Banja Luka

I slept in, and got a rather late start to the day, but it's ok because I'm in a city that you can see in a little amount of time! I walked from my hosts apartment to a bakery near his office where couch surfers leave the key each morning. Apparently he's explained it all to the lady who owns it, and it's become the "norm."

I continued on through the city to the Banja Luka "kastel." Its a very low walled fortress, with many paths and steps throughout it's interior.  As soon as you enter the castle, you are greeted with a view of the Vrbas river which is a main attraction in Banja Luka. The tourists seem to be non existent at this time of year, so the only people in the castle were locals just eating on benches, and then the short American girl taking photos.

After exploring the castle, I went closer to the city center and passed by a market. After further inspection, I realized it was quite similar to what we would call a flea market in the south, but with much more vegetables and fruit. It was nice to just walk through a few times to get a look at everything before choosing a specific stall to stop at. I purchased some souvenirs after haggling with the guy a bit on the price, and went up to the city center. Here, instead of booths, people had their wares laid out on blankets in the plaza. I stopped to look at something a really old lady was knitting, and decided to buy it. She didn't speak English, but the woman next to her did and helped with the exchange. The elderly woman said something to me, and when I turned to ask our translator what she said, she just grabbed me and planted a big kiss on my cheek. I got the impression that maybe she doesn't sell a lot of her items, so she was overly grateful that I bought something from her. Either way, it was great!

For a few hours, I just walked around the city with nothing in mind, and eventually became aware of the heat. This was the first day on my whole trip that it's been warm enough for me to sweat. I brought 3 pair of shorts, and I've only worn them four or five days. Finally, I am getting some SUN!

I ate fruit for dinner, from the market. Apples, oranges, and some hot tea... yum! Igor and I talked a lot about my tiny house, and he gave some suggestions about ways to collect water, and space saving ideas. He works in Environmental Protection so he's all about being friendly to the environment and thought it was really cool that I want to live tiny. Most people just think I'm crazy!