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Now, the title of my last entry was the Balkan Adventure Part 1, although it didn’t have much to do with the Balkan area at all. But I like to consider my Balkan adventure the point where from where we left Prague and ended with Croatia, so forgive the inaccuracy of my title. After we were all finished up in Berlin and Budapest, we took a night train lasting 14 hours, which is the longest time en route to a destination I have ever spent. But luckily, Sarajevo was worth the time it took to make it there.

Sarajevo

Sarajevo has been a city under the constant desire of many empires in recent history. It was most recently desired by the Serbians, but due to the alliance of the Croatians and Bosnians, the result of the Bosnian War led Sarajevo to become the capital of the newly built Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, Bosnia is a country that is filled with 45% Muslims, 38% Serbian orthodox, and 7% Croatian Catholics, and from what I can see, this multicultural city coexists very well together. I haven’t seen such a diverse city since I left Vancouver!

Old town Sarajevo

When we arrived in the city, we were greeted by next to nothing, arriving with no hostel booked, and no Bosnian currency, with no ATM in sight. We ran into a couple backpackers who looked just as confused as we were, so we talked to them and decided to head to where they were heading. They were a couple of French Canadians who were taking time off and backpacking Eastern Europe, just as we were. Almost immediately after we crossed the street, we were greeted by a tall, lanky, Kramer-looking fellow who offered us beds at his hostel for only 10 EURO a night. I’ll admit, the full body jean jacket and the desperate need for dental work almost made us reject his offer, but his upbeat friendly attitude changed our opinion, and we decided to give it a shot. He even showed the other backpackers straight to their hostel, and so his extension of help gave us confidence that we wouldn’t wake up in a cellar. But, when we arrived, that confidence was taken away, mostly due to the fact that every single closet in the hostel was full of someone elses clothing, which gave us a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomach, but we made a commitment so we were going to stick to it. One of my biggest disappointments about the hostel was that it was only us two, meaning again, there wasn’t much opportunity to meet other travelers, but luckily the city had so much to do and see, that detail became a minor one.

Our room, 10 EURO each per night with our own personal room, own beds, and a TV

Sarajevo was one of the most interesting cities I’ve ever been to, with the old town looking extremely old, but still managing to not fall apart, and with churches and mosques all over the place, it was a sight to see. The new town area was as modern as any, with a Robson type street going through the center of the city, a large shopping center, and extremely large slices of pizza for under a dollar, I was very impressed. Although pizza definitely wasn’t the highlight food of this trip; that honor goes to Burek, one of the main culinary dishes of the Balkan region. Since this city was so surprisingly cheap, and interesting, Tighe and I took it upon ourselves to find some souvenirs, and most of the items for sale were extremely similar to the ones in the Grand Bazaars of Istanbul. Upon our wanderings, we happened to run into the bridge where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, which essentially was the location that marked the start of World War 1. One of the coolest things around the city were the Sarajevo Roses, which are markings of the location where the city was flanked, and that people lost their lives. The holes in the ground were painted with red to remind everyone of the suffering that occurred during the Bosnian War.

Just one of the many Sarajevo Roses scattered across the city

Burek

Considering how small the city is, I didn’t have a very high expectation of the nightlife, but Sarajevo continued to surprise me. We had been told that the City Pub was the most lively of all the pubs in Sarajevo, and since we found it during the day, it was our first destination of the night. We were served by a man who wasn’t too impressed that we only spoke English, but served us a “Sarajevsko” beer anyways. Since we were there quite early (around 9ish), we figured the pub might be more lively later on. The next pub we found was an Irish pub that wasn’t too lively, but we chilled on a couple of beers and went to our next destination, “The Club”. Apparently this is the best nightclub in town, but not on Fridays, only on Saturdays, so we talked had a couple of beers with some Croatian guys inside, and headed to a location recommended by them afterwords. He gave us no directions, he only pointed to a giant sign, and said the place was right below there, so we decided to give it a shot. When we arrived, we saw hundreds of people in a lineup, and of course, we got in there with them. When we got in, we realized it was a rave, full of teenage kids and overpriced beer. It was a cool venue, but raves aren’t exactly my scene these days, and Tighe definitely didn’t digg (pun intended for all you comp sci out there) it, so we decided to try our luck at our first location, The Pub. Upon entering loaded with several beers, and the the people loaded up with the same delicious beverage, the second experience here was much more entertaining then the first. I met two Bosnian girls, and Tighe met two girls from the Netherlands. Tighe left to go to another club with those girls, and the ones I was with asked me to go with them to a club as well, a club which both Tighe and I happened to reunite. It was a great night in Sarajevo, and because of it we decided to take it easy the next night, so I never got to find out if “The Club” was really the place to be on Saturday nights, maybe I’ll find out someday.

Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera out at night, but this is a picture of the city at night, credit Wikipedia.

So, the next day, we figured we would do something that didn’t involve drinking or eating. One of the things that makes Sarajevo so beautiful is the mountains surrounding it, and so we figured we would take an epic hike through the hills. Considering Tighes extensive history knowledge, we should have realized from the get-go that the idea wasn’t the smartest one. The walk was amazing, we walked by kids playing soccer, a women herding goats, and we managed to get high enough for an amazing view. But then, we decided to go even higher.

Epic view from the mountains of Sarajevo

So, another small history lesson for you all; when Sarajevo was under siege, the city was surrounded by landmines so that none of the inhabitants could escape, and those landmines to this day are being constantly sought out by the government. When we walked towards the top of the hill, we first saw some suspicious blue tape, but being the fearless travelers that we are, we decided to trek onwards. As we got farther up, we saw a circular patch of dirt that was surrounded by yellow caution tape that said MINE. We both figured it was the buried entrance to a mineshaft. As we continued on, we saw a big red sign that had a skull and crossbones on it, and it said MINE as well. We both discussed whether or not to continue, but also wondered why there would be such an intense sign for a mine shaft. Tighe was about to walk over to this sign in the distance and get me to take a picture of him beside it. As he walked a few steps, it clicked in both our heads as we simultaneously yelled, “LANDMINE!”, and proceeded to run as fast as we could out of there. The funny thing is, our biggest concern going forward was cougars, but that would have been the least of our worries if we continued on.

We should have seen this and instantly ran back. We didn’t.

But this did the trick

Overall Sarajevo was an amazing city. It was the most multicultural city I’ve ever been to, it had gorgeous landscapes, plenty beautiful women, a fun nightlife, amazing landmarks; there is simply something for everyone in Sarajevo.

Belgrade

On our way to Serbia, we had one of the most random encounters of our trip. We took a daily 5am bus from Sarajevo to Belgrade on a Tuesday morning, settled into our seats, and waited for our 8 hour bus ride to begin. But, as I’m sitting there, I see someone I recognized walking up the stairs, I couldn’t remember his name at first, but he was a friend from the Kolej (our dorms) from Prague. He gave me a look, I gave him a look back, and we both realized it was who we were both thinking of. What are the chances of meeting someone who you knew from Prague in a random city like Sarajevo? His name was Nick, and Adam from the dorms was with him as well, so we spent most of the time catching up with these guys, and they headed with us to the hostel we booked, “The Black Catz”.

Nick from Prague, and Tighe on the left

When we arrived in Belgrade, we had no idea where to go, so the first thing we did was take out some Serbian currency, find a map in a hotel, and look for where we needed to go. Taking a taxi was simply not an option for us travelers. After an hour or so of searching, we couldn’t find the hostel, although we knew we were in the right area. Fortunately for us, a friendly Serb noticed we were lost, asked us where we were going and knew exactly where it was, so he tooks us there. So far, our impression of Serbians was pretty good. When we got there, the building was under complete reconstruction; we had to climb over debris, cover our mouths from potential espestus, and finally, had to walk four flights of stairs due to the elevator not being operational. When we arrived, we were greeted by a man whom we call “Hostel Man”, since we never actually managed to catch his real name. The Three Black Catz hostel was a smaller hostel, but that’s not a bad thing. I think they’re better due to the fact that its a lot more personal, and a lot easier to talk to travellers (as opposed to say, a hostel that has hundreds of beds). A quote from the mind of Kevin Tighe: “Hostel man didn’t seem to give a shit about life except for living it. The guy was at least 6-3 and combined with a stern look and a thick Serbian accent, he was quite intimidating. His unique sarcasm had us questioning his opinion of us all night long,  but never the less he took us out to several bars and was more than happy to share his homemade plum brandy”. The bars he took us to were interesting, although there wasn’t many foreigners too be found, and considering it was a weekday and it was raining, there wasn’t much Serbians to be found in general. Someone recently told me that Belgrade is famous for its parties on the beach, so if you go to Belgrade, I’d definitely check that out.

Common room in the Three Black Catz. Nick, Adam, and Tighe

Belgrade was definitely an interesting city, although the architectural choice of gray was very reminiscent of SFU for me. During the day, we walked around and tried to do as much touristy activities as possible, despite it not being a very popular tourist destination (for those who don’t speak Serbian anyways); we watched a Red Bull Motorcycle rally that took place in front of the Parliament building, checked out the sights, and headed back due to the disappointing amount of rain. But first, we went searching for food; I had a massive hamburger that was almost too big for my shrunken travelers stomach, but I managed to finish it off. Everything in the city was extremely cheap, rivaling the prices of the Czech Republic and other former communist countries. The next day, we went and checked out the big history museum in the main park, but unfortunately it was closed. Luckily, the fortress surrounding the museum was very cool as well, which had various tanks from previous wars scattered across its landscape.

Fortress in Belgrade

Overall, Belgrade was a pretty cool city, although I’d like to go there again and spend more then only two days there, and hopefully with some sun as well. The hostel made it a really great experience, it was a lot of fun to sitting around a table with your friends, some travelers, and locals sharing stories and drinking homemade plum brandy. We met an Italian man from Bari who was there for a tennis tournament, a couple girls from London, a bunch of local girls Serbians who worked for, or knew hostel man, and a lot of others that made the hostel a great destination. If anyone is planning on going to Belgrade, look no further then The Black Catz.

Us at a Serbian bar, brought by the one and only Hostel Man

The plan was to go straight to Greece, and Belgrade was only a destination because we couldn’t make it there from Sarajevo. But plans change, and instead, we headed to Sofia in Bulgaria.

This was one long, tiring, frustrating adventure, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t amazing. Berlin, Budapest, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Sofia (then back to Belgrade), then to Zagreb, Split, Supetar, and then finally, Dubrovnik. Lots of different hostels, different people, and different experiences.

Berlin

So, Prague was officially over. We said our goodbyes, packed out bags, and headed off to our first destination, Germany. Going to Berlin wasn’t the best starting point in terms of convenience, but it was one of the cities I had to go to, but never had time to during the semester. So, we bought our 50 EURO train ticket to Berlin and headed out.

Backpackin’ Berlin

Upon arriving in Berlin, we were greeted by plenty of people looking for backpackers in hopes of renting rooms from their apartments, but we opted to look for our own hostel dispite the fact that her offer was very fair. Meeting fellow backpackers is a lot more entertaining. On our journey with our filled 60L backpacks, we happened to run into a free outdoor classical music concern, which only obsctructed the direction we needed to go. We eventually found our destination and booked a hostel.

Reichstag

It was odd being in a city thats so new and modern, after being in Prague for so long you get used to seeing buildings older then the country you’re from. Although, there are a ton of things to see in Germany that are still quite old, such as the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, and a couple other monuments that are reminicent of past Germany.

Some of the remains of the Berlin Wall

We stayed in the Meininger hostel, which was a decent place to stay. Clean beds and nice showers, although there wasn’t many people staying at the time, and there wasn’t a common room type of area, just a bar in the building next to the hostel, so meeting travellers wasn’t very easy. The staff were very friendly though (besides the first guy who tried to charge us 24 EURO for a night, we got it down to 18), and they told us where all the good areas to check out during the day were, and where the good bars were at. On one of the nights in Berlin, Tighe and I decided to go out and find some bars, and so as per recommendation, we took a bus to a certain area at around 2am, and although it wasn’t as lively as expected, it was certainly interesting. We found a couple of bars that were recommended, but I believe it was in the middle of the week, and May isn’t exactly the most happening time in Berlin, so there wasn’t too many people out, but we did find THE creepiest bar in all existance (at least the creepiest one I’ve ever been to). The workers inside were doing magic tricks, there were what seemed to be regulars chilling on beers, and there was also another group of people who seemed like they were in the same boat as us. We had a beer, secretly took some pictures, and made an exit.

Wierdest place I’ve ever been to

The next night, we met up with Tighe’s cousin Brian, who is also from Long Island. For half the night I was stuck listening to family recollections of which I had not participated in, but thats alright, since I happily sat and drank Becks, my new favorite beer. We moved from bar to bar, and later on in the night, Horatiu caught up with us, and we continued to drink, and I finally had someone to talk to. Afterwords, while being slightly drunk, we all decided that it was time to get some food, and of course, Horatiu and I were hoping for our favorite donair place of all time to be open (Mustafas Kebab - mustafas.de), but to our disappointment, it was closed for the night. But fortunately for us(well, maybe unfortunately, depends if your asking me, or my arteries), the fast food stand Curry 36 was open. When we went to the stand, we saw a german man ordering something we thought looked quite tasty, so we asked for the same thing. But we are suppose to get two kebabs in it each, but since he only had enough for one and a half for each of us, he threw in a German sausage. The complete meal consisted of one and a half meat kebabs, one german sausage, a bunch of french fries, caramelized onions, all topped with ketchup, barbeque sauce, and mayo. I managed to finish it all without much effort, while Tighe, Brian, and Hora all struggled, but in the end, we finished it off, and afterwords, we went to sleep. It was known thereafter as the heartattack special.

Checkpoint Charlie; A very important landmark from the Cold War

We had a great time in Berlin, and if I was to ever work abroad, I would definitely consider Germany as one of my destinations. Hora stayed in Berlin one more night, and afterwords continued on his journey throughout Germany, while Tighe and I headed to Budapest. If you want to read about Horas travels, check out halmaghi.com

Budapest

Now, for those of you who’ve followed my blog, you know I’ve been to Budapest before, and had an amazing time. Well this time, it wasn’t so amazing, although it wasnt due to the city, it was due to bad choices. We stopped in Budapest for one night just so we could get to Sarajevo on the next, and so we headed for the hostel we booked closest to the train station, and it was one of the nicest hostels I’ve ever stayed in, and by far the nicest shower. The only problem was we were the only ones there, but it didn’t matter since we were only there for one day anyways.

We headed to the baths during the day, which are always a good choice in Budapest, but our first mistake during that stay in Budapest was getting three McDonalds cheeseburgers and an ice tea. I’ve either been cooking in Europe, or going to restaurants, and so my stomach isn’t as good as it used to be for extracting energy from fast food joins as it previously was. Next, we found a bar which we realized was a much older crowd, and on our continued quest for food and a bar, we came very close to our hostel, and were about to call it a night. We also didn’t have much money, so we were going to pack it in, but unfortunately, we saw an ATM, and decided to give Budapests nightlife another chance. We found a club and decided to go in, only to realize it was a bit too sketchy for our tastes, so we decided to have a beer and get the hell out of there. That was our biggest mistake; the menu, which had a dark purple background, had small red hard-to-read writing that said “First drink costs 9000 HUF “. That roughly translates to 40 EUROS, and being in a foreign country thats former communist, and with two big bouncers standing in front of you, we practically had no choice, we coughed up the money. So the next time you go to a club in Hungary, make sure you read the sign, VERY carefully.

Our next destination, Sarajevo.