7.15.07
In Prague I was fine. I could at least get a pot of tea with the tiny little shot glass of a tea cup and nearly every cafe / pub has "Free Wi-Fi" proudly displayed on their windows. Since leaving Prague, I've been searching in vain for an internet connection and my search has been made all the more frustrating by the fact that I cannot, for the life of me, get any waiter in the Balkans to understand how important it is that I have more than 3 ounces of tea at a time. And no, I won't take lemon in my tea - milk and sugar please. And then they proceed to give me twice the amount of milk than they give me of tea. It's one of those traveling moments that I'm trying to knock up to "important cultural experience" but in actual fact, I'm craving a Starbucks - and like I said, in my normal American life, I don't "do" Starbucks, but I'm beginning to see the sense in them.
It's the morning of July 15th and after arriving at 10.30 PM to the Sarajevo train station with no place to stay and no city map (spontaneous trip here - it was on the itinerary but for later and so I hadn't yet purchased that map or guide book - my current guide book writes of two other places in Bosnia (quick day trips from the more "civilized" - I use the term with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek - Croatia) and qualifies them for the "adventurous" traveler. The book doesn't attempt to beguile people to Sarajevo - the war is too recent in most people's memory I guess.
The train from Ploce, Croatia to Sarajevo was about 4.5 hours, but a really long 4.5 hours because it must have been over 90 degrees and the train would crawl from one stop to the next and each wagon was nearly full. Smoking is basically encouraged on board and we feared we might get fined for NOT smoking. Mom, you would have been in heaven.
The train cuts through mountains with a system of countless tunnels and traverses the Neretva River which I had been told was a magical green color. No joke, I've never seen a more beautiful river. It's deep and wide and runs the length that the train travels. And these mountains - wow - forested and jagged. Imposing. The train system was built by the Austro-Hungarians and is old but evidently pretty sturdy. At least I spent the day putting my faith in Austrian engineering, knowing how they are sticklers for details. And the greatest thing about the trains is that actually tilt, which I read in the guidebook (yes the same one that completely ignores Sarajevo) but it really didn't register as a special detail - at least it didn't register until i was on the train, and it was banking the tight turns through the mountains. A few times the train stopped and we were tilted enough where we had to steady ourselves. The scenery, the tilting, and yes, even the audacity of the smokers were enchanting. Slowly, as the coastal heat was replaced by a crisp mountain cool, I decided this was one of my all-time favorite train rides.
We woke up refreshed this morning having splurged on a hotel that had Wi-Fi and a boutique feel; it really wasn't the boutique feel that sold me on it - it was clean, safe and there. It was nearing 11 PM and we'd been traveling since 1 PM and we were in a city we didn't know and had no place to stay. I usually get pretty stingy when traveling but I wanted to drop my backpack, shower the train soot off of me and collapse into bed - after checking email and Skyping with Greg (he as a video cam and it was the first I'd seen him in weeks). 12 floors above Sarajevo, we woke to a spectacular view of the city. Our accommodations were only a few more Euros than we paid in Croatia and if I doubted the expense last night, the view of Sarajevo, a city surrounded by mountains, cured me of any doubt. Breakfast was included complete with an egg omelette and a variety of juices and breads and spreads. And I had Wi-Fi and endless tea this morning. I looked out, sufficiently caffeinated, from the hotel restaurant balcony as Greg and I Skyped before he went to bed and as I was planning my day ahead, I felt all was right with my world.
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