Republic of Srpska, Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina

Well, our first plan in 2020 was to head through Germany to the Baltic sea region and journey through the former eastern bloc countries of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. We wanted to see the eastern European regions that had not been easy for Americans to travel through prior to the dissolution of USSR and Yugoslavia. Here we are a year later and our circuitous Corona virus journey finds us in the former Yugoslavian, Balkan Republics of Croatia and Srpska, and the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina.

We rode through border towns along the Sava river – the murals are big and bold!

Serbian hospitality is warm and welcoming and served with lots of food! We stayed in this family’s new apartment behind their three generation “Wimpy’s” restaurant but they also invited us to their get away cabin. Level by level these river cabins grew above the flood line from “man cave” with a pizza/bread oven to living rooms made cozy by wood stoves. Lovely evenings full of cheers “Živjeli” with lots of beer and their homemade liqueor “Rakija”.

Our hosts built this fishing cabin and garden outside of Srbac right on the Sava river bank.

Our next stop was a lucky moment when we had no place booked but a friendly local invited us to his river “ranch” cabin. We met a neighbor there who worked in Switzerland for his career as a violin maker. Enjoyed a cozy visit of woodworking and musical talent before continuing our journey.

Ukrina River cabin in Derventa.

Inland villages and valleys

Markers of culture and history.
The graveyards and memorials are well kept,
fresh flowers and candles honor the fallen,
benches are nearby for visitors,
we saw people sharing lunch breaks with their loved ones.

We continued inland toward Sarajevo climbing hills and following river valleys that crossed lakes and thermal pools villages. Enjoying warm hospitality and the welcome weather of spring.