From Postup To Orebic & The Boutique Adriatic Hotel

I usually travel with no plans, no reservations, and no itinerary. So today after packing up, at the suggestion of Antonio and Sabina of the Holiday Adriatic Resort and Mikulic Boutique Winery, I motored my way northwest toward the end of the peninsula to Orebic where the Mikulic family operates a bouquet hotel and a […]

Finding Treasures and Possibilities on the Pelješac Peninsula in Croatia

Mikulic Boutique Winery & Adriatic Holiday Resort Traffic and big trucks torment me as I wind my way back north to the Pelješac peninsula. Yesterday I connected with a young winemaker whose family for three generations crafted wine from the venerable Plavac Mali, a grape varietal only found here in Croatia. Since breaking through the […]

What A Difference A Day Makes—The Old Town Dubrovnik Amusement Park

I catch the earliest water taxi to Dubrovnik. On the way, I pass the remnants of the Kupari Resort a former Yugoslavia military retreat that catered to the elite of the Yugoslav People’s Army. Built sometime between the two World Wars on prime real estate on a secluded beach just south of Dubrovnik. It was […]

Do I Need To Go To Dubrovnik?

Last night, the battery was still too weak to crank the engine after dinner. The good news is that there was a slight charge as the instrument and operating lights work. After breakfast, I recruited two bellhops who helped me push and jump start the bike. I didn’t need two, as with both pushing unevenly, […]

Hospitality, Service, and a New Clutch. But Wait! Now The Battery?

Sunbathers appeared on the docks below my room early this morning. The temperature is already pushing 80 degrees, and I haven’t had coffee. After a refreshing shower, I join the other guests eating breakfast on the patio outside. It’s not long before the waitress brings me coffee and with it a small plastic bag with […]

Walls, Wine, Oysters, and a Plan

I’m in a hotel in Mali Ston, Croatia, but my bike is stranded on the side of the road with a broken clutch cable in Ston, Croatia, just a few kilometers away. I contact Dooby in Zagreb, who is about 700 kilometers away. Between us, we fail to find a replacement cable any closer. Mr. […]

From Mostar To Dark Ustaše Memories & Bike Problems

It’s getting harder to find and shift into neutral. I’m worried. The clutch feels spongy due to a stretched cable. So before taking off, I trade a few messages with Dooby at Lobagola B&B in Zagreb, Croatia. He’ll order a new clutch cable for me and find a shop that can repack the muffler that’s […]

Stari Most—Medieval Mostar Bridge. Once a symbol of unity, this bridge now divides a city.

After a few days of getting poked, and jolted with blunt reminders of Sarajevo’s past, I hop on my bike and head west toward Mostar, a city with a population just over 100,000. Though like Sarajevo, where the population has declined some 30 percent since 1991, Mostar lost only over 20 percent. With so many […]

Is One President Enough? Ask Bosnia. They’ve Got Three.

It’s true. Every four years, Bosnia and Herzegovina elect three presidents. So if you think American politics is polarizing with just one chief executive, imagine the tension and hostility that could come from a system that mandates three presidents who rotate and change every eight months. This is life here in Bosnia. It makes my […]

When And Where War Leaves You.

The more I wander the old town, walk along and cross the river, ride my bike through the surrounding hillside neighborhoods, the more I try to get a sense of Sarajevo. I wonder about its glorious past as a cosmopolitan city, and of its slow decay, and now, its stumbling resurgence. The victors write history, […]