A glimpse of my childhood
After the amazing time in beautiful Belgrade with hearts full of joy and happiness we embarked on the next adventure!
We decided to visit my old stomping grounds to relive my childhood life for a few weeks.
Am I going to like it? How am I going to feel about it? No idea, but I wanted to try it out, and now you need to read to see what happened…
Having lived in Split, having a family bach on Jahorina and close family in Serbia, meant I lived among these three places pretty much all my childhood life. Dad, of course, established certain routines to enable a smooth transition from one place to another keeping in mind changing seasons and everything you are meant to think about. Mum and I had to follow Dad’s instructions, he knew the best, or so he thought 😉❤️!
Firstly, we drove from Belgrade to Jahorina in our own little car, for the very first time since we immigrated to NZ! That’s been so special and kind of frightening. The roads are narrow, full of bends, mostly single line for overtaking slow trucks, with traditional cafes along the way. And remember we drive on a “wrong or right “ side, depends who you ask!
We followed Google Maps until we ended up in the wrong place! Yep, the road sign to Sarajevo said go straight, but our Google friend said turn right. Oh oh oh, you know you should not listen to it, but you do, you trust AI more than you trust your gut instincts and the road signs! So silly, right?! 10 mins later we arrived in front of the hydroelectric power plant gate with no further road ahead, on a narrow patch you could barely turn the car around. Luckily, a worker saw us, opened the gate to help us turn around, told us each day he gets people like us from all over the Europe making the same silly mistake, wished us safe travels and within 10 mins we were back on the main road!
We could see motorways being built, though we are still a few years away from having a motorway connection from Belgrade to Sarajevo / Jahorina.
Despite a silly hick-up, I have to say, we actually did ok, driving wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be.
We arrived to Jahorina, and parked in front of the bach. Yes, this is important, you’ll see why soon. Petra and Chase were already there waiting for us with an out of bag chicken soup, our favourite fast food soup. Thanks guys!
My curiosity kicked in! Since we have just completed the final stage of the bach renovation we had to inspect the place! My friends from childhood have again done a great job managing the renovation and we can say the upstairs now looks fantastic! New carpets, new insulation, new floors, it’s so nice and warm!
The next morning we kicked off with my Dad’s famous routine, which meant we got up early and went down to Pale ( a small township between Jahorina and Sarajevo) to stock up for winter.
We bought all the goodies that can last. When the winter and snow settles in there is no more parking on a door step, we will have to carry bags in hands. So, there are now big jars full of beans, winter pickled vegetables salads, sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, carrots and potatoes, all sorts of “healthy” cans, pasta, tomato passata, jams, rice, Nutella, toilet paper and bathroom supplies, milk, and even the first week’s supply of meat and bread in the freezer! Phew!
Dad would be super proud to see us following his routine to this date. ❤️❄️
The next morning we decided to drive down and have a stroll again through my birth place Sarajevo, catch up with a friend and to visit the new tourist attraction in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Visoko, called Bosnian Pyramid of Sun!☀️
Well, this “thing” never existed when I lived there, I have to tell you a little bit about it!
The Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun, with a height of over 270 meters, is known to be the tallest pyramid in the world and dates from at least 30,000 years ago, which is far older than the commonly accepted beginning of the human civilisation, approximately 10,000 years ago. It exhibits the regular pyramid geometry with three preserved sides: northern, eastern, and western. It is covered with rectangular blocks. According to the Institutes for Materials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2006-2008) and Politecnico di Torino in Italy (2009), the blocks are made of the highest-quality concrete material, superior to modern concretes.
On one hand, it seems so implausible that an ancient civilisation, alive during the middle of an ice age, could build these pyramids using the toughest concrete ever known to man. Yet on another hand it is equally unbelievable that pyramids so accurately aligned to the compass points and to each other, could ever occur naturally.
It is a very controversial place, condemned by many geologists and archeologists, but equally embraced by others.
Prehistoric tunnels Ravne
This huge network of underground tunnels, intersections, chambers and water accumulations was constructed under the Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids. Discovery of the labyrinth was predicted by discoverer of the Bosnian pyramids dr.sci. Semir Osmanagic in his book in October 2005.
We visited both locations, and yes, I was suspicious to say the least! I didn’t believe this was true finding and even now after visiting the site I am a bit undecided what to think, but one thing is certain - there is something here of the world importance that continues to attract tourists and archeologists from all over the world.
The tunnels Ravne impressed me, while I am unsure what to think about the actual pyramids. My advice is go and visit them and make up your own mind or visit the website to get a bit more information.
Overall, I am glad we found our way there, and spent a few hours exploring and learning about something very different and interesting indeed.
After a couple of days up in the mountain we woke up to the first snow! Yes, not expected that early, it was a bit wet, but everyone was excited.
We went for a walk up the ski slopes to the top of the mountain and came across a few guys who apparently saw a bear, 🐻, yes a real one! That was enough to chase us down the mountain and to realise how unprepared we were! 👀. Dad would be unimpressed 😡
We left the house nice and tidy, stocked up, dropped the kids off at Pale and continued our drive to Split, the city where we both grew up and once upon a time called home.
Driving from Jahorina to Split took us along the roads of my childhood. The beautiful canyon of the river Neretva on a sunny day meant I stopped many times to take photos of the places I haven’t been to for 30 years!
Uf, uf, uf, from grief to sadness remembering the old days, gratefulness I was here again, to joy and happiness seeing the beautiful things around me. If I am honest, I have to say I didn’t expect this emotional response 30 years later…is it hormones, is it trauma, is it hardships, is it just pure joy manifesting differently, I don’t know…
We stopped in Mostar, my Dad’s birthplace and it happened to be on the anniversary of his passing, such a coincidence that made the stop even more memorable. We walked the streets of Mostar Old Town, went to the Old Bridge and were surprised to see many tourists walking around.
We continued the drive and stopped by in Počitelj. A little town close to the Croatian border with a stunning 15th century fortress. If I tell you that we never stopped there before you won’t believe me, but it’s true. Dad would normally drive Split - Sarajevo route always in a hurry to reach the destination before dark, there would be one stop and usually to eat lamb on spit. Well this time, we had a lovely lunch in Mostar and had enough time to explore Počitelj stunning fortress and to pick up pomegranates along the way.
Arriving at friends place in Split at a dinner time meant we went straight to a local restaurant ( konoba) to enjoy the local seafood. Yummy! Fish on a BBQ, silverbeets with potatoes, garlic and olive oil meant I was truly stoked!!! That’s my favourite food by far! But Konoba wouldn’t be an authentic experience without crabs and shrimps cooked in tomatoes and white wine sauce (buzara) plus another lot cooked on a BBQ! What a delight! Thank you Anja for your welcoming hospitality, this was so special, and the food was first class!
The next day we went for a walk around the city, we visited all the special places that have a deep meaning for us 🥰.
We stopped by “our” big palm tree on the promenade Riva where we met for the very first time, we went to the church Saint Duje where we would normally meet to go for a walk, we went to Marjan first viewing point and took many photos like we’ve never been there before, we went to a new monument dedicated to the famous local author Miljenko Smoje, we stopped by Bobis and Kirigin to eat our favourite desserts, we stopped by Kantun Paulina shop, the “must visit “ stop for a local portion of the best ćevapi in town ( mince meat delicacy), went to my secondary school and my university building and of course had a coffee and chit chats with a few dear friends we always connect with. Thank you ladies for making the time to see us, it’s always great seeing you, and yes none of us has changed one tiny bit since the last visit!
A special thank you to Julka for her company, for allowing us to stay in her cute apartment, all the interesting chit chats and debates, and above all for being such a special person and friend. We can’t wait to reciprocate the hospitality, but let’s not spoil the surprise!
I have to say I was surprised to see the old town so empty, not seeing many tourists in November was expected, but there are no people living there any more. It looks the old town apartments are converted into AirB&B, and they are open during the summer months. The streets felt like a goast town, but it didn’t bother me. I actually enjoyed the piece and quiet, serene feeling and got the best photo shots with no one in them, something that would be absolutely impossible during the busy touristy months. I don’t know if this is good or bad for Split, I leave that to others to judge…
The next day we visited my Mum’s grave and now have another beautiful memory to take with us till the next time.
We went to a big Mall of Split for a wonder, and in the evening we drove to Kaštela to see our friends from NZ/Australia who have semi permanently returned to Split to enjoy the retirement life. After a beautiful dinner and a home made black cuttlefish risotto we heard a lot about the local politics and the non touristy life in Croatia. Good luck guys for all your efforts in influencing the future for better.
We visited another cool place in the outskirts of Split, The Farm House. This was so cool! We attended a pottery class with a group of likeminded individuals who chose to spend a Sunday afternoon outdoors doing something new.
Well, we discovered quickly that Neb has artistic talent and I don’t! It doesn’t matter really, as we both felt so relaxed working on our very first pottery cup, we can’t wait to see the finished ( baked) product soon. So so cool, and we now feature on IG - check it out….
https://instagram.com/farm_house_opg?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng==
After a few sunny days in Split reminiscing what the life could have been if it wasn’t for the war, we left and drove up the coast to our new home away from home, and arrived to Rovinj.
After seven weeks on the road and non stop travelling the time has come to chill, relax, reflect, and enjoy the quiet time for a while.
We have sooo many memories, thousands of photos, thoughts and ideas as to what the life could look like if we were to really pull a plug and live in between the two continents one day, etc. Both heads are spinning 😵💫, one is converting thoughts into spreadsheets, the other is baking sweets and just letting everything to settle down.
Enjoy the photos of my old stumping grounds, I hope you’ll like them. 🤗
Jahorina Photo Album
A travel through Bosnia & Herzegovina Photo Album
Split Photo Album
