MID LIFE AT THE OASIS

Hvar, Croatia…Waiting for the ferry to Split

One forgets what a beautiful world exists below sea level (excluding Venice New Orleans, and most of the Netherlands of course).  The snorkeling the past week has been fantastic here in Croatia, as the water is so clear, warm, and buoyant that you can spend a long time just following fish around and exploring the rocks and small reefs.  It’s no Hawaii in terms of quantity or diversity of fish, but it is still special to delve down below the surface into the peace, tranquility, and refracted light of the ocean.  You can’t help but think, wow, there is all this bad crap going on in the world, but these fish are still here, and they seem to be doing ok.  Everyday just swimming around.  And if you look at one spot for a while, you see even more and more.  Rocks turn into well-camouflaged fish and kelp into an Octopus.  Move slowly.

Of course, artists and philosophers have been spouting about the minute beauty contained in nearly every place, if you just spend the time to look at it.  Beauty is right in front of you they say.  Well finally having a year to sit back a bit and explore the world certainly has put me closer to this viewpoint.   Even the bombed-out and pock-marked streets of Bosnia had beauty, but not in the surroundings as much as in the people.  I am trying to remember this as we travel.  Don’t judge things right away.  Give it some time, step back, think about it…..then let the impressions ooze into your consciousness.  Ugliness and despair can soon turn into beauty and hope.

The other thing that happens as you travel is that your impressions and memories of places change, blend, and develop, especially as you gain more insight in to the history, religion, politics, and motivations of people, their neighbors, friends, and enemies.  Landing at the airport in Sarajevo is one of these memories.  The first impression is of a bit of a wasteland along the bombed out road towards the old city.  The road passes right on the line of Bosnia and the RS (republika Serbia) which is a uncontrolled dividing line between states within the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina..  Its the old war line and is filled with empty lots, a smattering of dicey housing, small businesses, and lots of people walking on the side of the road.  But wait, the taxi driver is chipper.  He’s got an old Fiat of marginal integrity, sunglasses, and is grooving to Turkish-Euro pop (which I kind of dug too) while barely dodging old men on bikes and oncoming traffic (please don’t hit the old man).   It doesn’t really fit that he should be this content.

As we crest the hill and get our first view down into the Central City, we start to see beauty.  Mosques, churches, synagogues, and a million cafes dot both sides of the river.   This is the first clue as to the soul and beauty of the battered city, but the second clue is the people and learning more about the very recent atrocities that they all endured.  They are clearly just happy to be getting on with things and you don’t really feel any tension in the masses.  I think everybody of every religion is praying for Peace.  I know I am..  I am becoming more and more convinced that it is a very small percentage of the people in the work (o.k. men!) who screw up the world though misguided beliefs, patriotism, and prejudice.  Of course, those few people sometimes get the right combination of circumstances to convince others that there problems will all be solved if they just wipe out this other group (Muslims, ‘terrorists’ , Jews, etc…..)

There is a powerful little museum in  Dubrovnik called the War Photos gallery that has two floors of back-lit large format photographs of people involved in the recent conflicts of Africa, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Congo.  (They change exhibits which you can seen in the books they have as they just ended one on the war in America, Afghanistan, and Iraq)  These photos of the African nightmare will be with me for a long time.  Wars that have created a generational and institutional breakdown in the moral compass of the people, and especially the boys and men, who truly see there causes as legitimate and important, not as the self-destructive civil wars that have caused misery for millions and the deaths of hundreds of thousands just in the past 10 years.   ‘President’ Charles Taylor of Liberia led child armies of boy-men to rule the country with force and exploit the resources for his own gain and away from the desperate people.  He even had the armies cut off the hands of potential voters to ‘discourage’ them from voting, which made me realize that what the Republicans might have done in Florida and Ohio in our last elections was pretty tame.  (Of course not ALL Republicans,  just a few misguided people).

It took us (the US via the UN) 4 years to help the people of Bosnia andthe UN has been only marginally involved in Africa? (Thank you Democrats)  It has made me realize that it is really important to\nknow what is going on in the world and to do something about it. At least write a congressmen, send an email, and if that doens’t work, protest in the streets.

We must pay attention to the minnows in the sea and the leaders on the land.

Rich

Well, my loyal readers, you may be wondering what is going on with my blog the past few days? It turns out that someone hacked into the Bootsnall blog site and wiped out the last month of their database. Luckily I only lost one entry from Croatia, since they had Google caches available for all but the past week. So I’ve rebuilt the blog minus some photos that I need to reinsert later. Just one of the bumps in the road or travel, as we still have our health, passports, and backpacks for now….so no complaints.

I’m writing from an Internet cafe in Korcula, Croatia where Doom and other games seems to be keeping the local youth out of trouble and off the cobbled old streets of this medieval city. So the bus ride to Kotor was fun in both directions as the border crossing is still dicey, since the Montenegrins still don’t trust the Croats and vice versa….so from beautiful and enchanting Mostar we crossed from Bosnia into Croatia (and clearly into a place of greater recent prosperity thanks primarily to tourism). Then back into a sliver of Bosnia, then back into Croatia, and then finally into Montenegro. 3 border crossings with checks of various degrees, but mostly just a big backup in Montenegro as it seems that the bay of Kotor is the next big thing in holiday destinations, cheap villas, and historical sights. Lots of tour buses headed that way and loads of construction, real estate signs, and new things going in everywhere. Montenegro is the newest little country in the world and still is developing its infrastructure.

Looking back from 6 days in peaceful Dubrovnik and Korcula, Montenegro seems more interesting, as it was unfinished. Bosnia was great since the real interaction of cultures just gave the place and energy that doesn’t exist here. The Croatian coast feels much more finished and more like a small Italian or other Western European country. Beautiful, but not exotic feeling. A very nice place to visit and vacation, but for us, we’re ready fro more adventure in Hungary and Poland, as medium sized vacation destinations are perfect for a two-week holiday, but are limited in history and cultural diversity. (Or maybe is just feels too much like Italy)

What have I learned here in these beautiful Adriatic Islands and as we get into the 4th week of our trip?

SWIM Haven’t found swimming in the world much better than this. Swim off the rocks, swim anywhere, swim 3 times a day if possible!

APARTMENTS Don’t even look at the hotels, the private rooms and apartments are still a bargain and nicer than most hotels

CONTACT Take time out of your day to catch up on the Internet. This will keep you sane.

On to Hvar in an hour or so, and I promise to get back into more regular updates here. Now we’re going to try to swap books at a cafe nearby. Wish us luck as books are valuable currency here and you don’t want to give one up unless you find another good one.

Cheers,

Rich

We successfully took the bus out of Sarajevo yesterday to Mostar, a small city in southern Bosnia that had the entire old city and surroundings bombed into oblivion just 13 years ago. There are two striking things here.

1) How fast they have rebuilt the bridge, mosques, cathedrals, and many, many other core structures of great pride

2) How the old dividing line between the Muslims and Croats is still a complete wasteland with clearly no one wanting to invest in this high risk area.

Mostar has much more of a tourist scene than Sarajevo since the old Stari Grad (old city) is much more compact and tourist friendly in a traditional tourist way. The bus loads of tourists you would have expected in Sarajevo are here instead, as it is also a popular day trip stop from the Coast of Croatia just an hour or so away. The photos of the various stages of the old bridge being destroyed over a 10 month period in 1992/1993 were stunning, as you could see the desperate attempts of the Bosnian-Muslims to protect this 500 year old gem with sand bags braces and other make-shift devices.

Luckily for the city, the bridge has been rebuilt and was rededicated in 2004 with much international fanfare as a great symbol of the reunited Bosnia? Will it last is the big question, but it seems on the surface that everyone gets along now, but apparently there is a great divide still under the surface. For now, tourism is clearly on the verge of exploding and new restaurants, clubs, and pensions are opening along the lovely river and creeks that run through the heart of the old town. The downside of all this new construction is that it all looks a bit “Pirates of the Caribbean” with little bridges, waterfalls, and terraces everywhere, but its still got enough soul to please even the most cynical tourist as myself.

Today we successfully went back to the bus station to get tickets to Dubrovnik and hopefully on to Kotor, Montenegro. It was rather comical as we switched to German first to try to communicate with Cheryl, and Cheryl got about 80% of the conversation, and then another agent tried French on me and we confirmed that we had to buy tickets here only to Dubrovnik and then buy the onward ticket to Montenegro in Dubrovnik. We’ll see how that goes as the intercity bus website (Globtour) has different times on their site and is all in Croatian. Either way, we have an early morning (7am) departure and should at least get to Dubrovnik by the late morning. No arrival times anywhere, so its all kind of a fun mystery.

We’re really starting to dig the travel life and all the minute wonders of every interaction, smile, vista, and smell. The call to prayers 5 times a day amplified across the cities will be ringing in my head for a long time.

We will post some photos when we get to an uploading friendly computer, so for now, you will just have to read the text. I have 5 minutes left on our cafe computer (which by the way, a laptop is really not needed) so that’s all for now. I’ll get back to all in a day or two either in Dubrovnik or Montenegro

Wow, wow, wow….this is an amazing little city. The mix of cultures is mesmerizing and nothing like I’ve ever experienced in my limited life experience. Just seeing the big bold white letters at the airport was a bit chilling, but not nearly as striking as the first mile in the taxi as we passed over the first hill and could see the white glitter of cemeteries on nearly every hillside. 103,000 people died in the 1990´s war and you can feel the presence of recent tragedy in the hills, scarred buildings, and dramatic mountains that surround the city on the river Miljacka

Click Here to See Our Full Set of Photos on Flickr

However, my other first sense was that of optimism, from the taxi driver, to the tourist office, to the people on the streets. You can feel this is a city that is appreciating the simple things, such as the ubiquitous café culture and the ability to drive, walk , or stroll at will through the somewhat chaotic, but livable streets of the city. You can kind of sense their trepidations towards the positive aspects of their city coming to light again after so much pain. They all seem like they are a bit amazed that people what to come to their city, see the sights, and spend money. But they are coming around I suspect in 10 years, peace be willing, that this city “will be the next Prague” (last time I will use that phrase I promise).

The contrasts are striking, as Muslim women walk down the main shopping drag in very fashionable head scarves while carrying trendy hand bags. Muslim teenagers are running to the Mosque and throwing their shoes on the ground as they are obviously late for the evening prayer (we heard one call for evening prayer while sitting at an outdoor café sampling the local white wine and beer (Sarajevsko Pivo). Admittedly, this is our first experience to large-scale Muslim culture, so it is very interesting and unique indeed. Tomorrow, we plan on touring the main Mosque (which is one of dozens and dozens in the city). Today we walked up the big hills behind where we are staying and say many slices of local life, including gardens, fancy remodels, bombed out shells of buildings, and many people just trying to move their lives forward again. There are not many tourists here, so people are checking out us more than we are checking them out, especially once you leave the old city. (and where most tourists go)

We’ve only been here a day and half , but already the city has made a lasting impression on me. You just can´t help but be amazed at the recency of the tragedy and the fact that it could all breakdown again in a few short weeks or months. But I don’t think it will. This place is on its way up and renovation and rebirth are still the order of the day. What we can’t believe is that we are nearly the only tourists in town, except a few busloads of seniors getting a lecture at a ca. 1520 mosque in the old Turkish quarter that forms the hub of the history, tourism, and social scene of Sarajevo. It’s a real city in the midst of dramatic social changes and restoration of faith, and you can watch it unfold without 10,000 tourists marching along with you. Cheryl and I are both sure shat when we return to Sarajevo in the future that it will be vastly different, and it will be discovered by the hordes (and we will return as we drank from the famous fountain that myth states portends a return).

Today, in addition to walking about 10 miles, we toured a powerful exhibit at the history museum (again, is this place open?) that shows amazing photographs and objects from the 4 year siege of the early 90’s. Business people trying to cross the street and ducking sniper fire, and the thousands of children who were killed while doing such basic kid things such as sledding on the new snow. I never knew the whole story of the war, and this visit has been worth it for this new understanding alone.

These Sarajevo Roses mark the particular spots in the downtown that were hit by shells and mortars that killed people. They are everywhere and despite a huge 10 year effort to rebuild, there are still sniper holes and mortar pock marks everywhere we go.

It’s no wonder that the drivers are nuts and pedestrians brush with death on a routine basis on the rather chaotic streets, although there are still not a lot of cars. Cars rule and pedestrians dash and cower, but it’s still better than watching your city die, while there is nothing you can do about it and the outside world does not seem to give a damn.

Peace BiH

We are finally settling in to our temporary home on the edge of the Alps and I am really enjoying practicing my rusty French again. It really comes back to you, even though I haven’t used it in years, especially comprehension in person. Speaking in long sentences and the phone are always more challenging, of course. I had to deal with a local plumber last evening and have successfully purchased things at the drugstore (La Pharmacie), post office, numerous stores and restaurants. So far, everyone has been really nice, as I am always making a good effort with my French and they don’t seem to get many American tourists up this relatively little valley. Cheryl thinks I make all the women working in the shops blush a bit as we try to communicate and this makes my success at interaction more likely.? Kinda of a big, tall, but quiet American.

Cheyrl and Our good Friend Hannah in Front of Maison Blanche, Vallee Verte 

On Tuesday, we went into Geneva and had a really nice day walking about and taking the fabulous public transit. The clean, quiet trams go everywhere and are so easy to get on and off as they are at street level and of course, you can board any door on the honor system for tickets. We even used our transit passes to ride the water taxis across the lake to the Botanical Gardens. Geneva is beautiful and very dramatic with Mount Blanc in the distance and the Jura mountains to the North; however, it does lack a bit of character in culture and could be described as “too perfect”. Of course, we only scratched the tourist surface of the city and it is amazing mix of languages, people, and even money, as they still use the Swiss Franc and are not part of the EU.

We did have the best Tomato Fondue (fondue au Tomate) at a great little neighborhood place recommended by the New York Times last year (Yes, I saved the article). A wonderful blend of three cheeses mixed with a mild tomato flavor, and served with hot potatoes to dip along with the bread. Very unique. We started the meal with the thinnest cut chacuterie plate I’ve ever seen, which was fabulous while sitting out with white wine on a quiet street in the Caroche neighborhood. We lingered over our wine and fondue, but still couldn’t outlast the amazing French/Swiss locals to each side of us and their ability to sit for 2 hours at lunch.

It was a great food start to our trip, but we are sure glad we’re not staying in Western Europe too long this time as it is very expensive with the horrible exchange rate. Luckily, our gracious hosts are treating us very nicely and we are able to enjoy this beautiful area on a small budget of gifts, wine, and a few odd expenses sightseeing. And thank you G.W.B. for taking our global respect AND currency down in value over the past 6 years.

We still have lots to tell you all about, including biking and swimming in Lake Annecy today (fabulous), but my internet is about to be cut off for now.

Au demain,

Rich

Well, we are finally in rural France, just outside Geneva, in a valley called the Vallee Verte, and boy is it green. Our good friends Hannah and Erik live with their two boys, Finn and Frankie in a cool OLD farmhouse/hunting lodge that has parts that date to the mid 1600’s! It’s an amazing building with nooks, 3 foot thick stone walls, and lots of space, including a spectacular view of the adjacent mountains. A good place to start as we make our way around the world. We caught up with Hannah and Erik last night over lots of wine and managed to drink ourselves out of our jet lag. (so much for the classic advice not to drink)

Hey, and we are finally not packing, planning, or running around San Francisco. Our flight on Lufthansa’s new business class was really nice, and we both slept really well on their near flat-bed seats (pods) that have every modern convenience and can be adjusted into about 1000 positions. We will definitely seek out Lufthansa again in the future though for one big reason. Taking your bikes overseas with them is easier than taking them on BART. Really. After our gracious friend Nico took us to the airport (rush hour on a long weekend, no less), we just rolled our bikes to the counter, got luggage checks on them and then handed them to the oversize baggage handler 20 yards away. No boxes, no taking off the pedals, and no stress! Amazing; as they didn’t even make us turn the handlebars. And what about the other end in Geneva you ask? They cane out alone on a cart and were handed to us in perfect condition. Awesome. The combination of a German airline and a Swiss airport made the whole experience a breeze. We will not choose United again if we can ever avoid it.

Today, we were both going to cycle towards Lake Geneva after a nice relaxing day yesterday, but the jet lag finally hit me a bit and we got up too late for such a big ride, so we’ll probably just explore the area a bit. I couldn’t resist getting out yesterday on the bike for some truly jaw dropping scenery.

The photos don’t do the Alps justice. The hills and Cols are big, so luckily we are fresh from our Colorado experience at 12,000 feet…..

Au Revoir Mes Amis

This is the Day! Well, oh my gosh, how time creeps up on you when you’re out living life on the Road!  As you can read in Cheryl’s blog, we had a fantastic trip biking over the Rockies and quite an experience on Amtrak.  I promise to write more comparisons and contrasts on Amtrak and the rail systems of the world that we experience in the next 10 months or so.

 The past few days have been intense as we are down to the wire; packing up EVERYTHING today and taking two final loads to the storage bin.  Throwing things in boxes and final packing decisions are what it all comes down to after 10 months of planning.  There is never enough time and there are always a few things you wish that you did or checked on, etc…  It’s a great feeling to finally be done with all the planning, packing, and logistics; which are not an easy task.  I fear I may have overpacked an item or two; but I can always send it back from Europe if needed.  Tickets…check, passports…check, money….check, and of course, Cheryl….Check.  (Biking in Colorado below) That’s all we really need.

 Every goodbye the past few weeks feels very final as we venture out into the unknown; although we know we’ll be back before we know it.  We will miss all our friends and this experience really makes us realize how many great friends we have here in the Bay Area.   As we have determined, there is no perfect time to plan a trip, so sometimes you just need to make a plan and stick with it and hope for the best.  Everything will be o.k..we will meet new people too, and we will even like some of them.

 Our bikes, one duffle, and a small carryon each is all ready to go and we head to the airport tonight.

 We’ll catch up in Geneva,

 Bon Voyage and Hello World

 -Rich