Skip to main content

BLOG

Luxurious Bulgaria (the land of spas and mineral waters)

Written by Marie Lamping

In Bulgaria we spent our time in 3 main cities…

The first was Pancharevo just outside of the capital city, Sofia.

Pancharevo is famous for its beautiful artifical lake and mineral water hot springs. But because it was cold, and we already planned to have a spa day in the next town, we decided to get some city time in Sofia. We even went Salsa dancing one evening 😉

The next stop was Sapareva Banya town to explore the Seven Rila Lakes. When we drove into the town the weather got noticeably colder. It was 5 degrees when we checked into our room and at night it drop below 0 degrees so we shouldn’t have been surprised that there was snow when we rode up the mountain to check out the Seven Rila Lakes.

There was ice and snow on the road leading to the lift. This was our very first “true winter” riding experience. Our Michelin Anakee III tire seemed to do ok, but we were very careful and Stefan made sure to use the brakes as little as possible.

When we got to the lifts, we were told they weren’t in service yet (ski season hadn’t officially started) but it would take around 3-4 hours to hike up to the first lake! We weren’t sure what we were going to do but an enterprising 4 wheel truck driver offered to take us up to the cabin for the same price as the lift–about 5 euros per person 1 way.

We had no idea what we were getting into! It the most scary, yet exciting ride of my life! I was hanging on for dear life and getting thrown off my seat into the truck ceiling every time the truck maneuvered over massive rocks or blocks of ice and snow. I really had no idea those heavy duty 4-wheel jeeps could even drive through that sort of terrain!!

Here a couple of videos to get an idea how it was. And what was even more crazy… there was a couple who brought their 2 year old and their 5 year old kids with them. There were no seat belts, child seat or anything they were just clinging on to them and trying to make sure their heads weren’t smashed on the windows or jeep ceiling. I still don’t know how they manged to keep their seats and keep their children from being injured…

***You can’t see the extreme condition of the road in our video, but believe me there were large rocks, cliffs, ice and massive ditches!!

 

So happy to have survived the extreme 4-wheel jeep ride!!

I decided to stay in the rest cabin as my feet were already too cold after only 20mins of hiking through the snow. Stefan pushed on and took a 4 hour hike to see some of the Rila lakes. Watch our video at the bottom of this post to see the Seven Rila Lakes during the winter!

Our last stop in Bulgaria was  Nesebar (also spelt Nessebar)

Nesebar is a must-visit-destination if you are in Bulgaria. It’s an old town built on a peninsula and it has such an amazing ambiance. It feels like a coastal fishing village and an alpine village all at the same time.

“Caught in a fishing net” @Nessebar, Bulgaria

There was no snow (but it does get cold, it was around 10 degrees during the day and 2-4 degrees during the night) but what gave it an alpine feeling to me, was that the old town is built on rocky hills… so the narrow, winding cobbled roads with wooden houses, wood piles, chimneys and ancient churches made it “feel different” than most coastal towns I’ve visited. I really can’t explain it, so you’d have to visit the place to see for yourself.

How many ancient arches can you see? @Nessebar, Bulgaria

One of the many old medieval churches in Nessebar Old Town

Nessebar fortress wall ruinsIt’s also a World Heritage Site so you’ll get to see some exceptionally well preserved ancient and medieval ruins.

That’s our Bulgarian experience in a nutshell.

Watch our video to get a better look 🙂

Stuff We Did--our stories, Travel

Beautiful Budapest

Written by Marie Lamping

I’ve had it…

I can’t seem to catch up… so I’m just going to make a quick post about the latest country we passed through and then backtrack from there…

We are currently in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, but a couple of days ago we were chilling in Beautiful & Magnificent Budapest, Hungry.

This beautiful capital city of Hungry totally blew our minds and exceeded our expectations.

Perhaps near Christmas is the perfect time to visit Budapest as the whole city seems lit up by the most beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. If so, we count ourselves lucky.

The beginning of winter also seems to be the perfect time to visit the iconic spas, such as the  Szechenyi Thermal Spa and walk around the many Christmas markets.

Fortunately winter seems to be moderate in Budapest hovering around 5 centigrade and -9 centigrade at it’s coldest.

This will be a quick overview of what we did in Budapest and then later (with another post) I will try to fill in the details. I am just so tired of being so behind with my blogs about the places we visited and traveled through that I’m going to just go ahead and post something and then revisit each city/country later.

I don’t think I am a fabulous writer, but I find that writing does help me relive each experience in a new way. I suppose this might be why “blogging” is so popular. It adds a new dimension to travel and they way we “experience” our lives…

So back to Budapest…

One important place to start is to find the perfect accommodation for your style of travel and/or holiday to each and every city/locale you are planning to visit.

The second is to plan your trip so that you can visit/experience the top 3-5 things you want to do while you are there. If you are going to at a place longer than 3-4 days then of course you can make a longer list.

In our case we found our perfect “home away from home” in the Fraser Residence, Budapest.

Stefan & I have made travel our NEW way of life, so our requirements might be a bit different from others, but we’ll share with you our requirements for when/where. And yes, WHEN and WHERE are major factors.

Another major factor is BUDGET…

But for us budget is flexible. Because when we feel we are getting a good value (more perks/facilities) we are more than happy to up our budget…does that make sense?

When we first started our trip in summer of this year (June 2017) we wanted to camp as much as possible for two main reasons.

  1. We wanted to experience “nature” as much as possible.
  2. We thought it would be the cheaper option.

Our first reasoning was valid…but found out to our surprise…that camping during the peak of summer doesn’t mean cheaper.

We found out that a basic BnB was actually cheaper than staying at some of the popular and perfectly located campsites.

Yes, pitching our tent, blowing up our air mattresses, unfolding our chairs, unpacking our sleeping bags and cooking on our cute portable BBQ in a popular campsite (with good facilities) was MORE expensive than a basic Bed and Breakfast or an average 2-3 star hotel room.

So when the summer turned to autumn, and then winter, we were ready to stay indoors.

[Note: When?– Winter Season | Where?– Bustling Capital City of Budapest, Hungry]

This is our “City Wishlist” for a perfect location in a major city.

  1. Within 10-15km drive of the sights we are hoping to see.
  2. Good reviews!
  3. Kitchen (we are personal fitness trainers so we try to eat/cook healthy as much as much as possible)
  4. Washing machine (traveling on a motorbike and being fairly active means we need to wash our clothes often and making a trip to a laundromat is something we want to avoid as much as possible)
  5. Near a grocery store/mall
  6. Good internet
  7. Clean facilities (bedding, bathroom etc)

Fraser Residence Budapest ticked off everything on our list. We’ve stayed at much simpler places before, but when staying 3-4 days in a metropolitan city just “a good view” doesn’t cut it.

What are your “must haves” when booking a hotel or a place to stay?

Please remember that we aren’t “on vacation” and that some of our requirements might not be necessary for you as you might NOT want to cook for yourself or take care of laundry.

But if our “City Location Wishlist” seems similar to yours, check out the video we made and you can see for yourself if Fraser Residence in Budapest is what you are looking for.

Our Review for Stay in Fraser Residence, Budapest:

Comfortable and Warm Fully Serviced (24/7) Apartment in downtown Budapest

Our 1 bedroom apartment had:

Fully equipped kitchen & dining utensils

Washing machine/dryer

Spacious living room

Ample cupboard and drawer space

Work desk

Reliable internet

2 balconies

Separate bathtub and shower area

High quality toiletries (L’Occcitane) and the list could go on…

The staff and management are very helpful and attentive and we were welcomed with a delicious fruit platter and cold drinks in the fridge. Small extras like these made our stay memorable.

The top 2 things we wanted to see/do in Budapest was visit their world famous Thermal Spas and have a Beer Spa.

Here are a couple pictures of us in the Szechenyi Thermal Pools

and the Thermal Beer Spa…

 

We also when sight seeing and checked all their historical monuments, castles, and palaces. But I think our spa experience was something different and a first time for us.

Stuff We Did--our stories, Travel

Visiting Alexander the Great’s Homeland…

Written by Marie Lamping

Flashback to October 2017…

Entering Macedonia from Albania

Which empire/country do you think of when someone mentions Alexander the Great?

Greece…WRONG!!!

Macedonia…RIGHT!!!

Ok, actually both are correct as Alexander the Great became king of the Grecian empire. But, he was actually born in the country we know as Macedonia today.

Statue of King Phillip II of Macedon the father of Alexander The Great 

And Macedonians are Macedonians…not Greeks…though their history seems rather entangled in most of our minds.

Check out our video below to get a quick overview of our journey into Macedonia…

Crossing the border from Albania into Macedonia was interesting because we ended up staying at a campsite owned by a proud ethnic Albanian family. Yes, we were in Macedonia, and their nationality was technically Macedonian, but they still referred to themselves as Albanians. And immigrating was not the case here…they actually believed that Macedonia should be part of Greater Albania..which at one time or another…it was…and I guess that’s how they ended up where they were.
But Macedonia was also part of Greater Greece..so this gets rather confusing…

But it really doesn’t matter, whether they considered themselves Greek, Albanian, Slavic, Croat or whatever… they were all wonderful folks EXCEPT WHEN WE MET ON THE ROAD…

This was another story all together! Driving in “the Balkans” is EXCITING…

And definitely dangerous in the sense that it’s nigh impossible to predict what they are going to do as they don’t use their signal lights and reversing on a main road to “catch” their missed turn is perfectly acceptable.

They are also usually driving one handed as they are almost always on the phone. Holding a phone while driving is illegal in most of Europe so it was rather fascinating and a bit scary to see everyone from taxis to massive trucks managing their hectic roads one-handed while on the phone.

…This also made us wonder, what sort of phone plan they all had. They seemed to be able to have unlimited phone conversations for unlimited lengths of time…

But despite the dangerous roads, we explored and thoroughly enjoyed Macedonia starting from the south (Lake Ohrid) to the north (Saint Joachim Osogovski Monastary) without a single mishap or accident. 😀

Bird drying it’s feathers @Lake Ohrid, Macedonia

***If you want to know more about Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, read this vivid and interesting post from The Guardian. I found this article when researching about Lake Ohrid and the surrounding town’s history. It is so well written that I decided to just post a link to it here instead of trying to write about it myself.                      https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/jan/30/macedonia-kapka-kassabova-lake-ohrid

Macedonia was also the last country we camped in–as winter was fast approaching. Our last few camping nights were spent around our campfire for warmth and we had to borrow thick blankets from the kind owners of our campsite (Camping Rino on the shores of Lake Ohrid)

From a comfortable 15-20 degrees during the day it would drop to 3-1 degrees during the night. And because our sleeping bags are rated for 15 degrees anything under that temperature is uncomfortable–this was the main factor to deciding to end our camping for the year.

Free Coffee and Raki (local moonshine) given to help with the cold weather @campingrino

Watch our video about our stay at Camping Rino below…

After a few days near Lake Ohrid and visiting the nearby towns of  Struga and Vevchani we decided to check out the capital, Skopje.

Holy Mary Perybleptos in Struga, Macedonia

Inside the Church of the Holy Mary Perybleptos

Inside the Church of the Holy Mary Perybleptos

Inside the Church of the Holy Mary Perybleptos

Unknown tomb in front of the Holy Mary Perybleptos

Hiking in the Vevcheni countryside

Most of the capital city is new but some of the old sites have been maintained and left unchanged. Our favorites were the Old Bazaar, the Kale Fortress, the Church of Panteleimon and the Skopje Aqueduct. ***Sorry we don’t have many picture of some these sites please watch OUR VIDEO to get a better look…

Beautiful but Abandoned… @the Skopje Aqueduct

Beautiful but Abandoned… @the Skopje Aqueduct

Beautiful but Abandoned… @the Skopje Aqueduct

The main highlight for me (Marie) was our paragliding experience off Mt. Vodno. It was very easy to organize (booked and scheduled over Whatsapp!) and I think probably THE cheapest place to go paragliding in Europe. It cost us 65euros each, but got it discounted to 120euros for the both of us since it was a week day and not too busy.

We flew with http://www.2glide.com/ and appreciated that they offered to take GoPro footage/pictures of the experience and promised to send them to us within 24 hours. The other para-glide companies didn’t offer this service for free, so we chose them specifically for this reason as we had lost our GoPro a few weeks back.

Watch how the para-glide harness is put on… 😀 😀 😀

We also got to stay at 2 beautiful hotels in Skopje. If you want to take a look and see whether they would be good for your trip to Skopje watch our videos and decide for yourself…

Our last stop was at Saint Joachim Osogovski Monastery. Even though we have seen many churches and cathedrals during our Euro trip it was still breathtaking seeing this small ancient Orthodox church in the middle of a quaint mountain town.

The only sound we heard was the wind and the prayers being read/chanted over the speakers. The energy we felt, while sitting on one of the many outdoor benches surrounding the church, made this religious site special and somehow more alive than some of the other larger places of worship we have visited.

Saint Joachim Osogovski Monastry, Macedonia

If there’s one lasting impression that we were left with when leaving Macedonia it would have to be it’s rich & overflowing religious heritage. From paragliding off Mt. Vodno with the 66 meter Millennium cross in the background (watch our video to see the Millennium Cross during the sunset) to entering numerous ancient holy places (Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim alike) filled with devotion and reverence so sincere you can almost feel it…

Once you have visited Macedonia you will understand why it sometimes called the Jerusalem of the Balkans.

Stuff We Did--our stories, Travel

Ancient land of Albania

Written by Marie Lamping

Albania was a country that I knew next to nothing about (before visiting) and I am forever grateful that I was able to visit it.

It is an ancient land and people and they have somehow been forgotten or annexed by popular history.

Original Albanians can trace their lineage to the proud Illyrians, who were cultured and organized even before their more well-known neighbors, the ancient Greeks, came into the picture.

I learned from every Albanian I was able to meet and talk to that they consider themselves a unique and different ethnic community. They declare that they are their own ethnic “people” as they did their best NEVER to mix with those outside and there is proof that they are “older” than the Greeks, the Romans, the Slavs and all those surrounding them.

They were so determined to stay purely Albanian that they have a legend about how 2000 Albanian women committed suicide after being raped by Romans. I have not found any historical reference of this, but their purity and their unique ancient ethnicity is something they all are very proud of.

Being in the Balkans and hearing the conflicting stories of the Croats, the Serbs (the Slavs) and the Albanians is confusing. Human nature wants to take sides and “decide” who is in the right, but I realized first hand that opinions can easily change depending on the perspective that is being shared.

If you want to enjoy your time in the Balkans, keep an open mind and respect all perspectives. If you can, stay away from any political discussion, but I have to admit hearing them share their view of “history” is fascinating.

Our favorite places in Albania were:

  • Shkoder (mountains and lakes)
  • Ksamil (stunning beaches)

Watch our videos to get a better idea of what Albania looks like:

(Please note that some of our videos are especially made for the places we stayed at. These hotels or campsites gave us accommodation free of charge or at a discount.)

Here’s a compilation of our Adventures in Albania:

What you can see while in Shkoder…

What you can see while in Tirana…

What you can see while in Ksamil…

 

Stuff We Did--our stories, Travel

A few countries left in Europe…

Written by Marie Lamping

So our Journey App has been updated (still need to update it with more pictures) but you can see where we have been so far.

We’ve got only 4 more countries (in Europe) left till we start heading home (Den Haag) for Christmas…

These are the countries we were able to ride through:

  1. Netherlands
  2. Belgium
  3. Denmark
  4. Norway
  5. Sweden
  6. Finland
  7. Estonia
  8. Latvia
  9. Lithuania
  10. Poland
  11. Slovakia
  12. Czechia
  13. Belgium
  14. France
  15. Germany
  16. Switzerland
  17. Portugal
  18. Spain
  19. Andorra
  20. Monaco
  21. Italy
  22. Vatican
  23. Croatia
  24. Bosnia & Herzgovina
  25. Serbia
  26. Montenegro
  27. Albania
  28. Macedonia
  29. Bulgaria
  30. Romania

Countries left to visit: 

  1. Hungry
  2. Slovenia
  3. Liechtenstein
  4. Luxembourg

Countries that we won’t be able to visit/drive through this trip:

***See our “excuses” in parenthesis below 😛

  1. UK (an island)
  2. Ireland (connected to the island above)
  3. Greenland (massive freezing island)
  4. Iceland (little freezing island)
  5. Russia (massive country that might take us a few months to ride through)
  6. Belarus (small country that I, Marie, have a hard time getting a visa for)
  7. Moldova (same as above)

But we’re happy with ALL we have visited so far and count ourselves as very lucky…

We’ve had no:

  • Accidents
  • Serious theft (they only stole food…)
  • Illness
  • Flat tires
  • Unpleasant encounters

Our biggest mishaps were leaving Stefan’s passport in France and the loss of our GoPro…

We are very grateful!

Take a look at our journey so far and we’ll let you know when we have all our journey pictures updated.

https://www.polarsteps.com/FitnessRiderz/177663-fitness-riderz-motorbike-adventure-part-2

 

Travel

Checked off my bucketlist…

Written by Hollapinos

We went paragliding!!!

Yup, we decided to be spontaneous and try out paragliding during our last day in Macedonia. Actually, it was on the back of our minds to give it a try since we saw folks jumping off Mount Vodna when driving into the city (Skopje)…

But because the weather was cold  (around 4-5 degrees) and there was some snowfall on the surrounding mountain peaks, we assumed there weren’t going to be any flights. But on our last day the sun was out and it was a warm 12 degrees so we thought to give it a shot.

Around 1pm we messaged www.2glide.com Tandem Paragliding, and asked if it was possible to fly. They said “YES” and we booked our flight for 3.45pm on the same day…

Watch a bit of our flight prep here:

Stefan was first to jump…actually, you have to run OFF THE MOUNTAIN…

So yeah, basically it’s just like a plane take off. You have to “taxi” first and then keep on running till you’re off the mountain.

Stefan’s first try was a bit exciting. He did a bit of rolling on the grass after an unsuccessful first try but the second try was a success and he flew off the mountain without any trouble.

I was so excited!

I also had a bit of a false start the first try. My para-sail didn’t open enough, or something. I’m not sure why my first try was stopped as I was facing forward and focusing on running…but my pilot told me to stop running..he adjusted the lines a bit, and then it was time to run again.

I was told to start running…again! I ran and while the sails unfurled it felt like I had 50kgs of something holding me back and I was taking one step forward and possibly 2 steps back…I was told to keep on trying to run…this time I was able to run (a little bit) and then poof! I was running in the air and my pilot was telling me I could stop “running” and he adjusted my position so I was “sitting” in my harness.

I really had no preconceived ideas of how parasailing would go so I just followed instructions and had a great time flying over Skopje and feeling a bird. 😀

I was the lucky one as my pilot had a GoPro so you can watch my complete flight here. Sadly, I only have footage of Stefan’s take off as we lost our GoPro and haven’t had time to purchase our replacement.

But yeah, everyone should try paragliding at least once!

Now I’m trying to convince Stefan to let me parachute out of a plane 😛

 

 

 

Stuff We Did--our stories

Mini Family Vacation in Montenegro

Written by Hollapinos

Ever since we started our journey we have been looking forward to when Stefan’s mum and sister could come and join us for a mini vacation somewhere along the Balkan coast.

Our first idea was to meet up in Croatia, but somehow the plan evolved into meeting up in Montenegro a country none of us have been to before!

We entered Montenegro from the Serbian border while Stefan’s mum and sister (Alice and Jolanda) flew from Rotterdam to Dubrovnik, Croatia.

From our town in Montenegro it took about 1.5 hours to cross the Montenegro/Croatian border to pick them up with our rented Fiat Panda.

In the small space that is Montenegro..they have it all! The cool mountains, the lush forests and the magnificent blue beaches. ***Check out our photo gallery at the top

We stayed in a small town called Kumbor close to the beautiful, and more famous, Herceg Novi township.

Even though Montenegro is small, due to the mountainous terrain and the narrow roads, it still takes 1-2 hours to travel to the next town which might be only 50km away.

For this reason we stayed mainly around Herceg Novi and Kotor.

Visiting Old Towns has become a bit of a hobby for us especially since being in the Balkan area. The history of each old town, with their preserved ancient churches and magnificent buildings and forts seem to deny the ravages of time. Despite being centuries to millennia old; they have also somehow managed to integrate our into our “modern” culture.

Some for better (quaint and true to their culture and history) and some for worse (too touristic and full of  merchandise that have nothing to do with history or their culture)– but despite some negatives–I for one am glad that we can see and walk through these time capsules.

The walled city of Kotor is a prime example. The ancient walls still stand and the roads are still paved with rocks made smooth and slippery with the countless number of footsteps– but inside is a bustling modern city enjoying the touristic spotlight.

We visited towards the end of September so the crowds have dwindled down quite a bit. But during the height of summer, this town overflows with tourists, to the extent that they have to close the gates, and refuse entrance, to manage the crowds. We were thankful that we missed all that chaos.

Herceg Novi is a small picturesque coastal town that has it own small Stari grad and 3 surrounding fortresses. During the Ottoman invasion the main coastal fort in Herceg Novi (formerly called Castelnuovo) stood strong and withstood occupation despite being vastly outnumbered.

It is said that the fort in Herceg Novi had only 3,500 defenders, and they were able to withstand the Ottoman fleet/army of more 50,000 for over 2 months.

You can read all about it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Castelnuovo

Besides wandering around old towns, forts and castles we also explored Montenegro’s beautiful countryside.

We found this amazing hiking trail on mount Subra. The views were amazing but what impressed us the most was how well maintained the hiking marks/paths were. Every 20-50 meters we saw a well positioned mark and there hiking trail info signs at every cross roads showing how far to the next destination etc.

Here’s a short video of our hike:

So if you enjoy hiking, Montenegro should be on your map!

But let’s not forget the beaches…

We chose Montenegro because of it’s beautiful coastline. While they do have beautiful crystal clear water beaches, we found that most of them are not “sand” beaches so be prepared to bring a thick blanket or yoga mat to relax and tan on.

Also the water is a bit cold by the end of September so be prepared to swim and move around otherwise you will feel too cold.

I’ll end this blog post about Montenegro with a general price comparison observation.

Montenegro is cheaper than it’s neighbour Croatia but is a bit more expensive than the other Balkan countries.

All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our family vacation in Montenegro and would go back.

***Stay tuned for our video about our Montenegro Adventures***

Family Fun, Stuff We Did--our stories, Travel

Sarajevo & our 2 days in Serbia..

Written by Marie Lamping
1 Comment

Visiting Sarajevo can’t help but invoke a deeper sort of emotion and feeling.

Souvenirs made out of bullets…

Every street corner, every bullet hole, every lined and rugged face tells a story of hard won freedom and acceptance.

The Eternal Flame in Sarajevo –a memorial to all military and civilian casualties of war.

Inscription translated to English on the Eternal Flame Monument in Sarajevo:

With Courage and the Jointly Spilled Blood of the Fighters of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian Brigades of the Glorious Yugoslav National Army; with the Joint Efforts and Sacrifices of Sarajevan Patriots

Serbs, Muslims and Croats on the 6th of April 1945 Sarajevo, the Capital City of the People’s Republic | of Bosnia and Herzegovina was liberated.

Eternal Glory and Gratitude to the Fallen Heroes of the liberation of Sarajevo and our Homeland,

On the First Anniversary of its Liberation–a Grateful Sarajevo

I am not religious or political. At least I do my best NOT to be…but I do believe in living this one life we have been privileged with to the best of our ability. I memorized Bible scriptures when I was younger, and the verse that still applies and I still try to live by today is: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you–Luke 6:31”

This is recognized as the Golden Rule and I suppose many religions and holy books say something similar but how many of us forget and choose the selfish path or take our life of privilege for granted?

I AM PRIVILEGED–and I am reminded of that every single day when I wake up in a beautiful new location, in possibly a new country, living my dream…

viewpoint overlooking the entire city of Sarajevo

I know very few of us can just drop everything and travel and explore the world! I know many haven’t been out of their city’s borders, much less out of their country.

Note: Interestingly enough, in the space of a week we met 2 couples who also left everything behind to travel. Check out their blogs at: https://defendertours.com/ and http://www.makakaontherun.com/

Walking the streets of Sarajevo and witnessing a protest for the freedom to marry despite differences in Ethnicity or Religion brought my taken for granted sense of privilege home to me…

Life isn’t fair…and by saying that I am not complaining…

It is a TRUTH I see everyday and while I don’t think I can do much to make life “more fair” for others…I hope this post reminds me/us of the things we can be grateful for. And I sincerely hope that perhaps by having this grateful and positive attitude we can be a positive influence in some way…

Despite Sarajevo (and the surrounding area) having a very recent troubled past the people we met are amazing…

They have rebuilt and are positive about their future and I ADMIRE their resilience.

Former glory: The 1984 Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge track now abandoned

I mentioned above that I don’t think little old me can do much to make the world a “more fair” or better place…

But I’m going to take that back…by being a tourist I think I was able to help in a small way.

Visiting these places and spending our vacations in less known locations like Bosnia, Serbia or Albania makes a difference!

I’m not an expert, but from what I’ve seen, tourism makes a tremendous impact on small economies like these.

Most of them are so happy to have foreigners visit and enjoy their country, their food, and their culture that they welcome us with open arms–which is something that can’t be said about tourist saturated locales nowadays…

Your 10 euros to purchase a cappuccino might not make much of a difference in downtown Zurich, but your 1.5euros in Sipovo, Bosnia certainly will.

Other impressions of Bosnia & Herzegovina:

  • They love MEAT so if you’re vegetarian be aware that they don’t have many options for you…
  • The roads are narrow, steep and challenging, especially in Sarajevo, and your GPS will lead you astray (or to a path with STAIRS!!)
  • Bosnian coffee is very similar to Turkish coffee so if you are addicted to the “Italian” style of coffee be warned that you might find it hard to find in the local grocery shops
  • Most towns in Bosnia are somewhat segregated such as: this town is Orthodox…this town is Muslim etc. Sarajevo is somewhat unique in that all the major religions are represented in fairly large numbers.
  • Bosnia gets COLD in winter and central heating is NOT readily available. We noticed woodpiles everywhere…even the apartment buildings were stocking up on wood…
  • Outside of Sarajevo, very few folks speak English so be prepared to communicate with lots of acting 😉

Bosnian Coffee

Our 2 Days in Serbia…

Hello Serbia!!

We didn’t get to see much of Serbia due to our plan of having a mini-vacation with family in Montenegro, but what we did see in the 2 days we were there was beautiful (watch our vlog on the bottom of this post!!)

Our 2 days in Serbia were spent in the ski town of Zlatibor (sadly no snow for skiing yet) and from there we did a bit of exploring to the surrounding areas.

I got all philosophical about our time in Bosnia so for Serbia I’m going straight into list format so this post doesn’t get too long..and my fingers don’t get so tired 😛

Impressions about Serbia:

  • Carry cash (Euros or Serbian Dinar) with you at all times–the ATMs are few and FAR between
  • Food is cheap, so if you don’t want to cook and buy groceries you won’t break the bank with eating out for all meals
  • Local Serbian wine is quite good so don’t get intimidated by the 2-3 euro price (I was worried to try it because it seemed so cheap!!)
  • Serbian roads are a bit better and less steep than those in Bosnia so enjoy…

This dessert cost less than 1 euro! Somewhere in Serbia!!

Too short to cook!! 😀 Eating out in Serbia was cheap but we still preferred our healthy home-cooked meals.

And to give you an idea of some of the sights and sounds you can experience in Bosnia and Serbia watch our vlog below 🙂

Uncategorized

Lazy blogger apologies…

Written by Marie Lamping

Sorry for the lack of posts…again…

We have a myriad of excuses as to WHY we haven’t posted a blog in a long while (see list below)

— Had mum Alice and Sister Jolanda over for a mini-vacay…

— Busy making promo videos for gorgeous places we were lucky to stay at…

— On the road…

–Editing our website and making it more relevant…

— Losing our GoPro and spending a day in an Albanian Police station…

But scratch all that…

I really just need to learn how to blog on the run. I’m always waiting for prime conditions to write and I’m finding those further and further apart and if I don’t get my blogging act together…soon enough… we just might have a dormant blog–Oh what a horrible thought!

I really hate starting something and NOT going through with it so I’m going to pull up my socks and blog even if it means tap-tapping on my phone while riding on the motorbike! (I am a pillion rider without much to do while on the bike after all :P)

Besides, this blog is not just for those of you who read it. It is our digital journal and it would be a shame to have chunks of our journey forgotten simply because we were lazy to post about it.

Ok, that might sound dramatic. But stop and think about it…

Do you notice that the memories/experiences which are the most vivid are those that you told someone about? It doesn’t matter how you “told” the story…a Facebook post, a picture on Instagram, telling someone about it face to face or writing about it…

Once an experience or thought is shared it stays longer and is more “etched” in memory and I want to remember every step of this journey of a lifetime! 😀

So starting from today…I promise to myself and to the “universe” that I’m going to be a better and more consistent blogger…

Be warned! You might see something from us EVERYDAY…

*fingers crossed*

>>>end of personal rant<<<

 

Rants