Banja Luka

A quiet day for the Griswolds today as we split into two opposing factions.  

One based on an appreciation of the countryside and it's cultural heritage and the other based on the need to keep the Banja Lukan economy pumping.  

Whilst Harry and I fell into the first camp Nicki and the other monkeys decided to take advantage of the CRAZY, LOW, NEVER TO BE REPEATED PRICES in the Banja Luka market and get the boys some much needed shoes and other essential items.   (Like a going out shirt for her, maybe some T-shirts and some other gear she has hidden at the bottom of the suitcase that I haven't found out about yet.)  

WWII monument to soldiers

Harry and I went to visit the war memorial overlooking Banja Luka which was built to honour the fallen soldiers from WWII.  You park the car at the bottom and walk up a paved road about 3kms which wasn't too taxing.  At the top you get a fairly good view of the town.   

Carved into the side of the war memorial are some fairly gruesome scenes scenes from the second world war running through the German occupation and subjugation of the citizens through to the liberation of the city / country.  

War memorial bas relief scene.

Unfortunately clowns (they have them here too) have damaged the carvings and knocked bits and pieces off and in general the whole area is a little dishevelled.   A shame really as the monument itself is quite impressive.

Met Nicki and the other monkeys back in town at 4 and had coffee and cake on the promenade and watched the world go by.  (And the endless parade of supermodels).  Giant bits of cake for about €1.00.  Beer and wine about the same.  

Wine, Cakes & Beer - & kids over the road - sweet.

In fact bloody soft drink is about the same price as beer.  (Too bad Nicki won't let them have a few bottles as we could save a few bucks.)

After that we bought the boys some and left them with our Bosnian babysitters for Mario and Nicki's big night out on the town.  

Organising that was a laugh but with much gesturing, writing on bits of paper and broken Bosnian (we think) we managed to get the owner of the hotel to stick her head in every half an hour while the kids watched a movie. 

Kastel Fortress - the quiet before the storm

Nicki and I grabbed a taxi and bolted out of there to the Kastel Fortress again for a light meal and a few drinks.  Following that we wandered into town to find a great band at a small pub and had just ordered a drink when I made the mistake of checking my phone.  (And jokingly said to Nicki "3 missed calls" as I pulled it out.)

There it was, 3 missed calls from our sitter.  Bloody hell!  

Rang her up on a borrowed phone (that's another story because despite recharging my phone 3 times I still had no credit) to find out that one of the monkeys was worried and couldn't get to sleep because he was a bit scared.  

This coming from a bloke who will jump off a 10m rock into the ocean in freezing cold water.  Whatever!

Grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and Nicki went and saw him whilst I had a couple of beers (counting to 100) at the downstairs bar wondering why we had children in the first place.

Stray observations: Kids.  They're not right in the head.