Maurane arrived on Wednesday evening, and the hotel receptionist believed her that she was staying with me and that she could come straight up to the room. Whilst you may ask questions about their security procedures, this meant I could be in my pyjamas (for the last time, as she has brought me a new,…

I have wanted to come to Venice for a long time. What has stopped me? Well, first, I had this girlish notion that I would come with someone I was in love with. Secondly, I was worried that it would not live up to EPCOT’s Italy pavilion/the Venice casino in Las Vegas. Well, the time…

Yesterday we awoke to an absolutely beautiful day, so beautiful that Briony (having done some research) worked out that she did not need to travel back to Ljubljana as the airport is actually between the two places. Therefore, she had time to climb up to Castle Bled and around the lake, and here we have…

Briony was safely collected from Ljubljana bus station (in the rain), and we had a did a short walking tour of the main sites. Chirstmas has now fully begun, and it seemed like the entire population of Slovenia (plus tourists) were in Ljubljana for the switch on: We did manage a traditional meal though (including…

On Wednesday morning, I (literally) waved goodbye to my travel companion for this leg and enjoyed my last day in the sunshine wandering around Zagreb. As you can see from the photos below, Christmas has almost arrived in Croatia: I treated myself to a 64-second ride on the funicular, which really does only cost 66…

Today (Monday), we had a plan, we were booked onto the 8.14am direct train from Split to Zagreb. We arrived at the station with plenty of time, made our way to platform 2 (were I sat in something sticky and did then vigorously rubbed my bottom with a wet wipe!), and then noticed that the…

So, I awoke this morning (yesterday) to a beautiful vista from my “sea view” room (with balcony no less): As usual, our day in a new city started with a walking tour. Split is the second largest city in Croatia and dates back to late Roman times. However, for much of the Roman era there…

Yesterday was my last day in Sarajevo, and my last tour was entitled “The Fall of Sarajevo.” This focused on locations related to the siege of Sarajevo. During the Bosnian war, Sarajevo was under siege for 1,425 days (from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996), during which time 11,541 people were killed, of which…

I am never sure how I feel about visting places of absolute horror as a tourist, partly I feel that it is important to see these places, to hear what happened and to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself. However, I also worry that it is a bit voyeuristic or intrusive and perhaps should be…

Today (Wednesday), I went on a day trip to Herzegovina. So, Bosnia Herzegovina is actually made up of three different regions/states – Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Srpska Republic. Sarajavo is in Bosnia. Tomorrow, I am going to Srpska Republic and today Herzegovina. Herzegovina is the southwestern part of the country and as it is over the…