Život je dobar - Life is Good.
Yes, I have been out and about across the property with our lawn mower! It was some 10 months ago that I was rushing to get the grass nice and tidy before I slipped, and broke my ankle.
David writes,
Hello and welcome to this weeks newsletter from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If you’d like to support the newsletter, you can Buy Me a Coffee.
I appreciate your faithful readership, your comments, and your generosity!
As I am writing this, my office door is open, the sun is beaming in and when I take breaks, I sit out under a canopy of blue skies and a wonderful chorus of bird song.
Could things finally be improving weather-wise?
Time will tell.
Lots happening on the storytelling front. We are almost ready to ‘hit the road’ again, with the wonderful support of Control Rent A Car.
So, stand by for some hopefully cool images and video from this wonderful country.
Quick Question.
What would you like to read more about here in this newsletter?
Pic of the Week.
Parked in front of the Municipal Building in Banja Luka and complete with its original number plate, this lovingly restored Zastava 850 "Fića".
Looks stunning.
The Garden.
I have sort of got my confidence back!
Yes, I have been out and about across the property with our lawn mower! It was some 10 months ago or so, that I was rushing to get the grass nice and tidy before a “Bucket List” trip to the Sutjeska National Park.
I slipped, there was a snap. I had broken my ankle.
When we started to cut the grass this season, I have to admit to being a bit uneasy. Strange how the memory of severe pain stays with you. Totally unnecessary as my ankle has repaired very well.
The recent wet, dry, wet, dry weather hasn’t helped us, but now maybe we can try to have as manicured a lawn as is possible. Of course, once we do get it looking cool, the weather will be so hot and dry, that the lawn will turn almost brown.
”Šta je tu je” as they say.
Useful Info.
If you read this newsletter straight from your email browser or mobile device, you might miss the fact that we also have tabs that offer more content about Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular Podcasts.
This means you can access content without having to navigate away or use other apps etc.
Also, you’ll find an Archive of our previous newsletters as well.
You can see what I am talking about at anenglishmaninthebalkans.com
Take a Walk Through Banja Luka in Real Time.
Elderflower Juice - Sirup od zove
Last year we made Elderflower Juice from the Elderflowers in the garden. This year it’s not going to be possible, since we removed much of the shrubbery in order to put in a fence to provide some added security for our 3 dogs.
Hopefully it will grow back over the coming years.
So, we are reliant on sirup bought from the local shops.
If you are at all interested in making your own, from elderflower you might have growing in your garden or near you, here’s a How To blog post from our Living in Bosnia and Herzegovina Blog.
A Must Read About Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To understand my adopted country is somewhat difficult. To explain it to Foreigners/Visitors/Friends and Family, takes forever.
There are far too many “moving parts”.
However, if you ARE interested, then this book is a must read.
“The Days of the Consuls” also known as The Bosnian Chronicle (Travnička hronika), tells you all you really need to know, at the start, about the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Written by Bosnian Nobel Laureate Ivo Andrić, this sweeping novel spans seven years 1807-1814, when French and Austrian consuls served alongside the Turkish Viziers in the remote Bosnian town of Travnik, a distant outpost of the Ottoman Empire. Travnik is about 2 hours drive from us.
Muslims, Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Jews and Gypsies all unite in a common contempt for their visitors. Isolated in a claustrophobic atmosphere of suspicion and mutual distrust, the consuls and Viziers vie with each other, following the fluctuations of their respective foreign policies.
Andrić used his native Bosnia as a microcosm of human society, stressing its potential for national, cultural and religious misunderstanding and conflict, and identifying the barriers of all kinds that hinder communication between individuals. Written against the background of violence released in these mixed communities during the Second World War, the novel now has renewed and poignant relevance since the conflict of the 1990’s.
The book is available from Amazon.
Visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina - UPDATE.
As of this newsletter, Foreigners can enter the country with a valid PCR test or proof of full vaccination. No requirement for Quarantine or Self Isolation in that case.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is now on the UK AMBER List. So do please come and visit.
Please conduct your own due diligence before travelling!
Restrictions are still in place and policed but are relaxed compared to most countries.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Space Race.
Back in 2019 NASA named a crater formation on Mars “ Jezero”, after the village of the same name, situated on the Veliko Plivsko Lake entrance to the Pliva River.
Like its Earthly namesake, the Red Planet's Jezero Crater was once home to a river-fed lake
Two years later, the excited schoolchildren of the village waited with great excitement as NASA’S rover “Perseverance” landed on an ancient lake bed on Mars.
Another year on, and the country (BiH), has decided to try and outdo NASA.
The following video tells this story.
Note the creative use of Rakija.
And Finally.
That's our update from our village here in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina for this week.
We hope you like our new way of creating our weekly newsletter.
We hope you'll continue to follow our adventures, and to engage with questions and comments.
We are always so excited when we receive them.
PLEASE, do stay safe wherever you are.
💌 Help the newsletter grow by sharing it with a friend or colleague.
Superb ...
Thanks David for a great update, really enjoyed the BOSA video, and the ending, picking up the guys with that special vehicle, only in Bosnia brilliant, keep up the good work all the very best to you both Martin