About Us

Brrr. The long, grey Sarajevo winter has set in, and it's only the week after Thanksgiving! Fall went pretty quickly this year because, well, because we missed most of it while away on R&R travel. In this, an epic year of travels already (see "Home Leave" page), we were given two weeks of paid R&R leave and we chose to spend it in Italy.

We spent the first week in Florence and the Chianti mountain area of southern Tuscany. Florence was predictably beautiful but maybe we're getting older. Sure, there were the churches, museums, restaurants and shopping, but there were also the high prices, the crowds, the lines, and the endless walking to get anywhere.

Now that we are home and warm, we've kind of burrowed in, electing to stay at home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, both. However, there is a turkey in the 'fridge to cook on the 25th, along with canned cranberries, canned yams, and boxed stuffing. We get these items courtesy of the American PX located at the Butmir Military Base here in Sarajevo where the International Peacekeeping force is headquartered. These guys and girls, from maybe 25 countries, patrol the streets and highways, police large gatherings, oversee public political functions, and stand at the ready incase things here get unstable.

If you can get past the gloom of it all, the plentiful snowfall makes a wonderland of Sarajevo and environs. We had our first snowfall on November 18th, and that just got burned off. But, it is snowing again as I am writing this. And the low-hanging snow clouds keep it dark until around 9am and then shut things down around 4pm. So the days are short, the nights are long, and one turns inward on the small aspects of life, like hearty dinners, good wines, and time to read.

We won't be going back to the USA until May of 2006. There may be a short trip to Europe sometime in the spring, but that isn't in the plans yet. So I'll leave you to enjoy some pictures of the area in winter rather than clutter up any more of this page. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.