leaveyouryesterdaybehind

Wedding season is definitely slowing down for us, but with a close friend getting married in Mostar, Bosnia, we had a good excuse for a long trip to Europe.

Monday (May 27)

Memorial Day in the states. We dropped Walt off with my dad before taking the light rail down to the airport for a 9pm flight

The plane was practically empty on the direct flight from SeaTac to Heathrow. Harlie and I were both able to snag an entire middle row for sleeping.

Tuesday (May 28)

We landed around 2pm local time in London. Felt like it took about a half hour to walk from the gate to the train station to get downtown - thankfully, there was zero wait getting through customs.

We only had about a day and a half to explore London before flying out to Sarajevo, so we got a quick nap in and started walking the city.

Wednesday (May 29)

Morning run from the hotel, around Buckingham Palace, Wellington Arch, St. James's Park, Big Ben, and back.

Harlie and I got traditional english breakfast over at The Regency in Westminster. Extra tasty.

From breakfast, we walked over to Buckingham Palace, through Hyde Park, and then spent around two hours at the Sciene Museum (free, and one of the best in the world).

Took the train from Kensington over to Borough Market - London's version of Pike Place (to some extent). We walked all over the market, and along the south edge of the Thames over to Tower Bridge.

Got some lunch at one of London's oldest bars, The Hoop and Grapes, and then took the train up to The British Library. I love libraries and wanted to check out both the historic collections as well as the regular reading rooms. Unfortunately, within the historic collections, the Magna Carta exhibit was closed, and it was too late in the day to get a visitor pass for the reading rooms. Next time!

Finally - we made a quick detour to snap a picture of Platform 9¾. I always forget how much people love Harry Potter - the line for pictures with the sign and for the Harry Potter gift shop were the longest we had seen since landing in London.

Thursday (May 30)

Got our rental car, drove into town, parked, then explored Stari Grad (Old Town).

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Was wild to see all the evidence of the Bosnian War. Sarajevo Roses (mortar blasts filled in with red resin) as well as bullet holes in building facades.

Friday (May 31)

Morning run to Yellow Fortress, but it was closed. Got some Bosnian coffee (how is it different from Turkish coffee?)

Bought a Bosniam coffee set from a local craftsman (family business)

Packed up and left the hotel, drove up to the abandoned bobsled track used in the 1984 Winter Olympics.

Off to Mostar! Harlie slept most of the way, but we did make a nice pitstop at Jablaničko lake, a reservoir along the Naretva?

Saturday (June 1)

Wedding day. Breakfast with Amy and Jimmy, again along the Naretva. We enjoyed great views of Mostar's Old Bridge.

Quick afternoon hike up to Stolac, a little hill southeast of town. There was a cool little climbing area and zip line. There was a wind farm on the next ridge over.

Sunday (June 2)

Drive from Mostar to Sutjeska National Park.

Breakfast at Romanca.

Visited Vrelo Bune, a natural and architectural ensemble located at the spring of the Buna River. We hiked up to the hills above the river to get a view and check out the climbing area.

Planned on getting groceries in Gacko (last major town before the park) but nothing was open on a Sunday afternoon - might be due to the fact that this part of Bosnia is Orthodox Christian.

Got checked into our place in Tjentiste, got a quick dinner at the attached restaurant, and then went for a quick hike. It was late (6:45pm start) and raining - so we only did about 1.5 miles.

We also visited the Battle of Sutjeska Memorial Monument. Wild to think of a WWII conflict up high in these mountains.

Monday (June 3)

Hike day! We got a late start, but got lucky with good afternoon weather - it was drizzling when we started up our 70 minute drive to the trailhead (Prijevor) but by the time we parked, there was plenty of sunshine.

Tuesday (June 4)

Back to Sarajevo for our return flight to London.

Visited the town of Foca.

Visited the sand pyramids...

Really nice drive through the canyons cut by the Drina and the Bistrica.

Back in Sarajevo, we made a quick stop to visit the "Tunnel of Hope".

Landed in Stansted... had to stay the night at a Holiday Inn Express because the rental car place wasn't open when we landed.

Wednesday (June 5)

Woke up, got the rental car at our Holiday Inn Express in Stansted...

First stop was Rochester, a nice little down east of London.

Stayed at the Botany Bay Hotel between Broadstairs and Margate.

Thursday (June 6)

Drive down to Hastings. Stayed at the Number 46 Guest House.

Best mini golf place we've been to.

Friday (June 7)

Drive back to London for our flight out of Heathrow.

Landed back in Seattle around 6pm on Friday night.