snowfall and sledges

This'll be my last post for a bit. I'm currently trying to pack for a 2 week jaunt to the Olympic mountain of Jahorina, about half an hour outside of Sarajevo. My family are coming out for Christmas so I'm hopeful of some babysitters to allow me a few free mornings on top of the mountain, with exercise and fresh air. Given that there is currently little snow and a total white out and no lifts are open yet, I'm not holding my breath but we shall see.

The amount of stuff we generate for a 2 week trip is awe inspiring, particularly as I'm not sure if we will have access to a washing machine. We are not being helped in our mission to keep stuff to a minimum by also packing a Christmas tree, a whole bunch of presents, most of our decorations, a sledge, half the kitchen and (as the wind chill is estimated at -14C) every single warm piece of clothing I can lay my hands on.

Jessie is off for a doggy holiday camp of her own. A few people offered to have her over the holidays and she will be spoilt rotten at every single one.

It will be a different Christmas for us all. Fingers crossed Sarajevo airport will remain open and noone is delayed or diverted on the way in (a surprisingly common occurence). Fingers crossed that there is some snow and we get at least some skiing in, otherwise I have no idea what everyone will do all day. Fingers crossed people liked stuffed cabbage leaves - and don't miss their turkey and stuffing too much. It'll be fine, everyone will love it (and repeat to self as mantra for the rest of the day). Happy Christmas one and all.

including the kitchen sink

I might have lied about the fact that we managed to fit our whole life into the back of our estate car. Turns out that that was only the first part of what we need to take. We had to go and buy a roof rack, enormous roof thingy and we still can't fit everything in and the ferry is first thing tomorrow morning. And the dog has rolled in something so disgustingly whiffy that the indescribable smell will infiltrate the whole car for the whole of the hot, stifling 3 day journey to BiH. Mm mm. Really looking forward to this one.

But with these chocolates you are spoiling us...

Contrary to popular opinion, we are not totally unprepared for the move to Bosnia. We did go to Bosnia last year to scope out which of our ideas might be possible and which were clearly ridiculous. One of the things we did whilst we were there was to go for a coffee with some of the staff at the British Embassy in Sarajevo. They clearly registered our intent to move, no doubt concerned at the prospect of a few more clueless Brits landing in their jurisdicition, and have kept in contact with us through the occasional email informing us of upcoming events in Sarajevo. Even so, we were somewhat surprised when a beautiful embossed invitation inviting us to a reception at the Embassy landed on our (English)doorstep this week.

D was thrilled. He does appreciate the pomp and ceremony of the British Establishment doing its thing well. I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't have wanted to go if we were already installed in Bosnia. However, as I gaze around the chaos of a half packed house, already well over the limit for what we can physically fit in the car for the drive out, my primary thought was along the lines of 'oh bloody hell, have I got to pack black-tie outfits as well?'