peace, quiet and relaxation

It is lovely when people come to visit, particularly that they make the effort to leave the more obvious tourist trap of Sarajevo and venture up to the less tourist friendly city of Tuzla. We have had a lovely time with the Grandparents here; the boys loving the extra attention and showing off how to count in Bosnian, D seeing his parents and I got the opportunity for some extra babysitters which gave me alot more opportunity to get to the towns where I am doing research. D and I even went out for a quiet dinner a deux.

However, when the visitors go, and the house returns to normal, however great the visits have been, I do breathe a sigh of relief as the normal routine resumes. The laundry can once again be hung over the backs of doors to dry and the house can slide into its more usual pit of comfortable chaos.

So long direct flights to London...

Arrrggghhhhh - BA have just flown their last direct flight to London. From now on, if we want to fly from Sarajevo to the UK we need to go via Budapest (a very nice city but the wrong direction) or Vienna (apparently very nice, but never been so can't really comment). Alternatively we can drive to Zagreb - a cool 6 hour bus ride, always fun with 2 small children - or trundle into Belgrade, not as far as Zagreb but bus connections are a nightmare. Neither city is in Bosnia.

Not sure when I shall have the energy to brave the 2 toddler journey back to the UK. The direct flight option nearly killed me last time. The thought of complicating the journey is not one that I relish.

As an aside, Granny decided that it would be a waste not to make the most of the direct flights and has been hanging out in Tuzla for the last couple of days. The boys have loved having her around, as have I. Back to the grindstone tomorrow...