Bratislava, part VI - Old Town and the Hrad (iv) and wrapup of continental #7

I feel like I was writing the wrapup for continental #6 not so long ago, which actually is true. It's one of those odd periods in your life when you feel that time goes by both fast and slow, which I do not think is a wholly bad thing.

After walking up and down the Hrad, I got some more coffee, then went back to the hostel to collect my stuff. The hot guy was back on duty, and I chatted with him for a bit before going. He laughed a little at my insistence on going so quickly ("Your flight's at 3.30pm and it's only 10am, you can stay for another hour yet") but once bitten twice shy; I'd had enough of cutting it too fine and missing flights, and was determined to leave as much time as I could.

The walk to the AS was straightforward and pleasant, and I was able to stop at SPAR to get some water and stroll my way there leisurely. I was a little disappointed that this trip was coming to an end; but only a bit. Too many things had gone wrong this time for me to be very sorry about finishing it. Continental #6, on the other hand, was absolutely heavenly, and I still regard it as one of my favourite trips.

The brand new, shiny Bratislava AS

So soon? Vienna Flughafen

I'd booked my bus ticket to Vienna Flughafen with Slovak Express for 1 euro (they had an online special), but it wasn't due to leave till 1, and considering my absolutely dreadful luck with delayed buses this time round, I decided not to risk it, and bought a new ticket for an earlier regiojet bus. Again, as luck would have it, all the buses that morning were delayed, including my new bus, and it ended up leaving 15 minutes late, but still earlier than the Slovak Express I had booked.

Other things beckon to me now, but I'm glad I finally visited Istanbul, and Bulgaria, and Greece, places which have been on my bucket list for simply ages now. Clear conscienced and pretty pleased with myself, but for goodness sake, I hope continental #8 will be less troublesome.

Bosnia i Herzegovina, part II - Mostar (ii) and on the bus to Sarajevo through the Dinaric Alps

The gorgeous old town of Mostar, lovely even through the rain

The restaurant served amazingly good food. I will come again to Mostar because I didn't catch it at a very good time, but also - the food. This. Yum. Hands down my favourite food here - it really agreed with me, and I agreed with it. Extra bonus for the cute waiters, but I think it's been established that I think Bosnian guys are.. well, let's just say that I don't find them ugly. Anyway, I got free rakija from the restaurant as well, so double bonus!

Rakija on the house

After I finished the extremely delicious dinner, I walked back to the hostel, and was soaked to the skin in the process. Good thing no one else was staying in the hostel, well apart from this Hungarian guy in my room and a Turk in the adjacent room, who were both absent when I returned. It is very uncomfortable to have loads of heavy wet clothing stuck to your skin. I peeled off my clothes and turned on the heater full wattage and draped my garments all over the heaters, then dashed into the hostel and turned on the water to full heat. Annoyingly, the hot water only lasted for 10 minutes, but it was enough. The Hungarian guy had come back by this point, also soaked to the skin, and I was deeply amused when he did the exact same thing as I had an hour ago - ie hung out all of his clothes on the heaters and proceeded to the shower.

In the hostel

There wasn't really anything to do, plus the weather was getting progressively worse, so I sat around, did some background reading on Mostar, which depressed me, and then I decided to go out and get something to drink. I wasn't keen on getting wet again, so I borrowed an umbrella from the stand and went out to the nearest supermarket, which was still a good 15 minute walk. When I got back the Hungarian dude was in a chatty mood, so I talked back to him, but, you know - footnote friends.

The supermarket

Outside the supermarket

Next morning, the weather was as dire as ever, but I was in a good mood because Sarajevo, and also because my AccuWeather app promised loads of snow there, and it had been a long time since I'd seen snow, and I'd forgotten how deathly cold the snow can be.
The bus ride was very comfy, and I put my feet on the heaters and enjoyed the view as we progressed into the Dinarics. My heart was singing and it was all I could do not to burst into actual song there.

In the autobusna stanica

More to come!

Into the Dinaric Alps