Travel

BiH – BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – Two Names One Rugged Country

Rugged landscape of BiH

25 May – Mostar and Sarajevo – Tito’s official birthday

Left sunny Adriatic to enter the Dinaric Alps. Only 8 % of land is below 300′ as I weave through canyons amid mountain peaks between 2000-6000′. Every plot of flat land has a garden or grape vines. What a landscape in which to fight gorilla wars!  Tito marched thru these mountains fighting the Nazis, Ustaše, Chetniks, and Italians with little more than rifles and horses. Here, respect remains high for the partisans. Landscape is rugged and daunting. Bosnia is mountainous primeval forest while Herzegovina coast was denuded of forests used for shipping and naval lumber by Turks and Venetians. Goggle Maps only shows a big white blank dotted with major cities.  (more…)

By Pat, ago

DALMATIAN COAST AND THE BALKANS

Dubrovnik from atop Srd Mountain.

18 May – Dubrovnik Hrvatska (Croatia)

Arrival into Dubrovnik amid blue seas, sun and warmth. Short walk to Rooms Kaja where my host reminds me of Dean but with an accent and curlier hair. Quickly set off for Dubrovnik – among the 10 best medieval walled cities in the world. Explored the 1.24 miles of wall encircling the old city. Almost all roofs in the city were destroyed by the 1991 aggressions. The regime in Montenegro led by Momir Bulatović, installed by and loyal to Serbia’s Slobodan Milošević, claimed Dubrovnik was historically part of Montenegro. This was in spite of a large Croat majority population with few Montenegrins and a mere 6% of Serbs residing there. Many considered Bulatović’s claims as part of Milošević’s nationalist plan to build a Greater Serbia as Yugoslavia collapsed. The citizens of Dubrovnik were sitting ducks as Serbs, Bosnians and JNA (Yugoslav National Army) fired down from Srd Mountain directly behind the city. (more…)

By Pat, ago

ITALY’S EASTERN COAST

Church tower in Ravenna

10/11 May  –  Flying has changed since my first long distance trip in 1972. Priority Access meant no waiting. Does anyone here not know how to connect a seat belt?  Wifi on board, a good movie and generous cans of Pepsi and tomato juice – and that was the domestic flight. Alas no peanuts. All running on time so a movie, a book, three podcasts, and a meal and I arrive in Milano. A train south takes me to Modena.

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By Pat, ago

The Balkans

Dubrovnik Croatia

I graduated from Purdue University a history major. Yet, what I know of the Balkans could be counted on one hand 1) where it is 2) Tito lived there 3) Milošević was there 4) the Saracens, Mongols, Huns, Manichæans, Romans, Byzantines, Christian Crusades, Venetians, Ottoman Turks, Napoleon, Italians, Austrians, Hungarians, Nazis and Communists sacked and pillaged at their pleasure over the centuries, and 5) if Franz Ferdinand had stayed home instead of traveling to Sarajevo in 1914, the world could have waited a little longer before plunging into World War One. Therefore, my goal before I dock there in May is to read as much as possible and arrive less ignorant.  If I offend any Croat or Serb in this process, it is out of my ignorance, not out of my efforts to understand a complex situation.

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By Pat, ago

CREATING YOUR OWN TRAVEL EBOOK

Creating a personal travel guidebook is relatively easy and free. If you research and plan your itinerary, destinations and attractions, then creating an eBook of your research is a way to leave behind all those weighty travel books (or tearing them apart for the few pertinent chapters). There exist online services to do this for you but it is not personal and their information comes from the same web sites you will use. I am creating my project on a Mac but this can be done on Windows using MS Word.

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By Pat, ago

♫ ON THE ROAD AGAIN ♬

San Rafael Swell, Utah

October 17, 2011 – Again I load my CRV and drive the highways of my nation. Destination: Chicago. Déjà vu from California’s Central Coast to beyond Las Vegas (which btw, I view as ugly and a city to quickly drive through). The buttes and mountains north of Vegas are beautiful. Driving Interstate 15 takes Tom Tom and me through the Moapa Valley, a corner of Arizona, and into Utah. First stop is St. George. The geology is interesting, gas is cheaper and the 75 mph a good idea. Not many people on the roads, particularly heading east.

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By Pat, ago

Portland – End of the Oregon Trail

Colorful homes of Portland

Downtown icons

7th Sept – I sit in Pioneer Square with other multitudes, seeking respite from walking, eating a Philly Cheesesteak from a food cart, and planning my next move. So far I have not found what the hoopla is about. I walked the Pearl District where the restoration is ongoing midst vagrants, pornography strewn around the Federal Building, and busy streets. (more…)

By Pat, ago