Responsibility For Srebrenica Genocide Determined

In July 1995, 8000 Muslim boys and men were killed in a genocide in a tiny town in Bosnia, close to the Serbian border, as part of the Bosnian war. This past week, the Bosnian Serb leader at the time has been found responsible for this crime, and sentenced to 40 year jail.

Driving through this tiny town, and stopping to pay my respects, was a powerful end to my time in Bosnia, as the memory of these tragedies of the war hovered over much of the country, and stories shared about the nation.

Now perhaps, people can start to heal.

There were also many messages pleading to "Never Forget: and "Never Again". But then, the world does not learn. These horrors continue today, in Sudan. In Myanmar. In Syria. In Yemen. In so many places.

Sunset Over Sarajevo

Setting over the old city, the sun put on a show for me each evening, from the hill where I was staying.

Top 5: Finds In Darwin

I have spent a bit of time visiting Darwin this year, and have discovered some gems in the city for escape, relaxation and beauty.

Now the tourist guides will mention a war museum, a couple of crocodile parks, and the new waterfront as places to visit. Although then they run out of suggestion, I found.

One of them is the view from the Darwin Trailer Boat Club. Family friendly, you can sit inside and out, and there is a pool for the kids, while the adult take in the ocean view and the plethora of drinks available at very reasonable prices. The food is not amazing, and I watched the footy there once, so it's not high end - go for the views!

The best view in Darwin has to be the sun dipping into the ocean at sunset, from the Nightcliff Jetty - or just off the jetty so that the jetty features in your view. Spectacular colours, such a show.

This area is packed with locals and visitors alike for the daily setting of the sun, and has rustic old-fashioned food vans, well worth the visit. You'll need to eat if you didn't come prepared with a picnic, because families and groups set up here with the most amazing smelling food!

Once the sun is down, and when it's in season, the Darwin Deckchair Cinema is the next find - below the Esplanade, it is tucked between the town and the sea. The movies are a good selection, the chairs are comfy enough, and there is also a rotation of food options through the week.

My favourite find, however, has to be Eva's cafe in the Darwin Botanical Gardens. A converted old homestead, the verandas and the back decking are the perfect place for an escape, among the trees of the Gardens. The food and coffee is very good, and the service was tops each time I went there.

The last Darwin recommendation is an extension of the Botanical Gardens, down to Mindil Beach. I managed to get the strip of sand mostly all to myself, for a total get away.

A walk along the path and up the hill, towards the Darwin High School, gave me a view across the water and beach, which was well worth the climb.

This area has sunset markets on most days, and I would imagine gets swarms of beachgoers on weekends.

Lots more to explore in this part of the world, but these have been my delighted finds so far!

Ashes Test: Cardiff

The First Ashes test between England and Australia in the middle of this year was in Wales - at Sophia Gardens, in Cardiff.

The much anticipated tour after the last encounter in Australia, which saw the Aussies dominate, but then also the Aussies even performances against South Africa and then dismal showing against Pakistan in the UAE, and England's gaining as a top test nation again.

The English summer did not disappoint expectations, delivering a dull, cloudy and chilly couple of days. Light sent us to the pubs in Cardiff a little early on a few occasions. But the civilised start times in the morning allowed for a walk to the ground through town.

Past Cardiff castle each time, and through the gardens along the river, getting to the ground was a pleasure each time.

The English side won the toss and went in to bat on Day 1, following a bizarre play-delaying opening ceremony on-field. The Aussie bowlers get into the action pretty early, and quick wickets made for entertaining viewing to warm the Aussie section of the crowd a little.

The Poms finished on 7/343 at the end of the days play, which included Root's impressive 134, and we went on to find a few watering holes in the streets between the ground and our hotel.

The next day saw the handful of Sheilas in the traveling Waving The Flag group display our pink, adding some much needed variety to the grey, green and gold sea of our allocated section. And captured in a rare moment of sun!

England's Ali added a further 50 to his overnight total, to eventually fall at 77, and Starc then finished them off, grabbing a 5 wicket haul for the innings. England has 430.

The Aussies were soon in trouble, and the struggles of newly crowned best batsman Smith began with the English summer - they just seemed to have him worked out!

Rogers went on to score 95, creating anticipation and just missing out, and then the Aussies finished the day on 5/264.

Australia ticked past 300 in the morning of Day 3, but then were all out just 8 runs later. For the most interesting day of the test, the Aussies then took a few quick opening wickets, before England dug in until Root and Bell were both dismissed for 60 a piece.


England were all out for 289, setting Australia the unlikely target of 412 for victory, with talk of rain on the final day.

The Aussies were ticking along initially on Day 4, with Warner and Smith putting together a 78 run partnership. We celebrated Luke's birthday in the stand with cake and hats, and the Australia's were then 2/92 at lunch.

What followed was a session of capitulation, with England taking six wickets for 65 runs. The tea break saw the scoreboard says 7/162 - a blessing that we couldn't read it properly with the angle of our seats!

The great Mitchell Johnson was the only joy for the rest for the day, with 77 runs next to his name, but soon after Australia was all out for 242, 196 runs short of the target.

This led to us having an unexpected day off in Cardiff the following day - which I totally wasted with a hangover. Usual story on tour!

Views Of The Bay Of Kotor From The Old Wall

The views of the rooftops, the maze of little streets of Kotor below, and the stunning overview of this little corner of the Bay Of Kotor with the spectacular mountains all around, is the payoff for climbing the old city walls behind Kotor Old Town.

There are apparently two entry points to climb the wall, the one we found was a just another of many tiny street in Kotor after a courtyard from Mr Mary's Church.

The climb looked more challenging that it was, although now I read that it was 1350 steps to get to 260 meters above the old city, and that sounds like a lot!

But with views like these, it was easy to be distracted by the bay, the village life below among the roof, and the changing cloud cover over the mountains.

The wall was first built in the 9th century, and added to through to the 19th century, and has clear pathways for tourists to make their way to the top.

It's crumbly in parts, and sections are like abandoned buildings, particularly up at the fortress at the top. There is also the chance to see life on the other side of the wall, nestled into Mt Loveen, with a few houses and livestock living in the small space there.

With every section of climb, the view got better. It also changed quite a bit with each elevation, as more of the old town and bay revealed itself.

As we climbed, one of the daily cruise ships sat at the pier for Kotor below. Whilst it kind of spoilt our natural view of the bay, it seemed that the throngs of passengers disembarked, filled the old town below us, shopped or whatever, re-boarded their ship, and were off again when we had finished our climb are were back on street level to once again enjoy the near-empty streets. Perfect!

The first main interval is the Church of Our Lady of Remedy, which not only provided a rest for our legs, but served as a reference point for how high we were as we kept climbing further up.

The old fortress at the top gave us a well-deserved resting place, and shelter from a rain-shower that swept in just as we got to this point.

An opportune local seller was hawking his wares up here, and we seized on bottled water and a couple of beers, as we waiting out the rain, and took in the views.

The wall blends right into the terrain of the mountain-side above Kotor, however at night it is all lit up, reflecting into the water below. From where we were staying, across the Bay, we got a magical view of this each evening, after initially wondering what the ring of lights were on our first night.


jouljet notes
Serious Tip: Take water with you for the climb, as the only vendor we saw was right up the top. The humidity during the Summer months means you'll need to hydrate!
Cost: 2 euro each, paid at the entrance
Time Spent: We took a couple of hours to go up to the top and back, which included our stop at the top waiting out the rain.
Quirky Tip: Take the time to get some great photos, from all different perspectives, like through the wall, which was my favourite view.

Wedding Cake-like Ornate Sarajevo Town Hall

One of the most prominent buildings in Old Sarajevo is the Town Hall, on the banks of the Miljacka River. Vijećnica, it's local name, housed the National and University library after World War II.

This building was set ablaze in 1992, in the Balkans War, which not only destroyed the building, but most of the library collection inside.

It was rebuilt, and re-opened in May 2014, and this is it, in all it's Austro-Hungarian architectural glory!

Nauru Memory - The Fisher Boy At Sunset

Unbeknownst to us, this was to be one of our last memories on Nauru, before we were whisked off the island, and out of work. After arriving back on the island, Nat and I wandered down to the shore and the area of beach where we spent NYE, to take in the sunset.

Here, we encountered a couple of local kids, fishing for that night's family meal.

I am not sure that he caught anything - after this photo, he revealed to us that he had gotten his hook caught on the rocks below, and his line had snapped as a result.

For all the tough memories from Nauru, I will say this - Nauru has the best sky and sunsets I have ever seen, anywhere. Must be something about being a fleck in the middle of all that ocean.

A Tram In Sarajevo

The trams in Sarajevo is one of the oldest networks in Europe, as it was actually Vienna's test line! Part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was first opened in 1885, and they were horse-drawn.

Now they are quaint, old and rattly, but do the job with character.

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Exploring The Cobbled Streets Of Kotor

Kotor is the biggest village around the Bay of Kotor, but still the size of a village, really. It's grand entrance is moat and castle-like, as the Sea Gate was built when the area was under Venetian rule, and paints an initial impression that quickly vanishes from your mind once through the tunneled gateway.

After that first royal-like structure, the stature of the village is quite small, filled with streets of stores, cafes, squares and churches. The tallest points of the village are the church bells and domes, for which there are many.

The streets fill with cruise passengers when the daily ship arrives at port, but once they clear back out to their next stop, it's peace and quiet again.

Little squares to linger in, an unbelievable amount of churches to take in in awe, and a maze of little streets with regular village life going on around you.

Working our way through the streets, we eventually found the very far back street where the city walls began, ready for the climb up for a view across the town and Bay.

Twilight In Sarajevo Old Town

The old town of Sarajevo has charm and history, beauty and a diversity of architecture. An old feeling of a city with many stories to tell.

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Family Gathering, Birthday Celebration, and Discovering Beautiful Montenegro

In June last year, all four sisters gathered in Montenegro to celebrate our youngest's 30th birthday. This was no mean feat, with the discussions and organising of this starting many months before.

Firstly we needed somewhere affordable for Katie, the birthday girl, to travel to and enjoy, given that she was living in London at the time, and was about to wrap up her time there. We also wanted somewhere none of us had been before - and here we settled for, and fell in love with, the beauty and surprise of Montenegro.

Further research had us book a house for the week planned, on the edge of the Bay of Kotor, in the tiny village of Prčanj. Which was perfect, because with our hire cars we were close enough to explore the Bay, get into Kotor for supplies and sightseeing, but far enough away from the throes of tourists that seem to swarm every other day in the area.

The Bay of Kotor is stunning - a weirdly shaped body of crisp, clean, cool water, surrounded by the Alps, creates a quite, calm and still part of the world.

The little villages dotted around the bay each had local restaurants, many of which we walked to from our rented house, across the week. The food we sampled throughout the area was really good - squid ink dishes, arrays of local seafood, little dumplings

The water held much fascination - cold and refreshing for a dip, it also held the twinkles of the lights from Kotor each night, and we were in the perfect position to see the Old Wall lit up.

During the days the water was spectacular, taking in the views of the mountains. The wisps of clouds in the morning that would hang around for some time. The everyday goings on in the little villages - all so photogenic and worth taking the time to take it all in.

Our week was perfect, and meet all our needs and exceeded our expectations. Montenegro felt like such a travel find!



jouljet Notes
Serious tip: Go! Montenegro is one of the world's newest countries, and is affordable, has great food, and feels so fresh. It's beautiful!
Time spent: We spent a full week here, but included a couple of day trips - one across the border to Dubrovnik, one into Budva, and then another inland to the capital of Podgorica and one of the monasteries.
Cost: Our 5 bedroom house worked out to be $45 per night, per person.
Quirky tip: There are so many cute, run down buildings to check out and photograph. Actually, there are so many things to catch your eye - the boats, the water, the islands on the Bay of Kotor. Seriously stunning place!

A Sarajevo Rose

The scars of a mortar shell filled with red resin, to mark the site where more than one person was killed during the Seige of Sarajevo. Powerful reminders dot the city streets.

This one was in a square, in front of a church. The bombs falling on the city were so many, and so destructive.

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Black Beach, Red Beach Of Santorini

You'd be forgiven if you thought that the Greek Island of Santorini was all white-wash buildings and blue domes - because that is mostly the images you get as standard travel photos of this popular island.

Lots of the island is, of course, white buildings, blue church domes and church bells, bars and hotels, overlooking the caldera. But it is well worth the effort of heading to the other side of the island to check out the other gems of this volcanic rock. You will get away from some of the crowds, and it will also let you see everyday life going on by the little winding roads you need to take to trek across to see the other colours.

The black beach was the first of the two surprise colourations of sand I visited. Kamari was a feast for my eyes, after all the typical and expected colours of the rest of the island.

The volcanic pebble reminded me of walking on a beach in the UK - but these were hot! Of course, as black absorbs the sunlight!

This beach was a delight to visit, with the deckchairs all along the edge of the water, plus a promenade full of restaurants and shops, to allow you to make a day of it. There was also a regular boat that would take you around the mountain you could see, via the sea, to the other Black beach.

The other colour that is worth making the drive down to see is the Red Beach. Again, a force of the minerals of the island, the contrast of red cliffs and stones, and resultant beach, is pretty spectacular!

This one was not as easy to get to, and required a little bit of a hike up and down a slope to get in there once I found the right road and double checked that the nondescript carpark was indeed for the Red Beach.

This, of course, and the fact that it is toward the South-West tip of the island, means that there are even fewer people crowding your view and access to the water.

There is more to Santorini, if you go deeper afield on the island and look for it!



jouljet Notes
Serious Tip: Take the chance to see some more of Santorini, away from the tourist areas. This island has a thriving community away from the busy hospitality spots, and the people are seriously so friendly!
Time Taken: I spend most of an afternoon relaxing and taking in the Black Beach, but I also just stayed on that one beach - there is another one to explore if you want more black sand! Getting to the Red Beach from the car park took around 15 minutes on foot.
Cost: The bus from where I stayed in the centre of the island of Santorini to the Black Beach was less than 3 Euro. To get to the Red Beach I ended up hiring a car, due to timing on my last day - which was around 40 Euro, and allowed me to explore other spots in the area at a whim.
Quirky Tip: Down near the Red Beach on the island there is also an archaeological site, which was worth going into to see the relics.

Sarajevo Tram Scene

The trams rambling around the streets of Sarajevo add to the city's charm. The network is actually one of the oldest in Europe because it was the test system for Vienna's trams.

Grand Building In The Heart Of Sarajevo

Old buildings like this line many of the main streets in Sarajevo. They have clearly been standing for such a long time - imagine what stories they hold.

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The Fountain At Pigeon Square

At the end of the coppersmith alley, in the Sarajevo Turkish quarter, is this little square with this ornate drinking fountain. The fountain was built in 1891, incredibly. The flocks of pigeons have probably been hanging around since then too!

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Where The Great War Began....

Looking down the Miljacka River to the point on the opposite bank that played such a significant part in the Great War. Here, at the Latin Bridge was were Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, which triggered the beginning of World War I.

Sarajevo is full of history, war, sadness, memories, and resilience. So interesting!

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Glimpsing The Santorini Windmill At Sunset

Sunsets on Santorini continued to impress, with the view from the edge of the land jut into the Mediterranean at the Oia end of the island.

The image of the iconic windmill at the sea's edge here at Oia was the symbol of the sunset we were about to enjoy, and gave the view a focal point.

After walking from Fira, I made my way through the small, cobbled laneways of Oia to the peak of the island - with everyone else on Santorini, it seemed!

After having the Fira sunset practically all to myself, here at Oia I was battling on my tiptoes to get the view I wanted, with swarms of tourists, all vying for the chance to get their sunset photos.

Every available vantage point was taken, as the sun started to make it's progress towards the water. Rooftops, balconies and terraces were filled, and it seemed like many people had been there at their spot for some time, to secure the view. Being a solo traveler, though, I could work my way through the crowd, and find a good spot on my own.

The colour hue show that nature put on for us all to take in was spectacular, leaving no doubt that these sunsets are the most beautiful in the world. You just can't beat the sun dipping into the ocean.

The overwhelming crowd ooed and ahhed as the colours changed, and the sun disappeared. We were lucky on this evening too for some random clouds across the sky, which I think always makes a sunset more impressive, catching and enhancing the colour show.

Once the actual sun had disappeared from view, much of the crowd headed back into the streets of Oia to the restaurants and market stalls. This gave me a slightly better view of the terraces below, and the hive of activity all around this section of the little town.

So very pretty, this sunset is one not to miss on a visit to the Greek Islands.

Gushing River Neretva

Having walked through the cobbled market street of Mostar from the iconic Stari Most, I crossed another bridge over the Neretva River and caught this view.

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Doors Of Oia: Santorini Photo Essay

As I made my walk down the hill from my walk from Fira to Oia, more of the iconic white buildings signature to the Island, appeared with each step. Claiming their space on the caldera edge towards the sea and the volcanic island in the bay, each was so pretty and unique.

As the light began to fade, the hues were made even more beautiful, combining with the pathways, the sea and the sky.