As part of the Olympic tour (Athens, and now Sarajevo) I headed to Sarajevo, Bosnia for a weekend of skiing. It is pretty amazing that I can go to BOSNIA for a weekend, as it is a quick 40 minute flight.
I arrived in Sarajevo to find an incredibly interesting, diverse city with history bursting from it's seams. Driving from the airport to Stari Grad (old town) we drove through "Sniper Alley" of the 1990's. Apparently, the Serbs would hide out on the nearby ridges and pick off Bosnians as they walk down the road. There are still bullet holes in many buildings that show the destruction that occured during the recent wars. In the center of town, you find Mosques next to Orthodox and Catholic churches and a huge Turkish influence making for a fantastic time wandering the streets.
After exploring Sarajevo for a day, I headed to Jahorina, the nearby ski hill and location of the 1984 Winter Olympics. While Jahorina lacked new snow, it was great to stay up on the ski hill and enjoy the mountains for the weekend. Again, people looked at me like I was crazy as I telemark skied. Apparently it is not the most popular sport in this part of the world.
Monday morning, I took an incredibly early flight back to Belgrade, just in time for work. Unfortunately, I still do not have a camera, so there is no documentation of the trip.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Another Post!
I have finally had enough people bugging me to update my blog page that I will actually do it. The biggest problem now is how to include all of the travelling I have done over the past three weeks into one post? I have been to Italy, Budapest, and down to Greece with my family... an incredible vacation!
My vacation started with Angela coming to visit. Someone asked me at the beginning of my stay in Belgrade which of my friends would come visit. I immediately said Angela (girlfriend from college) and lo and behold, she was the first to visit. We spent four days in Belgrade walking around the city, eating on the pizza boat (it is wild) and experiencing the joys of my coworkers (she was even brave enough to go to my exercise class- I'm surprised she could walk the next day).
After Belgrade, we flew to Rome. Rome was absolutely overwhelming. It seemed like every time we turned a corner there was another impressive, important looking building. Half the time we would look it up on the map and it wouldn't be there. Especially impressive were the Collosseum and the Vatican. Unfortunately, as my camera is still broken, I have no pictures yet. After three days of walking around Rome, our feet needed a rest and our heads were spinning trying to not be hit by the crazy drivers there (and they say drivers are crazy in Serbia). We headed for the Amalfi Coast, specifically Positano. The Amalfi Coast is just about the most breathtakingly beautiful stretch of coast (or should I say cliff) that I have ever seen. And they have built the towns on the cliffs, so there are enormous staircases to take you around town. We stayed on top of Positano, and could only motivate to walk to the sea once or twice per day- probably only 1/2 a mile, but the entire walk was stairs.
When I left Angela, I jetted (literally) up to Budapest to meet my family (minus John, boo). Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated everything being closed for Christmas (they celebrate Orthodox Christmas in Serbia). Since we couldn't go to the baths, we toured Budapest and headed to Belgrade.
In Belgrade, we again went to the pizza boat (it is pretty much my favorite thing here) and again did a lot of walking and sight seeing. I am getting pretty good at the tour guide thing if you would like to visit!
From Belgrade, we headed to Greece. My parents and sister were pretty amazed by the rickety night train we took through Macedonia, but it is all pretty much what I am used to (minus the heater that was stuck on 
high). Apparently my standards for acceptable travel are not too high. We started our Grecian excursion in Thessoloniki, a charming port city in the north-east of Greece. We then headed to Athens.
Athens is an incredible, large city with, like Rome, too much to see. The entire center of town is taken up by the Acropolis hill and ruins of the ancient city. All I could think about the entire time was my high school history teacher who loved Greek history and Mythology. I felt as if I was living in a myth. In Athens, we also enjoyed the local cuisine (especially the Greek Salads), and drank a bunch of coffee at the many cafes. Good food and good coffee is my kind of vacation!
From Athens, we explored some of the small islands just out from Athens. My favorite was Hydra, a small town that uses donkeys and horses instead of cars. Hydra was also quite warm compared to the winter wonderland of Belgrade and Budapest.
I am now back in Belgrade, getting ready to resume teaching. I of course look forward to my next adventures!
My vacation started with Angela coming to visit. Someone asked me at the beginning of my stay in Belgrade which of my friends would come visit. I immediately said Angela (girlfriend from college) and lo and behold, she was the first to visit. We spent four days in Belgrade walking around the city, eating on the pizza boat (it is wild) and experiencing the joys of my coworkers (she was even brave enough to go to my exercise class- I'm surprised she could walk the next day).After Belgrade, we flew to Rome. Rome was absolutely overwhelming. It seemed like every time we turned a corner there was another impressive, important looking building. Half the time we would look it up on the map and it wouldn't be there. Especially impressive were the Collosseum and the Vatican. Unfortunately, as my camera is still broken, I have no pictures yet. After three days of walking around Rome, our feet needed a rest and our heads were spinning trying to not be hit by the crazy drivers there (and they say drivers are crazy in Serbia). We headed for the Amalfi Coast, specifically Positano. The Amalfi Coast is just about the most breathtakingly beautiful stretch of coast (or should I say cliff) that I have ever seen. And they have built the towns on the cliffs, so there are enormous staircases to take you around town. We stayed on top of Positano, and could only motivate to walk to the sea once or twice per day- probably only 1/2 a mile, but the entire walk was stairs.
When I left Angela, I jetted (literally) up to Budapest to meet my family (minus John, boo). Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated everything being closed for Christmas (they celebrate Orthodox Christmas in Serbia). Since we couldn't go to the baths, we toured Budapest and headed to Belgrade.
In Belgrade, we again went to the pizza boat (it is pretty much my favorite thing here) and again did a lot of walking and sight seeing. I am getting pretty good at the tour guide thing if you would like to visit!
From Belgrade, we headed to Greece. My parents and sister were pretty amazed by the rickety night train we took through Macedonia, but it is all pretty much what I am used to (minus the heater that was stuck on 
high). Apparently my standards for acceptable travel are not too high. We started our Grecian excursion in Thessoloniki, a charming port city in the north-east of Greece. We then headed to Athens.
Athens is an incredible, large city with, like Rome, too much to see. The entire center of town is taken up by the Acropolis hill and ruins of the ancient city. All I could think about the entire time was my high school history teacher who loved Greek history and Mythology. I felt as if I was living in a myth. In Athens, we also enjoyed the local cuisine (especially the Greek Salads), and drank a bunch of coffee at the many cafes. Good food and good coffee is my kind of vacation!
From Athens, we explored some of the small islands just out from Athens. My favorite was Hydra, a small town that uses donkeys and horses instead of cars. Hydra was also quite warm compared to the winter wonderland of Belgrade and Budapest.
I am now back in Belgrade, getting ready to resume teaching. I of course look forward to my next adventures!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Apres Ski
I just got back from my weekend skiing in Austria--pretty much a dream of mine. I decided that I needed to get out and do it, so I loaded my skis up and caught a night train. I absolutely love the night trains because you sleep on the way there, and wake up in a totally different world. It is way better than hassling with the airport! On this trip, I woke up in Austria... amazing! For those of you who know the Bavarian villages of Solvang, CA or Leavenworth, WA, they are pretty much right on. The y even had a hotel named Edelweiss... I could hardly keep from breaking out into song!As I am incapable of planning ahead and having reservations, I met a man on the train who works at Obertauern and could recommend ski lodging for a reasonable price. Because it is early season, a lot of hotels weren't open yet, so I ended up staying in a room above a disco (good thing I am a heavy sleeper). The room was cheap, clean, walking distance from the slopes and came with a breakfast so as long as you don't mind the vibrations of the base below you, it was a great place to stay!
The first day I skied, I quickly realized that I was the ONLY telemarker on the entire mountain (and it is a big mountain). People kept coming up to me and after a bunch of gibberish (German) I would hear the word "telemarker." Luckily most of them switched to perfect English when I mentioned that I hadn't understood a word they said. They all thought I was crazy (apparently not many people from the US ski at Obertaurn). As I got ready to head back to my hotel at the end of the day, I heard loud, fun music coming from one of the ski lodges... it sounded like a party! As I like parties, I headed inside and was introduced to the world of Apres Ski (after ski in French). The idea is that after you ski all day, you are stoked by having a great day, but have nothing to do except head to your lodging. In order to give people something to do, lodges and restaurants open up from 3-6 to let skiers party until dinner time. Skiers come by the mass, still in their ski clothes to enjoy Apres Ski. The music is hilarious (YMCA, Macerena, and Austrian Yodeling) and people are amazingly agile while dancing in their ski boots. I even partook in some of the festivities (yep, I tried dancing in ski boots). At 6, the Apres Ski places shut down to clean up for dinner. 
One of the best things about travelling alone is the number of people you meet. The second day I set out skiing with a woman from Austria who rips! We had a great day skiing and once again participated in Apres Ski. What a kick... I wish I had a video camera so that everyone could appreciate how amazing it is. When I decide to quit teaching and make my millions, I will open an Apres Ski place in the states!Austria exceeded all of my expectations and I can't wait to go back to ski there again this winter... hopefully I can convince friends to come too!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Snow Day!
As all little kids know... these are magic words! All weekend it has been snowing in Belgrade. We currently have about 1/2 a foot of snow and it is absolutely beautiful. It completely changes the whole city, and makes me really happy (even though someone knocked down my snowman).
Saturday, taking full advantage of the snow, we immediately headed to the top of Belgrade's sledding hill. They used to have a rope tow on the hill (and may put it back in if there is enough snow) and there are two mini ski lodges at the top....it looks like we are in the Alps right?
While there wasn't enough snow on Saturday for sledding, Sunday had plenty! We took our trash bags and made "Ghetto" skis and snowboards out of plastic and wood planks. We were quite the hit on the hill. One little boy told a Chrissy (wearing the white coat) "Wow, your yellow trash bag is really fast." We were pretty much entertainment for the entire crowd (and the only adults enjoying the snow).
Apparently, due to the weight of the wet snow on the power lines, a line went down at our lower school causing an electrical fire and destroying our server. The admin is meeting today to decide if they will cancel school Tuesday and Wednesday as well so that we can have a longer Thanksgiving break. I am rooting for it... there is no way to teach without computers right?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Slovenia Rocks my Socks!
I just came back from a crazy, but wonderful trip to Slovenia's Julian Alps. Jamie and Ethan are always up for a trip, so we decided to do a marathon 
weekend to meet up with Melissa in the Julian Alps. Melissa has decided teaching in Belgrade isn't her cup of tea, so is leaving on the 19th. In the meantime, she has been travelling throughout Bosnia and Croatia, and then met up with us in Slovenia. To get to Lake Bled (our homebase for the weekend), we jumped on an overnight train Friday after school. Somehow we ended up in first class (I assume it is because they looked at us and thought we deserved it), so our sleeping accommodations were fantastic. Comfy beds, a nice rocking train and cold medicine made for an incredible night's sleep. We arrived in Ljubljana early Sat. morning and headed straight for the mountains. Boy do I miss mountains.
Jamie, Ethan and I could barely contain ourselves as we checked into our room and immediately set out for some exploring of Vintgar Gorge. This super steep canyon has crystal Green waters and some killer rapids. Unfortunately, they are pretty log jammed, so I won't be kayaking them anytime soon. We walked along the boardwalk through the river canyon and then decided to go a bit off the beaten track. Long past the time we should have met Melissa, and 10 km from town, we realized that no one picks up hitchhikers in Slovenia--or maybe just not those who look like riff-raff like we do.
After meeting up with Melissa, we decided to explore Lake Bled. The lake has a castle on one side, an Island Church in the middle, and is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, they do not rent out paddle boats at night. We were 
somewhat sad to not be able to row out to the island, until we stumbled upon a boat on a dock. Some kind Slovenian had left it with oars all set up and untied. We decided to go on a covert mission to the island (yep, we are molding the minds of future leaders). Either the owner didn't mind us using his boat, or he didn't notice, but we left it back on his dock after our nighttime adventure.
Sunday was another beautiful day so we set out for Triglav National Park. Hiking in the mountains definitely did the soul some good--I didn't realize how much I miss the mountains! The slopes were steep, and I can't wait to go back. Perhaps next time, we will take advantage of the mountain huts for a backpacking trip.
We arrived back in Ljubljana at 9 Sunday night in time to catch an overnight train back to Belgrade. Of course, the train was an hour late, so we headed straight to school, still stinking in our hiking clothes... I am ready for my next weekend adventure!
weekend to meet up with Melissa in the Julian Alps. Melissa has decided teaching in Belgrade isn't her cup of tea, so is leaving on the 19th. In the meantime, she has been travelling throughout Bosnia and Croatia, and then met up with us in Slovenia. To get to Lake Bled (our homebase for the weekend), we jumped on an overnight train Friday after school. Somehow we ended up in first class (I assume it is because they looked at us and thought we deserved it), so our sleeping accommodations were fantastic. Comfy beds, a nice rocking train and cold medicine made for an incredible night's sleep. We arrived in Ljubljana early Sat. morning and headed straight for the mountains. Boy do I miss mountains.
Jamie, Ethan and I could barely contain ourselves as we checked into our room and immediately set out for some exploring of Vintgar Gorge. This super steep canyon has crystal Green waters and some killer rapids. Unfortunately, they are pretty log jammed, so I won't be kayaking them anytime soon. We walked along the boardwalk through the river canyon and then decided to go a bit off the beaten track. Long past the time we should have met Melissa, and 10 km from town, we realized that no one picks up hitchhikers in Slovenia--or maybe just not those who look like riff-raff like we do.
After meeting up with Melissa, we decided to explore Lake Bled. The lake has a castle on one side, an Island Church in the middle, and is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, they do not rent out paddle boats at night. We were 
somewhat sad to not be able to row out to the island, until we stumbled upon a boat on a dock. Some kind Slovenian had left it with oars all set up and untied. We decided to go on a covert mission to the island (yep, we are molding the minds of future leaders). Either the owner didn't mind us using his boat, or he didn't notice, but we left it back on his dock after our nighttime adventure.
Sunday was another beautiful day so we set out for Triglav National Park. Hiking in the mountains definitely did the soul some good--I didn't realize how much I miss the mountains! The slopes were steep, and I can't wait to go back. Perhaps next time, we will take advantage of the mountain huts for a backpacking trip.
We arrived back in Ljubljana at 9 Sunday night in time to catch an overnight train back to Belgrade. Of course, the train was an hour late, so we headed straight to school, still stinking in our hiking clothes... I am ready for my next weekend adventure!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Halloween in Belgrade
The beauty about teaching in Belgrade, and from what I understand- all of international teaching, is that you have a built in community of expats. This weekend was full of parties to celebrate Halloween and Oktoberfest. The weekend started out at the Canadian Embassy for a huge costume party. There were all sorts of costumes from blow up pink flamingos (My coworkers Jamie and Ethan) to people who had raided a local theater's costume department. My assistant principal, Eric, won the men's costume contest with an Afro wig and some crazy clothes (who makes skin tight plaid pants long enough for a guy who is 6'5"?). If you are wondering about the pink flamingos (I couldn't stop laughing), they were purchased recently at WALMART in the states... check em out!
Saturday was Oktoberfest at our director's house, followed by another Halloween party put on by a woman who works at the American embassy. Unfortunately, after Oktoberfest, all I wanted to do was go home and sleep... Monday, October 22, 2007
Black Mountains
The past weekend two coworkers and I had a "girls" weekend on the coast of Montenegro. Our plan was to meet at least half of the population of Montenegro, or Cerno Gora as they call it there. It may sound like a lofty aspiration, but is in actuality entirely possible as there are only around 600,000 people in the entire COUNTRY! I am convinced, however, that as soon as this place is "discovered" there will be a huge influx of citizens.
The coast was a very rugged and breathtakingly beautiful place. We hit the season just right as there were almost no tourists (besides aging Britains) and yet the weather was still pleasant, although not warm enough to swim. Our trip started out in Budva, your traditional beach town. There were palm trees and lots of beachside cafes with very few people. One of my coworkers, Chrissy has an Irish friend who owns a pub in Budva, and we wanted to make sure to find him. As it turns out, there is only one Irish pub in old town, a small area of town amongst the walls of an old fortress. This pub is NOT the English pub.
Colom showed us around Budva, and Kotor, a town at the tip of Southern Europe's deepest fjord. Kotor is home to an old fortress high on top of a mountain that rises straight up from town. We climbed the stairs to the top to enjoy some amazing views. On our way up, we thought two Japanese tourists wanted us to take their picture. Of course we agreed. The next thing we knew, we were IN a picture with an elderly Japanese couple.... I hope I make their photo album!
Kotor also has an old town. The old towns feel like a fairy tale as the streets are too narrow for cars, so it is entirely walking cobblestone streets. I felt as if I was in a different world. While I had a hard time understanding Colom, I believe he said that the Montenegran coast has a strong Italian influence from the trade ships way back in the day. This is supposedly why the old towns feel so different from the rest of Serbia.
On our third day (long weekends are the best) we headed down to check out Sveti Stefan, an old fishing village turned exculsive resort. It was considered the most exculsive resort in 1972 and was frequented by Sylvester Stallone. It is currently under construction, but still makes for quite the sight. The entire village is located on an island about 50m out to sea. It is connected by a man-made sand bridge and has stone walls the entire way around. Unfortunately, my camera broke so I do not have pictures after the first day of our trip. I can't wait to head back to Montenegro!
The coast was a very rugged and breathtakingly beautiful place. We hit the season just right as there were almost no tourists (besides aging Britains) and yet the weather was still pleasant, although not warm enough to swim. Our trip started out in Budva, your traditional beach town. There were palm trees and lots of beachside cafes with very few people. One of my coworkers, Chrissy has an Irish friend who owns a pub in Budva, and we wanted to make sure to find him. As it turns out, there is only one Irish pub in old town, a small area of town amongst the walls of an old fortress. This pub is NOT the English pub.
Colom showed us around Budva, and Kotor, a town at the tip of Southern Europe's deepest fjord. Kotor is home to an old fortress high on top of a mountain that rises straight up from town. We climbed the stairs to the top to enjoy some amazing views. On our way up, we thought two Japanese tourists wanted us to take their picture. Of course we agreed. The next thing we knew, we were IN a picture with an elderly Japanese couple.... I hope I make their photo album!
Kotor also has an old town. The old towns feel like a fairy tale as the streets are too narrow for cars, so it is entirely walking cobblestone streets. I felt as if I was in a different world. While I had a hard time understanding Colom, I believe he said that the Montenegran coast has a strong Italian influence from the trade ships way back in the day. This is supposedly why the old towns feel so different from the rest of Serbia.On our third day (long weekends are the best) we headed down to check out Sveti Stefan, an old fishing village turned exculsive resort. It was considered the most exculsive resort in 1972 and was frequented by Sylvester Stallone. It is currently under construction, but still makes for quite the sight. The entire village is located on an island about 50m out to sea. It is connected by a man-made sand bridge and has stone walls the entire way around. Unfortunately, my camera broke so I do not have pictures after the first day of our trip. I can't wait to head back to Montenegro!
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