Sheep herder at summit of Transalpinia Hwy Our stay in Sarajevo was fun and we enjoyed our two days, especially getting to know Edin and his girlfriend Anna. They joined us for the afternoon on our last day and tried to convince us to stay and watch the World Cup Final. Unfortunately we had already booked a room in a Ski Resort in Serbia. The apartment Leslie booked in Zlatibor, Serbia was beatiful and immaculate. The town was buzzing with people and we could not figure out why. We toured some Traditional Serbian Villages the next day and found that pretty facinating. At about 1 pm we started to make our way to Nis. The drive was 4 hours and pretty boring. Arriving in Nis was a bit of a shock, especially when we rolled up to our apartment, nothing like the brochure. His photos showed the suite but he should have included shots of the building and surrounding area, especially the parking lot. It looked like the South Bronx in NYC. Needless to say we were not impressed and even considered leaving. We decided to tough it out. At about 8 pm, we headed to one of the major attractions called the Fortress, another so-called walled city. It was dirty, the lawns has looked like they hadn't been cut in months and it looked more like a shabby Coney Island! We got to bed about midnight the traffic noise was unbearable. The apartment was supposed to have AC but it didn't and it was extremely hot which didn't help.
We were up at 5:30 am and ready to "blow this pop stand" as quick as possible, heading to Romania. Just another part of the experience and fortunately, not a common one.
The drive through Romania was uneventful until we got to Petrosani...TOTALLY LOST! Navi Biach did it again. Took us to somewhere in the boonies, nowhere near our destination. We stopped at a couple of places to try to get directions but nobody spoke English and unfortunately our Romanian is a little rusty!! We had the fortunate experience of stopping at a Daci Dealership and spoke to Horatiu, the manager. He spoke great English and was able to help us find our booking. Unfortunately, we thought we were close and soon discovered we had another couple of hours driving. The extended trip involved driving to the highest point in Romania through the Transalpina Highway http://www.dangerousroads.org/eastern-europe/romania/862-transalpina-road-romania.html which is an incredible feat in itself. The winding steep road, pitted with potholes large enough to swallow the Peugeot were challenging to negotiate at times but once we reached the summit and and turned off on the main road to Ranca, it was great! Along the route we came across a wolf , white coyote or fox, wild burrows and sheep on the road. We would have never found the place without the help of Horatiu who actually drove us a good distance up the mountain and gave us further directions on how to get there. He warned us parts of the highway were challenging if not dangerous and to be very cautious. When we reached the summit there was a gentleman who appeared to be handing out flyers. Initially we brushed him off and then Leslie said the brochure looked like our hotel. I called him back and sure enough it was. Horatiu had called him and the host took it upon himself to drive a distance to try to meet up with us. Another chance encounter thank God! He guided us to the front door and calmed my nerves with a shot of the local hooch...Very Tasty! The place was beautiful, a pleasant change from our last night's disaster. We are here for the night and on the road again tomorrow. Thanks again to Horatiu & his family and our gracious host at Vila Ozon!
We were up at 5:30 am and ready to "blow this pop stand" as quick as possible, heading to Romania. Just another part of the experience and fortunately, not a common one.
The drive through Romania was uneventful until we got to Petrosani...TOTALLY LOST! Navi Biach did it again. Took us to somewhere in the boonies, nowhere near our destination. We stopped at a couple of places to try to get directions but nobody spoke English and unfortunately our Romanian is a little rusty!! We had the fortunate experience of stopping at a Daci Dealership and spoke to Horatiu, the manager. He spoke great English and was able to help us find our booking. Unfortunately, we thought we were close and soon discovered we had another couple of hours driving. The extended trip involved driving to the highest point in Romania through the Transalpina Highway http://www.dangerousroads.org/eastern-europe/romania/862-transalpina-road-romania.html which is an incredible feat in itself. The winding steep road, pitted with potholes large enough to swallow the Peugeot were challenging to negotiate at times but once we reached the summit and and turned off on the main road to Ranca, it was great! Along the route we came across a wolf , white coyote or fox, wild burrows and sheep on the road. We would have never found the place without the help of Horatiu who actually drove us a good distance up the mountain and gave us further directions on how to get there. He warned us parts of the highway were challenging if not dangerous and to be very cautious. When we reached the summit there was a gentleman who appeared to be handing out flyers. Initially we brushed him off and then Leslie said the brochure looked like our hotel. I called him back and sure enough it was. Horatiu had called him and the host took it upon himself to drive a distance to try to meet up with us. Another chance encounter thank God! He guided us to the front door and calmed my nerves with a shot of the local hooch...Very Tasty! The place was beautiful, a pleasant change from our last night's disaster. We are here for the night and on the road again tomorrow. Thanks again to Horatiu & his family and our gracious host at Vila Ozon!
 Nis Apartment parking |  Nis Apartment hallway |  Front Lobby Nis Apartment |  Full kitchen Nis Apartment |
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