Marlin + Knife = spearfishing

We had big plans for the Black Sea. As we headed towards the Bulgarian coastal town of Varna we talked about various adventures we might pursue, from diving a submarine shipwreck to spearfishing. The possibilities seemed endless and we'd have great stories that would last a lifetime. It didn't occur to us that our story would involve a doctor who runs his roadside emergency care service wearing slippers and watching Bulgarian soap operas. Or that the lasting reminder would be my now numb left thumb.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Since we had a few days booked in Varna we figured we'd start off slow and just have a leisurely afternoon picnic at one of the many sandy beaches lining the water.

We had the usual food suspects in our pack: bread, cheese, lunch meat, tomatoes, and fruit, this time a couple of oranges. I had seen Mark peeling an orange with his pocketknife a few days earlier and since the peel was pretty tough I figured I could do the same. You see where this is going, right?
So, of course moments later, I'm bleeding all over the nice white sandy beaches. And I mean all over. Clumps of bright red sand now litter the beach as Mark hurriedly tries to pick up all our stuff. Fortunately I had happened to see a sign for an emergency care facility at a nearby hotel. The emergency care facility was in fact a hotel room on the first floor. And our very friendly doctor greeted us wearing his boxer shorts, white undershirt tank top and slippers. After I unwrap my finger (which has now bleed through the white hotel sheet we had been using at the beach) he assures us stitches won't be necessary. But all manner of stinging disinfectant solutions were necessary. At least I had the Bulgarian soap to distract me. Then he bandaged me up and told me to try not to get it wet for the next three days, perfect for things like diving and spearfishing.
And now, a week later as I look at the gash in my thumb that will likely scar and keep making Mark push on the part of my thumb that's numb to see if the feeling has returned yet I figure I've got my memento of Bulgaria. And while Mark didn't get to spear any fish, he did watch the Marlin spear herself.

Sofia Surprise

When we looked at the guidebook on Sofia, it warns the traveler to not expect much. Surprise!! This is actually not a bad little spot! We stayed at a great little family run hostel, with free breakfast, and a plate of pasta and glass of beer for dinner included in the cheap cost of your room. Plus there was a kitty. The other thing I'm doing in the picture is burning movies for those sleepless night trains, also an included feature of the hostel though not advertised ;)
Another great Sofia surprise was the mountain backdrop of the city, that assists you in your climb to the summit with gondola and great views.We wandered around the ski hill, that is converted into a hiking and mountain biking haven during the summer.
And then there is the food :)
potato, cheese, egg on a hot skillet (patatnik), and then Chicken in oil, and butter, and lard, and bacon fat, and cooking spray, and topped with oil and lard and melted cheese, and some car grease. This is me restarting my heart at the halfway point

Sofia - a great beginning to Bulgaria

Belgrade Bully

I'm going to keep Belgrade brief since, again, we have no pictures to accompany our thoughts on Belgrade. Why no pictures, you ask? Because like Mark said, we were coming off a week of beautiful Croatian coastline like the picture of Dubrovnik here. (Yes, I'm cheating, I know).
We arrived in Belgrade to ridiculously hot weather. All of Europe was in a heat wave but I'm convinced we were at the epicenter. So that didn't help our sight seeing efforts on the first day. Day 2 we went to Belgrade's very nice citadel turned park. I'd show you pictures, but I forgot the camera that day. Hmmm. We had a fantastic traditional Serbian restaurant with a very untraditional name of "?"
What the hell. Is this Vegas? But, the goulash was to die for. But you don't need a picture of that either.
The other highlight of our stay in Belgrade was Mark's fight with the night janitor at our hotel. Again, I didn't have the camera to record the event for posterity. Short version: night janitor (or something, we weren't exactly sure who he was) got mad that we had the computer plugged in. He started yelling in Serbian and pointing at our cable and practically ripped the cord from the wall. Now, as you all know, Mark is usually a very even keel guy, with a sweet temperament. What some of you may not know, is you don't touch Mark's electronic/computer/cords attaching to any said electronic or computer device. It is funny really because, usually Mark does not fully utilize his athletic build and 6'7" -ness. That's nice guy Mark. But when necessary (as in the case of Serbian janitor man starting in on us)... Mark has the ability to swell to the full potential of his size. Any guesses on who won this bilingual fight?
What does all this have to do with Belgrade? Not much. But we left for Bulgaria next... and we've got the pictures to prove it.

The Night Train

I'm going to try and describe what its like to be 6'7" on a night train with 5 people in one hot 100 degree cabin. First let's introduce the personalities of our cabin. 22 year old Montenegran student with aspirations of graduating with a masters in physical education which would let him secure a career as lifeguard. 18 year old sister in full panic that the test she writes tomorrow at noon is her last chance to go to college or she'll end up at Montenegro's Jr College. But what can that possibly mean!!...when you have to get a masters to be a lifeguard in this country?!? Of course there is Katy, a joy to be around :) and last but most certainly not least... The Marlboro Man. Age 70 or 35 without adding cigarette years. Nah seriously he was probably 50, if its possible to smoke a pack of cigarettes every hour, this is the man that can do it. The train starts moving, there is a slight breeze beginning to circulate in the cabin with the window being down, cold sweats 18 year old insists on having the window up, because she's freezing. Hasslehoff has his eyes closed and is somewhere on the beach rescuing 10 chicks at the same time. And the Marlboro man, having been sitting still for the last 2 minutes from last smoke break has just left the cabin for a puff. We're 2 minutes into our 9 hour train ride. After about 15 minutes the Marlboro man wants to get some shut eye, which means the lights get turned out and we all bunk down. I'm pretty sure I know how uncomfortable it is to be an unborn child. Not a lot of wiggle room would describe my middle bunk, I could stretch out if I put my chin to my chest, and assumed the cannon ball position. I don't think I was actually ever asleep at any point for the next 9 hours. Partly because of the revolving door used by Marlboro man to get up and down in the night. That and if he wasn't outside, upon opening my eyes he was sitting in his bunk looking at me. I've also now started playing the window game with "cold sweats". Basically the routine went like this. If I could smell smoke it must mean Marlboro man was outside cabin (Mark closes eyes); No smoke?! Marlboro is back in cabin and assuming the stare down position (Mark opens eyes and window)...Smoke?! close eyes...cold sweats thinks I'm sleeping and closes window. Repeat.

Montenegro

We've got as many pictures of Montenegro as we do of Pisa. Maybe its when you're coming off a week of sitting beside the Adriatic, that it is hard to get motivated to hit the road with pep in the step again. We took a bus to Bar - Montenegro's coastline, the beginning of the railway to get to Belgrade. On the bus we met a newlywed couple with similar nationalities as ours. Only she was the Cannuck (Vancouver) and he was the "yank" (Tennessee) which I've learned after living in the US, that a "yank" to Americans is not just any part of the country but specifically the north eastern seaboard. They provided entertainment to our bus ride as it was only after a 2 minute stop, where Vancouver Canada decided to get off the bus for a water closet break, and the driver wanted to take off, pulled the bus out, and we watched husband plead for 1 more minute. At this point the Montenegran bus crew has no time for this and start backing the bus out of the station. It was like a scene in Babel. Nobody on the bus helping, just watching this guy in the aisle panic that he is going to leave his wife behind. He stalls them by saying he wants to get off the bus, but he needs a moment to collect his things. As he is slowly packing up his seat, there is wife, running back to angry montenegran bus. It was pretty non eventful really, but I complimented Tennessee on his stalling tactics, and moments later we got chatting with them. Turns out its a small world, Vancouver played volleyball for BC provincial teams, and knew a few of my old teammates from Calgary, and Edmonton. Tennessee then try his luck with Susan, Sally and Jeff from Canada, and maybe I knew them too. I mentally slapped Tennessee at that moment. I thought about countering with Billy Bob, Wilbur, and Ricky Bobby from Deep South but decided I had better not. Katy was on a mission for AC, which we spent most of our time in bar looking for, as for the sights of Bar, what we can tell you about it is ... well let's be honest, not a damn thing.
Ive decided that this is the worst posting we've done. its funny because as I write this in Varna Bulgaria we're listening to a song playing in the coffee bar with chorus "Shut The F*&* Up".
Done

A Tale of Two Dubrovniks

Dubrovnik has the wow factor in spades. This sunset gave a repeat performance every night while we sat comfortable on the patio of our apartment listening to the waters of the Adriatic and sipping wine or beer.
This is the view looking back at the patio. JP complained that he wished to be closer to the water. Ha, ha.
Mark had a 6 pack of Kaiser beer and therefor had no complaints.
Dubrovnik is near the very southern most point of Croatia's long rugged coastline. It has the dual attraction of beautiful rocky beaches and the famous walled old city. And hard as it was to pull ourselves away from our apartment we did make it into old town Dubrovnik a couple of times.
The first time was miserable. Not the city. The oppressive heat. And I mean oppressive. I was walking through the old walled city and fantasizing about this blue water back at our apartment.
Wall, check.
Cathedral, check.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, check, check, check.
We smartened up for a second trip into town and did an evening dinner and suddenly the old town was as beautiful as promised with white marbled streets and plenty of outdoor cafes.
But, oh how that Adriatic beckoned. After four days of living the live of leisure in Dubrovnik, mom and dad headed back to Italy to catch a flight back to California. Mark and I stayed on for a couple more days we finally packed it up to head even further south to Montenegro.
It is a place we would heartily recommend and easily return to.

Passing through Bosnia

We've now traveled through a good chunk of the Baltic region that used to comprise Yugoslavia. And no other region suffered more bloodshed in the breakup of Yugoslavia than Bosnia. And as a former news person, I certainly have seen plenty of war-torn images of Bosnia. Croatia has the majority of the Adriatic coastline but on our bus ride from Split to Dubrovnik we traveled through the little bit of coastline Bosnia has claimed. Suffice it to say, the Bosnia we saw was nothing like the Bosnia I've seen on video clips in the newsroom. The scenery was stunning and the towns were picturesque and serene. I can only hope the rest of Bosnia is working towards becoming the Bosnia we traveled through.