There is something freeing about waking up and not knowing what life will throw at you for the day. Dave, Krissy, Linda and I knew we needed a change from city slicking. We love learning about the culture, hearing the history and seeing the architecture but a man can only take so much of it at any given time. We wanted to hit a small town as we head south towards, well, somewhere south. So we pick a lake resort town called Síofok, a lake almost 50 miles long in the middle of Hungary. The Hertz Rent A Car rep pointed on the map to a highway that takes us south so we packed up the car and headed down the M7. As we pull into town we start looking for a place to stay and stumble across ads for a music festival that is just 10 minutes away.
party time!
Steve Aoki, a top 5 DJ in the world is headlining so the day is really starting to come together. We walk down the main drag, past the gyro, corn, gelato and fresh chip stands to find a row of bars about a mile long. It is now clear we have stumbled on a resort town that people from all over Europe visit. We aren’t talking about luxury, just simple good old fashion fun. Think Ocean City Maryland or another borderline dirty and cheesy party town with everything a bit rundown. Dave and I talked last night about not “buying” our way out of scenarios like this. We could throw some money at this and find a luxury hotel but it just didn’t match the scene and if you want to live “it” let “it” happen. So we book a night at the local hotel but first we ask to see the room, you know where I am coming from now.
A quick workout and it’s time to hit the town. A stroll down the main walking street which is lined with 1980’s arcades and bars starts the night out. A slice of pizza and gyro along with a few beers for about $10 dollars total has us all laughing, not to mention the hotel was very inexpensive as well. We jump in a taxi and head towards the concert. On the way our driver tells us how much he loves all US western movies. He spent the 20-minute ride telling us about all his favorite actors; John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and so on…funny to hear it all in broken English. The music festival was crazy for many reasons; how about zip lining over the crowd of people or bungee jumping from a crane. Don’t think any of that would pass in our land of “safety first”. If safety wasn’t their top priority, making money on food and drinks was. The only way to buy something was to charge up a credit card they give you. So basically you buy a gift card for yourself for the night and of course there is wasted money left on everyone’s card, so I’m sure they made plenty of profits. The music was great as well; even when the bands played in the native language it was entertaining. We stayed until Steve Aoki came on, it was his typical show of house music, funky videos, crowd surfing and cake throwing. We leave at 2:30AM just as the next band is getting to the stage.
Another workout to clear the cobwebs and we hop in the car, to where? No one knows yet. Our options are Zagreb, Croatia or Sarajevo, Bosia & Herzegovina ~ google maps and apple maps have different routes so the back seat driving begins. The 8-hour trip to Sarajevo is mainly uneventful until we reached the Bosnia & Herzegovina border. Traveling through the one lane road you immediately sense that a recent war destroyed much of the country. About 1/3 of all homes we see have bullet holes in the walks or are bombed out. Feeling a little scared or maybe insecure we continue on and see many roadside cemeteries further projecting the war. Bad signs and even worse roads make it a slow trip with a few detours. The country just looks like it’s in bad shape, then we hit Sarajevo and it’s seems to be filled with 70’s style buildings that are rundown with the same bullet holes in the facades that we saw throughout our trip. Tripadvisor points us to a higher end hotel so we book a room and hit the sack.
Old town
We schedule a walking tour of the old town and change our perception immediately. We find ourselves once again in a quaint, culture rich, architecturally significant walking town. The tour starts at the spot of the assignation of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria which kicked off WWI. Bosnia was in the very south-east corner of the Austrian empire and some people there wanted to be independent from Austria and set up their own state which could run itself. To stand on the same stone while looking at pictures of what the corner looked like in that era brings the history to life.
“the corner”
Equally as surreal is that WWI and essentially WWII (since the alliances were formed and hatred began in WWI) started on a corner in the middle of this small town, a scary example of how a small uprising can turn into something big so quickly. Too many present scenarios have the same roots, I guess America better step up it’s patrolling of the worlds streets before all these small conflicts get out of hand.
The town is bustling with all types of food but hasn’t lost it’s Ottoman heritage. We stop at a local recommended restaurant and eat Cevapi. It is delicious, even if when we don’t really know what we are eating. We end up staying a second night at the Muslim owned hotel so no alcohol was served; the pool has hours for woman and kids only; and I am fairly certain we are the only westerners in the place. I can’t get my head around the husband smoking and watching videos on his iPhone in sweat pants while his three wives wearing burkas and kids sit at the other end of the table eating dinner while no mingling with the father at all. Can we just say, “to each their own?” Is that approach to something that just doesn’t seem right considered tolerance?
We head out to catch the sunset and have a fantastic meal served by a well-spoken local Serbian who was also a refugee during the war in 1990. Between reading, speaking with our guide and our waiter, you would figure we could understand the recent war. No chance! It was basically a war for power under the disguise of religion so it became brutal to the civilian population. Raping was the chosen form of intimidation; sound familiar with what is happening today in the Middle East? It is believed that 20,000 to 50,000 woman were raped, many under the noses of the UN peace keeping force. That is how brazen the militias were; they knew the UN would not use force to stop them. It’s worth reading up on the start of WWI and the siege of Sarajevo. The wounds still run very deep in this region based on the conversation we had with locals.
Time to jump back in the car and continue south, two hours later we stop in Mostar. Mostar is a neat little town, which is great for lunch and back on the road. There is a famous bridge that tourists jump off, but not just any tourists. It is about 70 feet high so it wasn’t even a consideration, especially after watching a few other people jump and waiting 10 seconds for them to hit the water. The bridge is called Stari Most, which means Old Bridge. It is a reconstruction of a 16th-century Ottoman bridge that crosses the river Neretva and connects two parts of the city. The Old Bridge stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed in 1993 by Croatian forces during the Croat–Bosniak War. Subsequently, the bridge was rebuilt and opened in 2004.
It is 8:00pm and we arrive in Kotor, Montenegro on the coast. The drive was spectacular, for an hour the drive winds through the ocean cliffs and we catch the sunset. Kotor is a medieval walled city. As we walk through the old gothic entrances to get to the old town, we jump on TripAdvisor and find one of the last hotels available so we are set for another couple nights. The entire medieval village is still standing with all original structures from the 1500’s. It is a walking village so all the passages and alleyways are thin and look the same so getting lost was the norm. We wake up the next morning and chat with a few girls from the UK who help us set the agenda for the day.
A view from the top
A hike up to the top of the city for an amazing view and back down takes us an hour and change. It was worth it and gave us a sense of accomplishment, so why not go find a beach to chill at for the day. We head south and spend the day at Sveti Stefan, a small beach town that is one of many all along the coastline. Imagine a two lane-winding road overlooking the ocean and every 5 miles another town pops up so it is just a matter of taking a right into each beach town.
The water is crystal clear, as in as clear as a pool. On the way back to Kotor we stop at Budhva beach, much more built up and it appears to be the party town in the region. Once again think Ocean City, MD or Nice, France. A few drinks and an appetizer at one of 50 beach front bars and we are on our way back to shower up before dinner.
One last adventure before leaving for Croatia, I mean you can’t leave Kotor without canyoning. We didn’t even know what is was, but everyone said to do it so we booked a tour and next thing you know we meet our guides, grab a helmet & harness and start hiking to the top of a ridge. The hour up was easy until we went off the path to make our way to the mouth of the dried up gorge. At this point Krissy and Linda are all scratched up and it is just the beginning.
Still smiling
We slide, hop, stumble and whatever else is needed to make our way to a group of huge boulders in order to get to the first repelling spot. With harnesses on and tightened we are all apprehensive so Dave, sporting his Keens with socks, goes first. A quick 30 second lesson and Dave is hooked in and puts his life in the hands of a single rope and a harness wrapped around his waist.
One by one we repel down about 50 feet then hike through some more boulders to get to the next repel spot. We do this 6 more times and finally make it to the bottom. Taking that leap of faith…hoping that the rope will hold you once you shift your weight off the rock is scary as hell. After few more bumps, scratches and bruises we all are grinning ear to ear; another adventure under our belts.
Next stop is Dubrovnik, Croatia where we will hook up with 6 other friends to board a gulet for the week.
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