Craig Grindley

Sweden - Lapland - Northern Lights

2009-11-22T17:38:00.005Z

Lake District - Scotland - Yorkshire Dales

2009-11-22T16:19:00.004Z

South West England

2009-09-04T18:05:00.003+01:00

Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera

2008-10-14T12:09:00.001+01:00

MENORCA

MALLORCA

IBIZA

FORMENTERA

Living on the Greek island of Kastellorizo

2008-10-09T19:42:00.020+01:00

Turkey - Trips from a Greek island

2008-10-09T19:32:00.006+01:00

Islands of Greece

2008-10-08T15:14:00.014+01:00

Seychelles

2008-05-30T03:33:00.031+01:00

Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Poland and Czech Republic

2008-05-27T23:59:00.011+01:00

This was a trip taken in December 2006 just before Christmas, beginning in Bulgaria, then to Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and finishing in the Czech Republic. It was a fab trip with fairytale houses in tiny villages where the scent of firewood flows through the air, cosy mehanas (Bulgarian style pubs) which are so inviting with their chimney fires burning away. I have many good memories of entering these to get away from the freezing air ourside and sitting in front of the warm fire and eating soup.

Romania showed off its stunning mountain scenery and of course its famous castles including the famous Dracula´s castle. Hungary surprised us with the beauty of its capital city which lights up so beautifully at night reflecting many colours of light along the river Danube.

Austria offered us mountain scenery with its lakes and traditional villages. We experienced Slovakia and Poland´s natural wonders of snow-capped peaks and rivers and finally Prague kept us busy for hours as we roamed through its streets and tasted its traditional christmas sweets and punch at the christmas markets. East Europe is perfect for visiting in the winter and has a romantic feel to it...one that I will not forget.

Morocco

2008-05-21T06:47:00.022+01:00

Morocco is a fantastic country and lives up to its reputation of vast sandy deserts, palmfilled oasis under a starry sky and cities that take you back in time. So close to Europe yet so far, it is where Africa begins and as soon as you arrive you know it and everything feels magical.

Your senses are overwhelmed with smells of exotic spices in its towns, the sound of drums at night in the middle of the desert, the sight of a village made entirely from mud at the foot of magnificent snow-peaked mountains, the flavour of cinnamon in your first tagine and the touch of elegant silky cloth made in a nearby berber village.

Morocco is also a country from which many leave with mixed feelings. It is a place that you can fall in love with or a place where you're happy you made the journey but glad to have left.

The pestering of salesmen can be so intense in cities and desert alike that you can forget the beauty that surrounds you.

We began our journey in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the Northern shores of the country. I remember very clearly warning Jose about the cons and cheating he could expect in Morocco and telling him that anyone who approaches us could be trying to cheat us. As soon as we stepped off the boat, Jose fell into the welcoming hands of a con artist - and at this point we hadn't even arrived in Morocco!

Nevertheless, we made it to the Ceuta-Morocco border within a short period of time and I was surprised to see that the frontier was crowded with people all over the place, some carrying live chickens, some with enormous sacks of vegetables and others with all other types of goods that can be trasnported by hand. There was no order at all and we noticed that there were fences and queues. Unsure which queue we should join, a kind man noticed our confusion and sent us to what seemed like the express queue. We stood in the queue observing the many Moroccan men sitting ontop of a hill just across the border.

We arrived on Moroccan land and jumped in a taxi which took us to a nearby town from which we then caught a bus to a village called Chefchaouen. The bus ride was pleasant and I remember passing through pleasant scenery including a beach with a camel on it and green hills covered with olive trees.

Chefchaouen has a pretty setting as it sits high up in the hills overlooking a valley. The village is painted in bright blues and whites reminiscent of the Greek islands. The atmosphere, however, is very much Arab with its souqs of spices, dyes and carpets. You are also offered cannabis on every street corner. This area of Morocco is one of the leading areas of the country for its production and it is widely available.

It was in this village also that we very dangerously entered a carpet shop - well, jose entered and I followed hoping to rescue him! Once you enter a shop in Morocco, it is very difficult to leave empty handed if you do not know the correct technique. Anyway, 10 000 carpets and 10 000 "no we don't want one's" later, we began to walk towards the exit. At this point the man began begging and eventually became rather aggresive. We left quickly at that point!

We left Chefchaouen on a rusty old bus full of dust. The bus was packed, the foreigners - us, a Greek and Spanish girl and some Norwegians - were all seated at the back. It was March and probably about 30C outside. There was no air conditionning and all the windows were closed. After roughly 1 hour, I began to feel quite sick and continued to feel that way until we finally stopped at a village shop. The door of the bus oponed and I and the Spanish girl both ran out of the bus for some air. At that point I realised that I wans't the only one feeling sick. All back on the bus and another hour passed....and at last the bus driver opened the top window and all the people on the bus let out a "aaaahhhhh" of relief, which was quite amusing! The final part of the bus trip involved a conversation with an old Moroccan lady....although I didn't understand a bleeding word, although I'm sure everything she was saying was nice. I just nodded and agreed with everything!

After what seemed like the bus trip of a lifetime, we arrived in the city of Fes. We couldn't understand why none of the taxis drivers would let us in their cars until we had a good look at the city map and realised that we were asking them to take us just across the road - literally!

We entered the old part of the city through traditional Arab-style arches. The scene was fantastic - and straight out of a children's story like Aladdin. The maze of narrow streets was complete with everything you can imagine in an ancient Arab city and it was like walking under an arch and going back in time. The first street displayed vegetables all over the place; on the floor, in bags, on rugs, on people's heads etc etc. This was followed by a less pleasant scene of cows skinned and hung up, flies buzzing around them, goat's head and chickens running around trying to save their lives - All part of the experience of course.

We checked into our hotel and assured the guide that followed us into the hotel that we would hire him - although we had no intention of doing so because of not knowing whether he is official or not. We ignored being told not to go out at night, and instead headed for some street food - some kind of flat bread stuffed with onions and spices. I have no idea what it was but it was absolutely gorgeous! The atmosphere was buzzing, the moon and stars shone bright, the sounds of exotic Arabic music were mezmerizing.

The next day, we decided to get ourselves lost in the labyrinth of alleyways. Somehow, we managed to find the tanneries where leather and whatever else is dyed. Ok...so it smells absolutely disgusting but it's great to see all the colours and the workers using their feet to drench the materials.

Once lost, we had no choice but to pay a man to help us find our way. He immediately took us to his friends spice shop of course. I was so angry to have fallen in a trap and refused to buy anything. However I later regretted not buying one particular spice mix which smelt wonderful. Silly me!

An evening later, we jumped on a bus and took a long night time journey which took us from the green hills which surround Fes, over the stark Middle Atlas mountains through snow-blanketed villages and down the other side, by which time the sun was rising, through the palmfilled oases of the Sub-saharan desert and finally reaching our destination - the dunes of Merzouga on the Algerian border.

We were taken across black stoney desert until reaching those breathtaking sandunes which appeared to spill over. It was here where they filmed the desert scenery of "The Mummy." There is not much out here - a few sparse hotels in Kasbah style and tents which accommodate the tourists at the edge of the dunes, but no shops or amenities. Without hesitation, we dumped our luggage in our tent where we would spenf the night under the stars, and headed out into the sea of sand on camels. Unfortuntaley I ended up with the stupid camel who kept sitting down and not wanting to go anywhere. I noticed that the sky seems so blue out here and that the only thing you hear apart from the occasional spluttering of the camel, is the wind. The land feels so empty. In fact it's strange how something so monotonous and empty can be so beautiful.

We said goodbye to the sand desert and hello to a mud village called Ait Benhaddou further down the road and at the foot of the snowcapped High Atlas Mountains right in the heart of the country. The setting here was also used for many films including "Lawrence of Arabia", "Jesus of Nazareth", "Gladiator" etc etc... and it is easy to see way they would want to film here. The village is made entirely of mud and it really does feel like you've stepped back in time.

The children stop to help you across the shallow river which cuts through the village and ask for bakshish (a tip) whilst the passing by of Tuaregs in their sky-blue headscarves and on camels adds to the beauty of the scenery.

My friend Jose was conned here; one night our hotel owners invited us to look at their shop - just us of course so we would have the whole shop to ourselves. We happily looked around and then sat down to discuss the things we liked and the prices that we would be happy to pay. I particularly liked a ring I had picked up and was shocked at the price the two men were asking of me. I tried to negotiate and the men would not lower the price to make it more reasonable. At this point I realised that they were out to rob us and I refused to negotiate anymore and no longer had any interest in the ring. Jose on the other hand was interested in a few products and paid not only the requested price, but also handed over some of his clothes in exchange for the products.

The next day, we found the same products in other shops for half the price that had finally been negotiated and without having to trade any clothes in.

Jose felt very much cheated and lied to and did not hesitate to demonstrate his anger back at the hotel.

We left behind the con artists and embarked on a 4 hour trip over the barren High Atlas mountains and into the city of Marrakesh. The city reminded us very much of Fes but its highlight being the Jemaa el Fna and especially when the sun sets and the square comes to life with snake charmers, story tellers, transvesite bellydancers and the dozens of stalls cooking up all sorts of exotic foods. This scene of entertainment which has gone on for hundreds of years was a perfect way to end our trip before heading back to Spain.

Sardinia and Corsica

2008-05-21T06:43:00.014+01:00

Sardinia and Corsica have always been very special to me, as I had the chance to live on both islands whilst studying languages and it's on these islands that I have had some of the best times. This time, I was returning with Jose to show him the islands' beauties but also because there were some corners which I had not yet explored and in fact there still are a few which is why we must make another journey to visit those little corners of beauties soon.

Our journey began after hiring a car and heading straight to Cap Corse on the very northern pointy bit of Corsica. The area is very wild and is like a long mountain sticking out of the sea at the very top part of Corsica and covered in thick Mediterranean maquis. We drove up the eastern side of Cap Corse, passing small villages with genoese towers at the sea's edge and passing small beaches of calm water. The Eastern side is flatter than it's western brother as Jose was soon to find out, and after passing through the mountains to reach the other side and going through thick clouds which hung over the mountains, we could just see a small fishing village througha gap in the clouds which laid directly below us. We descended slowly throught the clouds and made our way to the village called Centuri. It was my second visit here. I remember that on my first visit, the harbour was so full of fish that I could not understand the need for a local fishermen to go out on a boat. This time however the fish seemed to have opted for the open sea! Maybe the fisherman had thought the same thing I had a few years back and scared the fish away!

After a quick visit to Centuri and a search for something to eat which was a waste of time because after all it was only April and the tourists hadn't arrived yet, we continued down the more rugged western side of Cap Corse, passing coves of blue water seen from vertical cliffs, we stopped at the pretty Mediterrean village of Nonza with it's famous black sandy beach in which people write their names and whatever else comes into their head. We walked around the village and onto the cliff which overlooks the beach. The scenery at the top is stunning and the mediterranean vegetation and relaxed feel of the place makes you feel at home.
The evening finished at the small pitturesque town of Saint Florent where we stared at the majestic mountains which jutted up to the sky in Corsica's interior and watched the sun set. We then had seafood pizza for the proce of a margherita - due to the retsaurant's mistake - but to our benefit hehe!

The following day was a trip to the wild "Désert des Agriates" - A place I had wanted to go for some time because I knew of its beautiful beaches and had often gazed dreamingly at pictures of the place in magazines. It is indeed a desert, but not the kind of desert people usually have in mind. The Désert des Agriates is a wide uninhabited area which stretches along Corsica's northern coast. It is a rocky area covered in maquis and can only be accessed by sea or dirt tracks which are often in bad condition due to the rain which causes huge holes in the track.
Many have a go at reaching the beaches with their normal cars, as we did, but after just 2km we were unable to go any further without damaging the car....so we walked the remaining 10km!
The walk was long and we had not come well prepared, without water or food. We did however get to one of the beaches which was a long stretch of sand backed by dunes and a clean blue sea. We stayed for a while and began to wonder how we would make it back to the car which we had left in the middle of nowhere miles behind. By this time we were very hungry and dying of thirst.
However we were in luck as a man, from nowhere - as we were the only people on this deserted beach - came running up shouting at us and offering food! We had no hesitations in accepting his offer and followed him for a nice lunch of fresh fish and mediterrean salad. It was prefect, apart from the walk back which almost killed us as it was all up hill!
By that time, I was rather sunburnt and we headed along the coast to the town of Calvi from where we could sea snowcapped mountains behind us and where I kept my head down to hide my sunburn!

The next adventure lead us along the north west coast from Calvi to Porto. The road is some 40km long and follows the wild and untouched coastline, winding its way up and down cliffs where the mountains come down to meet the sea. There is very little inbetween Calvi and Porto and the road has a reputation for being dodgy and indeed it was, as half way along it, there had been a landslide the previous day and the road had been completely blocked, until we arrived just in time for it to be cleared. After getting through one piece of cleared road, we continued along the bends to find another piece of road that had been blocked by a landslide. We were lucky however, as before us, many cars had given up and turned back.

The coastline as you get closer to Porto, becomes more and more stunning and the land and especially the rocks close to the sea take on a reddish coulour and here the sea is a darker shade of blue compared to Corsica's eastern coast.
The "Calanques de Porto" is an area of exceptional beauty. A road winds along cliffs covered in pine trees which look over the deep sea below and as you look behind, the mountains of Corsica's interior seem higher from here than anywhere else and you can clearly see the snow shining from their peaks. Below, although it is difficult to see from the roads, there are several hidden dreamy coves which rarely see tourists.

We were pressed for time however, and after visiting a few beaches, headed inland through the mountains to make it to Corte before dark.

The road from Porto winds up and up and within half an hour of bends, you find yourself in the snow after leaving a sundrenched coast before descending once again to the much cooler valley in which Corte is situated. Our night ended with a walk up to the view point which overlooks Corte and from where we gazed at the enlightened citadella which glew so beautifully in the dark.
I was lucky again to have this experience as I had had when living in Corte several years back

The next day, we drove through the Restonica valley which follows a pine fringed river into the vertical mountains and up until reaching frozen waterfalls and the end of the road.
Our afternoon journey was a long one down to the south of Corsica, where we diverted once again up a mountain road, passing rivers, streams, pine covered hills and stunning views.

Our last days in Corsica were spent in and around one of the most prettiest Mediterranean villages that is Bonifacio. The town sits on a cliff's edge and has a typical italian feel to it. Here we explored the meandering alleys of the town and drove along the breathtaking coastline with capes and coves lapped by crystal clear turquoise waters that are reminiscent of the Tropics

The 50 minute boat ride from Corsica to Sardinia was pleasant, unlike other times when I had made taken the boat and thought that we would never arrive! I always like arriving at the harbour of Santa Teresa di Gallura, because the water is transparent and you can see the blue glimmering from the town's beautiful beach.

We got off the boat and were pulled aside for a police check. Out of all the people who got off the boat, it had to be us to be pulled aside. I was very angry but the police's typical sardinian charm and their welcome soon cheered me up. Sardinia' have always been warm and welcoming and have always made me feel very at home, so I consider sardinia to be my second home.
We headed straight down the coast to palau where we planned to hire a small boat to visit the small islands which make up the Maddalena Archipelago.

We were in luck, as upon arrival we spotted a man pinning up posters for boat hire. Within 1 hour the boat was ready and we were off. It was the first time I had had full control of a boat and where it was going, and La Maddalena area is well known for its currents, quick changes in wind direction and rough seas. Nonetheless, I had waited years to come to these islands after numerous attempts that failed due to lack of excursions, wrong timing or bad weather.

We steered towards and around the island of Santo Stefano, which at the time was inaccessible due to an American military base, then westwards going in between Caprera and La Maddalena islands. The water here was very shallow and as you move towards the centre, the water takes on an impressive light blue colour from which equally impressive granite rock formations emerge.

My main interest however was to get straight to the smaller islands, and so we steered around the slightly rougher cape at the western point of la Maddalena and then crossed quite a large expanse of sea towards the smaller islands in the distance.

The islands seemed very rocky from a distance and as we drew closer, we could make out the illuminous blue water shining among the rocks.
We carefully steered our way through Razzoli island and a rock which lay directly opposite and slowly entered paradise. Now before us was an expanse of shallow sea forming a very impressive blue lagoon of extremely transparent water surrounded by islands of granitic rocks which on reaching the sea, were 100% visible all the way down to the seabed. We could have quite easily been among tropical islands. The different tones of blue were eye dazzling.

We spent a good amount of time floating around the lagoon taking hundreds of photos of this beautiful place and getting close up to the beaches. My only regret is not having got off the boat to explore the islands, but we were pressed for time due to daylight, so we continued on our way around the island of Budelli famous for its beach of pink sand and crossing a small stretch of sea tro reach the island of Spargi where we were met once again with crystal clear turqoise water and beaches of pure white sand.

The trip back was more difficult by boat as the wind had picked up causing the sea to be much rougher and so the boat became difficult to steer and we were travelling along the waves rather than against or towards them. This caused us to be thrown from side to side, but we finally made it became to the harbour much to our relief and hit a rock as we entered it! I mean...why have a harbour with a huge rock in the middle of its entrance?!!! they could have warned us about that one!

The next few days were spent driving down Sardinia's emerald East coast, stopping at beaches and coves and particularly the beautiful area of Capo Coda Cavallo, so called because it looks like a horse's tail reaching out to sea, and then on to the Golfo di Orosei.

This stretch of coast is a 40km long piece of land which has never been inhabited by man, probably due to its high, forest covered cliffs which fall sharply into the sea and only interrupted by a few, fairytale-like coves. I had hoped to show Jose the coves but the weather turned against us, and although it stayed incredibly hot due to a very hot wind blowing over from Africa, it was too cloudy to appreciate the coves' beauty.

It was only April, and the heat from this wind which often hits the eastern coast of Sardinia brings a burning ovenlike sensation with it. Instead we stayed along the coast relaxing for a day and then drove further south to the beautifil beaches of Costa Rey and Villasimius and finally finishing in Cagliari with a quick visit to see some friends in their village.

Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia

2008-05-19T04:21:00.023+01:00

I began this trip in Greece - one of my favourite countries. I arrived by Ferry in Igoumenitsa from Italy and hopped in a taxi which took me along the coast at sunset to Syvota. The oranges, pinks and terracotta tones of the sunset which gave colour to the sea from the precipitous cliffs made me feel warm inside and happy to be back in Greece. The taxi driver spoke no English, to my delight, as it gave me the chance to use my Greek, although not too much because he did not slow down at the bends of the edges of cliffs and I did not want to distract him.

Syvota is a lovely seaside town, which hasn't been spoilt by tourism. I felt welcomed on arrival and headed straight for a seaside taverna to order some "Gemista" - Stuffed tomatoes and peppers with rice. The flavours of the Mediterranean could be tasted in every mouthful.

I had been attracted to Syvota after seeing a postcard a few years before which pictured the sparkling waters of a small island's coastline. I later found out that the beautiful place on the postcard was one of several islands laying just off the coastline around Syvota.

The islands are uninhabited and totally covered in greenery, not leaving once space for even a path. One part around the islands is called "pisina" meaning swimming pool in Greek because the water is so blue and transparent. I took a boat ride around the islands and after a short trip of traditional Greek music and being sprayed with the white foam from the waves, I arrived at Pisina where I swam and took just about 10 000 photos! After getting sunburnt, the boat came back and whipped us off around the islands' coast before returning to Syvota for the evening.

The next step of my journey was a visit to the very green islands of Paxos and Antipaxos. On Paxos, I hired a moped and pretended I knew how to drive it by going from one tip to the other. In fact, I assured the lady in my bestest Greek that I had already hired several mopeds in the past and was an expert, and then hopped on like a 5 year old trying to ride a bike for the first time and almost falling off! Nonetheless, I soon remembered how to work the thing and was off! The roads were nice but didn't seem to take me anywhere I wanted so I gave up and decided to get a boat to Antipaxos.

The midday heat was intense and seemed to be getting hotter by the minute. A short boat ride soon revealed tropical tones of calm water which delicately touched the powder white sand of the virgin coves. The boat abandoned us on the beach and I set off to explore the other coves one after the other, taking photo upon photo of the stunning island.

My next destination was Albania by boat from Corfu town. I felt a bit strange during the crossing, as the boat was very small and I was the only foreigner on the boat. We got closer and closer to Saranda in South Albania, where I could see many people on the beach and children splashing in the water. The scene was pleasant but slighlty spoilt by the buildings which didn't quite fit with the nice scenery. Nonetheless, I grabbed the first taxi driver I could find and offered him a day's work to drive me up the coast, stopping for photos.

Albania's coastline appears quite different to that of Greece's because of the stark landscape which perhaps was once covered with trees that came down to meet the sea. The 4 hour journey up the coast follows a road which changes drastically from asphalt to dirt tracks and vice versa. The ride can be very bumpy but it is worth if for the views you get along the way. The coastline varies between long sandy beaches of crystal clear and shallow water, to small pretty coves where the sea dips quickly to a dark shimmering blue. The coastline becomes more interesting towards the end around Dherme where it climbs up an impressive and very large zigzagging road up the side of a mountain which is not for vertigo sufferers. The views of the azure Ionian Sea below and the coastline beyond however are breathtaking. The road then reaches the mountain summit called Llogara Pass at over 900 meters altitude and curves and descends into a surprise forest of pines.

We stopped for lunch in the forest where we ate spitroast meat - the finest in Albania so I was told by the taxi driver and his father which he had decided to bring along for the journey.

After lunch I told the taxi driver I was heading for Berati which was quite a distance from where we were. He offered to take me half way and leave me to get a bus for the remaining part of the trip and we set off again. I was just beginning to worry about being left in the middle of nowhere waiting for a bus that wouldn't come, when the taxi driver spotted the bus I needed and raced after it signaling for it to pull over. Luckily it stopped and I got into the front seat and had a nice conversation with the bus driver in Greek. He was very impressed that I had made the effort to visit Albania and was proud of his country, but recognised its problems and particularly pointed out its lack of infrastructure for tourism. Likewise I was very impressed with how friendly he was.

Berati is an interesting and pretty town to visit with its traditional houses and hill sided river. At this point I was rather hungry so went into the first kebab restaurant I could find where absolutely nobody spoke a word of English and after many smiles, giggles and hand gestures to demonstrate what I wanted to order, I got the kebab I had wanted. Berati came alive at dusk as the whole population of the town descended upon the streets to have their daily evening stroll and also a good chance fot the local youth to eye each other up.

Albania's capital was next on the list, and after the disturbing view of half collapsed bridges with no railing and the strong smell of car fumes, I decided to make it a very short stay and instead got the first bus out to the cobbled streets of the village of Kruje where I had the most disgusting soup yet. In fact I was unable to find anywhere to eat and the only bar open offered me either soup or meat...and without any specifications as to what meat or what kind of soup. The bread was very nice however!

My Albanian journey ended and I was left with a good impression of the country and its people and could see its potential for tourism in the future.

It was quite a long journey to Croatia where I was to meet Jose at Dubrovnik airport. The bus trip took me through the plains of Northern Albania, passing the mighty fjords of Montenegro and finally arriving at my destination at sunset the day before Jose's arrival.

It was great meeting Jose at the airport and then showing him around the quaint town of Dubrovnik which sat comfortably within its high protective walls. It's difficult to describe Dubrovnik's beauty - the tiny cobbled alleys, the warm atmosphere, the smells of fresh fish being grilled, the harbour which looks so pretty that you could eat it, and the views of yachts passing between the town and the lush round island which lays opposite. It could very easily be the Mediterranean's prettiest town.

After soaking up the ambience of Dubrovnik, we jumped into a car we hired and rode down Croatia's most southern stretch of coast passing small coves of sparkling sea and pine covered countryside and then back into Montenegro, where I had to go back to take some photos of those impressive fjords around the town of Kotor which I had seen on my way to Croatia.

We travelled along Montenegro's stretch of Mediterranean stopping for lunch at Budva and a few photos and a swim at Petrovac. The first thing I noticed was that here everything was in Serbian and so were the menus, which is why it was just as well that I had been learning Serbo-croat during the summer and was able to communicate quite well, although finding the understanding part more difficult. Nonetheless we got by and then headed inland for the country's stunning mountains, lakes, ravines and forests in the Durmitor national park.

The drive to the park was nail-biting due to Montenegro's very dangerous drivers. We soon realised that overtaking on sharp bends was not uncommon and the number of memorials along the roads spelt out very clearly just how dangerous the roads of the country are. We arrived in once piece thank God.

The climate here was very different from the sundrenched coast and we grabbed our coats to keep warm. The lakes and forested mountains were beautiful, but the night absolutely freezing in our hotel.

We left Montenegro, after giving some random people a lift far far off our original route, although it was worth it because we went through a very stunning and long ravine to get there. After stopping for lunch in Serbia, we approached the border with Bosnia. I was very amused because Jose was quite nervous about Bosnia. His mind clearly conected Bosnia with war and landmines, whereas mine conected to Bosnia's natural beauty. The Serbian custom's officer put the cherry on top of Jose's nerves when wishing us "good luck" and then cackling. I found it hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. As soon as we entered Bosnia, we encountered its natural beauty. The countryside was lush green and the sun rays gleeming through the country hills, woods and crops gave the landscape a pretty autum feel. It was not long before we came across even more stunning landscape passing through ravines with deep rivers and high green cliffs.

It took us a long time to get to Sarajevoand we arrived just as dark set in, after descending meandering roads through the hills which form Sarajevo's backdrop. Finding a place to stay was an interesting experience. We found a nice hotel with reasonable prices and all we needed to do was park the car in a space in the hotel's carpark. Jose did just that, but parked slightly over the line of the next space. A Bosnian man - hotel worker moaned and told Jose to park again, so Jose did his best reversing and reparking the car. This time the car was in the lines, but slighty to one side. Once again the man moaned at Jose telling him to park it again and once again Jose did...this time fine although not perfect. The stupid hotel man still wasn't happy and moaned at Jose again. By this time, and after a long journey to get there, I had had enough and told Jose that we were leaving. And so the hotel lost a customer because of a stupid fussy man! Their loss!We were in luck though because we found a lovely place to stay in someones very beautiful house, all nicely decorated and with wood galore! It was perfect.

Sarajevo is an interesting city which merges an old and traditional turkish-style quarter and a new and more Austrian style one. Both are very nice to walk around. Jose seemed to be obsessed with finding war buildings, despite not having much luck until we were leaving and there was a huge building with holes in it which Jose stopped for in delight to take photos. I found it strange that he wanted such pictures, but then I guess his impression of the country before visiting was based soley on war stories.

Next stop through roads of more stunning scenery was the town of Mostar, famous for its bridge which seperates the Muslim side from the Christian and which was destroyed during the war, but then rebuilt and said to be eternal. The bridge is very beautiful and the emerald green river flowing under it really sets off the scene. Here it's possible to see many buildings which were destroyed during the war and which must not be entered due to landmines. There are huge holes in the buildings, bits missing, entire collapsed walls and signs warning people to keep out. It was interesting to see this, but the scenery and the town soon bring you back to the peaceful present.

Our car was due to be left in Split and so we spent the final day of car hire visiting a traditional Turkish building in the hills, which sits over a stream of water which flows from a cave, and then to the waterfalls of Kravice which fall in a semicircle into a large pool of water. It was then off to Split crossing back into Croatia and through mountains which lay high above the coast below and the breathtaking view of Croatia's many islands and their peculiar shapes like gems floating on the sparkling deep blue.

We spent a pleasant afternoon in Split before crossing by boat to the island of Brac, from which we watched the sunset over the pretty sand strip of Bol. We had planned to see a lot of the islands but instead opted for relaxing on the island of Hvar and Korcula. On Hvar, we took a day trip to the Pakleni islands where Jose looked for shells and played with crabs and I spent my time prodding a prawn in the sea, as I had never seen one alive in the sea before and was fascinated by how hard it felt and how it didn't seem scared of my stick, but instead seemed to be just a curious at what the thing prodding it was as I was with the prawn being prodded!

Hvar town was also nice, being very typically croatian with its beige colours, pretty streets and harbour. Korcula island looked equally as beautiful with its coves of turquoise water and its pitturesque town.

Our trip came to and end with our return to Dubrovnik where we relaxed, ate pizza, went for a swim or two and had the most delicious fish at a harbour restarant.