Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s into five independent countries.
1. Bosnia and Herzegovina, February 29, 1992
2. Croatia, June 25, 1991
3. Macedonia (officially The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) declared independence on September 8, 1991 but wasn't recognized by the United Nations until 1993 and the United States and Russia in February of 1994
4. Serbia and Montenegro, (also known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), April 17, 1992
5. Slovenia, June 25, 1991
Then
6. June 3, 2006 - Montenegro was part of Serbia and Montenegro (also known as Yugoslavia) but gained independence after a referendum.
7. June 5, 2006 - Serbia became its own entity after Montenegro split.
8. Febraury 17, 2008 - Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.
So after leaving Albania well I had a quick look see at Montenegro. Went to Ulcinj which is a quiet touristy town but still cool to chill at for 1 day. Only other place I made it to was Bar which has nothing there to do or see. But it was where the train left to go to Belgrade, Serbia so hung there most of the afternoon as caught the night train to Belgrade. The place was like one of the deadest place I’ve been to and the beach is like big stones by the water! I could have gone further north in Montenegro to see some cool places to do like whitewater rafting and hiking but hell I’ve done those things before so decided to give them a miss! But to me Montenegro is like some gorgeous chicks “Nice to look at but nothing memorable to talk about or remember!”.
I kind of liked Sarajevo as it’s in sort of a valley with mountains around it. Whenever I hear about the city i think of this Christmas song by the Trans Siberian Orchestra (no one has ever heard of them as they are a Rock group backed by an orchestra who play some awesome songs mostly Christmas favorites).Check out this tune called Christmas Eve in Sarajevo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBK9OdGjyRc
Hey since I got your attention listen to this one too which I love to listen to around Christmas as it reminds me of the old traditional Christmas with people u love!!!!
But shit it was still raining in Sarajevo like it was in Belgrade but decided to hang there for a couple days. So booked into the City Center Hostel in Sarajevo. The hostel was a lot more interesting than the one in Belgrade (hell can't even remember the name of the one in Belgrade but will say the people were nice there but not too interesting or into being friends). What I liked was the first night I got there they put me in this one dorm room on a different floor which was like a friggin apartment. Yeah it had bunk beds (4 of them) but it also had a kitchen and living room. Guess they put me in there cus had no reservation as I never plan far enough ahead to figure out when or where I'm going. So this dorm/apartment was cool and then they put no one else in the place so had the entire place to myself so shit decided to chill that night and didn't even leave the place! But shit it was raining anyway!
The next morning reality hit as they put me in a regular dorm room with 3 other people. The room wasn't bad and the one Irish chick was nice but the 2 Aussie guys in the room were real Wankers!!!
It was like friggin raining so hard that could hardly go out for a walk so had to buy a dam umbrella and then what's it do but stop raining. But shit since it was raining well decided to check out the Tunnel Tour of Sarajevo! So what the hell was the Tunnel Tour u ask?
Well During the Siege of Sarajevo during Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, the Sarajevo Tunnel was constructed by the besieged citizens of Sarajevo in order to link the city of Sarajevo, which was entirely cut-off by Serbian forces, with the supposedly neutral area at the Sarajevo Airport set up by the United Nations. The tunnel linked the Sarajevo neighbourhoods of Dobrinja and Butmir.
Beginning in January 1993, the Sarajevo Tunnel was dug by Bosnian volunteers working in 8-hour shifts. The Sarajevo tunnel was completed in mid-1993, which allowed food and humanitarian aid to come into the city, and people to get out. The tunnel was one of the major ways of bypassing the international arms embargo and providing the city defenders with weaponry. In effect, the tunnel saved Sarajevo.
The tunnel was 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height and width, and ran for approximately 800 metres (2,600 ft) in length. During the time it was used, it is estimated that 20 million tons of food entered the city, and 1 million people passed in and out of it.
The tunnel was most famously used to transport the former Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović in his wheelchair which was run on the railway of the tunnel. The 20 metres (66 ft) of tunnel that are left today now form part of a museum in Sarajevo, which is open to visitors every working day from 9 am to 4 pm.
So yeah thought it was interesting to find out what the Seige of Sarejevo was about and the fall out from it!
I had a couple of Couch Surfers who though they couldn't host me well sent me a msg to maybe meet up. There was Juliet who is English but lived and worked in another of the hostels in Sarajevo Then one of the guys said he couldn't host me but could put me up at his place for a small fee as he was currently unemployed. But we never met up cus I don't mind paying or staying in a hostel as I'm not into couch surfing to score a free place to crash. But didn't like the way this guy came across as a couch surfer than once he got my attention he lays this sorry but am unemployed so need to charge u a small fee, blah blah! The 3rd guy was busy in school & was out of town during the week but worked at a club on Fri night. So he invited me to meet and hang there on Fri. I was going to meet him but unfortunately it got to be too ma
So anyway had a good time in Mostar as also met a Norwegan guy the night before and had a meal and beer with him. There were also 2 American chicks in the hostel but they weren't too friendly but more into them selves.
But after a night of drinking and carosuling decided to get up early and leave for Croatia. So well I'm tired of blogging so going to quit for now but will post some more later. Shit forgot also have to post some pics too so hopefully it won't take too long.
Guess the night train to Belgrade was OK but the train makes a lot of noise over the tracks so enjoy buses more. People say u can walk around on the train but u know I never did any walking. Shit I don’t travel trains often so they asked if wanted a berth for 3 E or $5 more so I took it. But hell the berths are like bench seats that u sleep on but at least u get to stretch out completely. But hey they aren’t actual beds but don’t really care cus can sleep on seats, benches or wherever cus done it while travelling!
So what can I say about Belgrade? Well had 3 couch surfers set up to meet who replied to my msgs to meet up there. Thee was Reet, an Estonian, who lived and worked in Belgrade & she was quite reliable and seemed eager to meet. So we tried several times the day that I arrived in Belgrade but we kept missing as I don’t use a mobile/cell phone to get in touch. So finally she showed up with a Finnish guy couch surfing at her place. So we headed to a bar downtown to watch the Germany vs Serbia World Cup match! I was hoping for Germany as got a lot of German friends and guess I just got attached to the team as have watched a few of their games in the World Cup & European Championship. But I must be a bad omen to the team cus every time I watch they seem to lose. (missed their game against England cus traveling & they won – glad for that). But what the heck I’m not the biggest expert on the game but like the excitement and watching the games with fans from various countries! Oh yeah so Serbia played an awesome game with great defence and upset Germany. The fans in Belgrade went crazy and it was wild to see but still couldn’t help feeling bad for all my German friends! But knew that they were far from out as they are too good as have to be considered one of the favorites.
Anyway told Reet I’d buy her something to eat cus she went out the way so much to meet me. So we planned to meet and go for Greek food that evening. Well that was probably one of the worse decisions that I’ve made traveling. Reet took the Finnish couple, myself and herself to this expensive Greek place. She said it was expensive but never thought it would be that bad! Shit it was more expensive than most I go to back home on special occasions like B/days, etc. Then shit 2 of them decide to drink some vwine and order a fuckin whole bottle of some expensive shit! I knew it was expensive. The fucking waiter brought a bottle of wine and does this bullshit of offering u a bit to taste but shit what the heck is this about cus like most people don’t know what they’re tasting for so it’s all a big fuckin show which I hate! Knew this place was not for me as too expensive so didn’t even have a beer. The dinner reminded me of going to a fancy dinner with some co-workers that I had to endure where everyone was polite and being pretentious. Hell when I’m travelling I don’t go for fancy meals cus don’t really give a shit for them. But fuck they then decided to split the check by 4 and it cost me like fucking 20 Euros/$25 bucks which is probably what I spend for food in a week! Fuck I should have told them to screw off as I didn't drink any of that expensive bottle of wine! So that put a damper on the evening for me and the conversation was shitty too cus realized that they were just too conservative and polite for my taste. So of course when I get bored with the conversation I always like to shock people by saying whatever pops into my mind (usually fuck all). Yeah they were definitely too polite and boring for me but I hung in there!
Luckily the evening was saved cus I had been invited to a party at this couch surfers place but didn’t know the address as Reet wrote it down. So all 4 of us took a cab there. Met Nebojsa a Serbian guy who I found out has parties at his place every Fri nite. He couldn’t host me cus he just got a new flat mate and didn’t want to shock her with a couch surfing guest right away. But He was a cool guy and more my kind of person as he was outspoken and had a great sense of humor. Shit the dude told me about meeting some Brazilian girl a couple years ago and then invited me to his wedding in Mar 2011 hell he hadn’t even asked her so it was all hypothetical! So that was the type of outgoing dude he is and shit it was still nice of him to invite me even if I don’t do weddings! So all in all it ended up an interesting night! Reet had mentioned when we first met about going to some concert on Sun but after our dinner conversation I think she had second thoughts about hanging out with me again. Which was what I had hoped for cus as nice as she was well she wasn’t my idea of someone great to hang out with! So we said goodbye and probably both sighed a thought of “Good friggin riddance too!” as have to think that of all the people I’ve met on my trip well she was the person who was the least of my type! But it was still nice to meet her and her kinda boring Finnish friends ! guess the bottom line was they were all too polite and didn’t want to offend anyone. But shit I am the exact opposite and don’t mind shocking or pissing off people when I first meet them! After all I only get 1 chance to give a bad First Impression! Guess they didn’t read my profile which says I don’t actually give a Fuck! Plus like who gives a shit cus will never meet them again. So maybe that’s why I don’t get too many couch surfers to host me ha ha! But hey I never said I read or cared about Post, Emily. Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics Cus I am so anti establishment and society!
Well the next day I met up with my 3rd couch surfing friend and decided after the previous night that I’d try to use a little bit of politeness and diplomacy. So met Iris (Serbian chick) on a cold and rain so what else was there to do so jsut went for a drink and talk! She was nice and very informative. about Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and the shit that went on during the War in the 1990’s. But I was still confused on what they were fighting about so needed to do some more talking to people. So anyway Iris was nice but was a bit tame for me too but heck u meet all kinds of people traveling and couch surfing.
Anyway after a couple of so so days in Belgrade and seeing nothing thru the rain. Well decided to leave cus couldn’t do anymore damage there! So hopped a bus for Sarejavo Bosnia. I admit I didn’t see anything in Serbia cus of the rain and shitty weather but liked the landscape in Bosnia a lot better than what I saw in Serbia.
But after a night of drinking and carosuling decided to get up early and leave for Croatia. So well I'm tired of blogging so going to quit for now but will post some more later. Shit forgot also have to post some pics too so hopefully it won't take too long.
Anyways - Later!!
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