Taking a Break

Hello from Dubrovnik,

Raining it was when we left Zadar. The whole day it pretty much poured a gentle but persistent shower. Apart from that and then the ice rain that caused many accidents on the coast road between Zadar and Split, we have had pretty good weather while biking. We avoid cold and dangerous weather as best we can by eating our picnic in what they call here, 'caffe-bars' and by not going on the road at all when the ice rain came along. Everywhere along the road there are rooms to rent or apartments that call you off the road with big signs indicating, 'Apartmani'! These places are not always open, it being the low season but when they are and when it's cold and miserable they make us extraordinarily happy. The Apartmani are equipped with a small kitchen area and sometimes come with a separate room which is very good for Dorothee and l as it means Oceanne can go to bed before us. The only problem with all accommodation on the coast is that the rooms are virtually always cold. There is heating sometimes but it's not very efficient and it's just as cold inside than it is outside. White stone houses are great for the summer but cold in the winter. Another small reminder that we shouldn't really be tourists at this time of the year. We just bury ourselves in blankets. Slightly strange when it's 12 degrees outside and not -2. Apart from hiding from the weather, we have been based in and around Dubrovnik for nearly two weeks now.

We've been to Sarajevo, Mostar and the island of Korcula. Apart from horrible rain during nearly all this time, these places are all worth the visit. Apart from a short section of 20 kilometres where Bosnia-Herzegovina meets the coast and splits Croatia in two, we wanted to see more of this country. Huge parts of Sarajevo and Mostar are still visually, mentally and economically effected by the Balkans conflict, a civil war which should and could have been stopped right at the beginning but instead went on for more than three years with massive numbers of civilians dead. Mostar was virtually totally demolished by the Bosnain croats and in Sarajevo, civilians were picked off one by one by the Bosnian serbs. A very complicated war, a conflict the west didn't seem to understand until it was far too late. Still, how complicated can it be when snipers are killing people coming back from the market or in a queue for bread from aid agencies. Not very, from my idealist eye. In Mostar they have completely rebuilt the old town and famous bridge, again from western donations and it is now on the UNESCO world heritage list. In Sarajevo, we had snow and grey weather and while wandering in the cemetries of the people killed during the war, it was not hard but impossible not to be feel touched and even angry by looking into the mountains and remembering the Serbian army constantly bombarding the city. Not taking the city, just making people suffer hell. The miserable weather added to the effect. An important note. If anyone ever visits Sarajevo and wants to stay at the HCC hostel then do not. They are a bunch of prejudice, thoughtless, insensitive and rude bunch. It's a long story but basically they wouldn't accept us as we had Oceanne. At 10 p.m we were forced to find an alternative even though they had room. Make sure you go straight across the street to a residence that is affiliated with Hostelling International. It is worth to note that this was not the place HCC recommended, they would have us going much further in the middle of the night. This place where we did stay was wonderful. In a huge family house where we were treated as part of the family and had many good conversations with virtually all members of the family.

Sarajevo was also the place where l found a very good beer. Sarajevska brewery is right in the centre of the city and the brewery tap is a huge beer hall where one can find, it's quite rare in the shops, their dark ale. This is really impressive in a Southern Europe that is dominated by Pilsner and Lager. We have just come back to Dubrovnik today on yet another bus from the island of Korcula and Korcula town. It's raining again, l just want to get back on the road and l'm bored of angry bus drivers who just like taking tourists for a ride; friendly service does not exist on buses here but squeezing as much money out of us, does. Another example was here in Dubrovnik while trying to get the annoying task of our ton of laundry cleaned. I was clean and straightly told that it would be over 60 euros. Interesting. I must look like l was born yesterday but l don't have that kind of money to play around with for some t-shirts and pants. I turned and ran before l might have said something l might later regret. Something about taxes and electricity. 6 times the price of London. Something's not right there Madam. The kind lady did it at the hostel for the normal going rate. Being on our bicycles keeps us sheltered from many things and something we often take for granted is that it gets us away from nearly all of the negative aspects of tourism. We are treated massively differently on our bikes and l have a new appreciation of Georgina, the new and first name for my moving house. Korcula town was beautiful, a small walled city where Marco Polo was born, we obviously visited what is reported to have been his house. It is important for us as it was of course Marco Polo who founded the silk road. It was a fantastic sunny day, one of only two that we've had since arriving here. The other one being when we took advantage and walked the 2 kilometre, uninterrupted walls of Dubrovnik. These are very impressive. Dubrovnik is an immaculate city, somewhere that must be visited before you drop dead, even better when the sun is shining.

Back to the road. Since leaving Zadar and taking refuge in an apartment when the ice rain fell, we have been given lemons twice in the space of three days. It is very nice of the Croats but along with the rest of the kitchen sink l'm carrying, l don't need ten lemons, just one would be nice. It would be very wrong to refuse these lemons and so we give them to someone else who politely take them off our hands. The next day we get given some more however so it's just one big circle of lemons. We stayed in Croatia's second city of Split, a favourite place of mine and passed incredible little towns such as Primosten, Makarska and Trogir. Trogir is very beautiful and the coast around Makarska is dramatic to say the least. If you have checked the photos, you will already know. Food, apart from the fresh fish on the coast, is also meat based further inland. The famous Cevapi, which are small, slightly spiced sausages in a pita type flat-bread with onions and cheese is really really good. Also, Burek which is a meat, cheese or vegetable filled pastry served after frying often fills a hole. Croats smoke a lot and can often spend hours and hours over coffee seemingly never eating or working. They do work, they must do or the country woulden't function but l believe they eat bigger meals at home as we only really see them eating small meals of Cevapi and Burek. We are big believers in the liquid plain yogurt they drink here as well. It seems to help digest the meat. Coffee is very good here as it is evidently part of the culture but l am not of big fan of the Turkish coffee the locals all drink in Bosnia which is basically like tar but served in a very pretty copper pot that you pour from. We are currently staying in Lapad, a suburb of Dubrovnik in a backpacker place where the owner works very hard for his clients, waiting at the bus station to snare them. We were recommended him by three cyclists who we met in Split who had themselves come from Shanghai. Exchanging of various tips and maps took place and it's always nice to meet like-minded people. It was the first cycle tourists we had met so far. The owner here is very charismatic, meeting me at the bottom of the very steep hill up to his place by shouting, 'l give you my apartment'. Not quite give it has to be said but they will do almost anything for you which is nice!

Finally Oceanne and Dorothee are very well. Oceanne is a non-stop talking, running and happy girl. Her hair is always blond and quite long now. With her big blue eyes she gets unrivaled attention. Obviously she is sometimes tiring for us but well worth the effort. Chocolate is given to her all the time! No toilet training yet. We hopefully will be getting out of here on Thursday to head to Montenegro and then Albania and Kosovo.

Much Love, Rupert.