Donkey seemed especially unhappy this morning – was braying like crazy at around 6:30 so no more sleep. Bright blue sky and sun shining brightly on my tent. At least I got to do yoga for the first time since Saturday – it’s been years since I went 4 days in a row without, so it felt extra good.

Had a lovely breakfast – trying to use up the cheese I got yesterday so it doesn’t go bad if the weather actually stays warm. The package says ‘dutch’ but I would call it ‘swiss’ – whatever it is it’s delicious and I don’t like wasting good things!

Said goodbye to Angelika and Jochen and their dog Kalle (extremely well-behaved dog) – they issued another invitation to please visit them anytime in Germany. I would love to – perhaps Colin and I could arrange it, although it’s probably a little out of our planned route. Maybe next time!

Went for a ride – first stop was Cavour, where I asked a man on a bike where the bike routes around here are. He didn’t speak English, so I showed him one of the ‘useful phrases’ I had put in notes on the ipad. He nodded and led me to the ‘info’ centre where, together with the young boy on duty, got me a map of the area’s cycling routes and told me – it Italian with hand motions thrown in for good measure – how to find the nearest easy one.

Had a really good ride – first and last parts on ‘main’ roads without much traffic, and the middle part on very small side roads with almost no traffic. Rode southwest to Bagnolo, then took a very small road north to Campiglione Fenile, then back east to Cavour. It was very relaxing, except there is now a clicking noise on the front wheel that was annoying – will have to find out what’s making it.

Ended up at the same cafe as yesterday for another cup of tea, and to use their wi-fi. Facetimed Dom even though it’s 2 in the morning there. Had a nice chat but the reception wasn’t great and kept cutting out. Ate the cheese and veggies I brought as a snack while I caught up on news, etc.

Took a ride down a couple of roads with bike signs – I think I was heading south. Very pleasant and few cars, but didn’t go too far, as it might make a nice longer ride tomorrow. Headed back towards the campground and planned to stop at the market to get a few more things – but – closed for lunch – for 3 hours!

Decided to ride around a bit more to kill some time as they do seem to have a lot of bike trails – even some that don’t have any cars. Found a really nice pedestrian/bike path that winds almost all the way around the little mountain at the south end of town. The hill is called ‘Rocca di Cavour’ and looks like a very small Alp that’s all by itself on the plain 12-15 km away from all the big Alps. It’s a protected park and I believe there is a path up but I’d never make it on the bike.

Back at the main piazza in town I treated myself to some gelato – two flavours in a small cup. One was chocolate, with no milk so it was super strong flavour, and the other was creme – both very tasty and refreshing, but not too sweet.

Picked up a couple more things at the market on my way ‘home’ and made dinner. Little dogs came by on their ‘rounds’, big dog came not much later and visited for a bit. He sat on the ground cover I had out and demanded pats and scratches. Every time I stopped petting for more than a moment he was tapping my arm or leg with his paw to get some more.
The wind picked up suddenly and it started raining things from the trees above. I had to cover up my food and ended up moving to a bench in the playground that was under a different kind of tree. At least there’s no lightening, thunder or rain (yet).

Went and saw the menagerie – Mr. Donkey, two pens of sheep with little ones, one pen of goats, also with little ones, and a horse.

Despite how exhausted I was I slept pretty well. The storm had stopped, thank god – I think it’s the worst storm I’ve ever been in. Donkey was braying, dogs were barking – time to get up. They have 3 dogs here (at least that I’ve seen) – two of the smallest chihuahuas that I’ve ever seen – mother and baby, I think, both black with very large ears – and a golden lab that’s very gentle and wants all of the attention – he comes between me and the littles ones when I trying to pat them.

Took all of my gear out of the tent in the garage and set it to dry – hung two lines for wet clothes, did two ‘loads’ of laundry – hope it drys as it’s very cloudy out and my camping neighbours advised that there was another storm forecast for this afternoon.

The neighbours are leaving today and I’m going to take their spot which is much better. They are Margot and Russell, living now in London but originally from Australia (I knew they didn’t have British accents!). They gave me a really nice cup of coffee (my first in about 3 years) while we chatted. Russell had a look at my bike and agreed with Lutz – something wrong with the front wheel, probably to do with the bearings.

Putting dry feet and socks into my still-wet riding shoes wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The socks are doubled layered and kind of dry themselves from the inside – at least my feet weren’t freezing. Peddled into Cavour and asked directions to the bike shop (in Italian!) and was actually understood. Found the shop no problem – waited about 5 minutes then watched as the front tire was removed, and couple of things done, and voila – fixed. Took less than 5 minutes, and cost 3 euros.

Came to a cafe with wi-fi, but they don’t have food and I’m starving. Had a cup of tea, though. Asked the waitress where a nice restaurant was, and kind of understood her instructions. Took the ‘scenic route’ to get there with a couple of wrong turns, but did find it as she had told me the name. Walked in and decided it looked too fancy – besides the sky was looking a bit threatening again and I needed to stop for food supplies on the way back to camp. It started raining lightly as I rode towards camp, but I really had to get some food. Stopped at a market I’d seen on the way into Cavour – it had just about everything. Stocked up on stuff, including a perfect looking avocado. By the time I exited the store the rain had stopped and the sky was mostly blue. Rode back and brought my tent and all the bags to the camping spot that Margo and Russell had been at. Set everything out to dry a bit more, then made my lunch. The first ‘real’ food I’ve had in days – a huge salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, ham, carrots and the avocado (that was perfect – sometimes you can’t tell for sure until you open it up).

Just as I started to eat I noticed the sky was very overcast again. I figured I better setup my site before the rain came and was that ever a good decision. By the time I’d thrown all my bags in and brought all the clothes off the lines it was starting to rain. Grabbed my lunch from the bench I’d been eating on and fled into the tent just as the real downpour started. Sorted the clothes into ‘almost dry’ and ‘needs more time’ piles at each end of the tent and ate my salad.

Rain just poured and even though it was just past 1 in the afternoon the lightening lit up the tent – thunder only seconds behind almost shaking the ground. I tried not to freak out again, although it took a bit of nerve. Hoped it would pass over quickly – for now I was snug and safe, with a full belly and a cup of local red wine – I think I’m ok!

The major part of the storm passed over in about an hour, then I hung my still wet clothes out to dry – just a moment later it started to rain again. This time it was lots of rain, and only a bit of far-off lightening and thunder. It finally cleared up again after another hour or so.

Took a bit of a walk thru the orchards – lots of rows of pears followed by rows of apples and ending in a field of corn. I’m sure they have more but not on the path I took today – will have to explore more in a day or two.

I got some new neighbours this afternoon – Angelika and Jochen from Germany. They invited me over for a glass of wine – did I say no?? It still amazes me that I have not met one single person over here that likes Donald Trump or any of his retarded ideas or policies. They are all as amazed as I that not only did he get elected, but hardly any Republicans have said anything against his insane ideas or ramblings. It is just crazy.

Went to the Agritourismo next door and had dinner with Angelika and Jochen – they are so nice. We talked about so many things, and also the food was absolutely delicious – probably the best I’ve had so far. They grow most of their own food, or get it from neighbours – and it’s all organic! Started out with appies of cheese with some kind of cured meat and bread on one plate, and three veggie things on another, then went into the dining room for steak tartare with parmesan cheese, and chicken pate with blueberry sauce and excellent bread, as well as marinaded zucchini and two other things I wasn’t sure of but were also tasty. The main course was risotto with blueberries and was so good – it wasn’t actually sweet and I just loved it, and Angelika asked the cook for the recipe. Jochen had some grappa after dinner and I had a sip – hard stuff! It was such a nice dinner, and Jochen ended up paying for it all – don’t even know what the total was. I got their phone, address and email number and they said they would love for me to come visit them in Germany – maybe I will!

The bus was supposed to leave Zagreb at 2 am but was almost an hour late arriving. I think it was going all the way from Belgrade to Firenza. There was room for the bike after the driver moved a couple of suitcases around, but he made sure to tell me (through a kind interpreter that had helped me locate the right platform earlier) that the bus company was not responsible if any damage was done to the bike and that the bus wasn’t really equipped to carry it. Then he only charged me an extra 5 euros (about $7.50) for he bike and all of the bags.

The person in the seat behind me was fairly ‘entertaining’ – I don’t think I’ve ever heard more bodily noises from one person in my life. He started out by ripping a very long fart, then coughed, blew his nose, horked something up from his throat – it just went on and on the whole time. He had shoulder length grey hair and it sounded like he was trying to cough up a hairball or something. And then every once in a while he would start talking loudly to no one in particular, then mutter to himself under his breath.

Stopped at the Slovenian border – everyone had to get off the bus to file into a building and present passports/ID to the Croatian guard, then back on the bus, drove about 100 meters to the Slovenian building and same thing – off bus, into building, present to guard (got another stamp) then back on bus.

Beautiful sunrise – considering how late we left Zagreb we were only about 15 minutes late getting to Trieste. Loaded up the bike to walk across the street to the train station – mister entertainment saw the bike and started talking with me – he wanted to have a cup of coffee before I got the train, but I didn’t know how much time I would have, and I was a little wary of him (and his noises).

The first of the five trains I need to take to get to Pinerolo didn’t leave for almost 2 hours, so sat in a cafe and had some tea and re-charged the ipad and my back bike light. Got a pannini to go so I won’t starve on the train. One of the train changes I need to make only gives me six minutes, and another only nine – not sure how I’ll make it with all my gear, as some of the stations are huge with dozens of platforms.

Exchanged my Croatian kunas for euros – they wouldn’t take the Bosnian money at all. Went to wait at the platform and saw a fellow with a travelling bike – only his has a motor. His name is Karl-Heinz and he’s from Germany. He did tell me that the airlines won’t take bikes with motors, so it wouldn’t have worked for me to get one, although whenever I ride up a hill I wish I had one. Karl-Heinz only stayed on until the first stop so he can hit the road in a slightly safer place to ride – apparently drivers in Trieste are especially bad.

Ate a bit of the pannini – not too bad, it had some nice sun-dried tomatoes and lots of creamy white cheese of some sort, as well as the mushiest broccolini ever – had to put most of it out. At least it was on a whole-grain bun.

A couple more cyclists got on – Lutz from Germany and Suzanna from Sweden. We all got off to change trains in Mestre, which was great fun. My bike wouldn’t fit in the elevator so two very kind young girls helped me get it down the stairs and under the tracks to the right one, but getting it up the stairs to the right track wasn’t so easy. Some apparently kind fellows grabbed my bike and one other guy helped Suzanna then when we got to the top of the stairs they asked for money – shouldn’t surprise me. I didn’t give them any – so tired of people acting like they are nice and offering kindness, then finding out all they want is money I don’t have. The girls didn’t ask for anything and they tried to be just as helpful.

The train to Verona arrived and Lutz, Suzanna and I got on the first car – no hangers for bikes, but a nice wide flat space so we just stood there with them. Along comes the ticket-checking lady and tells us we have to get off at the next stop – there is a bike car and the other end of the train but it is full. She said there’s another train to Milano on the same track in 10 minutes and it may or may not have a bike car, that may or may not be full – she didn’t care that the bikes all had their own tickets, or that I was going to miss my connecting train.

Got off at the next stop, then headed to the far end of the platform. Suzanna and I headed to the WC – not easy following the signs, but made it back in time for the next train. Luckily there was a bike car and it was empty – room to hang 4 bikes. Lutz noticed that a couple of things are going wrong on my front wheel, so I need to take it to a bike shop asap. They finished their train trip in Verona, so I went on alone to Milano. The train station was absolutely huge, but I actually found my train with no problem. I went to put my bike in the first car I came to that had a wide flat area, but a train guy stopped me and said no – other end – and it was such a long train. Turns out he’s the conductor, and didn’t mind if I didn’t hang it from a hook like you’re supposed to. One other guy got on with a bike and off we went. By the time we got to our next destination of Chivasso there were four more bikes, but because mine was taking up all of one side of the bike carriage no one else could hang theirs – everyone was very nice about it though and two black guys helped me get it down the very large step when we arrived at my station. Final train to Pinerolo – the end of the line. Got here an hour later than I should have because of being bumped from the one train, but I likely wouldn’t have made the six minute change anyway.

Rode out of Pinerolo following directions from some folks on the street – eventually found the place with the help of a fellow working on the grounds of a church – he hardly spoke English but got his point across. Arrived at the campground right before the rain started – got the tent up just in time.

Had a really welcome shower and asked about wi-fi. The hosts kind of laughed and said ‘not when its cloudy’. The lightening is brighter than the light in my tent and the thunder is right over my head. They’ve offered to let me move my tent under cover if the rain gets too bad, but its kind of like a garage and I likely won’t like the smell. I’m starting to think about it though as the rain is pounding and the lightening and thunder are so very close.

OK – I did end up moving to the covered space. I was so exhausted and the lightening was so close I was sure it was going to hit the tree above me and I’d be squashed flat. I was actually praying out loud to my guardian angels to save me. I grabbed everything I could and splashed my way to the garage thru a flood on the driveway to cover – took five or six trips, the last one with the tent still fully intact upside down over my head. By the time I was done I was so soaked it was like I just got out of the shower again. And I probably shouldn’t have bothered because, of course, shortly later the storm moved a bit – I could still see faint flashes of lightening and hear thunder but it was much further away. Then the wind picked up and the tent fly was flapping like mad but I was so tired I didn’t care. Sleep was wonderful, even though I was on a cement floor in a garage and all of my clothes were either wet or dirty or both. I had been travelling a total of 34 hours by the time I got here, and all I really cared about was sleep.

Said goodbye to Mirza and Saed right around 10 and rode to the bus station. A little old man at the bus station recognized the maple leaf on my pannier – I couldn’t understand anything he said other than ‘Canada’ so he pulled out his wallet and showed my an address label for someone he knows in Burnaby! Checked out the train station next door – no trains from Sarajevo to Italy, so back to the bus station.

No problem with my bike this time, although the two drivers were about to remove the front wheel when I stopped them just in time. They decided to use the larger bay instead and bike and bags all fit nicely. The trip was long and the bus, which started out with only 4 of us on board, was almost full by the time we got half-way to Zagreb.

The first part of the trip was thru lots of mountains, then about half-way the mountains ended and it got very flat, although you could see hills in the distance.

A little lady sat down beside me and fed me crackers (very salty) and chocolate mints. She didn’t speak any English, but was very sweet. About six hours into the trip we passed about a mile of semi-trucks all sitting on the highway, and even on the on-ramps from other roads. I wondered if there was an accident or something, but cars and even our bus were passing them very slowly and carefully using half of the oncoming lane. Turns out there was no accident – all the trucks were in line to go across the border to Croatia. Our bus stopped and a Bosnian guard got on and took all of our ID’s away – got them back in 15 or 20 minutes. We then drove across a bridge and stopped again, this time all disembarking and going one at a time to a guard’s window where they took the ID and scanned it (I think – that’s what it looked like from outside the guard shack) – got a stamp on it too.

After the border crossing we drove about 1/2 mile and stopped at a cafe so the drivers could have some coffee. Time at least to buy some water and a sandwich (chewiest bread ever!) and use the WC.

Finally arrived in Zagreb just about on time – around 9 at night. I immediately went to the ticket place and asked about buses to Italy – next one is at 2 am to Trieste. Since I had time I then rode to the train station – eventually found it after stopping several times to ask people for directions. The ticket window for international trains was closed until 6 tomorrow morning, and the bus I asked about will be in Trieste by 6:40 so decided to take the bus.

There was a concert in the large park across from the train station – some opera, I believe, and hundreds, if not thousands of people watching for free.

I didn’t watch too long as I was worried that the bus ticket window would close so went back and bot my ticket. As usual they couldn’t tell me if my bike would get on, or how much it would be – seems completely up to the drivers. I hope that since it’s a night bus it won’t be so full and getting the bike on won’t be an issue.

Got a cup of tea at an all-night cafe at the bus station – pedestrian ‘walk’ light has a bell that doesn’t stop beeping – it’s driving me nuts, but also keeping me awake so I’ve been sitting here for an hour and a half so far.

Got up in time to see the last of the Czechs off, ate breakfast of left-overs from yesterday’s lunch. Packed up all my stuff again and did a pile of laundry. My laundry bag has sprung a second leak – I’ll try to fix it with my tire-repair glue, otherwise it’s going to get chucked.

Walked down to the sports cafe again that has the good wi-fi. Spent 2 hours there and drank one cup of tea, but did get a chicken pita sandwich to take home. Looked into buses and/or trains to Italy – it’s one thing to think I know a route but my experience here has been that it’s another thing to actually go to the station and get what I want. I’m not planning to be in a hurry tomorrow to get myself to the bus/train station (they are in the same place here). I’m just going to get there whenever is convenient for me and see what happens. I know that there are many buses a day from Sarajevo to Zagreb, which is a large hub for transit to/from Italy and will be able to continue on from there one way or another.

The old city is very different on Sunday than the other days I’ve been here. Mostly only the cafes and a few shops are open, and there’s only a fraction of the people (ie: tourists – not me!!) milling about and taking pictures.

Went into the courtyard of one of the larger mosques (the Gazi Huzrev Bey’s Mosque) since it wasn’t so crowded as it was on the other days – they wouldn’t let me into the mosque itself, though, as I was wearing shorts, but I did get some good pic’s.

It’s another very hot and sunny day here – I can’t imagine what July will be like. My hosts are busy cleaning all of the rooms for the next bunch of guests – 17 or 18 Hungarians are arriving later today on their way to the coast.

I’ve been moved to a different room – a nice private ‘double’ room with my own shower and toilet just outside, so no strangers coming and going thru my room to get to theirs.

Did a patch job on my laundry bag – we’ll see how it works next time I use it. Tightened my bike seat up, and checked the tires, etc in preparation for riding to the bus/train station tomorrow.

I could hear live Arabic music coming from the old city – apparently it’s the end of Ramadan today and there will be large celebrations.

Had a short nap, then joined Sead for his daily walk up the hill. And what a ‘hill’ it was! – the incline at times must have been almost 45%. Walked to a lookout point that had cafes and lots of people, then walked down the other side. It’s apparently part of a national park now, and the ‘back side’ of the mountain was very peaceful and quiet. You could see where the Serbian army was on all of the hilltops around during the last war, and now they have their own area inside Bosnia and Herzegovina on parts of the hills.


Got back to the hotel later than I had expected, so ate a very late dinner and decided not to go down to the old city after all, even though I can still hear music and celebrations. The Hungarians did arrive, but were later than expected because they had vehicle problems of some sort.

The Hungarians didn’t arrive back at the hotel until about 1 minute to midnight, but were very quiet as they tiptoed thru my room to get to theirs (I just happened to be awake). There was a terrific storm at some point – lightening was so close it lit up the room, and the thunder shook the bed. Rain just poured, but I don’t think it lasted too long – glad I wasn’t in my tent.

The party of 55 Czechs arrived two hours early – I was still packing my stuff up when they arrived and filled the courtyard. I put my bags in the corner under the arbour for now as it would be nice if the ground dried out a bit before I pitch my tent for the night. The Czechs are leaving tomorrow so it’s only for one night, then I can have the room back.

Walked down to the old city again, stopped at the large graveyard and had a better look around. Most of the markers are for folks that died in the siege/war – death dates seem to be mostly 1994-95. Such a stupid, stupid waste of lives.

Got more cash from a machine, then found a cafe that doesn’t mind me just getting a cup of tea and using their wi-fi (which is very good – not like at the hotel). Stayed there for almost 2 hours, then got some food to go – the local speciality of ‘meatballs’ (more like sausages) with meat pattie in a huge pita-like bread with tomatoes and chopped cabbage (or something). Got some more fresh veggies at the store on the way ‘home’.

Ate lunch as usual under the arbour then the Czechs started arriving from their various outings a few at a time. One unlucky fellow had his wallet stolen out of his pocket – what a drag. Pitched my tent under the cherry trees in the back yard. Heard back from Colin – plan to meet in Pinerolo Italy on or about July 6. I should be able to get there by Tuesday or Wednesday, so will be there for a week or so before Colin arrives.

I had another long chat with Mirza’s brother Sead – they, along with their father own the hotel/hostel/campground. They seem to like talking with me – we’ve had many long conversations. I think that they think I’m kind of strange – no woman they know would ever dream of doing what I’m doing (or be allowed to by their husband!).

Had a nice visit with a couple of the young Czechs – Chantal and Marketa. They had a really nice outlook on politics and life in general. Maybe there is hope for the next generation after all.

Went for another walk to the old city shortly after sundown so I could face-time Dom, then came back and visited with Mirza, Sead and 3 different young Czechs. The chaperone came and advised the girls not to stay up too late as they’re heading out at 8 in the morning.

The Hungarians didn’t arrive until about 2:30 in the morning – they were caught up at the border for some reason. I barely noticed them passing thru my room to theirs, and slept in until around 8. A bit of a late start, but I’m really in no rush right now.

Rode along the south side of the river Miljacka west as far as I could toward my destination of Ilidza – mostly all wide paved cycle/walking paths.
When the highway veered a little southwest, still had nice marked cycle path, that turned into a sidewalk, that then turned into a narrow winding cowpath thru the weeds at the side of the highway. Made it to Ilidza, and rode down the ‘promenade’ to the source of the Bosnia river. The promenade is 3.5 km long and is very beautiful with large trees on both sides – some cars must drive along it, but I didn’t see any.

There are large beautiful ‘estates’ along the way, but mostly the traffic is horse-drawn carriages taking people to and from the large park where the springs are.

Rode around in the park – saw the springs that birth the river – right up next to the mountain.

When I tried to leave the gate I had entered the park by was closed so found another one – I think I got in a back gate that was open for a delivery of some kind, because the one that I was able to get out of had a booth that I think you were supposed to pay to get in.

Rode back up the promenade and was pretty tired but since I was so far out of the city decided visit the ‘tunnel of life’ that helped get food and other supplies to the people of Sarajevo during the 1992-95 war. Even though I had a map I had to stop more than once to ask directions – some folks were more helpful than others. Once I crossed a highway and was kind of heading in the right direction I ended up at a cement works (or something). A lady washing her car called over the gate-guard who did his best to direct me – even tried to draw me a map. Then another guy came along on a motorbike – they told him where I wanted to go, then told me to follow him. He drove fairly slowly, although I had to really work to keep up (luckily it was very flat terrain). He led me all the way to the place, and even made sure they gave me a place to lock my bike up!

The tunnel exhibits and history were very moving – it was 800 metres long and went right under where the UN forces were during the war, in a very narrow bottle-neck between the ‘free’ part of Bosnia and the city of Sarajevo. I’m not sure what the UN did at the time (useless??), but over 11,500 people were killed in the 1,425 days of the siege, including 1,601 children. Apparently the Serbian army that surrounded Sarajevo didn’t know the precise location of the entrance and exit of the tunnel, and were never able to stop things from flowing. Foreign reporters holed up in the Holiday Inn supposedly knew about the tunnel, but strangely hardly mentioned it in their writings – it is assumed that they didn’t want to give anything away that would doom the city and it’s inhabitants. One end of the tunnel was actually in a house and the family is credited with helping save the city and after the war ended made sure at least part of it was preserved.


Long ride back to the old city – very hot and dripping sweat. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast around 9, so stopped at a donair shop and got a ‘large’ – 5 km! Pushed the bike up the hill to the hotel – I’m glad I took a taxi from the bus station the afternoon I arrived as pushing it up with all my gear would have been extremely difficult.

Had a really nice warm shower – felt almost human again afterwards. Wolfed down 3/4 of the donair and sat under the grape arbour again. Had another nice chat with Mirza.

Got a much better, longer sleep – didn’t get up until 7:45 – quite late for me. Had a nice hot shower, did yoga, ate breakfast on the lower deck under the grape arbour, then walked down to the old city with the stuff I’m sending home.

At first the lady at the post office had to go thru a very large book to see if the ‘metal’ things I was sending were ok (saw page after page with ‘Kanada’ on them). At last she said it would be ok and we found a box that was perfect for the various size and shape of objects I had. Ended up being almost 2.7 kilos, or about 10% of the weight I had been carrying. Hope if makes a difference – at least the bags won’t be so full so packing them down will be easier.

Went to the ‘Museum of Sarajevo 1878-1918’ that is at the spot where Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot in 1914. It was really pretty good – the display area wasn’t huge, but there was a large inter-active computer screen that had lots of different stories about the city and history going back further than 1878. I found out that the name Sarajevo means ‘palace in the fields’, which I thought was quite lovely.

I spent over an hour in the museum, then walked around a bit and picked a nice quiet spot for lunch. It was on a very small back-alley that didn’t have a lot of the normal foot traffic. I was the only customer at the time and ordered a nice cup of black tea and a salad of some sort – she said it had ‘cheese’ so I went for it. Salad turned out to be quite refreshing – lots of cheese (think it was goat’s cheese – white and salty) lots of tomatoes and lettuce (picked out the large onions and yellow peppers).

Got some other restaurant’s free wi-fi signal so caught up on emails, etc. Colin can meet me in France about a week earlier than planned so if I leave here in a couple of days and slowly make my way to France (via Italy? Or Germany?) it should work out ok.

Back at the hotel to sort out my pic’s – another thunderstorm happening in the mountains, but no rain again (at least not yet).

Did more laundry then ate dinner (left overs from chicken dinner last night). Chatted some more with Mirza, and went back down to the ‘old city’ shortly after the sun-down fireworks went off. Just walked around awhile, then came back ‘home’. The Hungarians are apparently hung up at the border so won’t be here until after midnight, and they have to pass thru my room to get to their room.

Nice and quiet in the room, but didn’t sleep too well. Walked down to the old city and strolled around a bit.

When I was studying one of my maps a guy came up and asked if I needed a guide – I asked how much and he said whatever I wanted – he was a history student and wanted to practice his English. We agreed on 10 KM (about $5) and off we went. He was very knowledgeable and had interesting stories.

I saw the place where Franz Ferdinand was killed that started WW1 as well as a lot of other stuff – he seemed to know about all of the most famous buildings and places.

There’s one road that has a mosque, a christian church, a Jewish temple and a Catholic cathedral and he knew the date each was built and sometimes re-built, and by whom. The cathedral has one spot that was shelled during the 1992-5 war and the holes have been painted red – they now call it the roses.

Spent about an hour sightseeing, then took myself to one of the places my host Mirza had recommended as having authentic Bosnian food. It reminded me of one of the Greek places Sue and I went to in Olympia, Greece in 1985 – all of the food was already prepared behind the glass and you just pointed to what you wanted. A little bit of English by the cook helped, or I might have ended up with a portion of okra (yuk!!). I ended up with a stuffed tomato, two stuffed vine-leaves, a large meatball and a fair-sized portion of pasta with carrots and beans (which was very tasty). Grand total 7 KM. Only down-side was they didn’t serve tea and my water bottle was getting empty.

Walked past a post-office and inquired about shipping a box of stuff back home – price depends on weight and you also pay hefty customs. Picked up some fresh veggies and more water at a store on the way back to the pension/hotel, then sorted thru my stuff to see what I can get rid of. Ended up with a nice little pile of things that I don’t really need or haven’t used much. Hopefully this will make loading and packing the bike around a little easier.

Chatted again with Mirza – he said he’ll probably go down to the old town this evening as there’s apparently lots going on at night there so I invited myself to go with him. We left shortly after the sun-down fireworks went off. Tons of people – some places were more crowded than they were this morning. Stopped to walk part way thru one of the many cemeteries on the way.

Mirza went to one of his favourite restaurants so I also ordered a bit of food – a ‘small’ order of chicken with a half-piece of bread. Luckily I order the small – a regular size would have fed me for two days! It’s very tasty too, and of course very cheap.

Walked around for awhile then picked up some fresh baked thing for his dad on the way home. Late night for me – around 11 when we got back.

Packed up and hit the trail for Mostar around 10:45 – sad to say good-bye to Sandra and the owner.

The ride to Mostar wasn’t too bad until the last few miles when the small, quiet road became a big busy one.

There’s only two trains a day to Sarajevo but the buses go every couple of hours. I was nervous about putting the bike on another bus, but the drivers could not have been nicer. They did everything for me and it only cost an extra $3.75 for the bike and all my bags. The drive to Sarajevo was awesome – really tall craggy mountains all along the Neretva river (at least most of the way was along the river). Very stunning scenery.

The bus station was a lot further from the campsite I’d chosen than I thought it was going to be so I took a cab instead of trying to ride with all my gear. It’s actually a house with a small yard in the back, but rather than pitching my tent I opted for a shared room – there’s no one else here right now so it’s actually a private room with bathroom and everything. The host (Mirza) is really nice and spent quite a while chatting with me and telling me all about the sites around here. We’re just a little way up a hill from the old town, so there are tons of places within walking distance, as well as a bike path that goes for miles.

The sundown fireworks just went off – taking that as my cue to shower the road dirt off and get to bed early. There’s a bit of a view of the city from the bedroom window, as well as the outside upper deck.