Started the morning at a coffee shop where the barista took extra time to decorate our coffee just for us. Asked us if we liked her art. Only one resounding answer to that! Yeeeesssss!

We didn’t need sugar.

We headed out of Sarajevo. 

Just like my attempts at accommodation in a new country, it appears I can’t be trusted with Google Maps. Even after uninstalling and reinstalling. I am not a technology queen. My kids were raised to do that for me. Unfortunately they are all in USA right now in a different time zone.

We realised our entry into Sarajevo could have been a little less traumatic on another road so MoD used his technology to get out of Sarajevo.

On the way out there were some pretty high density, very weathered housing. Where the real people lived.

I am still trying to get my head around the atrocities the people here suffered. For anyone over 35 it would have totally shaped their lives. That trauma just doesn’t go away. 

The tears are close by when I think about it but empathy is one thing. Doing something about it is another. The mantra needs to always be, ‘love, honesty, kindness, respect’. Be grateful. 

Be the example. 

I will do my best. 

We hit the four lane highway at mostly 130km per hour, it was a relatively easy drive giving us a good view of the lovely little villages nestled outside of the capital. There are also a lot of new looking factories and industrial businesses. The houses in these areas were neat and well kept, even new. The landscape was quite lovely.

Our driving time estimate was 4 hours 50 minutes. 

The trip was going well. 

As we were leaving Bosnia we went through a Police Checkpoint, initially thinking it was the border we handed him our passports. He didn’t look at them, grunted and handed them back. Not quite sure what his purpose was.

Then we hit the queue to get through to Croatia border control. We sat for 1 hour 45 minutes, slowly inching forward towards the border, about 2-3km away. While waiting, people were getting out of their cars and going into the shops. 2.30pm Sunday afternoon is a busy time for border crossing. Chaos. 

We arrived in Zagreb at 5.30 after essentially 7 hours ‘driving’ time. When we dropped the car off the guy told us that nearly two hours at the boarder was good. Apparently it’s common to sit there for up to 6 hours on a Sunday. People work in Zagreb but live in Bosnia. They return to Zagreb Sunday night for the working week. I think if we left any later than 2.30 we may still have been waiting at the border. Ridiculous.

So it was a drop the car off and walk through town back to our – not as nice as last night, I mean how do you top that – apartment.

The town looks amazing. The tram system reminds me of Melbourne. The parks, gardens and residential area reminded us both of Paris.

Looking forward to wandering tomorrow.

Night peeps.