Banja Luka - Bosnia Herzegovina

After strolling around the town last night I thought we'd visited Banja Luka in the middle of a supermodel convention but dismissed the thought as an over-active imagination due to the long drive the day before.

Pleasingly (to me at least) the view in the morning seemed to be no worse than the previous night. 

I read through the tourist information that we had and it seems that Banja Luka is famous for an abundance of beautiful women. 

A local urban myth purports to have the ratio of women to men at 7 to 1.  That's an exaggeration for sure but I wasn't complaining.  

I spoke to the tourist agency bloke and mentioned it to him and he believes that since this myth has started the girls feel that they have a reputation to live up to and therefore dress the part and go to a fair bit of trouble with their looks.  

This of course then entrenches the myth and more girls feel that they then have to do likewise.  A 'vicious' circle (it's not) has now been set up in Banja Luka with each girl looking to outdo the other.  (I'm sure at least 50% of the population isn't complaining however.)

Disappointingly for Nicki it seems that the average male Banja Lukan thinks that dressing up for the 'ladeez' consists of a catching ensemble of sports jumper, hoodie or T-shirt (adidias, nike etc) and a fetching pair of track suit pants.  Preferably with fluoro highlights.

Men's tailors and suit shops are not doing a roaring trade in Banja Luka.

Kastel Fortress

Aesthetics aside we walked around the town some and went to the castle in the centre on the River Vrbas.  The castle has been around since Roman times and although it wasn't in the best condition it was free to get into so we liked that.  Saw a restaurant within the castle and pencilled that in for another night after scanning the menu.

On the Kastel walls.

Visited the markets after that and got some knock-off shoes and cheap T-shirts.

Take-away for dinner after leaving our run too late with the kids.  

Once the whinging starts there's nothing to do but cut your losses and run.

Kastel Fortress - River Vrbas in foreground.

Harry's rockin new shoes.

Stray observations. Feed the kids early.

Also when entering a supermarket in Bosnia please make sure you don't bring your dog, any ice-cream, roller-blades or cigarettes into the building.  Oh, and also if you don't mind, could you please endeavour not to pack any heat.  Many thanks for your cooperation.