It’s eight months into this trip around the world and I am falling apart at the seams. Two main things have happened:
1)      My computer is, quite literally, falling apart.
2)      I have an allergic reaction to a tick bite from my frolic in Plitvice Lakes National Park.
My computer has been showing signs of being ill for sometime now but I always just refused to accept that it might not make it back home with me in a few months. Finally, though it boycotted and the screen has no tension and …

The first glimpse of baklava over here sent me into waves of joy –I love the Greek baklava that was always a special treat in the states! My theory was that it had to be so much better over here, right?!Well…not so much. The baklava here was decidedly different from what you find in the United States. I happened upon a small dessert café in Sarajevo with three different types of baklava beckoning to me through the desert case and begging for me to wrap my taste buds …

Emerging from the train station in Mostar is a pretty humbling experience as the sun shines down on the glossy newly painted buildings standing right alongside buildings that are still bombed out and vacant even ten years later.
Sarajevo has some spectacularly pretty areas of town and much of the war damage has been repaired. Mostar is different though; the rebuilding process has taken longer. The stark differences between the war-torn past and the peaceful present is visible in the jux ta position between the pristine modern buildings and the crumbling …

A gentle summer breeze, a cool, water-misting fan and one creamy ice cream cone or ice-cold beer is all it takes to fit in throughout the Balkan States. The sidewalk café culture is alive and rampant in Bosnia and many hours are spent people-watching or being watched. This activity is a surprisingly huge part of the Balkan culture; even in Croatia the café culture is prominent and the whole town seems to come alive around 6pm as couples, friends, and even singletons stroll through the streets and sip cold …

I love Bosnia. Completely and with the whole of my heart this country is just a gem. With the help of my couch surfing host it didn’t take long to see the charm of Sarajevo. I’m rarely a fan of capital cities…not often my style. But, after reaching Furkan’s flat he offered up some refreshing home-made Turkish tea (he brings it back from his visits home because he loves it so much!) and then his roomies and whole gang of us headed to the city center to explore.
A sticky situation …

The whirring sounds and motion of the overnight train to Bosnia did little to cover the noise of constant intrusions into my train compartment; I was doing a late night border crossing into Bosnia from Croatia and the customs officers have absolutely no mercy. The officer who came through the train on the Croatia side to check my passports and issue an exit stamp was as unsmiling and humorless as so many of the other Croats I’ve met. I hate to make a generalization about the Croats, but while the …