge hiking fan, but sometimes the need does make itself felt. (especially when my trousers start getting tight) The hills around Zagreb are beautiful, and there is quite a few trials to pick from. Me, deciding that I was the world's greatest hiker, decided to go for a logging trail. By the time I got to the top, people were mistaking me for aqua man then was so much sweat But on your way through the hills, there is a castle you can visit. I swear I'm not just trekking round Europe finding castles! Zagreb castle wasn't anything special, but it was nice for a hour to have a look around in Now I'm not entirely sure what the bottom image is. I couldn't decide between memorial or an art installation. There's no information to day either way. I'll let you all decide! 

Part 2 of my time in Zagreb. This post is about the botanical garden, and Zagreb largest and least known art installation. The botanical Garden is like a little oasis  inside the city. The roar of traffic and the shouts of people are drowned out, and it's a lovely park just to wonder around in. It has some funny opening hours, some days it closes at 2 so best to go in the morning or to check on the Internet. Google maps is quite handy, if you download the map, it shows opening times for different attractions. Its also free to enter, so you would be silly not to visit for an hour. There's loads of frogs on the lilypads an there's hundreds of little tortoises in the main pond, who like to sit sunning themselves all day! Now, for Zagrebs largest and most unknown art installation. It features the grounded sun, a huge two meter ball, coated in graffiti. On its own, it's not much  but it marks to the centre of the solar system. There are also little markers dott...

Hello! I went back to Croatia. The calling of Zagreb was too strong! What a city! It hasn't got that refined, perfect feeling that Ljubljana has, Zagreb is more nitty gritty, but it's bigger and more sprawling, so it's expected. This post is about two things I found in Zagreb which impressed me very much, and we're rather unusual. The first, the mushroom museum. There was mushrooms                          More mushrooms!  I don't even eat mushrooms they are gross! But surpringly, it was a very interesting and informative museum. Once I got past the confusing entrance (though two sets of of doors, up two floors with no signs or posters) and the musty smell in there, I thoroughly enjoyed it. (although to be on the safe side, don't take me mushroom picking, I still struggle to tell the difference between poisonous and edible!) The other interesting thing in Zagreb is the model railway. According to th...

Of course, I headed back to Ljubljana. First of all to visit the Skojkan caves, and second of all to visit the Ethnographic museum, which had been closed while I was first there. The caves were amazing, I caught the rail replacement bus to Divaca, and from there caught the shuttle to the cave site. Theres no pictures allowed in the caves which is a shame, but I can honestly say with all my heart that was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Amazing rock formations, amazing cliff edges and drops, and most incredible of all, ropes and clips left by cavers nearly a hundred years ago, still attached to the walls where they used them. The other reason for coming back was for the ethnographic museum. I'm not sure why, but both times I tried to visit before hand it was closed, but luckily it was open before I headed for Maribor. It was amazing! Perhaps my favourate exhibit was the shrunken head. I don't know about anyone else, but I find them fascinating. I really w...