From Frigid Ljubljana to Sunny Croatia and Beyond

As I sit here on my bed and stare out the window at the dense fog shrouding the city and the stubborn frost that remains clinging to the ground, I find it hard to believe that just one week ago I was revelling in the warmth and sunshine in some of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  It seems like those places are a world away and yet, in true European fashion, you really don't have to go far to find a place that is completely different.

From left to right: Me, Nicole, Lukas, Marcel

Looking back, it really was a whirlwind trip; about 1,800km altogether, seven different border crossings, and four different countries.  From Ljubljana we went down to the southern most point in Croatia and then we kept going into Montenegro and eventually made our way back through Bosnia and Herzegovina.  We spent a lot of time on the road and we were almost constantly on the move and yet I hardly noticed it. This probably had something to do with the awesome weather, and also just the excitement of being in a new place with more ahead of us.  A large part of it though, was the people I was with.  There were four of us altogether; Marcel and Lukas, two German guys, and Nicole, a fellow Canadian from Toronto.  Together, we piled into our rented Nissan something-or-other and just went along for the ride, not quite sure what to expect about any of the places we had planned ahead of us.  We all got along great, got to see some of the less visited places, and had a ton of fun in the process (this is from my point of view of course, but I'm sure they'd all agree with me).  Had time not been a constraint, as it almost always is, I would have gladly pushed on with them in that Nissan for another 1,800km.

Dubrovnik's Old Town as it looks from the outside.

Friday night we arrived at our first destination in Dubrovnik, Croatia to a downpour of rain but woke up the next morning to perfectly clear skies and bright sunshine.  Now, I've seen some pretty beautiful places in my 20 years, but Dubrovnik is something else.  The warren of alley ways that make up the Old Town are hemmed in by a fortified castle wall which juts out into the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic Sea.  Getting lost in the forest of terracotta-roofed buildings is a real possibility, and an exciting one at that.  The highlight though was walking along the top of the wall around the Old Town.  One of the benefits of travelling this time of year is that there aren't too many other tourists, in fact I probably could have been convinced that we were the only ones there had it not been for the others staying in our hostel.  This was the case when we did the wall walk.  For just under two hours we meandered around above the city and didn't run in to anyone else except for the guy who came to kick us out and lock up.  While on top of the wall, it didn't matter which direction you looked there was something to 'wow' you, whether it was Old
Town itself, the harbour, sections of the old stone wall, or the sun sinking into the horizon.  Sitting on a ledge with the warmth of the sun and the faint sea breeze, enjoying the view and the peace and quiet was an experience I will not soon forget.  As much as I would have liked in that moment  to just stay in Dubrovnik forever, it was just the beginning of our journey and I was equally excited to see what lie ahead.

Tightly packed buildings in the Old Town

From Croatia, we followed the coast into neighbouring Montenegro.  I really had no idea what Montenegro would be like.  Its not really a typical destination in that if you weren't already in the region you'd probably never think to go there.  Its only been an independent country since 2006 when it split from Serbia and a little over 20 years ago it, along with Slovenia, Croatia, and several others, was part of Yugoslavia.  Despite this last part, it was quite apparent that Montenegro is a different country.  In some instances the Cyrillic alphabet is used, giving a distinct Eastern European appearance to many signs and streets and it gave me the impression that the country was altogether different, although the Montenegrin language actually has a lot in common with Slovenian so most of these differences were likely all in my head.

A small section of Budva's beach.

While in Montenegro we stayed in a coastal town called Budva which, while nice, was clearly a summer resort town and not a popular destination in December.  It had a great looking beach with all kinds of restaurants and bars dotted across it, and had an Old Town similar to the one in Dubrovnik but far smaller.  We also spent half a day in the nearby town of Kotor which is located on a large bay that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site based on its natural beauty.  We hiked up to the ruins of a fortress on the hillside and got a view of the city and the surrounding mountain range which abruptly plummets into the waters of the bay.  It reminded me of what a Norwegian fjord must look like.

The Bay of Kotor

Eventually it was time to turn around and head back to Ljubljana but the drive, at least the first part, was a show in itself.  We decided to take a different route back and go part of the way through Bosnia.  Now, I'm talking about rural Bosnia.  The type of place where you shouldn't wander too far off the road because theres a good chance there's still some unexploded land mines out there.  I remember listening to a cousin of mine, Mike, tell stories about being a Peacekeeper in Bosnia during his time in the military.  This was quite a few years ago but in the big scheme of things its pretty recent.  The whole time we were in the country I couldn't help but think how weird it was to be a tourist in a place that was about to tear itself apart only a few years ago.  Despite this, from what I saw, there was nothing to give you this impression although Bosnia certainly lags behind its neighbours in terms of development ("highways" of varying condition which will occasionally turn into one lane without notice and ruined buildings everywhere).

We stopped in Mostar, Bosnia which is kind of a little Istanbul

Probably the biggest downside of travelling this time of year is that it gets dark before you know it, leaving you with a limited amount of time to actually do things.  Despite the fact that we left Budva early in the morning most of our return trip was in the dark, making it seem as though it took forever.  After a full day of driving we finally arrived home in Ljubljana in the evening, and it definitely felt as though we were home, which is a pretty cool feeling.

Thanks for reading,
Mitch