Millers in Shanghai: June 2012: Germany & the Balkans

After school ended in Budapest, Heidi took the kids to Germany for a 4 days to see their friends in Bonn. Because their old school in Bad Godesberg still had another week to go, the kids were all able to go to school on Monday with their friends. Heidi said she rarely saw the kids, because they spent most of the time with their friends, which gave her time to catch up with some of her friends, too.

The day after they returned from Germany, I took Nash and Grant on a week-long road trip to Croatia and down the Adriatic cost with stops in Bosnia and Montenegro. A few years ago, we had started planning a trip to the Balkans. Nash and Grant invested quite a bit of time planning the trip, but the timing never worked out to go while we lived in Germany. So, we decided to take the opportunity to go.

Out first stop was in Croatia at a national park called Plitvička jezera. It is a series of lakes connected by waterfalls. We took a bus / tram thing to the far end of the park, then walked back to the entrance along a series of boardwalks and trails.

If you can tell from this photograph, the water goes through a hole by a tree stump, and then into the lake below in the background.

Some of the lakes are crystal clear -- unfortunately, no swimming aloud.

But the boys did find other ways to have fun.

Water, pretty normal. Cliffs, also pretty normal. Put the two of them together, and you're obligated to take a photo.

Our next stop was Dubrovnik. On our first day there we took a Segway tour around the city.

On one day we went on a sea kayaking day-trip to Koločep island. We ended up kayking around the whole island and then going back to the mainland, but we spent a few hours on the island, taking a short hike and going to one of the two small villages on the island for lunch.

Our (very) small apartment was one street off the Stradun -- the main street in Dubrovnik.

In this building we saw an exhibit honoring the citizens of Dubrovnik who died during the siege of Dubrovnik during their war for independence from Yugoslavia and the Serbs.

Above Dubrovnik on the way out of town, on the way to Montenegro.

We were held up for quite a while on the border from Croatia and Montenegro, so long that Grant had enough time to spot a grasshopper on the side of the road, get out and catch it, and make friends with it.

This is at the entrance to the city of Kotor, right on the bay of Kotor.

Kotor is a walled city, and above the town on the mountains are a series of walls and fortifications.

We hiked up to the top. It was only later that we realized this is the exact shot that is in our guidebook.

Also in the bay of Kotor - two small islands with a church or monastery.

That evening, back in Dubrovnik, we walked around the old town on the city walls. Its a great thing to do, but not in the middle of the day -- too hot!

From the city walls we were able to see the end of a wedding as they left the church.

One of the entrances to the city -- the Pile Gate.

We left Dubrovnik and drove into Bosnia & Herzegovina toward Mostar, but stopped in Počitelj on the way to see the ruins of a city / castle that was once a Hungarian military stronghold.

It was a pretty impressive set of ruins, and it was fun to take a look around for a while.

Before heading into Mostar, we stopped at this Dervish monastery at Blagaj, built right at the source of a spring that feeds one of the main rivers in the area.

This is the mini bridge of Mostar, not quite as famous as its nearby older brother, below.

The original bridge in Mostar was built in the 1500s, but destroyed in the Bosnian war.

To the delight of many a tourist, men dive from the top of the bridge into the river below.

Grant eating his Ćevapčići (grilled beef & pork sausages), which was served at restaurants all around the region.

And a few last shots of the bridge from the terrace of our hotel.

Here are a few photos of buildings around the city of Mostar, still showing the damage from the Bosnian war, with Nash and Grant showing appropriate sadness.