The Balkans…hmm…does anything come to mind?

First off, do you even know where the Balkans are? In our shameful American style, we had little knowledge of this part of the world. I think I had a vague notion of it being somewhere in Eastern Europe. This is where the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated (leading to World War I) and where Yugoslavia disintegrated into civil war in the 1990’s. After booking a flight to Dubrovnik, we realized how close we were to neighboring Balkan nations. With our curiosity piqued, we embarked on a whirlwind nine day tour of Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Our first stop was Croatia, which seems to be on everyone’s “newest Mediterranean hot spot” list. It definitely ain’t no secret anymore, nor as cheap as we thought it would be. And why should it? Dubrovnik is absolutely stunning with its old town surrounded by medieval walls, a port and electric blue waters. TD and I shuffled along the pretty streets with all the other tourists, who are quite easy to get away from once you start climbing the steep stairways. Walking all along the city walls is great for a 360 degree view of Dubrovnik, although you might get a little camera-happy and end up with hundreds of red tiled rooftop photos. And I can’t deny that the gelato here is fucking out-of-this-world.

A few days later, we caught the bus to Montenegro which is the newest country in the world, literally. It declared its independence from Serbia in 2006 and its trying to become part of the European Union (already adopting the euro as its currency). On a friend’s recommendation, we headed to the Bay of Kotor with its “light” version of Dubrovnik, Kotor. We ended up following a nice little old lady home from the bus station, who offered us a room in her house. Besides being a medieval old city surrounded by a moat, Kotor also boasts a bad ass fortress up the mountainside. TD and I raced each other up the uneven steps and were rewarded with panoramic vistas…after which we promptly collapsed, exhausted and out of breath.

We spent our last days in Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegonevia. The town’s famous landmark is Stari Most (Old Bridge) which was built by the Ottomans and survived both World Wars, only to be destoyed in 1993 during the Bosnian war. In the early 90’s, the Bosnians were fighting the Serbs but later the Muslim and Christian Bosnians turned on each other. For a better understanding of the hell that people endured, watch the documentary, Unfinished Business (Warning: People die in the first minute, you will be bawling). The old town is now almost completely rebuilt, including the bridge, but there are still bullet-ridden, mortar shelled buildings everywhere. Our guesthouse owner, Taso, told us crazy stories about having to go to school underground for 2 years but now has Christian friends and holds no grudges. He took us on a tour of the surrounding areas with ancient towns, waterfalls and the most amazing figs I’ve ever tasted. We fucking loved this country. Bosnia, who knew?

What started as a region we knew little about became one of our favorite places. After all, we still need to visit Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. We’ll be back.