Reunion in the Cotswolds

 It’s funny how things work out and we end up in unexpected places. After my A levels didn’t go to plan, I took a year out to work full time and accepted a place at my second choice university. It was during the first week of uni that I met four girls that I would become beautiful friends and housemates with. We all studied different things and came from different parts of the UK, but we seemed to make a good team.

Twenty years since we graduated and we found ourselves together in the sunshine exploring the Cotswolds, a lovely area of our country with pretty villages and footpaths to walk. We all slowed down and enjoyed time to sit and catch up in many a pub and tea room to celebrate our friendship. Poppy of course came to!

Break in Bosnia

It’s amazing how much you can fit in to just a few days away. This time it was Bosnia and Herzegovina that I explored. A really easy to navigate city with a horrific recent history within my lifetime and the most stunning National parks with majestic mountains to rival those in Western Europe. After a short flight, I found myself just 20mins from the bustling city of Sarajevo, where the spire of the Cathedral and the minaret of the mosque shared the skyline. A free walking tour gave me my bearings in the Old Town before I headed up the hill to find my hostel. 

My two full days were spent exploring other places in the country including Konjic, Mostar, Blagaj, Kravice waterfalls and hiking in Sutjeska National Park. The weather was perfect and when I reached Trnovacko Lake (shaped like a heart,) an old man wandered out of a hut, checked our passports, poured a glass of pear brandy and went off to make coffee. It turned out I had just crossed the Bosnia/Montenegro border! The brandy and coffee were a great way to start the week!

On my final morning, I took the cable car in Sarajevo to see the now abanndonned bob sled track from the olympics. The forest is being left to grow around and over it and graffiti artists have adorned it with colour. 

A great taste of another Balkan country in just a few days!