Day 13: Dubrovnik - pebble beach

I've mentioned that there were very few sand beaches in Dubrovnik.  Most beaches were rocks or pebbles. While they could be a little uncomfortable for walking, they were surprisingly comfortable to lie on. The rocks were smooth and then conformed to your body once you lay down. Bonus: You didn't get covered in sand or have to empty your suit after swimming.

Day 12: Dubrovnik - the rocks

One thing that was unusual about Dubrovnik is that it has very few sand beaches. The sea was fronted with cliffs, rocks/boulders or pebble beaches. While initially that doesn't sound very inviting, I really liked the everyone laid around on the various rocks lounging and sunning themselves. Reminded me a bit of the sea lions you might see on Animal Planet. And, the vibe was pretty similiar, everyone just hangin' out.

Day 12: Dubrovnik - the old city

For a price (around $20), you can take a walking tour along the top of the wall of the old city of Dubrovnik. As I've said, the old city is absolutely stunning and the views from atop the wall were gorgeous. I've given you a couple different vantage points but I still haven't done the city justice. The first picture is looking down into one of the main squares. The second is looking east toward the hills. The third is looking south along the seawall and cliffs.  The final photo is the view from the northeast tower, looking west to the sea.  Notice in the bottom right of the photo the corner of a basketball court.  One of several I saw on the tour.  Seemed a little out of place for a city that's on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites but, you know, the world loves basketball.  

Day 12: Dubrovnik - below Busa

On the rocks below the bar, there were spots to sunbathe and cliffdive. Of course, I had to partake in a little bit of both. It was me and a bunch of cool kids. How crazysexycool is this couple hanging out on the rocks? They couldn't have taken a better picture if I'd asked them to pose.

OHIO CONNECTION #1:  I was wearing my Homage Script Ohio shirt while climbing on the rocks when a guy yelled, "O-H!" and I promptly responded, "I-O!" So, I asked, "You're from Ohio?" "No, Wisconsin." A Badger giving a Buckeye a little love.  I guess they're not SO bad afterall.

Day 12: Dubrovnik - best seaside bar ever!

I have a couple places in the world that are my favorite spots for an adult beverage. The first is Ohio State tailgating. Whether Out-R-Inn, Riverwatch or in individual tailgate, there's no place better to be on a Saturday in the fall. The second is the patio of the student union at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  The massive expanse of concrete littered with tables and chairs has gorgeous views of Lake Mendoto and impecable people watching. At number three is Buza a bar that sits on the cliffs outside the old city walls of Dubrovnik. The picture says it all:  spectacular!

Day 11: Dubrovnik - the old city

In the evening, I took a walk down to the old city which was immaculate. As Justin said, it was so clean you could eat off the paving stones. The place was absolutely teeming with people and had a Spring-Break-for-adults sort of feel. There were outdoor cafes everywhere and they spilled into each other. So, you could sit in one and listen to live jazz and then move over a few tables and be in a dance party. Fantastico!

Day 11: Dubrovnik

Let's just get this out of the way:  Croatia is GORgeous!  Coming from Bosnia - Herzegovina, Croatia was all that much more a vision of sweetness and light.  And, the contrast was almost immediate.  Once across the border, it was as if someone had switched on a light on in previously shadowy room.  We knew right away that we were going to love this place. 

Day 11: Sarajevo to Dubrovnik - Mostar

Our trip from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik had two legs:  a train ride from Sarajevo to Mostar and a bus ride from Mostar to Dubrovnik. We had enough time in Mostar to grab lunch and a quick look around town. As is true in many cities, the Mostar bus station was in a seedy area of town leaving the impression that Dubrovnick may not be the most promising place for a walking tour.  However, my guide book claimed that one of the most beautiful bridges in all of Europe (no small claim) could be found in the city center.  Time was short but I knew I had to check it out.  Sure enough, the sketchy alleyways gave way to charming pedestrian streets and the bridge was really quite lovely.   BONUS:  There were guys jumping off the bridge for money.  In the bottom picture, the guy in the speedo perched on the edge of the bridge is moments away from plunging into the depths below. 

Day 10: Sarajevo - dinner

Later, when voting on "Best Moment" of the trip, dinner in Sarajevo came to mind for both Justin and me. The food, the setting, the views, the company - everything was fantastic! Our waiter was a big, disheveled, sweaty guy who seemed a little suspect but, when we asked what to order, he quickly and authoritative told us what we wanted to eat. Everything was delicious but the highlight was the appetizer which appeared to be something like deep-fried dinner rolls slathered in a sour-creamy type butter. Mmmmm....devine! I didn't get a great shot of the beautiful views but I did get a nice one of my trusty travel companions - the iconic brothers Nee.

Day 10: Sarajevo - the lookout

It was hot (probably low to mid 90s) and yet I was determined to make it to the lookout point described in my guide book. I left Pigeon Square heading up through a residential neighbor and the graveyard beyond. Huffing and puffing a bit, I climbed a last flight of stairs onto a grassy plateau. I was greeted by the most wonderful and welcome breeze along with fantastic views of Sarajevo. It was only me and a couple at the lookout.  As I got closer to them, the voyeur in me took over and I wondered if they were lovers or simply colleagues on a break for lunch. Of course, I'll never know, but the romantic in me decided they were the happiest of couples enjoying a magical afternoon together.

Day 10: Sarajevo - cemetery

Many of us are probably familiar with images of the Sarajevo sports stadium whose field became a graveyard during the war.  Because of the siege, it was nearly impossible to move anything in and out of the city including corpses.  Along with the stadium (which I didn't have the opportunity to visit), there were several plots of land right outside of the city center that also became graveyards out of necessity.

Day 10: Sarajevo - Pigeon Square

Pigeon Square was, as you might imagine, full of pigeons.  Which begs the question, which came first, the pigeons or the name?   Did they build and name the square hoping the pigeons would show up?   Were the pigeons already there and they built the square so the pigeons had somewhere to hang out?  Was it originally named Mosque Square but there were more pigeons than mosques so they changed the name?   In any case, it's a beautiful setting and a great place to sit back and enjoy....the pigeons!

Day 10: Sarajevo - the city center

Central Sarajevo was all hustle and bustle.  Crowds of tourists filled pedestrian streets lined with boutiques and outdoor cafes - quite charming!  And, right in the middle of it all was this guy selling animal pelts (Sheep maybe?).  It was awesome!  I snuck this picture while standing inside the courtyard of a mosque.  I'm not sure if I was allowed to be there but, ya know, I could always pull the "dumb tourist card" if needed.

Day 10: Sarajevo - Lunch

Lunch in Sarajevo ended being one of my favorite meals of the trip. The weather was hot. We wandered through the pedestrian streets of central Sarajevo before deciding on Club 'To Be." Originally named "To Be or Not to Be, the "Not to" was crossed out in tribute to the war years when not surviving was not an option.  Our guide book urged us to "Try the daring, tongue-tickling steak in chilli chocolate."  I did and it was fantastic!

Day 10 - Sarajevo

At the bottom of the hill from our hotel was a church.  On the corner up the block sat a mosque.  In the infamous words of Rodney King, "Can we all get along?"  In Sarajevo at the moment, it seems like the answer is yes.  However, I still kept wondering, "What turned neighbor against neighbor?  These different places of worship?"  It doesn't make sense. 

Day 10: Sarajevo - bullet holes

After leaving the war museum, we passed building after building riddled with bullet holes. The owner of the apartment building on the left has gotten around to repairing them while the ones on the building to the right have gone unfilled. The bottom photo provides a closer look.

Day 10: Sarajevo - the war museum

I think you'll be able to read the description of this exhibit at the Sarajevo war museum so I won't add much.   Needless to say, I found the exhibit quite powerful.   During the trip, we were in several areas of recent, brutal conflicts and I was struck by the evil in men's hearts.  What makes neighbor turn again neighbor?   How do you hate or even kill someone you previously lived peacefully next to?   It was a bit overwhelming.

Day 10: Sarajevo

Being the main stage for one of the wars I grew up watching yet never truly understanding, Sarajevo was as sobering as I imagined.   It was also beautiful, charming and even a little bit magical.  But, we'll start with the sobering part.  One of the first things we did was visit the war museum.  One exhibit explained that the kitchen became the family hub since most kitchens are located in the center of the apartment away from windows.  Families visited with neighbors, children did homework and laundry  was dried in the kitchen amongst other activities in order to avoid sniper fire.  Another exhibit explained that classes were moved to stairwells for the same reason.   Horrifying!

Day 9: The train from Budapest to Sarajevo

Not the most picturesque picture but it's very representative of our day.  We knew that it would be a long one - about a 14-hour train ride from Budapest to Sarajevo.   What we didn't know was the dining car would de-coupled a quarter of the way through the trip leaving us with no access to food.  We didn't anticipate that the A/C on the train would be essentially ineffective in the 90+ degree termperatures.  And, of course, we couldn't have known that the train would be completely off schedule turning a 14-hour ride into 16 long hours.  So, in the picture, we have a group of hot, tired, grumpy people stranded at a train station seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  It was easily the least enjoyable day of our trip.  However, I did meet a very nice French-Canadian woman who is the on-air tennis correspondant for the Quebec version of ESPN.  We ended up running into her and her boyfriend a couple other times on the trip.

Day 8: Budapest - the Terror Museum

Of the Terror Museum Wikipedia says, "it contains exhibits related to the fascist and communist dictatorial regimes in 20th century Hungary and is also a memorial to the victims of these regimes, including those detained, interrogated, tortured or killed in the building."  I found the museum to be as affecting and powerful as the Holocaust museums in D.C. and Jerusalem.  A must if you're ever in Budapest.

 

Day 8: Budapest - the creme cake

Our Hungarian host Gabor clearly took pride in his hometown providing us with great advice on things to see and do.  The first night he directed us to a restaurant that was fantastic and also told us we had to go to the island because "everyone was going to be there."  The island was in the middle of the Danube River and, yes, it seemed like the entire city was there filling the pubs and beer gardens that lined the river banks - a very cool and lively scene.  If that weren't enough, we were completely convinced that Gabor knew what he was talking about when we tried the highly recommended creme cake.  He was very specific saying other restaurants offered it but we had to go to place in the old city near the main cathedral.  Gabor couldn't have been more spot on.  The creme cake was phenomenal!  It had a consistency between a cheese cake and a custard or pudding with a thin crust on the top and bottom.   It was divine!  We all agreed that a dessert empire could be built on this delectable delight.  Bonus:  Down the street from the creme cake cafe, the main cathedral was gorgeous - a feast for the eyes.

Day 8: Budapest - Buda side of the Danube

Day 8 was a hot and sunny Sunday and we were having difficulty finding a place for lunch.  Our first choice from the guide book ended up being closed.  Hungry and hot, we wandered around a bit.  With our crankiness meters on the rise, we finally picked a place on the Buda side of the Danube.  The view was nice, the food was fine but I think we were all like, "Eh."  After lunch, we climbed the hill to the old city which had stunning views of the river including this one.   Justin immedicately turns to me and says, "Why didn't we eat here?"   Yes, why didn't we....?  UGH!

Day 7: Buda & Pest

Budapest is bisected north to south by the Danube River.  On the east bank is Buda and on the west bank Pest, thus, Budapest.  Who knew?  I certainly didn't.  Another thing I hadn't known about was the fantastic website Airbnb.com which lists vacation rental properties.  Dena and Brian had told us about it while we were in Prague.  The first time we used it was in Budapest and got a tres chic rooftop apartment for around $50 a night.  Bonus: our host Gabor was a terrific tour guide.  Check it out.

Day 7: Arrival in Budapest

With our arrival in Budapest, we left the cleaner, tidier and, to my taste, less intriguing Central/Western Europe behind.   It was a we're-not-in-Kansas-anymore moment and I was loving it.  A lot of my recent travels have been to places a little more off the beaten path.  On first impression, Budapest was giving more of that vibe.  The train station was huge, grand and more than a bit shabby.  It had the feel of a Communist relic.  Although I was a bit concerned about my fellow travelers' reaction to our new environs, I was thinking, "OK.  Now, we're getting somewhere!"

Day 6: Vienna - the hammock house

In front of the modern art museum complex in Vienna sat the hammock house.  You walked in, were issued a ticket and grabbed a hammock. It was pefect!  I think I could have lain there forever.  Where in the world can I get one of these things?  Oh wait!  I know the answer.  That'd be.......Vienna.

Day 6: Vienna - unnamed cathedral

Three things I love about this spot in Vienna.  First, the cathedral is gorgeous.  Second, as is the case in many of the places they were doing repairs, there was a scrim hanging on the front of the building.   Usually, the scrim would be a picture or representation of the untouched facade.  In this case, it included a cellphone ad.  Nice!  Despite what we sometimes think, this reminded me that we in the U.S. do NOT have a corner on commercialism.  Thirdly, there were lawn chairs scattered throughout the park in front of the cathedral.  You could just grab one and take in some rays.  Fantastic!

Day 5: Vienna - the Stephansdom

The Stephansdom is the main cathedral in central Vienna and, as you can see, it's spectacular.  I especially love the ornately patterned tile roof.  In front of the cathedral were a group of men dressed in period costume who were pushing opera tickets on passing tourists.  The group in the picture below seemed to be arguing.  Maybe one was encroaching on the other's territory or perhaps they were just discussing a soccer match from the night before.  In any case, they and their costumes were like the Stephansdom:  spectacular!


Day 5: Vienna - City Bike Tour

According to Dictionary.com, baroque means "extravagantly ornate, florid, and convoluted in character or style."  Uh...yeah.  Looks like someone threw up pink in this place.  However, despite my personal criticism, our guide interestingly pointed out that during this era, the church drew people in by showing them something they did not have in their every day lives:  color and ornamention.  If that's the case, way to go chuch!  Mission WAY accomplished!  

Day 5: Vienna - City Bike Tour

Vienna is a city of one-upmanship.   Every ruler seemed compelled to build a bigger and better monument to himself than the last.   As a result, around every corner is another fantastic, ornnate monumental structure. I feel this photo really captures the feeling of yet another huge, beautiful building lurking on the horizon.   I'm pretty sure it's a municipal building.  City hall perhaps?

Day 5: City Bike Tour

During the bicycle tour, we stopped in front of the statue of Empress Elisabeth von Osterreich who was quite the modern woman.  Very independent, she spent most of her time outside of Austria visiting various European locales cavorting with foreign dignitaries and the like.  She was renowned for her beauty and her obsession with staying fit.  She was known to jog in place in order to stay thin and it's speculated that she was anorexic.  "Huh?," I thought to myself, "Sounds like she was just in good shape."   A few steps away stood a male nude without an ounce of fat on 'im.   No mention of which eating disorder he suffered from.