Wed 7/20 -
We were up bright and early this morning heading into a new country and bidding Turkey a sad farewell. After many hours on Dora and yet another tediously long border crossing, we arrived into Bulgaria where the local currency is the Lev. Our group was so excited to check into our new accommodations in Bulgaria and finally have AC after three stifling nights in Istanbul!!! Upon arrival, we were instructed to drop our bags in our rooms and head back downstairs so that we could go on a quick walking tour around Sofia as it was 4:30pm and our tour guide was already waiting for us (plus, we had only a few hours before the main attractions were going to close). When we got to our rooms, we found them to be quite warm so we flicked on our AC units and headed downstairs. The walking tour was interesting and Sofia was quaint but Amanda and I were back to to the hotel by 9:30pm eagerly looking forward to a good, cold night's sleep! Look at some of the pictures of the city. There were beautiful churches and tons ofold architecture. Below you will see the Presidential palace and the guards out front and then a picture of me with the guards.
The town of Sofia, which is the capital of Bulgaria, was really quite lovely but I was so excited to get back to the hotel and get some sleep that I barely took the time to experience it. This ended up being an utter shame considering to our surprise and dismay our rooms were sweltering hot and the AC units did not work on our half of the building! Words cannot express how enraged I was. At this point I had barely slept in 4 days and was so tired of being hot that I was ready to cry (in my defense the probability of a good night of sleep in my near future was looking awfully grim). I realized after pouting for a while that Alan had warned us about the Eastern European accommodations and amenities so I decided that no amount of anger would dissolve the situation so I just played online and skyped with friends until I could barely keep my eyes open that it wouldn't matter how hot the room was. I guess you could say that I was looking forward to our next country!
Thursday 7/21-
Today we happily departed from our homes in Bulgaria and jumped on Dora to make our way to Serbia, specifically the city of Belgrade. Belgrade is stunning! It is full of war torn buildings everywhere and gave me the immediate first impression that I wouldn't like it but once we got further into the city, everything was beautiful. The streets were lined with shops and restaurants not to mention the amazing smell of Serbian food! Our first stop once inside the city was to find a restaurant. It was about 5:30pm and we hadn't eaten since 11am so Amanda, Leisha, and I were hangry (which you can probably figure out means angry because we were so hungry). We found the most amazing restaurant and our food was to die for (Serbs are well known for spending their afternoons/ early evenings in cafes and restaurants enjoying coffee and food/spirits). Here are some shots from the caffe.
After dinner we perused the shops and made our way to one of their old military forts that offered amazing views of the city in addition to equipment from their militia. This was actually my favorite part of Serbia. The view was incredible!
Serbia's nightlife is meant to be superb but we have been warned that tomorrow is going to be all windy roads so most of us have opted to stay in and avoid feeling terrible on the bus. As we have now arrived back to a deliciously cold room in our hostel, I was am happy to be in bed by 10:30pm and happily drifting off to sleep. :)
Friday 7/21 -
Today we made our way from Serbia (where the local currency is the Dinar) to Bosnia (where the local currency the Konvertible Mark). Our destination was Sarajevo, which is the capital of Bosnia. Sarajevo is a nice little town and we just so happened to arrive on the first night of a music festival so the town was really busy. Amanda and I walked around looking at the sited for a bit, including the exact location of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
We only had a few hours before our bus we were to meet our group for dinner so Amanda and I just walked through the city and meandered through the shops. There aren't many attractions or museums in Sarajevo but it is certainly not deprived of beauty and culture.
Our dinner in Sarajevo was the best, if not second best meal We have had since we have been on tour. It was fresh salad, soup, this stew-like meat/veggie entree, and the most amazing bread I have ever tasted. After dinner, we wandered the streets for a bit and again headed back early to get some sleep and prepare for another long and windy drive day.
Saturday 7/23 -
This morning we left beautiful Bosnia and set off to make our way to Croatia. Before crossing into Croatia, we made a few hour stop in Monsar which is a cute little town in Bosnia. At first I wondered to myself why we were stopping in a city I had never heard of but I soon realized that it was because it offered us a plethora of goodies. Monsar is another one of those small cities that I tend to favor seeing over the larger, more hectic cities. It is full of shops and restaurants but also scenery that reminded me of Switzerland. In fact, as a side note, the views we have seen since we left Turkey have been the best views thus far. Anyway, Monsar is known for this tiny bridge that is 26 meters (roughly 75 feet) high that local men dive off of (for tips of course) and tourists can pay to jump off of. One of our group members Cam did it! It was crazy, especially considering how cold the water was. Here is the bridge, Cam after jumping, and some views of the city.
We actually just crossed the border into Croatia where we will spend the next four nights, two of them in Dubrovnik and two in Plitvice where we will see the amazing Plitvice Lakes. I will catch up with you again soon with adventures from Croatia!
PS- Jeff and Beckles, I wasn't able to get a picture of my bag in Bosnia! :(
Love,
Lindsay
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Sofia, Bulgaria/ Belgrade, Serbia/ Sarajevo and Mostar, Bosnia
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