another day, another lake

Refusing to put off by our environmental eye opener at Lake Modrac we renewed our efforts to find a lake near Tuzla worth hanging out at before the weather gets cold. And today we hit the jackpot. Very close to Modrac but right off the main road rather than left, and importantly up a hill on a very ropey road with no signposts and following slightly dodgy instructions. There, like a beacon was Lake Bisterac.

There was one restaurant, but it was a good one, for those who wanted restaurant food. There were many barbeque areas for those bringing their own food. There were tables with shade and a volleyball field as well as places selling beer and crisps. There were some (but not too many) Bosnians hanging out and having a ball with their mates. But most importantly for the 3 year old approval there was a climbing frame which had a slide going into the water. How cool is that? Adam was impressed. Lukey is impressed if Adam is impressed (which does make life easier).

The toddlers charged towards the water followed by their unexpectedly enthusiastic parents who had by this point discovered the grown up water slides. Up and down the slides we went all afternoon, kids squealing in delight and us parents getting terrible attacks of the giggles over the boys expressions as they launched down the slides. It would undoubtedly be banned under health and safety laws in any sane country, but we all loved it.

sunny seaside afternoon?

Until I start feeling competent here, D has agreed to work only until 3 and then to come and rescue me from maternal insanity. Taking advantage of a lovely afternoon we thought we'd get out of Tuzla after he finished work and take a trip to Lake Modrac, about 30 minutes away.

Tuzla, being pretty landlocked and also lacking in any proper river (the insipid dribble in the middle of town does not qualify as a river), is blessed by being surrounded by several lakes. Modrac is the largest and is lined with restaurants and a beach side atmosphere.

And indeed it was. The restaurants had palm tree rooves and served good food and cocktails. If you wanted fish you chose the particular fish you wanted from a pool and it was cooked for you there and then. There were multicoloured beach huts lining the water, boys fishing, boats pootling around plying their trade.

Sounds idyllic? Well... not quite. This area was the heavy industrial heartland during the Yugoslav era and the factories are still there - without the environmental protection constraints that might be expected as reasonable. Besides this picture of holiday harmony was a very large factory, channelling its waste in little buckets across the lake and spewing all sorts of noxious looking fumes into the sky.

We spent the rest of the evening feeling faintly sick and just annoyed that something that could be really fun, where a lot of effort had been made to make it special was so spoilt by something so obvious. And bemused as to why the Bosnians hadn't appeared to notice.