Hallowe'en in Bosnia

Saturday there was an option for hiking. I had made the sightseeing the day before, but this was definitely not going to happen. I slept in.

I had bought cereal the day before, so I was able to chill and watch part of a movie called "the Hangover" with a few of the guys. It was perfect lol. I wasn't actually too shabby considering the night before, but I was not about to go run laps.

I had to figure out a costume! There were some fake flowers won for me at Oktoberfest, plus some glitter stuff... Then there is my tree tattoo... The veggie pants might work as something...

Alltogether it looked like I could be a fairy or something. I shoved a pillow in my stretchy backless shirt and became an "Earth Momma"... but it was scratchy and rather uncomfortable having a pillow belly (I can only imagine how uncomfortable a real one would be after that damn) so I only wore it for a while at the hostel.

I cleaned myself etc, but I was starting to feel this stupid head pain bullshit return so I decided that I should just lay down and have a nap before this night's party, since it would probably be epic. A group of us went for dinner before I lay down though:




I like the chevapchichi here quite a bit :)

After I woke up and put on my sparkles etc, it was time to go out to the same bar I was in the night before! Let the Halloween photos begin!











There were loads more pictures of other people, but I am not sure how the acquaintances/strangers feel about being put on a random blog...

So you are stuck with ones of me for now...

The party was mayhem and debauchery as expected. They played DnB later in the night when there was more space on the dance floor, so I even got to rock out proper! I met loads of people, saw hilarious costumes, drank rakia and beer... had an excellent Halloween :) I don't know what happened to everyone, but when I was walked back to the hostel at 5-5:30 am there was still a decent group of people drinking and talking in the kitchen! I have no idea how long I was in there for, but someone got me started on Canadian politics (bad idea to do this when I am drinking) so I think I was up for a while...

Sightseeing and the Postman Party

I struggled to get up after all the wine then beer consumed the night before... not surprisingly, my headache had returned. There was a walkabout the city planned for noon though, so I got my ass out the door and ate some Burek yumm yumm.



We went for a walk around the city and ended up at this lovely tea house:






More couchsurfing people started showing up! We turned into a good crowd here - I have a couple photos of me from this taken by Nebojsa on his fancy camera :D

Next we went up a hill for a nice view of the city:











After the walk I tried to kick my pain by going back to the hostel with some girls to try mulled wine. I could only have two mugs of it though, since the pills were making me feel funny and I was adjusting to all the social activity after being quiet with my parents for three weeks. The wine was nice though; I had never had hot spiced wine before and it was very comforting!

I went out and the food and wine helped a lot. The Postman idea (giving anonymous notes to people then finding who sent it essentially) was great for talking to people, and there were a few Canadians plus a dude from Seattle so I was not the only Candadian hehe.












I got back to my usual self once the stupid headache went away. I tried wine with coca cola; it was not the best combo but it was drinkable!

After this dinner we were going to some club. We walked all the way down there...



to find that it was dead. I was communicating with Lily at this point, so I opted to meet her at a different bar. Some people had paid cover to go into this first one (to find it empty that's how we knew) but a chunk of people came to this other bar where I met Lily and her new Spanish bf :) We drank some more wine and had a good time :D There was live music going on upstairs but it was too packed to get up there for long.. so we found a little table and huddled :)

I was the last one in my hostel room I think, although it was hard to tell cause I trying to drunkenly be quiet...

Sarajevo Party Begins

I woke up with the same annoying headache. I was not impressed, so I went out and got some food and tea hoping to settle it down. If it was still there I could at least buy painkillers for the first time on this whole trip ( I can't take them if I don't eat - I get sick). A server at the cafe asked for my number, and I realized that since I was with Floh a lot lately, that hadn't happened in a while. It was flattering, but I said no. Stupid headache was still there so I had to do some sign language gestures with the pharmacy people to get something I assumed was painkillers.

They were, and they were strong. I took two thinking it would kill it for sure... it did. I also felt weird. I felt like my skin was vibrating, and my body was moving around as well. But at least the pain was gone so I could walk around and see some sights.












I had never been anywhere with lots of mosques, so this was new to me. I wasn't sure if I could go in them though, so I didn't try. I went shopping. I found my patch, bought gloves and shoelaces (both things I needed), and looked at other stuff since I was now going to go home so I could load up a little. Didn't end up buying anything though.

I came back to the hostel quite pleased with the stuff I bought! I got a hold of Ljiljana, a girl I had met while in Berlin, and arranged to go out with her and a few of her workmates for a drink. She picked me up near the hostel and we went to this really cute place :) There were plants all over the place, lots of green and wood. I liked it quite a bit! We were there with her coworkers since one girl was leaving.

They showed me traditional food, and we had some wine. Ljiljana and I moaned about how we loved Berlin and then I drank more wine. They were very nice people working for an organization named Save the Children :)



I suppose I should now explain something. I was in town because there was a big meeting of couchsurfers going on. I had arrived early to settle in, but now people were starting to show up for this weekend "Balkan Mafia" Halloween party. I got a text from one of the organizers while at dinner, so I ended up meeting up with them at some bar thing. Ljiljana had to work the next day so she took off quick, but there was a gathering starting at this place, and we ended up going to some club and dancing it up! It was good fun, although super super crowded. Vesna, one of the organizers, was staying in the same room as me so it was easy to find my way back :)

Long Journey to the Balkans; Destination Sarajevo

The next day involved driving back up to Venice, dropping the car at the airport, waiting in a hotel, having a last drink together with my family, and getting on a train. Long day. It was hard to leave my parents!

I knew I was going home in a couple months though, because mom and I made arrangements for me to come home for Christmas the day before!! Woohoo!!! This was huge! I was super stoked!

Nevertheless I had to part ways and get on the train.

It was an overnighter, my first one, and my compartment was full. Not ideal for sleeping. I tried and it kinda worked... a little. Everyone in my compartment but me got out in Ljubljana though so after that I could lay down...

...but after Ljubljana there was all the borders so I was woken up twice for a glance n stamp then I could sleep till Zagreb.

I arrived in Zagreb at 5am or something crap like that. I had at least an hour to walk around, and I was trying to decide between dropping off my pack at the bus station and staying in the city till noonish, or just waiting the hour and half to hop on a lengthy bus ride to Bosnia.










The bus station was not right beside the train station, so those were on the walk to find it. I found said bus station, and found the bag drop, but nobody was working there. If I wasn't able to drop my bag, then it was unlikely that I was about to walk around for 6 hours or more with less than that many hours of sleep... not likely at all...

So I bought the bus ticket. I sat down, had some food, looked at an English brochure on Zagreb (looks quite nice! Wouldn't mind seeing it in daylight at more length at some point) and before I knew it the bus was there.

It was a grueling 8-9 hour bus to Sarajevo. I slept while it was fog minus being awoken for the border,



then when I woke up next I was blown away by what I was seeing out the bus! I was not prepared at all:





















The colours were changing! It was incredibly beautiful :) I was impressed at how much raw nature there was - and I didn't even get sick on the bus.

I arrived in Sarajevo in the afternoon. I found my way into the city from the bus station, and found the hostel fairly easily too. The owners were a nice older family that showed me to my room, gave me slippers, and showed me around. The place was quite nice - I hadn't been in a hostel in ages so it felt very comfortable to be able to just do whatever. I love couchsurfing, but it does require a certain degree of social activity... and coming here I could just lay in my bed and not talk to anyone and it's ok since I'm paying for the room.

I had a headache from sleeping all weird on the train and bus, so I lay down and tried to kick it. I was so tired after traveling since the day before (well over 24 hours moving) I somehow slept for several hours and woke up around ten or something weird. I was starving, but my headache was still there.

I went out and had a bit of a night stroll. I really liked the city, and I found some cheap chevapchichi. I ate hoping to clear my head, but it only went away a little so I ended up coming back and eventually going to bed again.