Balkan Tour: Herzegovina

We were all up early and on the bus to head to Međugorje, a very religious town, unbeknownst to me, which came as quite a shock as I was not expecting this. They coined it the Vegas of the Holy world due to the gold and popularity of the continued apparitions of Mary, the crying statue and the two mountains to climb during ones pilgrimage. The only thing in the brochure that hinted towards this being very religious was it stated ‘Sunday mass is optional’. I was going to give the nightly masses a miss since they were not in English, and well, I am not religious. I cannot even follow a mass in English, let alone in any of the other languages they were doing it in. After our plain feast of fish (since it was a Friday) our table made sure to finish off not only our wine, but the wine at the next table, as well as the wine of the table next to us. We could not let it go to waste! Since we were to be locked in each night at midnight, we went for a quick stroll past the hundreds of little religious shops selling statues, pictures, jewellery, crosses, you name it, they had it with some religious theme. I am not exaggerating when I say I saw millions of Mary statues.

The next morning was Apparition Hill, where we climbed a steep hill to where Mary had first appeared to 6 children nearly 30 years ago. There were 5 stops up the hill, where at each station we did a decat of the rosary. For those that do not know, since I did not know, it is one Our Father, ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be. I was able to blend with the group and able to hide that I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea what to say or do since it was said in Croatian or Gaelic just to make it more difficult. We had to do all the hiking in silence, which was OK, as I needed the exercise as well after eating so much good food in Croatia. At the top was a statue of Mary, where she had first appeared, where we were to pray and stuff. I sat in the shade and took in the countryside view. I only moved out of the much needed shade when a little snake slithered past me. I am not afraid of snakes, but I am of those that are poisonous, and these ones were. We took a leisurely climb back down where we boarded the bus for a lunch of a roasted piglet and lamb on a spit. After filling our bellies it was off to Kravice Falls. They may not have been Niagra Falls, but in the semi circle of rock there were dozens for small waterfalls cascading down into a large pool before heading off as a river. It was absolutely breathtaking and the mist was a warm welcome after the sun that decided to pierce through the clouds.

The following day was a very early climb, with only five of us, up Mount Križevac. This was MUCH larger than the other hill. Hill vs Mountain. This mountain had 14 stations of the cross, but by the end of it we had done 17. There were only 5 of us willing to do the hike, so come station number 6 when it was my turn to do a decet of the rosary, my secret was out, and my heathen ways were known. Out of respect, I participated by reading them from a little book Jožo our guide had given me to lead the group. I was slow on my first one, but by the last one I lead, I was super fast. The cross at the top contained a piece of what is alleged to be Jesus’ crucifixion cross, so there were many people up there praying at it. I was amazed by the view. Since the mountain is a big overgrown, I could not see the views until the top. They were spectacular of the entire valley. We took a long winding, not so steep path back where we enjoyed a few beers, before heading to mass. This was the one time I was going to go since the young girl did not want to go alone, and thankfully it was in English. There was even an Irish film crew there filming it for the 30th anniversary show that will be June 24th. Who knows, I may even end up on the telly.

Balkan Tour: Montenegro

One of our day tours from our hotel was down into Montenegro. They were smoking everywhere, and I had become so accustomed to having smoke free pubs/restaurants that it was quite a shock to have someone chain smoke right next to me, luckily I was outside. It was warm, even though there was no sun to be found. We snaked past the inlets and bays from the sea where pirates once stalked. That is one of the reasons why so many of the old towns were walled and heavily fortified. The water was so blue and sparkled in the sunlight that broke through the clouds. We weaved through the Sveti Đorđe and Gospa od Škrpijela islets off the coast of Perast, stopping to take photos along the way.

Our first city stop was in Kodor. It was a much bigger walled city, with a wall that serpentined up the mountain. Their religious background is a bit different in that the communists wanted atheists so a lot of their churches wend into disuse and they practiced in secret. Many of the churches were Orthodox so it was strange to see no pews, organs (musical instruments), no statues and only iconography 2D images. The city is part of the UNESCO world heritage so we had another tour guide. Montenegrins are very tall, and our female tour guide, towered over me. It was so great to see so many tall people again as I can feel like a giant in Ireland at times. We went through the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, as it contained relics (mummified body parts) that were of someone once important. This started tourism hundreds of years ago, as people would travel far and wide to see religious relics. Strangely enough they use the Euro but are not a part of the EU, so that worked for me since I had a few quid still on me. I had to pay to use the toilets and the WC woman spoke German to me, so it is good to know I look my roots. The WC woman proceeded to speak in 5 other languages to other customers, so she just spoke what she thought was the most appropriate. As I said before, I love blending into Europe.

The second city we stopped at Budva, where Ben had even done some design work, so it was great to see his sight. The streets of this smaller walled town was reminiscent of Greece with a look of Venice. The sun came out during a lunch stop for some pizza where I made my first friend on the trip, Collette and her mum, Mary. We swung in our bench and watched all the cats run about. There were everything. The beach just through the wall was beautiful sand, with many enjoying the fleeting sunshine. The city was packed with quaint churches, small shops and great eateries. Russians flocked to this area for their holidays since they use the Cyrillic alphabet as well as the Roman one, and are also Orthodox. The land around the area was quite cheap which is why Ben had looked at putting a hotel there in his office.

With the sun setting we took off down the coast again, but instead of driving hours around, we drove right onto a ferry with another buss and about 8 other cars, and sailed across the Boka-Kotor Bay in about ten minutes. We got hassled a bit at the boarder trying to get back into Croatia, but that just meant more stamps for me, in my nearly full passport!

Balkan Tour: Croatia

Dubrovnik was the first stop in my multi-country tour. It was a bit rainy, but I did not let that stop me from exploring the winding streets and steep steps of the city. I took this trip alone, since Ben could not get the time off. I wanted to prove to myself that I could enjoy a holiday on my own. The town was nearly impossible to get lost in as the walled city took about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other, and there were only two entrances. Well, a third if you count the harbour. The city was crawling with Texan cruise ship people, and as with most of my holidays, I avoid the Americans and try to blend in. The tour group I was with consisted of about 26, most of whom were well over the age of my parents. Our tour guide, Bozo (and no I am not kidding), lead us through the steps, working off our huge breakfast. Fresh fish is one of their more popular lunch items, so after trying to get myself lost in the maze of streets, I stopped for a lunch to people watch. Ben would have had a field day taking photos as I am sure I failed to capture the beauty as he does since I sort of run by and take photos, barely slowing down. I did not let the rain stop me in exploring, but it did stop my pitiful attempt to sit by the pool and get some sun. The thunder and lighting frightened me off to my nice, warm hotel room.

The following day, I branched out from the group and took a boat ride to see some of the Elaphiti islands. While on the boat the two girls next to me pulled out their Ireland water bottle, and next thing I knew I had two new friends for the day, sisters Jackie and Catherine. The first stop was Koločep a very small island which was beautiful with palm trees, on lazy pub and a tiny market. A distant hotel and a few housed dotted the hills around the small bay. We only stopped long enough for a drink and a bit of rest in the shade since there was not a whole lot to do.

The longest leg of the boat tour was to Sipan, a larger island that was dotted with ruins. There were two pubs as well as a larger harbour area. We went for a meandering walk up a path to get a bit of sunshine, and take in the laidback island life. We stopped for a cold drink and to use the loo, but with no electricity, it made for quite an interesting experience when I walked in on a man using the ladies room, and trying to use a toilet and sink in absolute pitch black. When we returned to the boat, we had fresh fish that was grilled right off the back of the boat with as much wine as we could drink, and did we take advantage of that.

The last island was Lopud was not necessarily the biggest, but it was the best, with the beaches nestled off the bay of Šunj. The boardwalk was right up against the sea, that lapped against the rock just a few feet below. We walked the entire boardwalk stopping at all the little shops, ending at the end of the pier. The sun was out in full force and I was ready for it. It was even warm enough to dip our feet into the water and sit with the water lapping over our legs as we sunned ourselves again a wall. Upon realizing that we were turning various shades of red, we decided to grab a cold drink at one of the many restaurants. Our table was right at the edge of the boardwalk, with the sea only a few feet below us, which was quite relaxing to listen to the sea as we enjoyed our drinks. After a few hours, we boarded the boat to head back to town, with all of us having a bit of a snooze on the boat before heading back to the hotel.

Strange Anomaly #68

Even though we may be living through some pretty tough recessionary times, I have to commend the Irish as how generous they are. I have always donated to good causes, and still slip in a few coins here and there into boxes or when teens are asking to help out their schools, but right now I am the ‘good cause’ and have not been donating as much myself. I am whole heartedly impressed with their generosity as a country!

Dublin Hurling Finals

Got to love free tickets. Especially when it was for Dublin versus Kilkenny in Dublin’s first finals match in 62 years. First up though was the Gaelic Football Minor Finals which was Ben’s first football match. He liked it as it was fast paced and high enough scoring. It was not like almost getting excited like in football for a near goal. I explained what few rules I knew from my last Gaelic Football Kerry Final and we cheered on the underdogs.

Next up was the Hurling finals. We of course were cheering for Dublin, especially since they were not supposed to win. It was harder to follow as the ball (the slitter) as it is so small, and was smacked around with the hurl (thick field hockey looking stick) faster than our eyes could follow. The players absolutely walloped on each other, smacking each other in the head, which I was glad that they were wearing helmets that apparently that was only a new addition to the pitch, as well as body checking each other and almost rugby like tackles. Kilkenny were down some of their best players, and were not exactly playing that clean, but Dublin did manage to win for the first time since 1929! I mean that is 82 years! We saw history in the making!