Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Slawter Summer Party Series reborn in the Balkans!!



Wow, what a summer. The lovely Charlotte came to visit for a week at which point we then partied in Sighisoara, relaxed in Tirgu-Mures and went for a jaunt in the forests of Codlea.

Went to Busteni with Outward Bound to help with their Carpathian Adventure.

One day back in Tg-M to pack my bags

1-night in Timisoara with resident Scotsman Richard for an all night drinking tour

2 days + one night in Beograd. Fantastic people, beautiful city, brilliant fortress

Overnight bus to Serbian Side of Sarajevo in BiH. 2 ½ days of narrow streets and tiny cups of espresso

2 days in Mostar, Hercegovinia to see the Gatoraid blue water and the manly speedo wearing bridge jumpers

Side trip to Blagaj (Blah-guy) where I saw the Sultan’s tea house, drank from the source of the river Buna, cave tour and ate some fresh trout washed down with crisp local wine. All for 10 euros. + Sunset tour of Prince Herceg’s ruined mountain top fortress.

“Dino” my 18 year old Bosnian Croat innkeeper

Raging nightclub in the belly of a cave in downtown Mostar

“Cockta” the un-cola

Rafting with Hitko in Konjic on the beautiful and stunning Nreveta River

Drinks with Richard in Sarajevo

Sonny’s “War and Tollerance” tour of Sarajevo

Standing on the spot where the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired.

Bus ride to Srebrenica- no ATM= get the F@#$* out. Sad, ruined, and eerie town where 8,000 muslim civilians were systematically murdered and then burried in mass graves by bosnian Serbs during the recent civil war

Hitch to Dubrovnik and then walk across Serbian Bosnian boarder to the bewilderment of Border Agents

Making a detour to Novi Sad after being offered a lift there from the Bosnian Border. Riding with crazy Romanian music loving 50 year old Serbs all the way. (in each of my hitch hiking experiences there the locals insisted on buying me something to eat or drink along the way. In this instance it was cherry flavored ice cream.)

Enduring “Revenge of the Balkans” syndrome on my last day in Serbia

1 AM wild goose chase to find a place to sleep in Novi Sad before finding the ever so mediocre "White Boat"

Accidentally adding an extra zero at the ATM and withdrawing an exorbitant amount of dinars

Having my paperwork checked at the Romanian boarder more than a dozen times

Train ride from Timisoara to Mangalia in excess of 800km

PCV conference, late night poker and rowdy American beach football

One forgettable night in Eforia de Nord

3 nights at the legendary Vama Veche non-stop beach party

Sleeping in tents on the beach, perfect weather and most importantly tatei!!

The long journey home

Catching a thief with their hand in my pocket on my wallet and passport at the Brasov bus station.

Arriving home to an empty, dirty apartment at midnight.

Eternal sleep….