We’re back from our blog hiatus! Our friend Gary came to visit us in Croatia for a week and we were having such a good time together that we forgot all about updating the blog. Now Ian and I are back in our routine again and we can look back at the good times we had last week.
We met up with Gary in Dubrovnik and we wasted no time in setting out to explore the city together. While hiking was an option, we had lots to see on our first day so we opted for the speedier cable car to take us up the hills behind Dubrovnik for views of the city and the bay.
Prague is famous for its many historic landmarks and sites of cultural significance. But we’re not interested in those. Here are our top five trivial and bizarre things we spotted while walking between the actually famous stuff.
#1: Door Covered With Creepy Heads
While it probably does deter burglars, I can’t say I’d feel safer living behind this door.
As far as we could tell this didn’t belong to any business or museum, it was just some random door. I can only assume that behind this door is an onyx pedestal draped in black velvet holding the Necronomicon.
#2: Statue of a Giant Pixelated Pregnant Woman
Careful observers may notice the empty beer can resting on her inner right thigh. Stay classy Prague!
This was on the walk from our AirBnB to Old Town, so we got quite familiar with it.
#3: Crane Tow Truck
Need a lift?
If you’ve been to Europe you know it’s full of narrow streets and tight parking spaces. Maybe you’ve thought to yourself: “I can park here. How could they possibly tow me even if they wanted to?” And now you know the answer.
#4: Animated Statue of Peeing Men
I think this art piece speaks for itself.
Trdelník Making
This one is not as weird as the others. But it is impressive how quickly this lady was able to whip out Trdelník (pronounced “turtle-neck”, I assume). Delicious.
Here’s the zoomed out shot showing the roasting station where the Trdelnik take on a lovely golden brown hue.
Honorary Mention: Anonymous Bar
This already got a full write-up. But… gah! So creepy.
Our favorite thing we did in Sarajevo was visit the abandoned bobsled track on Mt. Trebevic. The track was built for the 1984 Olympics and was damaged during the Bosnian war, when it was used as an artillery position for the Bosnian Serb forces. Now it is covered in graffiti and is a pretty surreal, post-apocalyptic sight in the forest.
After lunch at the adorable Dveri restaurant, we started up the very steep hill toward the mountain. This was a really strenuous hike where, whenever the road forked, the answer was always to take the steeper path.
Great decor at Dveri. There seems to be excellent interior design all over Sarajevo.
Ian and I had both been to Brussels before on separate trips over ten years ago. We had already seen the major attractions so we felt like we could focus on food and beer and not get distracted by art, architecture, or history. Stay out of our way, culture, we have things to eat! (In truth, we visited one museum, which was great.)
Our first day, we started off right with omelettes and coffee. I missed you, French cheese!
Zwanze Day is an annual Cantillon event where a special beer is simultaneously released at 50+ bars around the world. Zwanze means “joker” in Dutch, and the event reflects the “wild card” spirit. The special beer changes each year, and tends to be an experimental lambic. This year was a “wild Brussels stout.”
We take a lot of buses. There are good companies, like Polski Bus in Poland, or Student Agency in the Czech Republic with modern, clean, wi-fi enabled buses. They also have bus stewards/stewardesses, kind of like an airplane. On one particular bus we were treated to an announcer who liked to deliver all of her lines in a sort of liturgical chant. I recorded a snippet, so you too can experience the joy of busridership. Enjoy.
Today is our last day in Montenegro. We’ve been hanging out in the Bay of Kotor for the last nine days, catching the end of summer sunshine, relaxing, eating cheap seafood, kayaking, and marathoning Game of Thrones. It’s been like a vacation within our vacation! We will miss this place dearly but we are ready to hit the road again. Next destination: Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Flying into Montenegro, we were amazed at the lush landscape:
Český Krumlov looks like a town straight out of a fairy tale. We spent three days relaxing there with my parents and uncle. Ian went to Český Krumlov back in 2002 during record-setting rain and flooding, so he enjoyed seeing what the town looked like in the sunshine.
We explored the castle, climbed the bell tower, and visited the castle bears (!):
