Still a messy eater

This is what happens when you leave JR for a few minutes and he runs out of crackers to dip in the humus...

Majówka 2012

Hi.  This is Tom.  Recently, while Jill and JR were in the states, I took advantage of a week-long break from classes and traveled through the Balkans with three Polish classmates.  It was cultural immersion for sure.  We were talking in Polish for 95% of the time and travelling the way students do -- cheaply! 

 

The trip started with us all leaving from my friend's house in his parent's Suzuki hatchback (pictured here at a pit stop) and driving through the night to Sarajevo.  Needless to say it was a long night, but driving through Bosnia as the sun rose and seeing minarets sitting on lush green hillsides was a striking sight that I won't soon forget.

Seeing Sarajevo in person was a real eye-opener.  It's in a beautiful location and the tourists have returned, but you can still feel the effects of the recent war.  Especially jarring was the sight of all the new headstones in a Muslim cemetery nearby our hostel.  Nearly all the dates read 1993.  There are also many places where they haven't repaired the damage from artillery rounds.  Some pock marks and gouges are painted red to highlight the battle damage. 

Next we stayed in Mostar.  The 16th century bridge was a famous cultural landmark that the Bosnian Croats destroyed in 1993.  It has since been rebuilt and is an impressive sight. 

After Mostar, we were on to Dubrovnik, with it's beautiful old walled city, which has streets paved in marble.  It's a real gem on the Adriatic coast and has an Italian feel.  When we toured the city walls we used our student ID's to get the "children's price".  I may be the oldest "child" ever to tour the city walls of Dubrovnik..

We also stopped in Kotor, which is an old walled city on the coast of Montenegro.  I see how Montenegro got it's name.  The mountains really are kind of black.  The countryside is beautiful and rugged.  We had some fun times driving on windy roads at night through Montenegro and Serbia. 

Finally, we stayed one night in Budapest on the way back.  We stayed with our friends, the Bushes, for a night.    It was a nice change from the week of bunking in hostels.

  Summing up, it was a great trip and a style of traveling that was very fun for me, but best to do with classmates.  This last picture is of me and my friend Radek sitting at a cafe in Sarajevo, eating sweet Turkish desserts, drinking strong coffee, and talking about Balkan history (in Polish).  Good times.

Birthday cupcake

He's (a little) less messy this year around. Good times.

Happy Birthday to JR!

Birthday party for JR was on Saturday. Sesame street theme. He won't remember it, but his mamma and I will. She did a great job planning it and putting it together. She even wrangled me into wearing a sesame street t-shirt. And check out those sesame street cupcakes! Pretty good, but it's hard to beat the monkey ones from last year. :)

Zippity doo da

Fun with a party favor from an Easter party..

Hunting Easter eggs

Some friends from the consulate had an Easter egg hunt yesterday. Great fun for Jill and JR!

JR up close

Here's a picture from a couple days ago. He has a big smile because he was getting a kick out of the flash on the camera going off before the picture was taken.