Sarajevo: From Olympic City to Besieged City
My mom rocks me gently in her arms. I’ve just turned one and stare at her with my big green eyes. She watches me lovingly but occasionally glances at the black-and-white TV in our living room. The TV broadcast shows snow-capped mountains, the open-air stadium, and cheering spectators. She would […]
With Love… To Sarajevo
I have never felt more lost in history and geography than on the streets of Sarajevo. Within the same block, there would be an old mosque, a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, and a synagogue thrown in for good measure. Strolling down Ferhadija Street, we would pass Viennese Secessionist buildings […]
Still Exploring Herzegovina. Part II.
Last week, we shared our journey through the underrated region of Herzegovina, and the destinations that both impressed us and reminded us of other locations from our prior travels around the globe. Today is Part 2 of that post, where we bring you more of Herzegovina. 4. Konjic or we […]
Exploring Herzegovina Beyond Mostar. Part I.
Earlier this year, we (almost) visited seven countries in five days. Wait … we did what? Because we constantly preach against hopping from one country to another and usually prefer a slow, immersive way of travel, I think we owe you an explanation. No, we didn’t drastically change the way […]
War in Sarajevo: Tunnel of Hope and Roses
The first thing I noticed after getting off the plane in Sarajevo was the mountains. Towering on all sides, they dominate the horizon, their steep slopes cloaked in lush alpine forest. These mountains have shaped Sarajevo for centuries, restricting its growth to the narrow valley, while positioning it along key […]
The Prettiest Town in Mexico
“We are going to the prettiest town in Mexico,” Victor said as we were packing our backpacks for the flight. “Says who?” I demanded, “Who decides what’s the ‘prettiest town”? What’s the prettiest town in the US? In Europe? In the world? I’ve never even heard of Guanajuato before you […]
Rhode Island: Gilded Age of Our Travels
How do you spell “Victor”? How do you spell “Julia”? I wasn’t sure what I expected before visiting Rhode Island, but learning a new language was certainly not what I planned for. But here we were, at the gift shop of the Sailing Museum in Newport, unexpectedly immersed in the […]
Part II: It’s Good to Be Home
Start with Part I here. Short version: Victor became terribly sick with a fever and rash on our 15-hour flight from Dubai to Newark. There was good news and bad news. Good news – Victor did make it back to the U.S. Bad news – we were landing in Newark […]
Long Way Home
On the morning of December 31st, Victor started running a fever. It wasn’t too bad, and he didn’t even want to slow down or skip any of the sightseeing we had planned for that day. I gave him a few pills of ibuprofen and forgot about it. We celebrated that […]
Unexpected Oman
There were many ways Oman surprised me, mostly due to my complete lack of knowledge about its history, politics, and, as crazy as it sounds, geographical location. For whatever reason, I only considered countries separated by a land border to be Oman’s neighbors and cultural influencers. It never occurred to […]
Paying the Price for Visiting Oman
Recently, we did something we had never done before. We went for an extended trip to a very expensive country. Or so we thought we did. Oman was our first Gulf country, and all we heard before our visit was that oil-rich countries of the region were not the friendliest […]