Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[tgh]

Spectacular country like that best enjoyed on two wheels.. sadly I am past it but thats life...

 

[RooFlyer]

As foreshadowed by you, stunning! The lakes are absolutely amazing. Does the driving with hairpins etc induce motion sickness? Asking for a friend.

I am subject to motion sickness but didn’t feel anything and I didn’t hear of anyone else in the bus either.

We did pass and were passed by a lot of motorcycles. There was a statistic quoted that Montenegro is the worlds ????? third most popular destination for motorcycling.

Essentially, all we’ve done is drive through Montenegro. I imagine if you want to really delve into it for say 3 to 5 days it’ll be even more amazing.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hotel in Sarajevo is Hotel Diamond Rain. Maybe something gets lost in translation. Nice little hotel; mine is a mansard room, the bed is comfy, the bathroom good and the aircon works well, and quietly!

Its a 5-10 min walk up a hill from the river and the beginning of the old town. Too narrow for our bus to get to, so they transferred our bags in to a another vehicle while we walked up, and the bags were waiting when we got there.









We choofed off to a walking tour, led by a local guide. After crossing the Miljaka river (slow moving ATM),




first stop was the point where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princep as the archduke was parading through the streets of Sarajevo in an open car. The Austro-Hungarians were colonial occupiers of the Balkans, having tipped out the Ottomans

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

... which was the trigger for WW1. The Austro-Hungarians attacked Serbia, the Russians came to support Serbia, the Germans joined the Austrians and the Germans then attacked France.

This is where it happened. There are 2 footsteps (Princep's) in the pavement under the image at the corner of the left side.



Taken seconds before



There were 4-5 assassins. Earlier in the parade, one of them lobbed a grenade at the car, and this was fended off by the Archduke, then exploded. After regrouping, confident that the danger was passed, the parage continued and Princep killed the Archduke and his wife (likely by mistake) a few minutes later.

I had read Assassin by Tim Butcher and it was great prep for understanding a lot of Bosnia's history, not just the assassination.

The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War – review

Tim Butcher brings his own experience of Yugoslavian conflict to bear on this revelatory portrait of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassin, Gavrilo Princip , writes Christopher Clark

www.theguardian.com

 

[Seat0B]

mansard room

Ever the educator @RooFlyer - had to look that one up, but will now add it to my vocabulary.

I stayed in a mansard room at Mercure Munich - twice!

 

[Scash]

I just found some more pictures of the lake and river on the way to Sarajevo

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Going over the dam

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Stunning . You’re really whetting my appetite for our trip which starts next Tuesday.

 

[Scash]

Spectacular country like that best enjoyed on two wheels.. sadly I am past it but thats life...

I too reminisce fondly of those days!

. Then
. Now
. The future

 

[RooFlyer]

Stunning . You’re really whetting my appetite for our trip which starts next Tuesday.

OK, a bit behind in the TR, so spoiler alert.

Lukomir