Back to the Balkans

Grab a coffee, this is a longer blog!

We have just returned from three weeks in the Balkans.  The reasoning behind our planning for this holiday was very much "now or never".  Knowing that we'll be returning down-under early next year, we have a few things still on our bucket list.  Some more skiing was one thing, and a visit back to the Balkans was another.  I hasten to add that the list goes on, but the bank account doesn't!

So the trip kicked off on July 31st, 2014 flying a few hours from Larnaca to Belgrade.  It's been more than 12 years since we had visited this part of the world together (although Ross has travelled back many times with work). However this time with children in tow. Who would have thought?  It was a trip down memory lane for us adults and a very new and different experience for the kids.  One not entirely within their comfort zone but altogether a healthy thing for the kids to see some of our past, and to meet lovely people in a very different part of the world.

Just a brief background on why we wanted to go back to the Balkans:

Back in 1999, we were living in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, surrounded by friends who were all ready to settle down and have babies.  Not entirely ready to be in "the family way" and keen to  experience another culture and language, we started making contact with World Vision to see if our skills could be used abroad.  At that time there were a number of conflicts going on around the world, and a tragic war in Kosovo was unfolding.  We were fortunate to be recruited quickly to the region.  The war in Kosovo resulted in huge numbers of refugees flowing into Montenegro and other surrounding countries.  We lived in Podgorica, and spent our time working hard and wondering whether the war might extend there, learning the language as fast as we could (but aided by translators), and riding the rollercoaster of being new to humanitarian aid & development work. All up it was a challenging but rich 3 year period of our lives.  Of course, be it for work or holiday, we travelled quite a bit around the surrounding countries, and grew to love this part of the world and its people.

Now, in a completely different season of life and one of us back working with World Vision - it just seemed apt to visit the region once more, whilst we could.  So many places and people to see.

Here's the map:

In a nutshell, our trip looked like this:

Week 1: Belgrade & Novi Sad in Serbia, Podgorica & the bay of Kotor in Montenegro.

Week 2: Island of Mljet, Croatia

Week 3: Mostar, Sarajevo and Teslic in Bosnia & Hercegovina, and then back to Belgrade for flight back to Cyprus.

We hired a car, fondly known as "The Moving Brick".  Quite a challenge on narrow mountainous roads and parking in cities.  Most of the time we stayed in self-contained apartments or people's houses via AirBnB or Holiday Lettings.  This allowed us to cook for ourselves and spread out a bit once we stopped.  All in all we travelled about 2,500km.  Looking out the window, I want to remember my fondness at seeing the old Yugoslav haystacks, the green rolling hills and the simple rural way of life.  What I DON'T want to remember is the kids fighting over car seats!

To say that Jessie had a great holiday would not be accurate!  Plagued by mosquito bites, desperately missing our dog Zoe and her friend Hannah back in Cyprus, she counted the days until our return. What Ross and I considered 'highlights' she considered 'lowlights'.  Our week on the island in particular was not easy for Jess: a fear of fish and too much nature! Hence here are some photos of her time there.

Kotor in Montenegro

Dinner time in Croatia

Konik refugee camp in Podgorica that was
built by WV. Very interesting to go back
14years later...still a very challenging
situation for the Kosovo refugees who remain

Why do we have to walk in 'nature?'

"But I don't mind seeing nature from a kayak..."

Jessie wasn't that enamoured with the little bay we stayed
at, but from this picture you could hardly say there was
much to complain about??

...but she took some nice photos.  This is our front gate!

The house of card making whilst Mum & Dad enjoy some
local food

Jessie adapted well to all sorts of kitchens and baked
her heart out whilst we swam.

She also enjoyed Mum having ample time to improve
on her french plaits.

and on one very special day...even Anna acquiesced to
being in the front verandah 'hair salon' for a brief period.

Thankfully the Wi-Fi was good, allowing Jessie to skype
Menaka who was back in Cyprus minding our dog Zoe.
Many long hours werealso spent skyping her good
friend Hannah.

Our digs in Belgrade. Jessie trying to sleep in! 

Jessie suffering through a bike ride on Mljet!

Some of Angus' favourites included:

Zlatibor - a ski resort in central Serbia and a high altitude summer training destination for professional football teams.  We stayed in a log cabin with a lovely open view and Gus keeps telling us that the bed was the most comfortable EVER.  Mum & Gus took a hike up one of the big hills after breakfast and then cycled back to the cabin.  We could have stayed another night.

Zlatibor sunset

Rijeka Crnojevica is the deliciously cold river near Podgorica we used to swim in.  We took the kids there and Angus loved jumping off the rocks.  The two icy dips we had were a welcome relief from the hot days we experienced.  We enjoyed telling Jessie that although she refused to swim in it she had already 'swam' there in Mum's tummy.  The locals had been a little horrified to see a 7month pregnant woman jumping off rocks into a freezing cold river! Anna with her broken arm could only wade around the edges which was tough, and kept asking if we would come back there when she had two good arms!

A visit to an old WV refugee camp

Sam says that his favourite was the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro.  Here, we had a spectacular view from our apartment up on the mountain and loved watching the regal yachts and huge ocean liners sail in.  The boys enjoyed the pool whilst Jessie took photos of them doing stunt jumps.  Anna begged us to promise that we'll return to this place when she has two arms (again).  It was the first place that we got to stop and relax a bit after a busy social time in Belgrade and Podgorica.  Here are a couple of Sam's favourite pics:

Konik refugee camp.  Quite an experience
for the kids!

The next best thing for Sam was the Tunnel Tour in Sarajevo.  Our guide was a local Bosnian woman who had survived the 4yr siege when the Serbian army surrounded the city from 1992-1996 She was only 6-10yrs at the time and they escaped through the tunnel in the final few months of the war.  It's hard to imagine living in a city without any normal services like running water, reliable electricity or adequately priced food.  All forms of life retreated underground and moving from one place to another, usually to get water, was to risk getting hit or killed.  The tunnel was the only way that the city was able to survive and we all enjoyed hearing the stories and details of how it operated during the siege.

The tunnel was 800m long and not high
enough for an adult to stand in.

The exit to the tunnel has been retained for historic purposes.
It was at the back of someone's home in a quiet street.

The opening you can see was the airport which
was under United Nations control.
The tunnel was dug under the runway.

A whole range of land mines were on display.  De-mining
the whole of Bosnia and Hercegovina
since the war has been a mammoth task.

Anna's favourites were usually the times she got to get on the water!  We hired kayaks in both Kotor and the National Park on Mljet but the best boat for Anna was her very own DINGHY.  We were amazed at how far she could row with one arm and a stick!  Her other way of getting around was when Mum or Dad set out for a nice long swim across the bay.  On one occasion, she pointed to a very posh looking yacht for Mum to swim to, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, they invited us on board.  I politely declined my invitation but whilst I was chatting from the water, Anna (with her cheeky grin)  enjoyed a couple of chocolate biscuits on deck.

Finally, a water vehicle!

Determination

Catching crabs

 Dad can pick it up!

A useful toy for games

She's not getting any younger....
CHEAT was the preferred family card game this holiday.

Click here or on the link below for a video clip of the holiday made by Jessie:

Enjoying the green of the Serbian mountains near Zlatibor

Anna and the boys

Hanging out in Belgrade - enjoying some cool weather
and clouds

Sarah's favourites would have to be the beautiful places we visited and the beautiful friends we met up with.  After many years, it was so lovely to be surrounded by the many and varied Balkan landscapes.  The green hills and forests, the beaches & bays, the Island of Mljet; all magical.  Seeing people whom we had not seen in a very long time was also a real treat.  Here are some more pics to tell the story.

Vladimir & Marijna were the pastors from the church we
attended in Podgorica. Here, we met them in their home town
of Novi Sad - north of Belgrade.

The GREEN - I couldn't get enough of it!

Boys on their way to the river for a swim

BUREK!!!  My staple diet when I was pregnant with Jessie.

Back in our old park....Gorica

Our landlady Stanka. Happy to meet Jessie whom she
only got to know  in-utero!

Not much flat ground in Montenegro!

Our old house in Podgorica. Our landlady Stanka 

managed to sift through her drawers and come up with 

some photos of Jessie as a baby.

Stanka's backyard; under the grape vines.

Kotor: our first meal out...great to see Punjeni Ligne
on the menu (ie: stuffed squid)

The inland lakes on Mljet

Lamb Under the Bell - slow cooked roast meat & vegies.
Can't wait to replicate this in a camp-oven back home.

We travelled 2.5hrs from Sarajevo to a small town called Teslic.  One of the reasons for returning to the Balkans was to see Antonija and her family whom we had grown close to whilst living in Montenegro.  They had run from the war in Bosnia and taken refuge in Podgorica.  We met Antonija because she managed the World Vision warehouse.  I helped her daughter with her English and she watched over me whilst I was pregnant.  Every Saints Day she would invite us as if we were family and every child we had she knitted woollen socks and sent them down under.  See her and her family was like reconnecting with long lost family again! A real privilege for us.

Seeing Antonija in Bosnia. This special re-union was a
bit lost on Anna!

Antonija, George, Neda and her daughter Lena.
Ivana took the photo and Maja was not there that day.

Saying good-bye was all too hard.  Australia is a

long way away.

And finally for Ross, the favourite thing was simply being back in the Balkans.  It's a place that will always be significant for us.  It was great to speak Serbian again, see dear and old friends, listen to Balkan music, eat copious amounts of cevapi, drink a lot of strong coffee, go for long ocean swims every day in Montenegro and Croatia, visit Sarajevo (especially when the film festival was on) and of course to experience Balkan housing again, where doors don't quite close, bathrooms flood, staircases may lead nowhere, but the places have SOUL (and a lot of concrete!).

A reunion with some of the old WV Montenegro staff

Sveti Stefan - playground of the movie stars

Times have changed in Montenegro...50 Euro to swim
on the beach at Sveti Stefan!!!

Catching up with Zora (our friend and language teacher)
and her daughter Sandra

Belgrade

Refugee camp for Bosnian refugees in Berane, Montenegro.
Built by WV in 1998 and still occupied today

The walled city of Dubrovnik

Mostar in Bosnia and Hercegovina

The old bridge in Mostar, now reconstructed
after being shelled and destroyed in 1993

Our accommodation in Sarajevo

Sarajevo.  We enjoyed the chance to catch some films
as part of the Sarajevo film festival which was on while
we were there

Teslic

A final memory of Mljet!