25 Favorite Photos of Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia

Thirty short days

Say it isn't so. We only have 30 days left in the Balkans. Using missionary vernacular, we get the great fortune of throwing our own "funeral" party soon. While Dionne and I are excited to see our U.S.-based loved ones, we feel like the clock is ticking way too quick. We have fallen in love with Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, and the rest of the countries that comprise former Yugoslavia.

Our 25 Favorite Photos of the Balkans

From the moment of our arrival we've been in awe of epic beauty of this land. Silly us, we did not even bring a "real" camera with us; figured we would rely on iPhone pictures. Two quick weeks later and we were camera shopping. We now carry 3 iPhones, an iPad, and a camera. Now it is rare that we do not have something to capture the wonder of the moment. 

This week Dionne and I sorted through our 9,236 digital memories from our mission. Somehow we were able to come up with our 25 favorite photos of the Balkans. These are not our favorite pictures, mind you. Our favorite pictures involve people, projects, and stories. But these are our favorite pictures of the countries in the Adriatic North Mission.

While most of these were taken by Dionne on our "real" camera, there are some iPhone and iPad photos as well. This country is so photogenic that even a "close my eyes, point, and shoot" guy like me can produce some beauty.

Timeless Beauty and Epic Landscapes

We hope you enjoy this photo essay. And maybe are inspired to come visit the Balkans and have your own awe-inspiring experiences here. 

If you would like to see a video with the 25 photos...click the link here.

Our Favorite 25 Photos

Else you can just scroll down and view each of the photos.

This is Lake Bled and is probably my favorite picture of the 25. In April we stayed at the Grand Hotel with Erica and Brayden. I came down for the free breakfast buffet and sat down at the window to find this view. Epic. Even I could not mess this picture up. Funny thing is, however, that it is not even my favorite picture from our times at Lake Bled. I love the pictures of my kids riding the Alpine Slide there more. 

These are the Julian Alps in Slovenia. We had just discovered the drive between Jajce and Banja Luka and did not believe we would find another drive as gorgeous. Two weeks later we were driving this route along the Julian Alps. Children of the Rockies, these mountains brought our spirits home. We are going to return one-more time before we leave; Slovenia just draws you back.

Autumn and Winter in Bosnia can be awe-inspiring. But it also can be very depressing. It seemed like we did not see sunshine for over 30 days last Winter. Both Sarajevo and Tuzla suffer from a horrible inversion. We were deep in this depressive funk during a drive over the mountain between Travnik and Banja Luka. Near the top of the mountain we began to see sunshine. For a short moment, hope seemed to fill our car. Dionne got out to bask in the sunshine and used her iPhone to snap this picture. Sisters Higley and Locey were with us for this trip and they can attest to the lightening of the mood.

Once you discover the sunshine, Bosnian winters are tremendous.  We have always lived in areas with snow. But we have never seen winters this pretty. All January the trees seemed carved out of icicles. This photo was taken on a return trip from Vlasenica. Not sure but it might have been the trip where we took a wrong turn and drove an hour before we noticed we were almost to enter Serbia. 

We first discovered the flour mills of Jajce last January. There are about 20 small wooden floor grinding sheds situated along a lake. Years ago families were assigned a shed and ground their floor here. Impressive any time of year, the half-frozen mills in January were epic. Wish I could share all of the pictures we took. It was hard for us to pick just two favorites.

This is another picture from Jajce. 

There are over 1,000 islands in the country of Croatia; a land dominated by the sea. By way of contrast, we visited the 13th largest island in Slovenia inside a cave! This photo is from the island of Mljet. We visited in March with Downi and Boyce. This was the true definition of off-season. Not a single restaurant was open when we visited. A small grocery store was open a few hours a day so we bought some groceries. Our apartment landlord had four bicycles which we rode along an inlet where we snapped this photo.

When we first opened our mission call, we saw that we were to be stationed in Zagreb, Croatia. We did a quick Google-search and were excited by the images that appeared. All were of these amazing waterfalls and a beautiful town with orange-roofed buildings. We later learned that this was Dubrovnik (and then also learned that we would actually be living in Sarajevo). The first time we drove to Dubrovnik, the city did not disappoint. It really takes your breath away when you see it for the first time. But for us it is almost like the Washington Monument in D.C. Every time we would host visitors, we would take them on the monument tour...so we got a little tired of the Washington and Lincoln memorials. We have been to Dubrovnik 5 times now. So our favorite Dubrovnik picture does not capture the epic city view...rather it is a smaller and more intimate image.

The small, ancient town of Jajce boasts three wonders...the aforementioned flour mills, a castle which dates back to the Bosnian kingdom days, and this water fall located in the heart of town. Like Dubrovnik, we have visited this waterfall many, many times. So our favorite photo uses the waterfall as a backdrop rather than as the centerpiece. 

While Slovenia reminds us of our home in the Rockies, Bosnia reminds us more of the Appalachians. The foliage is heavy, green, and thick. You cannot easily wander through the forests. This photo is from a trip to Lukomir which is above the tree-line. Up here you can see evidence of the gray rocks as well as the dense greenery along the base of the mountains. 

When we first arrived in Bosnia, our friend Senada recommended that we visit Lukomir. Somewhat naive, we set off on a Saturday for a leisurely trip to find this little village. Little did we know that an off-road vehicle was required. And that this was going to be the first of many times we could not find a desired destination. We finally made it to Lukomir via ATVs with our kids in May. Britni took this photo of the little village. Only 80 people live here during the summer, none during the winter. 

The Sarajevo bobsled run remains intact. It also is available for anyone to use. There are stairs which allow you to hop onto the track and walk it. People bike it. Some Olympic hopeful luge athletes practice on it during the off-season. And I have jogged up and down it. It is a "must-see" if you are visiting Sarajevo. And unlike Dubrovnik, I have not tired with visiting the bobsled track.

Croatia's Platvice is a protected UNESCO heritage site and one of the wonders of the world. I found it as breath-taking as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park. Again, this photo does not really capture the grandeur of Plitvice. But for us, in a small way, it conveys the complexity of so many of the little images that we found there.

Croatia sunsets are tremendous. Bosnian, not so much. We like this photo because it is from the window of our apartment. For us, this was about as good as a Bosnian sunset gets. 

We captured this photo driving from Jablanica to Zadar. Bosnian roads are in horrible condition. They have ruts, are very small, it is difficult to pass, and many turn into one-lane dirt roads without advance notice. All of this makes them so much fun to drive on. Add this type of scenery and our days as road warriors here have been more than just tolerable...we've actually enjoyed much of our time in the car. 

This photo is from the same drive last July. Two immediate images gripped us when crossed into Bosnia for the first time. 1) There were so many burnt out buildings (we first through they had been bombed out). 2) These haystacks which harken to a bygone era.  

This is another favorite photo from Plitvice. We have visited twice. The first time with our kids (Brit, Richie, Bren, Amy, Mitch, and Briel). The second time on a boondoggle trip with our summer missionaries (Sisters McColm and Martineau, Elders King and Echols). 

Another favorite Sarajevo location is an old burnt-out hotel overlooking the city. The view of the city is amazing. But for me the real treat is the ruined building. 

Kravice is a waterfall in Southern Bosnia. What makes it fun is that you can swim in the lake waters. What makes it not so fun is that it is river water and it is very, very cold. We went on a rainy but warm day in August. The water was chilly but tolerable. But no way would you find me swimming here in June or September. While I was swimming, Dionne took this picture.

The word "darby" refers to the days when hated rival football teams face each other. I was so excited to attend a true darby with Elders Echols and Smith along with friend Haris. The two opposing sets of fans were on different sides of the stadium but this did not stop them from trying to burn each other out. Somehow the security forces which did "pat downs" on every fan and would not let Elder Smith bring his water bottle into the stadium missed over 100 flares and other assorted fireworks. At one point the smoke became so intense that they had to stop the game for 5 minutes to let it pass. 

Our friends Emir and Dijana invited us to the country for a Sunday BBQ at his parents home. The suggested a leisurely hike after dinner. Of course we said. We did not know it was a 5-mile hike straight up a mountain! But what gorgeous views and interesting company. This is Dionne enjoying the view near their old family homestead near Vareš Bosnia.

With the foliage in Bosnia, imagine my excitement at the thought of my first Autumn here. "Oh, the colors must be amazing," I thought. New England amazing. But alas, it is not so. Autumn is pretty. But it is not as overwhelming as Spring, Summer, and Winter. Especially Winter. We love this shot because it shows the colors of Fall and also the layered mountain landscapes.

We have been working on a water project near the small village of Hrasno. While we have been to the municipality (Kalesija) several times, it was only recently that we visited Hrasno. I took this photo from my iPhone. This is a typical rural tractor in Bosnia. In the U.S. we would find this in a museum. 

We had to include a picture of the Mostar bridge. But we actually do not have a great picture of it. Most are group shots and/or selfies at the base of the bridge. This photo is from the Urban Grill, a little restaurant with average food but an unbelievable view. 

And so we find ourselves back to Winter. This is Riders of Hope in Sarajevo. Our home away from home. Last January Dionne and I volunteered to help them out during a really cold day. The horses needed water, their pens were filthy, and they had not been turned out for a while. I snapped this picture in between cleaning frozen stalls. Fun days on the mission.

That was the last of the pictures. We wish you a Merry Christmas. For our friends here in the Balkans, we have one last month to express our love for you. For those of you back home, vidimo se skoro.