Well I am starting back on my travels tonight (well I was when I started to write this), after a long 5½ months back in Australia and New Zealand looking after family issues. Been a long stint so unfortunately there are going to be gaps in what I can remember from last November (it's now June).

Slovenia

Ljubljana

After a great 2 weeks in Italy I made my way towards the Balkans. Caught a train from Venice to the Slovenian city of Ljubljana. For a capital city this was one chilled out place. Small, very little traffic allowed in the city center, positioned on a river below a hill with a castle overlooking the city. My main memories of here were the delicious dumplings (of which there were multitudes of fillings and sauces), and going out to a old garrison area, named Metelkova Mesto, that had been taken over by squatters many years ago. Now, on Fridays and Saturdays, many bands converge on the site to hold gigs in the many buildings scattered around. Definitely not easy listening but rather alternative and hard core (really more just hard core). Great night until I lost my fellow travelers and struggled to find my way back to the hotel. Found a good kebab place though.

Croatia 1.0

Zagreb

Next I left Slovenia and headed for the capital city of Croatia, Zagreb. Once this city was actually two medieval cities separated by a bridge, aptly named blood bridge, with the not too friendly neighbors meeting on it for their not too friendly festivities (city tours, you are a wealth of information!) Now it is a modern city that if you choose poorly has many trams running for what seems all night a few meters by your bedroom window. Oh well, at this stage of the trip, in Europe, many of the rooms I stayed in were dormitories so beggars can't be choosers.

If you are out this way drop into the museum called "'The Museum of Broken Relationships"'. As its name suggests the theme behind this museum surrounds break ups, with stories accompanied by a related piece of memorabilia of some type. My pre-arrival mindset bordered on boyfriend-girlfriend, husband-wife breakups - of which there were many - some sad, some perversely funny. But there is much more to this fascinating place. It will be a long time before I forget the emotions I had streaming through me while reading of a daughter's writings of her mother's suicide and the pain she felt at her particular kind of break-up. Going here was like going to a really good movie with all your feelings jumping all over the place. Highly recommended.

Split

I stayed in Croatia and made my way by bus to the port city of Split. I sort of enjoyed Split, a few nice buildings within the alleyways of the old city. The port area with its promenade was quite nice but overpriced which is pretty stock standard when it comes to having a drink close to the sea. I explored around a bit and kept running into posters on telegraph poles for a punk night which I was really keen for, but alas, it wasn't to be. Instead of bouncing around and slamming like the kid that I'm not anymore, I found the place deserted. Sums up Split, enough potential to be enthused but not sure it really delivers.

Left Croatia and entered the previously war torn country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They copped it full on during the Balkans war of the 90's, even now the country seems to be stagnating due to ethnic divisions within the political establishment, pulling the country in different directions under the influence of neighboring countries. My first stop was in Mostar where it's famous bridge had to be rebuilt after hostilities ceased. One local who owned a bar was very keen to recount his stories telling me how old wounds cut deep and good friends of his from before the war still wouldn't talk to him, and how the front line during the war that split the town is still an unofficial demarcation boundary where the different ethnic groups and businesses reside on either side. A building named 'Sniper's Nest' sits on this boundary. Many people died from the bullets that were fired from this vantage point and yet it remains in it's original decrepit post war state, with local government refusing to alter it in any way, towering over many people's homes whose lives were destroyed by the bullets fired by the snipers from this edifice. I am not mentioning sides here as I was only told one side of the story, the one by the bar owner. I am sure the other side also have their present day grievances. But what I did learn was that this country still has a long way to go to reach any kind of unity. Sad, but seemingly true.

Sarajevo

Next I experienced my first signs of winter in Sarajevo, the capital. I was heading south in the hope of making winter a little less cold and Sarajevo reinforced that idea with my first snow. Pleasant enough city which also had a grim time of it during the war years being surrounded by the Serbs and placed under siege. Nice cafes and some pretty buildings and getting around on the trams made for a lot less footwork. 'The Tunnel Museum' was a worthwhile visit as it showed how the inhabitants of the city outlasted the siege during the civil war. Placed at the far end of the supply tunnel you could even walk, hunched, through a section. Many a sore back must have finally exited at the other end but I'm sure that would have been the least of their worries during those uncertain and horrific times.

Croatia 2.0

Dubrovnik

I re-entered Croatia for the second time, this time the smaller enclave to the south of the main part of the country. You know, sometimes you have just got to accept that you've missed the boat. Arrived at a place way passed it's prime. Got there after the tourists have raped & pillaged the town, so to speak. Hello Dubrovnik. Over commercialized and expensive. Nice looking place with the walled city and magnificent buildings. I enjoyed walking up the surrounding hills for a well earned snack while just enjoying the view. But...in my opinion the place has no soul left and it exists for money alone. I got told off for taking a local bus wearing my backpack by a lady who thought I should rather have caught a taxi. She was quite spiteful. I am sure this came about by the frustration at having to share her 'home' with so many tourists throughout the year. Didn't stop me in telling her where to go.

Montenegro

Podgorica

From my time in Croatia I now continued heading south towards my goal of Greece and warmer weather. I only spent a night in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, but it was a night that brought back so many memories of my youth, just by having dinner. You see there aren't any smoking restrictions in Montenegro and there seemed to be oh so many smokers. Astrays on the table, the thick ceiling haze creating a ever sinking fog so that everyone can enjoy, and the smoked smelling clothes the next morning. Yep, reminds me of those bygone days at discos in Australia. Not for the last time in this region my lungs were glad when exiting for that "breathe of fresh air" feeling.

Hopefully not a sign of things to come. Left Morocco bound for Rome. Once the plane reached altitude I needed to relieve myself so I made my way back towards the rear of the plane. The stewardess was hanging around the toilets and as I approached a passenger, a lady, exited the toilet I was about to enter. Before I could enter the stewardess stuck her head in the vacant loo then looked at me, shook her head and raised her eyebrows. A bit weird I thought, but also surmised that I was in for a pretty bad experience. Upon entry I was greeted not by my expectations but rather the smell of cigarettes. So, smile on face, I thought I had escaped that pretty bad experience after all. Unfortunately no. Half way through peeing the plane hit turbulence, initially just rocking the plane but then going full on, causing me to let go of what I was holding and grab the nearest fixed railing. My feet were lifting off the floor and outside the crashing of the food trolley they had been preparing could be heard. When the violent shaking did not subside I decided it was time to get out of my personal blender, eventually sliding that little lever and pushing the door open. I was met by the sound of screaming passengers and my odor smelling stewardess already buckled in her seat in the gantry. She pointed to the nearby seat which was placed against the wall and needed to be pulled down for seating upon. While grabbing onto anything fixed and dodging the overturned trolley, I made my way towards it, pulled it down, plane still violently shaking and plopped my bum down...upon the floor. Silly me had let go of the seat too early and the seat had flipped back up into its normal position meaning thin air was all that existed where I had hoped a seat would be. Eventually got on the seat and hanging on to my proper seat belt (like the one's racing car drivers use) got buckled in and relaxed (as much as possible) until the shaking subsided. Must have been a 10 minute ordeal all up. Never had it before, never want it again.

The rest of the flight went well and landed in Rome, Italy. A few days earlier I had booked a flight to Amsterdam to meet a really good mate, Neil, who I hadn't seen for 13 years. The flight left on one of the first flights in the morning so I had decided to do the airport floor sleeping thing. Not fun, not sure why I called it the airport sleeping thing, not much sleep. Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is so chilled. Love walking around the canals, seeing the multi-storied beautiful buildings that somehow are still standing, leaning as they are, the atmosphere around the place is just so good. In the past the times I spent in Amsterdam would be ones in party mode, heavy duty and rather forgetful after the event, if you get my meaning. This was no different except being more refined and possibly mature (possibly not), we decided to visit some attractions as well. This led us to the Begijnhof (a convent community that in the past looked after their fellow females), Vondelpark (Neil owns a gardening business and this park had an English garden flavor to it, or so I read, I think), to an outdoor street market and finally saw some cool art in the Stedelijk museum. Neil left the day before me and I spent that night with a previously unknown relative Marga who was a great host. Thanks again Marga, appreciate the hospitality and really enjoyed our talks.

Left Holland, back to Italy where I stayed with friends in Tuscany, hello Giacomo & Francesca. Their two boys are getting bigger and with Luca at 2 and Alessandro at 5 life was definitely not uneventful, or even quiet. Great boys which were lots of fun. Had a great 2 weeks with the family there. We went to many of the surrounding Tuscan towns and even ended up in Lucca for the world's second biggest game & comic book convention, many a great costume worn. Giacomo is in the wine business so my alcohol input went up markedly but my taste buds didn't mind, many a fine drop. Finally put to rest my camera problem after all these months. Nikon Italy wouldn't honor my worldwide warranty unless I had bought the camera lens in Europe??? Got so sick of the crap that I sent my lens back to Australia to get repaired and bought an identical one in Florence. Camera is once again clicking at a accustomed rate. While in Florence I righted a previous wrong and visited the Uffizi museum after the standard 3 hour line to get in (in the morning it was 5 hours so got a bargain there). This gave the camera a work out with Leonardo and his mates showing off their impressive works. It was very sad to say my goodbyes to Fran & Giacomo. They were adamant that I shouldn't leave Italy without seeing Venice so that's what I did.

The first and only previous time I visited Venice in 1988 and it was only a brief 2 hours stopover between trains. Saw the canal, walked over a bridge, been there done that. At least that's what I thought back then. It's good to be proven wrong. Yes the place is expensive and they could sink every gondola and it wouldn't make any difference to me but...there are some special places that I saw there that makes me glad I went back. From the outside the Basilica Santa Maria Glorioso del Frari looks like your standard Italian cathedral, high ceilings, wide and deep main auditorium, nothing special. In fact the outside looked quite plain. It is only once your inside that the church takes on a different personality. Lining both sides of the church as you enter are a number of monumental altars that reach high towards the ceiling. My favorites of these altars were the large burial pyramid where sculptor Antonio Canova lay (I don't know him either but his burial site was impressive) and the funereal monument by Longhena with well-muscled black men holding up the monument with gruesome black skeletons jutting from the wall beside them (my favorite). There were more Italian masterpiece paintings by some famous but unknown to me Venetian artists as well as segmented chambers all fantastically decorated. Churches are rarely my scene but this one was definitely one not to miss. Enjoyed it.

Next I went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum where I saw some paintings of my favorite artists (Miro, Picasso, Kandinsky, Magritte, Dali) and got so very close to a Jackson Pollock, worth around $150mil, that I could have licked it (not that I would). Finally the last place I visited that I would definitely recommend for its uniqueness (as far as I know) is the Palazzo Dulace near St.Marks square. This was the residence of the Doge of Venice (something like the governor) so as you can imagine the place is grand indeed. On the upper floors it's as if each room was a museum in itself with the rooms full on decorated with paintings that weren't just consigned to the walls. In fact it was the high ceilings that were totally covered in these bog standard Italian masterpieces and between each of these intricately designed frames separated one from the next. One room must have been around 60m long. Really impressive. So yes, thanks Fran & Giacomo, I was very happy with the visit to Venice. PS. There were also a few canals (and unsunk gondolas).