Memories are made of this...

Arriving in Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovena was unlike anything I have ever before experienced. I thought I was prepared for what I would see. I wasn't. I have never seen a place so recently touched by war, and was honestly surprised to see how much of the front line here has yet to be rebuilt. There are crumbling buildings, and those riddled with pock marks from shellings. But this is a beautiful city too... full of life and wonderful people.

I have lots of stories to tell... stories about a bridge, stories about the people I have met here. When Bata, the brother of the woman who runs the absolutely fabulous hostel that I'm staying in, picked me up from the bus station, he looked at me and laughed, "Welcome to Bosnia", as we narrowly missed being hit by a speeding car trying to cross the street. "This is your first time in Bosnia?" When I replied yes, he answered, "Oh, this is pressuring... we have to make this a memory!"

Mission accomplished.

More stories (and pictures) to come. Off to Sarajevo tomorrow morning. Love. Love. Love.

You know we've got to find a way...

I'm finding myself facing one of those moments, and I know there will be many, when I wish I had someone here with me, if for no other reason than to talk about the things I've seen. I'm in Dubrovnik which is a beautiful little town (lots of pictures, go check them out), and in the midst of checking out cathedrals and museums and city walls, I decided to visit an exhibit in town called War Photo Limited. It's a photo gallery managed by Wade Goddard who is a former photojournalist and displays the work of other photojournalists to illustrate the impact of war. The current exhibit focuses on the conflict between Lebanon & Israel during the summer of 2006. There is one floor devoted to pictures taken in Lebanon and one floor of pictures taken in Israel. There is also a side gallery that showcases the work of several photographers that have submitted selections to other collections focused on (among other things) The Balkan Wars, The War in Iraq, The Women of Afghanistan and the Israel/Palestine conflict.

I'm not even sure what to say about this exhibit except that it totally moved me. I'd encourage you to check out the website. An excerpt from their mission statement:

It is the intent of War Photo Limited to present to the public the reality of war, to expose the myth of war by focusing on how war inflicts injustices on innocents and combatants alike. We will work to make the disease of war understandable to the young, especially the intolerance, violence, and nationalistic idealisms that lead to conflict.

This exhibit was unlike anything I think I've seen before. The stories presented through the photos and the captions that went along with them were at turns heartbreaking, moving, and disturbing without feeling exploitative and with remarkably little carnage given the subject matter. There was no sense of "pointing fingers". Just... this is war, and this is terrible for all involved. I was brought to tears more times than I can count.

Peace and love. More soon....

Looking for something, what can it be...

Just before I left Seattle, my good friend Megan gave me a book edited by Phil Cousineau and entitled, Pilgrimage- Adventures of the Spirit. I read it during the first few days of my trip, and I've been meaning to write a little about it, but haven't known quite what to say.

It made me think quite a bit about why it is that I'm on this journey. The fact is that there is no easy answer to this question. Unlike some of the pilgrims in the aforementioned book, I don't have a particular destination in mind, or a good handle on what it is I might be hoping to find. I overheard some women on the ferry last night discussing their trip to Međugorje, and I thought again about the purpose of this trip, and wondered about which places, at the end of it all, will stand out as having touched me or changed me. Or will it just be the whole trip that has done that?

I'm going to post an excerpt from the forward of Cousineau's book that I particularly liked; I keep finding my thoughts wandering back to it...

These spell binding stories also remind me of the wisdom of Chaucer's invocation in the Canterbury Tales. The innkeeper at the Tabard Inn asks the departing pilgrims to tell two tales to strangers on the way to Canterbury, and two tales on the way home. Chaucer knew that the community at home needs stories as much as it needs food and water. We need tales of the stranger, to help us appreciate our common humanity. But we need news of other worlds and customs, much as William Carlos Williams described our need for poetry, because "the world dies every day for the lack of it." News that people are crossing borders not just on the map, but in the heart and soul. Strangely, I'm also inspired by the tales in this collection to recall that we may also need to be occasionally reminded about why we travel. An old Zen story captures the spirit.

The wandering monk Fa-yen was asked by Ti-ts'ang,
"Where are you going?"
"Around on pilgrimage," said Fa-yen.
Ti-ts'ang asked, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?"
"I don't know," replied Fa-yen.
Ti-ts'ang nodded and said, "Not knowing is nearest."

I know intellectually that it's OK to "not know", but I also find that I struggle a little with this. Maybe it's that I'd like to believe there is a particular reason I am on the journey... that it's not just a happy accident that I was chosen to receive this amazing gift. Maybe there is a story I am supposed to share? Or something I am supposed to experience? I guess that remains to be seen...

I can gather all the news I need from the weather report...

Guess what they have a lot of in Croatia? Apparently mosquitos. Yikes. I've been bitten like crazy. I went to the pharmacy in town this morning and the woman there gave me some kind of treatment gel that is working... I just have no idea what it's made of. No matter, but I suppose I'll have to drag out the DEET... I wasn't thinking I'd need that on this leg of the trip.

The weather continues to be great... I'm in Hvar town on Hvar Island and it's lovely here despite previous reports that today was supposed to be very rainy. I'm headed to Korcula (another of the islands) this evening. I'll get in around 8pm and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to find some place affordable to stay. Two nights there, I think, before moving on to Dubrovnik. I attended a concert last night at the Franciscan Monastery here that was amazing. There are pictures posted, and a couple of videos on youtube.

More later...

Blue sky smiling on me...

Gorgeous
Originally uploaded by Josie R

The weather here in Split continues to be amazing. I've added some more pictures. You know you can see the pictures if you click on the "my pictures" link on the right, right? I've also just uploaded a couple of videos on youtube that I linked on the right as well. I'm not sure if it will work, but thought it might be a fun way for you to get to see some of what I'm seeing. I'm off to Hvar island tomorrow. It's supposed to be amazing... then onto one of the other islands Tuesday or Wednesday before making my way to Dubrovnik for a few days and then moving on to Bosnia & Hercogovenia.

I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come...

In Croatia now... After a very quick self-guided walking tour of Zagreb, I caught an overnight train to Split, which is on the Dalmatian coast. There are a few new pictures up on Flickr... it is just gorgeous here... more to come.

The overnight train was quite an experience. The last time I took one of these, it had actual sleeping berths, but this was just a car with 6 seats (2 rows of three facing each other) that just slightly reclined. It was a full house, and I didn't get too much sleep. I did meet a really great couple from Zagreb. They were probably about my age, the woman is an accountant and I'm not sure what her boyfriend does for a living, but I do know that he tours with a dancing troupe that performs traditional Croatian dances. He didn't speak any English, but hers was fairly proficient; enough so that she could act as translator for the car. It was really quite interesting to talk with this couple about their experiences growing up in Zagreb, and watching things change as Yugoslavia disbanded. The boyfriend had *a lot* of strong opinions about the United States and Americans in general; it was a little funny to watch her pause before translating some of his comments. She kept looking slightly embarassed, and I'm sure she was censoring some of it for my benefit. I hope I was at least able to disabuse him of the notion that we are all stupid... I think I will write more about all of this later, but I can tell you it is really an interesting experience to be travelling as an American right now. One morning at breakfast in Ljubljana, a British man asked me, "Where's your accent from then?". When I answered "the States", he replied with a very curt, "Ah, that's what I thought," and then just turned to talk to someone else. Yikes. The couple on the train were surprised to know that an American would even want to come to Croatia; the boyfriend (ummmm... I wish I would have asked for their names) explained that when he was in New York City last year, no one had any idea where Croatia was. This surprises me, but then so does this. Let's just say our reputation seems to be pretty poor overseas right now. I know there are myriad reasons for this, but it does make for some interesting conversations.

OK, I'm off to see more sites, soak up the sun, change some opinions one at a time. ;)

Dovidenja! (See you later!)

She's a lady...

So the other night at the hostel in Ljubljana, I'm sitting in the kitchen with three Australian girls, maybe in their early 20's, but I think they may have actually been just out of high school. Anyhow, we're all putting together our meals, when one of the girls starts telling a story about a recent wild night out. One of the other girls starts sort of shrieking in excitement talking about one of the boys they met, and I'm just listening, amused, when the third girl looks at her and says, "Janna, stop it, you're scaring the lady!". I literally turned to look over my shoulder before I realized she was talking about me. Yep... it's me, I'm the "lady". How did that happen? I forget sometimes that I'm not still in my early 20's and although I'm glad I'm not, I guess I wish sometimes it didn't show. :) It's as bad as being called "ma'am" at the grocery store.

Speaking of.... I just spoke to a man in the ticket information office, who used "lady" as you might use "miss" or "ma'am"... When I asked about the best way to get to Split, he said, "Well, lady, you could either take a train at 14:00 or 17:45 to Zagreb." At the end of our conversation, when I thanked him for his help, he replied, "It is no problem, lady."

So, this lady is off to Zagreb at 14:07, and booking an overnight train to Split from there.

Think I'll go for a walk outside now...

Church in the lake
Originally uploaded by Josie R

The weather did take a turn for the better. I made it Bled, Slovenia. I've posted some pictures that I don't think quite do it justice. This is perhaps one of the most picturesque places I have ever been. It's sunny and warm, and I'm staying in a great place. There is some good company here, including some very sweet Australian girls and a part charming/part pain-in-the-"you know what" young Brit who was kind enough to take me to dinner last night and accompany me to the lovely castle today. But not to worry... I will be heading to Croatia on my own tomorrow.

Back to Ljubljana in the morning, and then catching a train to Split I believe.

Dober dan! (Good afternoon!)

I'm the king of the castle, you're the dirty rascal...

Castle from afar
Originally uploaded by Josie R

One of the Brazilian guys staying in my room at the hostel said to me yesterday, "I thought it was very impressive, Prague, beautiful bridge, beautiful castle... up on the hill above the river. But then I realize this is sort of Eastern European thing... the pretty bridge, the castle on the hill near the river. Prague has this, Budapest has this, Krakow has this also, and now Ljubljana. They all have the same basic design."

I suppose it's ˝seen one, seen 'em all˝ when it comes to Eastern European cities, but I've posted a few new pictures of Ljubljana. There's a couple from Vienna too, but very few. I'm hiding out in an internet cafe for a few minutes because it's *pouring* down rain... again. Thunder & lightning again too... hoping it will be nice for the trip up to the lake tomorrow. Fingers crossed please!

Ciao!

Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you...

I have arrived in Slovenia. I had quite the adventure getting here... I'm sure just the first of many ˝scenic routes˝ I'll encounter.

The day got off to a great start... I woke up before my alarm (I'm sure owing to the fact that I was scared of sleeping through it), crept out of my room without waking up any of the boozing boys, and made it to the train station across town nearly an hour before my train was supposed to depart. I even managed to use passable German to order myself a cappucinno & a pastry.

I find that I'm feeling really nervous on this trip. Afraid to make a mistake. Which is silly, because of course I will, and I find that it's tripping me up a little. I stood outside the train today looking at the closed door. I knew I was at the correct car, the number matched the one on my ticket, but the door was closed. There were two buttons one red (marked Zu) and one green (marked Auf). I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to figure out which one opens the door, even if you don't know (as I do) that those are the German words for close & open, but I just stood there frozen, scared to press the button. I'm not sure what I thought would happen, but I think I was picturing some heretofore unseen train conductor popping out to shout at me ˝Nein! Ist verbotten!˝ It wasn't until I overheard a maintenence worker the next car down tell a little old Austrian woman ˝drücken˝ (push), that I reached out and hit the green button. And what do you know, no alarms sounded, nobody shouted, the doors swooped open, the step flopped down and I climbed aboard. It's a silly thing really, but a good example of the kind of trepidation I've been feeling so far. I know I just need to get better about trusting myself and what I know.

Anyhow, easy peasy getting on the train. What wasn't easy was heaving my huge backpack overhead to the luggage rack. I can't for the life of me figure out what is so darn heavy in that pack, but sheesh... I think I'm going to develop some serious muscles on this trip. :)

I settled in for the six hour ride to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. What a beautiful train ride. I had forgotten how much I love traveling by train. Traveling through Southern Austria and Northern Slovenia was gorgeous. Rolling green hills, pastures, cows, sheep, mountains (which I have to assume were the Alps?), pretty little houses, and quaint train stations. All I kept hearing was Fraulein Maria singing ˝The hills are alive...˝ :)

It was sunny and pretty the whole way to Ljubljana (prounounced Loob-li-yana, by the way), but wouldn't you know that as soon as I started to walk toward the hostel I'll be staying in for the next couple of days, it started to rain like nobody's business. I don't know the last time I saw rain like this. I ducked out of the major downpour and hid out under an awning for awhile. It looked like it was letting up, so I started off confident that I knew the way after a quick perusal of my map. Ha. Not so. At one point I remember thinking to myself, that's odd, I would have thought the directions would have mentioned crossing the river. Hmmmm... you think?? At this point it was pouring down rain again, and I was completely turned around, but rather than stop and ask for directions I decided to push on through. Then the thunder and lightning started and I kind of nervously giggled to myself thinking how unfortunate it would be to be struck by lightning during the first week of the trip...

I finally stopped, sat down, took a hard look at the map, and realized where I had gone wrong... and I made it to the hostel after turning what should have been a 15 minute walk into an over an hour tour of the city. One more example of my nervousness getting in the way for me... this is definitely something I'm going to have to work on.

At this point, I am finally feeling warm and dry, and as I peek out the window, I see the sun is shining and the skies are blue again, so I think I'll head out to do a little more exploring and maybe even (gasp!) ask someone for help if I need it. The author of my guidebook describes Slovene as ˝Russian soaked in wine & honey˝... sounds good to me. :)

Wow... that turned into quite a ramble. Sorry about that, and thanks to those of you who stuck around to the end. Oh, by the way, this hostel has a much more homey/B&B feel to it... I think a little more my speed.

I guess that's all for now. Oh... here's a little info about Slovenia if anyone's interested. I'll be here in Ljubljana for a couple of days and then up to Lake Bled for a day or two and then off to Croatia.

Adijo!

Danke schön

So Vienna is just as beautiful (and expensive) as I remember it. I spent the day wandering around looking at all of the pretty sites, and of course had the requisite Wiener Schniztel. When in Wien....

I do feel badly that I didn't brush up a little more on my German before coming here, I have the feeling this is one of very few places on my itenerary that I have much chance of being mistaken for a local. I wish I had a picture of the incredulous looks I get when I say that I don't speak German. Apparently I look as if I should. :)

I have an early morning train booked for Ljubljana, Slovenia, so I'm going to try to head to bed soon. Fingers crossed for a quiet night, and slightly more sedate accomodations down the road. I'll try to post more pictures soon as well!

Tchuss!!

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...

I`ve arrived in Vienna. I´m staying at a hostel on the west side of town. I´m trying to remember the last time I did this... let´s say it`s been a long time, and I think it´s going to take a little getting used to... and I´m probably going to need to use those earplugs (thank you, Miranda).

I am the lone "lady" in a room for four... I have not officially met my bunkmates yet, as I was asleep when they each stumbled in in various stages of drunkeness in the wee hours of the morning, and when I got up this morning they were all still sound asleep. :)

I´m off to see the sites and I think buy a ticket for Ljubljana for tomorrow. I`ve got a little bit of a cold that I´m trying to shake, and hoping to get a better night´s sleep tonight! More to come....

Do you know where you're going to?

Almost time to leave Toronto... these few days have flown by too quickly. It's been so great to catch up with my sister & Aaron, and Toronto really is a lovely city. I've added a few more pictures to the flickr site, so check those out.

In about 45 minutes, Cory will take me to the airport to catch my flight to Vienna. One more goodbye that I'm not looking forward too, and this whole trip is starting to feel a lot more real.

I'd be lying to say I wasn't nervous about arriving in the first of many cities where there will be no familiar faces waiting for me, but I think I'm ready. Wish me luck! More from Vienna...

P.S. Thanks so much to all of you for the sweet emails, last minute phone calls, and good wishes. And a special thanks to those of you who have left comments for me here on the blog; it's nice to know you're out there reading.

She's good at everything and doesn't even try...

Sisters
Originally uploaded by Josie R

I made it safely to Toronto. I'm enjoying some quality sister time, and definitely glad I decided to stop off here on my way out. Cory & Aaron have a beautiful place, and they are taking good care of me.

The flight out of Seattle was great. I am normally not much of an airplane talker (I suppose this might come as a surprise to some of you...), but I sat with two very nice people, including a very charming British boy who had lots of good stories, and we spent most of the flight talking about upcoming travel plans. The girl sitting on the other side of him was headed out on her first ever trip to Europe. I thought it was a fitting beginning to this adventure, and I'm looking forward to many more such chance encounters...

I'm in Toronto 'til Friday. I spent a very mellow day today wandering around, figuring out the subway system (very easy!), and procuring a Chinese visa (I'll pick in up on Friday morning). I'm hoping to spend the next few days taking in a little more of the city. The film festival is going on here too, so might check that out as well.

There are a few new pictures up on the flickr site... more to come...

Cheers.

And the dreams that you dare to dream...

Rainbow at Greenlake 02/07
Originally uploaded by Josie R

About 5 months have passed since I found out I'd be setting out on this once in a lifetime adventure. In less than 8 hours, I'll catch my first plane and it will have all begun.

I'm a little taken aback by how hard some of the goodbyes have been, but I'm so excited to get started.

Here I go....