Athens Day 3: El Fin

Friday, May 23^rd, 2008: It feels great to be able to sleep in today. Having decided to forgo the rafting trip that some of the students set out on at 6am this morning and instead deciding to walk over to the Temple of Zeus and Olympic Stadium, it allowed me to sleep till 9:30 or so….a much need extra bit of sleep at the end of a long trip.

I met the rest of the group joining me on the walk to the Temple and stadium at about 11 am in the lobby and we made the 15 minute walk over to the Temple of Zeus. The Temple of Zeus is a series of columns, or at least what remains of the many, on a grassy mound in the middle of an open area. The columns were massive and cool to stand close to and put it all into perspective the great architectural and engineering feats that had to of taken place to get these columns erected.

From here we journeyed a little further up the road to the Olympic Stadium, which I found quite fascinating. It sits in a horse shoe shape with one side left open facing the Acropolis. The seats are all marble bleachers and a large Olympic symbol adorns the opposite end from the opening.

Having fully documented our sightings via photograph, we headed back across the park towards the Plaka in search of lunch. One side note here that I keep forgetting to bring up. I am amazed by the large amount of dogs there are wandering the streets of Athens. You see them everywhere, at the Acropolis, around the subway, in the Plaka…it’s a very strange site. Also, many of them appeared to have collars denoting some form of ownership, so do their owners just not care and know their pet will return at some point?

Anyway, we ended up finding a cool little area with many restaurants lining the streets. We pulled up a seat at one of the restaurants, whose menu caught our eye. I went with the pork gyros and a Mythos. I am a little surprised that the gyros again are pork, when I thought they were traditionally lamb…oh well, they were very good. Fully satisfied with our meal, we returned to the hotel to await our next journey, a tour of the Temple Poseidon which sits along the Aegean Sea coastline, about an hour and a half outside of Athens. We met up with the rest of the students that joined us for this portion of the day and soon our tour guide showed up to lead us to our bus and we were on our way.

The ride to the temple was beautiful….well from what I was awake to see. I have gotten to the point where if I sit down for any extended period of time, it is becoming increasingly harder for me to stay awake. The drive took us up the coastline, overlooking some beautiful beaches with crystal blue waters. We finally arrived at the Temple of Poseidon about 2 hours after leaving the hotel due to traffic. The temple was amazing…I feel like I am overusing that word a lot in these entries, but I just cant think of any other words, everything really is very amazing in each of these cities and tours and visits….it has been a great trip, one I will never forget. The Temple stands atop a cliff overlooking the Aegean Sea on an acropolis. It was built in homage to Poseidon and also to act as a fortification to fend off any attacks or attempts to plunder the silver mines that were located just downhill of it. As it turns out, the current structure, or remains of, were not the original ones. The guide pointed out that the original temple was destroyed by the Persians (if any of you have seen the movie 300 you know what I am referring to, if you haven’t you need to go out and rent it NOW as it is a great moving) and then rebuilt years later.

We spent about 45 minutes wandering the grounds and taking in all the sites before boarding the bus again and making the trek home. I’m not sure the 3-4 hours of driving justified the 45 minutes of viewing time, but at least the drive had great views.

After returning home, we headed to our rooms to change and freshen up before heading back to the Plaka for our final meal in Athens.

We found another restaurant in the same area we had been in for lunch and enjoyed another good meal….pork souvlaki and an Alfa for me this time, and then headed home to the hotel to back and say our goodbyes and get to bed early. Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 5:30 am and make the 19 hour trek back home to Phoenix…..not looking forward to it, but it’s a means to an end and I am very much looking to get back home at this point having done everything pretty much that I set out to do on this trip.

Looking back I would have to say Sarajevo was a huge surprise. I had very low expectations for the city and we were all very happy with our time there. Dubrovnik was amazing with its ocean views, city walls, and island tours. I think the island tour and city wall hike were two of my favorite parts of the trip. Athens was another surprise. I was shocked by its massive size and its moderness. It gives almost the same feel of New York City to me….lots of big buildings, tons of people walking the streets and always stuff going on at all hours of the night.

It was a great trip and I had a blast, I learned a lot, and made a bunch of new friends.

Well….that’s it….tomorrow we leave for Phoenix, so this will be my final posting. I hope you all enjoyed reading it, or at least enjoyed having something to do to kill some time at work.

See you all soon!

Mike

Athens Day 2: Tours and Socialization

Thursday, May 22^nd, 2008: Today we departed the hotel and set out on what would prove to be a long day. Today our schedule included a tour of the Archeological History Museum, a visit to the stock exchange, lunch on the roof of another museum, a discussion with a professor from the local university on economics and Athens, and concluding with a cocktail reception at the home of a friend of the professors who is connected to the US Embassy and pretty much with every important thing in the city.

After riding the subway a couple stops and a brief walk, we found ourselves standing in front of the Archeological Museum of Athens, a large building, lined with large columns in the front, that houses many of the artifacts from about every period of history in Athens. We were met again by our tour guide from yesterday, the one that gave us the tour of the Acropolis. She led us through the museum, pointing out a few of the more important pieces and giving some background and facts on what we were seeing and what was going on in Athens during that time period. Some of the more eye catching items included the famous statue of Poseidon standing taught, ready to launch a spear or trident, some extremely large and intricate pots, and a gear box, its use is still unknown to this day, but it shows an extreme advancement in technology for that period of history.

Following the end of our tour, we were given about an hour and 30 minutes to wander around on our own and grab a bite at the café or shop in the gift shop before boarding our bus to head over to the Athens Stock Exchange.

At the stock exchange we were escorted to a conference room and were greeted by one of the exchange employees who would go on to give us a presentation on the market, and also to point out that they had received a bomb threat just about an hour prior to our arrival, but we had nothing to worry about as the search team did not find anything. (so that makes a protest, with police in riot gear and a bomb threat, all in 24 hours). I think we were all a little disappointed by the information given to us during the presentation as it was more on a very high level and much time seem to revolve around explaining what a stock is, how a dividend works, and how the stock market works in general. As MBA students from the prestigious Arizona State University, we all had a pretty good grasp on these items before this meeting so it was more of old hack to most of us. It was also a little disappointing to learn that no actual trading takes place in the building, as this was a brand new building for the market and almost all transactions were done electronically without the use of a physical trading floor.

Our next stop of the day would be a trip to a different museum, whose exact title slips my brain at the moment, where we would have lunch on the roof with a view of the city and the Acropolis. As we pulled up chairs around the tables at the café on the roof, we were happy to feel the cool breeze pass through and also to see a great view of the city. We enjoyed a pretty good lunch and each others’ company (its great to see that everyone has meshed so well on this trip, I really expected by this point to have some little tiffs and disjointment in the group, but everyone seems to still be getting along very well).

Full from lunch and tired from a long day and a long week and a half of go-go-go, we left the museum and walked down the street to our hotel where we were greeted by the professor from the local university and were engaged in a discussion on the state of the Athens economy, international business influence, and the effects of the energy market on Athens. It was a very interesting discussion and I learned a few things about Athens that I was previously unaware of, i.e. Athens is home to many foreign businesses European headquarters, companies like 3M and Coca-Cola.

With the conclusion of the discussion we were given about 2 hours to clean up and get dressed up for the cocktail reception.

Janice, the previously mentioned friend of the professor’s whose last name also eludes me at the moment – must be the lack of sleep, greeted us at the door of her home which was the top floor of a building directly across the street from the US Embassy. We were ushered up the stairs in her home to the roof of the building and were amazed at patio and view. The patio area was all decked out for the party, including a large selection of traditional Greek appetizers, a Greek band, and a group of traditional Greek dancers. Soon after our arrival several other guests began arriving, including several students from the university, a few important Greek public figures, including the head of UNESCO, as well as Janice’s son and daughter. The party was a success as everyone had a great time socializing, drinking some good wine, enjoying some Greek foods, and even joining in on the Greek dancing. We were all very thankful for all Janice had done for us on our stop in Athens as she helped organize and pull some strings on a few aspects as well as the party.

Following the party, we all headed back towards the hotel and found a bar where we could all have at least one more drink together; tomorrow being a free day and it was likely this would be our last chance to be together as a group. We had a great time drinking and sharing our favorites from the trip.

Soon though we all started to call it a night as some had plans that involved an early morning tomorrow, so with that we headed in, said some goodbyes, and called it a night.

Tomorrow, as I mentioned, will be a free day, and a group of us have decided to visit the Temple of Zeus in the morning and tour the Temple of Poseidon in the afternoon, so stay tuned for what should be my final post of the trip tomorrow, I can’t believe its already time to go home, though I am starting to desire seeing my family, girlfriend, and friends, and my bed.

So for now, goodnight.

Mike

Athens Day 1: History and the Plaka

Our first full day in Athens would be spent visiting the Acropolis, Agora and a few other sites, with an afternoon free to roam about as we wished.

Following our complimentary breakfast, which consisted of bread, jam, cereal, bacon, hot dogs, and potatoes and some form of orange Tang, we headed out by foot to the Acropolis where we met our tour guide. The Acropolis is simply stunning. For those of you whom may have taken Greek history too many years ago to remember, the Acropolis (which literally translates to “high city”) houses many historic buildings including the Parthenon, the temple of the Athena Nike, the Erechteion, and a few other massive structures. Unfortunately today, while the structures are still massive and amazing, they are only shells of what they used to be, due to pillagers, weather, earthquakes, and pollution. Many of the columns and statues and such have fallen, and there is much work going on currently to help preserve and restore as much as possible so that they may stand for thousands more years.

From atop the Acropolis you can see pretty much all of Athens, which seems to span for many miles in every direction. You can also see two ancient theaters used for the theatrical performances; this is also the site where Yanni delivered a stunning performance in our recent history. Further off in the distance you can see the Temple of Zeus, the Agora, and the Areios Pagos.

Following the conclusion of our guided tour and few minutes of free wandering, we headed down the hillside, back through the Agora to its entrance where we met with Professor John Camp, who is one of the lead officials on the archeological digs in Athens and has been working on recovering the ancient city for over 20 years. Having been a former professor to our professor he granted us special access to some of the areas that not many people get to see. Our first stop was just outside the Agora gates, alongside the subway tracks, where they had unearthed the remains of a few buildings, one of which served of significant importance as it was basically the office of the “king” who oversaw the religious and judicial matters in the city. Based on historical references in various writings, it is said that Socrates stood in this very building.

Professor Camp then lead us across the street to a site currently under excavation, where they had claimed the current buildings and tore them down so that they could dig down and unearth more of the old Agora. Here they were currently working on digging up a large Stoa, that they believe used to be a sort of “hang out” spot for many of the people and it is further believed that this is where many of the great philosophers came to speak to the people.

We were then led back into the Agora and to the Ancient Agora Museum which was built on the foundation of the Stoa of Attalos and serves as an almost exact replica of it. Today it houses many of the artifacts found within the Agora. Professor Camp again granted us access to a non public area as we got to tour the basement of the museum, which housed many rows and drawers full of all sorts of various items from ancient pots used to carry large amounts of wine, to bones, to rocks containing parts of the Ancient Athens’ laws. It was very interesting and exciting to see all these items that only a handful of people have ever seen.

Before departing, Professor Camp, took us up to the main level of the museum, which was public access and gave us a brief and quick tour through the museum.

Following his departure, we were again left to our own vices for the rest of the day and night, so a few of us decided to walk through the rest of the Agora and up to the Temple of Hephaistos, which is a roman temple still in pretty good shape, though the inside ceiling is completely black from all the pollution in the city, which is very sad to see.

Having seen all that the Agora had to offer we decided to wonder back into the Plaka and view the shops and people. We spent a good couple hours walking throughout it, stopping here or there to look at items and buy a souvenir or two, before deciding that it would probably be a good idea to eat. We decided upon a restaurant we had seen the day before in the square across from the hotel, however, after walking the maze of streets of the Plaka, our sense of direction was off and ended up having to ask for directions….turns out we were not very far and it actually allowed us to view a protest by the students of the university taking place in the street. While we are unsure of their reason, we do know it was something that warranted a bunch of police in riot gear to surround the streets.

We found our restaurant and sat down for a sandwich and a beer….this time I went with Mythos Beer, another local brew, but I think I still prefer Alfa.

After lunch we headed to the hotel for a break and then met up again across the street at the coffee shop where they had free internet access, since the hotel makes you pay 5 euro per 2 hours. After coffee and some checking of the emails, we returned our laptops to our rooms and headed back into the city. A few hours of walking later, it was about 8pm and time for dinner so we found a cool restaurant with seating in the streets and had another great meal. This time around I went with the gyro plate (consisting of pulled pork, pita bread slices, onions, tomatoes, sauce and fried potato slices) and an Alfa. The service was also great, as I have noticed it has been at most of the restaurants here, as the waiters were friendly and even brought us a small shot of some sort of coffee liquor to cap off the meal.

Tired from all the walking and sightseeing, we decided to head back to the hotel, to relax and hang out before calling it a night.

Tomorrow will be a full day of museum tours, a visit to the Athens stock exchange and a cocktail party. So for now, goodnight.

The Journey to Athens

Tuesday, May 20^th, 2008: 3:30 am is no time to be waking up, yet there were up with the 3:30 wake up call, hurrying to stuff everything into overflowing suitcases, make ourselves look presentable enough to be allowed to board a plane, and by 4:30 we were off to Dubrovnik airport, despite the howling wind and rain.

Our arrival at the airport was early enough in the AM that we even beat the workers there and had to wait about 15 minutes or so before someone could check us in for our flights to Zagreb (capital of Croatia – North of Dubrovnik), Vienna (capital of Austria – North of Zagreb) and Athens (south of Dubrovnik in Greece). I know…makes logical sense right to take two 1 hour flights north and then 1 two hour flight south to reach your destination, however it seems this is the only viable option we were presented as Dubrovnik airport is fairly small and didn’t appear to have many flights out each day.

After check in and passing through the standard security check point, we proceeded through our gate and instead of finding a plane on the other side of the door we found a bus. It appears it is such a small airport that they use buses to shuttle the passengers to the planes. The plane ride to Zagreb, Vienna and finally Athens were short and uneventful, with the attempts of sleep disrupted by the distribution of drinks and food items. However, 9 hours and 3 countries after boarding the shuttle at our hotel in Dubrovnik, we found ourselves boarding our shuttle to our hotel in Athens.

The ride into the city was interesting, it became immediately apparent that Athens is a huge sprawling city, bound to a huge cloud of pollution, one that turn the sky a grayish color day and night….this was not really what my mind had conjured when I first thought about the journey here. I guess I expected it to be all historical and such, when in fact it is extremely modern. Despite the difference in expectations and actuality, once off the bus and into the streets it was quite great. The city was bustling with people, shops, street vendors, and motorcycles – ready to mow down any pedestrian willing to tempt fate and step in their paths.

After checking in the Professor took us on a quick walk through the nearby streets and down to the end of the Plaka, the shopping district where every store is basically a one room shop selling anything from t-shirts to furniture. Once orientated, we were set loose into the city to look around, eat or do as we wanted. We found a nearby restaurant and were offered shots of Ouzo (the local drink, a liquor tasting of black licorice) and some fantastic bread and butter/cream cheese spread and olives. I ordered the Lamb skalvokia (spelling?), basically lamb kabob with a side of fried potato and veggies. The food was fantastic, as was the beer, Alfa, which seemed fitting, as Alpha was the term used to designate the President of the fraternity, which I was back in the glory days of Lambda Chi Alpha.

After dinner we walked through the Plaka, did some window shopping and then returned to the hotel to hang out for a little bit, check emails, contact loved ones and let them know we made it to Athens alright, before heading to bed and calling it an early night after a very long day of travel.

Tomorrow we will visit the Acropolis and Agora which I am very much looking forward to seeing up close.

Mike

Dubrovnik, Day 4: Lectures and shopping

Monday, May 19^th, 2008: Our last day in Dubrovnik would be much like our last day in Sarajevo, in that our morning would consists of meetings with local businessmen/women, followed by a free afternoon spent traversing the local shops.

Our meetings today took place at a near by hotel where one of the local heads of Marketing at the local university spoke to us about the city of Dubrovnik and on Croatia as a whole and how they are struggling to create an identity and a plan to become a year round attraction to the tourists, as it currently only has a few months in the summer where tourism is big and it is the major source of income for the city and many of its people. We also heard from the manager of one of the local hotel chains who discussed the hotel industry in the city and how it is a battle with all the cruise ships, who supply many of the tourists but they only come into the city off their boats for a short while, maybe buy a souvenir and then return to their ships. Lastly, we heard from one of the MBA students there, who also worked for Abercrombie & Kent, one of the premier travel agencies around the world. She spoke on the aspects of marketing Dubrovnik as a year round tourist destination and all the challenges that it presents, as she mentioned many people, particularly Americans still view this area as an area recently out of a war and still a hostile environment, which is not really the case at all….not once on this trip so far have I ever felt fear of the area or people.

Following our meetings we were met by the owner of the kayak company that had taken some of the students out a couple days ago. She spoke on the complexities for an American owning a business in Dubrovnik, as she was currently facing many legal problems with the government trying to basically shut her business down.

Following her discussion we were given the rest of the day off, so we decided to get cleaned up and dress a little more comfortable and went back into Old Town. In old town we hit up the pizza joint for a couple slices and then walked around some of the areas we missed in our prior excursions. We also managed to do a little shopping for ourselves, family and friends. Following my disappointment in finding out that the local cravat (a tie, which was invented by the Croatians) store was asking obscene amounts (up to 700 kuna) for a single tie, we decided to head back to the hotel.

At the hotel we decided to take advantage of the great weather and donned swim attire and hit the beach/pool once more for some diving, swimming and all out relaxing. It was a great time and exactly what many of us needed.

We followed this up with dinner at the hotel and then called it a night as tomorrow we would be traveling to Athens, departing Dubrovnik airport at an early 6:30 am!

So for now, goodnight, and I will write you upon arrival in Athens.

Mike

Dubrovnik Day 3: Island Crawl

Sunday, May 18^th, 2008: Today is our free day, no school, no tours, no lectures….free to enjoy Dubrovnik at our leisure and do what we choose. Most of us chose to take an island boat tour.

The tour, for 52 euro, included boat ride to 3 islands (of the 1,158 off the Croatian coast), lunch and wine…..quite the bargain….and because there were enough of us going, 17 total, we got our own boat!

At 9:45 our guide showed up with a shuttle bus and we piled in and headed for the harbor just on the other side of the hill from the hotel. We pulled up to the harbor, jumped out and jumped on the Maria, our boat for the day. Interestingly, the captain built the boat by hand and it was very nicely done, the perfect size for cursing the islands for the day.

Our first stop was Kolocep, a decent size island just to the north of the hotel. As we got off the boat we noticed a palm-frawn covered bar just off the dock. A few of the crew saddled up for a couple drinks, while the rest of us wondered along the harbor to the sand beach in the middle. We tested the water out, but made sure not to go too deep as the water was full of sea urchins and those would surely not feel great on our bare feet. We decided to move along and found a path leading away from the water back to some houses. We ended up coming across a farm with a cherry tree hanging out across the path. We stopped and picked a few and they tasted fantastic. We decided to head back to the bar and grab a couple beers before heading back onto the boat for the next island.

Our island crawl, next took us to Sipan, an island known for its great wine. We hopped off the boat and found the nearest bar, a little place on a platform on the water. We ordered a few beers, some wine and some snacks and toasted to good health and drank up and enjoyed the views and company, even our tour guide joined us. In return for us buying his drinks he arranged a deal for us to buy bottles of wine at a discount. Many of us chose to purchase a bottle or two or three…..I decided against it. We took a walk around the harbor area, took notice of the old architecture, especially the tile shingles which we were told were made by the women of island from laying clay on their thighs to mold it and then laying it out to dry in the sun. So it could also be inferred the attractiveness of the women in the house by looking at the width of the shingles. After finishing our walk, we jumped/stumbled with help, back onto the boat and shoved off for our next stop, Lopud.

Lopud had the most to offer out of the three islands. Not only was it the largest of the three, but it housed a couple old churches, a big garden, and more restaurants/shops. As part of our tour fee, we were given lunch and wine at a restaurant on Lopud. Upon arriving at the restaurant we were greeted with a shot of Rakija, the local spirit – a plum brandy, a traditional way of greeting and welcoming guests into your home or establishment. Burning subsided, we took a seat at the tables overlooking the water and anxiously awaited lunch. It became apparent that we were all about to be served whole cooked fish, scales, head and all, so the vegetarians and non-fish eaters of the group (myself included of course) spoke to the waiter and they kindly agreed to prepare a different meal for us, which turned out to be some chicken in mushroom sauce and fench fries. It was very good, as was the wine, and the fish eaters appeared to really enjoy the fresh fish.

After lunch, a few members decided to go for a swim and went back to the boat and were allowed access to the roof to dive off of into the water. Those not wanting to risk the chilly water walked up the road a little to the ice cream shop and purchased some scoops of the local flavors. From here I decided to break from the group, as I decided it might be nice to have some alone time for the first time on the trip. I walked up the path a ways and found an old house that had been converted to a small church. I went in and paid my respects and noticed a sign referring to a fisherman whose house this used to be along with the house next door that was in much worse shape. I decided to venture next door and found the remains of the home….it was pretty cool, all that remained were the stone walls and some fish hooks and a very over grown yard. After exploring for a little bit, I moved on down the road and came across the entrance to the gardens. It was amazing, as I spent the next hour or so exploring the paths, views and solitude it provided. By the time I had finished exploring it was time to get back on the boat and head back to our harbor.

The ride back, most everyone was exhausted from a long day of drinking and exploring, and all were looking for a nice relaxing ride, but Mother Nature intervened and it became pretty windy and the ride home became one of heavy rocking back and forth with water spraying over from the sides, but everyone made it back safe without any problems.

After a long day, we decided to grab an early dinner and call it an early night. Many of the students decided to head up to the park behind the hotel and dine at a restaurant there, per the recommendation of the front desk. But Trina, Jenn and I, wanting to break away from the group for a bit, decided to explore the coastal walk which was home to a few restaurants along the rocky shoreline. The walk was great and we stopped here and there for various photo opportunities. When we reached the end, where it met up with the main streets, we sat down at one of the restaurants on the water and enjoyed some drinks and some mozzarella as the rest of the food was rather expensive….around 100 kuna for pasta….UGH! After our drinks and appetizer we headed back to the hotel as it began to sprinkle, luckily the path was pretty well covered by trees overhead.

When we got back to the hotel we decided to just grab a bite at the hotel as we had enjoyed the food the night before and it is reasonably priced for the area. We ended up running into our professor in the restaurant and he joined us for dinner. The girls and I all decided we should have one last drink before calling it a night, so after eating our dinner, we decided upon flaming Lamborghini’s, don’t ask me what it contained, just know it involved several steps. First they divided the shot into two and the waitress lit one on fire as she instructed us to quickly insert a straw into the bottom and start drinking, as we neared the end of the shot they poured the rest into the glass and we continued drinking….all in all it was an ok shot, more entertaining then tasteful.

With that we called it a night and went to bed. Monday would be our last real day in Dubrovnik before journeying on to Athens and we wanted to be well rested for it.

Dubrovnik Day 2: Tours and cliff diving

Saturday, May 17^th, 2008: Today we set out to tour Dubrovnik Old Town style, and then we were given the afternoon off to what we pleased.

Our tour began when the bus and guide picked us up at the hotel and he began to explain the history of the city as we made our way to Old Town. He explained to us how the city came to be and how they were able to avoid the plague and other outbreaks through history and become one of the major port cities in all of Europe.

When we arrived into the city gates we were told of how Dubrovnik had one of the first ever orphanages in the world due to all the “a la carte children” in which the father was unknown. We toured the monastery (where we saw some of the fine examples of the great architectural pillars made from limestone), the church (where we were allowed to peek into the gold closet and view many treasures including a piece of wood from the actual cross, bones of a baby that was killed when mistaken for Jesus, and many bone pieces of Saints encased in golden copies of that which they represented), the market, and the palace. After all the tours we were allowed 45 minutes to roam around and grab something to eat if we wanted before meeting again for the second half of the tour.

Me and a group of the students decided to seek out Pupo, a restaurant mentioned in the show Three Sheets (a TV show on HD where the host goes from country to country experiencing the local drinks and culture) where the host Zane Lampry shared drinks with the owner and the owner mentioned that if you come to his restaurant Pupo, and mention the show he will give you 50% off. Unfortunately, it is no easy task to find this place, if it even exists. We found two signs for the restaurant, both saying “follow me” but giving no direction in which to follow. After 20 minutes of searching we gave up and settled for a slice of pizza from Don Corleone’s, it was pretty good and fairly cheap, only 10 kuna (about $2.25).

After our snack we headed to the clock tower where we were instructed to meet and we began our next stretch. We made one more stop at a small museum where a slideshow depicted the destruction of the war on the city where many Dubrovnik citizens were killed defending the city with only shotguns against tanks and rifles.

Next we headed to the city walls which run 2.5 km around the city. It was an amazing, breathtaking walk. The views were amazing and the city was stunning from up on the walls. It is probably the best part of the trip so far, and if you are ever lucky enough to visit here, make it your top priority.

Half way around the wall, half of the students left, as they had made arrangements to take a sunset kayak trip out to Lokrum island. I stayed behind with the other students as I was not up for paddling out to an island and wanted to explore the city a little more.

After the tour we were given an hour and a half to explore the city before the bus departed back for the hotel. We walked around for awhile, ate some more pizza, had some ice cream and were back on our way to the hotel.

At the hotel, many of us still tired from many long days and late nights, decided to hit up the pool/beach at the hotel and relax for the rest of the day. We hit up the near by mini mart, grab some wine and a sixer of Ozjusko, changed into our suits and hit the beach.

The pool extends out onto the near by rocks that hang over the Adriatic sea, so we pulled up some lounge chairs onto the rocks and laid out for awhile. After a short period, I got warm from the sun and decided to test out the waters. I made my way down the steps and jumped in much to everyone’s surprise, as they all thought it too cold to swim. After seeing my enjoyment of the waters, which felt great, they began to join in. We soon noticed the cliff area next to us about 15 feet out of the water, and we began jumping into the water from the cliff. This drew much attention from the other people in the area as many of the other guests gathered around and began taking pictures, even the people in the restaurant above began standing and peering over the edge to watch us perform dives one after another into the water below. We even almost convinced an older couple to join in, but they chickened out at the last minute. All in all it was a great and relaxing afternoon, exactly what we all needed.

After watching the sunset over the nearby island we went up to our rooms to clean up and then returned to the hotel restaurant to sit on the patio and enjoy each other’s company, some good food, and some good wine/beer (OZJUSKO!).

We spent the rest of the night in the lobby with the others that returned from the kayak tour and exchanged stories, checked email and just hung out.

Tomorrow we have an entire free day, and almost all of us have decided to take an island boat tour all day, it should be a lot of fun, so be sure to check back tomorrow.

Night!

The Road to Dubrovnik

Friday morning, we woke early, quickly packed our bags, grab some free breakfast and jumped on our bus, leaving Sarajevo after 3 amazing days, and setting a course for Dubrovnik, Croatia. We had two scheduled stops along the way to Dubrovnik, one being the city of Mostar and the other the city of Medjugorje.

The road between cities was pretty interesting, littered with small towns/villages, some great mountain views and a couple rivers. The best part was hanging out with my fellow students and getting to enjoy their company and get to know each other a little better. We shared in jokes, stories and music, as we took turns playing random tunes off our mp3 players, including Barbie Girl, Candy Shop, In the Club, and many other classic hits to help pass the 3-4 hours of driving.

Our first stop came at Mostar, a city that was heavily hit by the war. It is also home of the famous Mostar Bridge. In 1993, after surviving many conflicts through the ages, shelling by Bosnian Croat forces during the devastating war sent the bridge crashing into the Neretva River. Its destruction caused international outrage. The broken arch became a symbol of the division of Mostar between its Roman Catholic Croat inhabitants in the west and Muslims in the east. The two communities are still divided. Our stop in Mostar included a visit to this now rebuilt bridge as well as free time to walk the old town and take in the sights of the war torn city, which many buildings still have bullet holes covering them. It was the first time I have witnessed a city or town hit by war still showing such obvious signs as these. Sarajevo was pretty well rebuilt, and was not quite as obvious in the destruction as much of Mostar was. It seemed like every other building showed some signs of attack, which is a shame as it is a very beautiful city.

After our walk and sight seeing, and a quick stop for ice cream and a coke, we were back on the road to our next stop Medjugorje. Medjugorje is a city that has turned into a religious mecca when in June of 1981, several children, while out in the hillsides, had a vision of the Virgin Mary appear to them, and they still receive this vision on a regular basis to this day. As such this has become a pilgrimage site from many of the devout. The city was interesting, a large red path in the hillside marked the spot of the visions and there were many, many gift shops lining the streets selling all sorts of religious trinkets. We walked around for a little bit, checked some of the shops, and then found a local restaurant for lunch, where a few of us enjoyed some pizza. After making a stop and the church, we were back on the bus, destined for Dubrovnik.

As we pulled into Dubrovnik it was amazing, the city lines the Croatian coast with many small islands just off the shore. Our hotel sits on the water and my hotel room opens up to a patio overlooking the water, islands and hillside….it is simply stunning…..I can definitely get used to this.

We met back in the lobby and headed out to the old town to get acquainted with the city. Inside the city walls was amazing, everything looks so old yet so pristine and well maintained. We found a little restaurant down one of the alleys and enjoyed in the local food…I chose pork skewers, they were delicious. After dinner we found a bar and settled in for some drinking, which was more of shot taking, including a kick to the balls, a test tube baby, and a B-52, which is one they light on fire and you have to drink through a straw before it melts.

It was a fun night, and a great end to a long day. Tomorrow should be even better, so stayed tuned.

Sarajevo Day 3: Drugs & Shopping

Thursday, May 15, 2008 – Today we awake groggy and hungover, yesterday’s late night shindig appears to have taken a lot out of us, but the Americans prevailed and showed our Sarajevo friends that we can drink and party with the best of them.

Today, we set out for Basnalik, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company located here in Sarajevo. Upon arrival, we are greeted by a couple of our late night party friends and some other members of the Basnalik team. They escort us to a conference room in one of their buildings and we are given a presentation by their Investor Relations officer, which of course makes it even more interesting for me as this is my line of work. The presentation includes a brief history of the company, the effects of the war on it, and how it is attempting to recover, as well as the financial background. The real interesting piece came at the end while we were asking questions, as the presenter truly opened up to us, he spoke very candidly on the country, the government, and his hopes that they will someday recover. It was quite moving to hear him speak so passionately on the topic and it helped us realize the true injustices and trials that these people deal with in their personal and business lives. Another interesting piece of information that came out of our tour was that Sarajevo has 40% unemployment, so workers are almost never fired as the company knows it would be sending those people straight into poverty, so people are kept on, even though they may be unable to perform their duties, till they retire. He mentioned too that many companies will take on as many employees as they can to try to help out the people, which of course is the opposite of how most companies back in the US operate, as they usually try to function with as few employees as possible to decrease their costs and increase net income.

We were given a tour of the rest of the facilities, but were not allowed into the production facilities as they are already working round the clock to try to keep up with demand and they did not want to slow production down with our visit. Following the tour we were directed to their cafeteria area, which was more of a small restaurant, and given another three course meal consisting of soup, salad, a dish of chicken, beef and rice, and dessert. All were very good, and it was nice to have some rice and chicken, as it was becoming old having beef wrapped in bread or pastry at this point.

Following lunch, we hopped back on the bus and headed back to the hotel to regroup and enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening off, free to do as we wish. I met up with a few of my friends and we set out for Old Town to window shop and take in the town atmosphere at a more leisurely pace then the prior day’s rush through as guided tour. It was a very beautiful day, probably low 70’s clear sky, and it felt great to be out of the “business casual” attire and into shorts and a t-shirt. The streets appeared to be much more crowded as we made the half hour walk into town after failing to negotiate a decent price for a taxi cab. As we walked by a few street vendors selling purses, sunglasses, DVDs and CDs, I was half tempted to stop and buy a CD that caught my eye, 1997 Rap Attack, but after realizing that most of the songs were already loaded on my ipod I moved on. We spent the better part of 3 hours walking the streets, enjoying the weather, people and surroundings, stopping a few places to make a couple purchases and for some ice cream, which for 1 Bosnian mark, was quite the steal (about 80 cents American). I chose rockcherry, which was a kind of cherry/chocolate mix; I was quite pleased with my selection. Also, while walking through the streets I may have inadvertently made it into a Bosnian film being shot into the streets, so if you are a follower of low budget Bosnian films, keep your eyes out for my cameo.

We returned to the hotel around 6pm to relax for a bit before meeting up at 7:30 and heading back to Hacienda, the scene of last night’s shenanigans, for some dinner and to meet up with our Sarajevo friends. While waiting at the hotel lobby bar for the rest of the crew to make their way down from their rooms we noticed our tour bus driver sitting at the other end. He would be staying the night here in Sarajevo with us and then driving us to Dubrovnik in the morning. So we, not wanting to endure another 30 min walk to the bar, decided to propose to the driver to bring us into town and in return we would pay for his meal. He accepted and we were on our way to Hacienda for some Mexican food and cervesas. After 3 days of only eating beef or lamb products wrapped in bread or pastries, it was time for some chicken and cheese wrapped in a tortilla and a corona to wash it down.

After a beer or two more and some more bad 80’s remixes (these ones included Billy Jean and Near or Far by Celion Dion aka Most Annoying Singer EVER!) we were on our way again, this time to an underground club called Tabu, which was pretty cool as the entrance was lined with lit torches. The inside was cool with flashing lights and a guy banging the bongos to techno music. Upon review of the bar menu, I decided upon a Long Island and sat back and watched as my friends shared fish bowl drinks and limbo’d to the music. After finishing another round of drinks a few of us decided it might be best to head back to the hotel as tomorrow would be a very early day as we departed for Dubrovnik at 8 am. So we paid our tabs and made our way on foot back to the hotel, as the bus driver had left 20 minutes earlier with one of the other students. As we were walking down the street we noticed a large bus pull up to the light, it was our bus! We all ran out to the bus (after looking both ways of course – mom) and hopped in, saving us from a long walk home.

And so ended our last day in Sarajevo, tomorrow we make our journey down to Dubrovnik, which will sure to be an amazing visit. So until tomorrow, I bid you adieu.

Sarajevo Day 2: Return of the Cow Pancreas

Wednesday started out just like any other morning, I woke up to a Bosnian woman on the phone telling me it was my requested time to wake up. Reluctantly I thanked her for her unfortunate punctuality and forced my eyes open. After waking my roommate up and getting cleaned and dressed for a long day of tours, lectures and a night out with our Sarajevo MBA counterparts, we ventured downstairs to check out the free breakfast scene. I was disappointed to see that they had not one of the many items I had hope to find (pancakes, waffles, bacon, etc), so I settled for a couple slices of toast, some butter, a slice of pineapple, and a piece of cheese and some sort of bright orange juice….I’m pretty sure this is the same exact meal that Steve Irwin used to partake in before going out and exploring the wilderness….

With breakfast under our belts we boarded the coach bus; camera’s in hand and headed out in the city. The tour took us all throughout the city from the site of the 1984 winter Olympics, to the Sarajevo hillside, to the National and University Library, to the Old Serbian Orthodox Church (the oldest in Sarajevo – dating back to the 15^th Century). It was all very fascinating to hear the complex history of the city and country. There were parts that were absolutely breath taking, like the view of Sarajevo from the hillside, and parts that were a little far fetched, like drinking the “magical water” from the fountain that would supposedly make you fall in love with Sarajevo and make you return some day, and there were parts that were tragic, like the story of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the would be successor to the Hungarian Throne. All in all it was a very amazing tour, one that will surely not soon be forgotten, and it was all topped off by a large lunch at a local “steak house” restaurant, where we were served soup, a platter of delicious meats, and dessert.

Following our tour we journeyed to the University to meet our Bosnian MBA counterparts and hear a lecture from one of their professors. The lecture was very interesting, as the professor spoke on the current state of the Sarajevo economy and how there are several things working against its advancement, including a corrupt government.

Post lecture, we piled into cars and taxis and head for Kibe, a very nice, respected restaurant up on the hillside. At dinner, we mingled with the fellow Sarajevo students. It was interesting to hear their thoughts on the US. They asked us question like, “Are you ashamed of your President?” or “What are the democrats thinking with Hillary Clinton?” It was also quite interesting to hear them speak about their own lives in Sarajevo. One student said “Life is good, but hard.” And went on to mention that while he understands America is the “land of opportunity” he feels that by settling and not setting out to achieve more, you get more pleasure from life. I feel this is a copout and a sad way of viewing it. They should not have to “settle” in life, your dreams and goals are not something that is negotiable; you have to keep working towards them and fight for them. It’s your life; you only get the one chance at it.

Political and social discussions aside the dinner went very well. We started out with a before dinner drink of cravat (not sure of the spelling), which was a very strong Bosnian brandy, which packed quite the punch. Then came the onslaught of food. The brought out bread, salad, Bosnian pies (pastries filled with meat, cheese or spinach), meatball like things, lamb (or what I was told was lamb, turns out that was only half right, I later learned after eating it, that it was in fact lamb liver-----EWWW), and a beef filled gnocchi, which was my favorite dish of the night (or so I thought, it again turns out I was mislead, it appears that I was once again duped into eating cow pancreas, so in the matter of just over 1 year I have been tricked into eating pancreas not once, but twice….I will forever further be suspicious of all meat products in foreign countries…). There was a steady flow of house wine throughout, not to mention the serenading by two older guitarists and the Sarajevo MBA program, it appears that they like to sing as much as they like to drink and trick tourist into eating liver and pancreas. Just when I think I am all full on pancreas and liver and expecting dessert and the conclusion of dinner…POW….main course….a huge platter of lamb….which turned out to be very tasty. This was then followed….finally…by dessert, a platter of various Bosnian pastries….all very delicious in their own ways.

After dinner, the students hopped in cabs and headed for the nearest club, a little Latin establishment called, Hacienda, where the booze flowed like the Miljacka River and the music sounded of 80’s remixes. We all partook in a few libations and we soon discovered a Hookah bar 5 feet from the entrance. This broke out into an all out hookah fest which included ordering a drink, running out the front door, taking a pull from the hookah (don’t worry mom, its just flavored tobacco ---Apple-mint to be precise), and running back to the bar before your drink order was filled. All in all it was a very fun time shared with our Sarajevo friends.

Tomorrow morning’s tour of the pharmaceutical company is sure to be met by a bus full of tired and hung over students…..but hey, like they always say, when in Bosnia, do as the Bosniaks do!

London Calling

Hello Everyone! And welcome back to another critically acclaimed edition of the Pullen Files. Today we begin Europe III: The Balkans. I have decided to change up my methods for publishing my posts this time around as I will now be graded on these journals by my professor for this trip and I am doubting that he will have access to myspace, so today also begins the initiation of mikepullen.blogspot.com. I will be doing my daily jounal entries and including any pics I take, so please visit often and comment where you feel the needed.

One last piece of housekeeping before I dive in, I want to give all you out there a little background on this trip, in case you are unfamiliar with why I am traveling. For 13 days, I and my fellow ASU MBA classmates will be traveling the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, mainly Sarajevo, Dubrovnik and Croatia. The goal of the class will be to gain insight into effective marketing/management decision making in the emerging Southeastern Europe context, all while experiencing many unique and amazing things.

The road to Sarajevo, our first stop on the trip, came with a 19 hour layover in London. Our direct flight from Phoenix to London went smoothly, the seats contained individual screens with the ability to watch movies (note to self: Dewey Cox owes me 2 hours of my life back for Walk Hard) and TV shows on demand, so two movies, a few tv shows, a brief nap and we're in London in no time. Now if only our travel to the hotel and the city were as easy.....

Our plan for London seemed simple, get from London Heathrow to London gatwick to take the hotel shuttle to our hotel drop off our bags, freshen up, catch the shuttle back to gatwick, catch the train to victoria station and catch all the sites we could before sundown. Well what looks simple on paper, isnt always true in real life...which was the case for us. There were 5 of us on the Phoenix to London flight in the class, so after deboarding, getting through customs we found where we needed to get to to catch our shuttle that would take us from Terminal 4 to Heathrow central bus station. The shuttle was scheduled to run every 30 minutes and we were in prime position to catch the next shuttle, scheduled to arrive 5 minutes later. Well sure enough 5 minutes later the shuttle comes around, only he decides not to stop and flys right by. Two seconds later a second bus barring the same "555" symbol we were looking for pulls up and stops. However, he informs us he is not going to our destination and we in fact needed the other shuttle that had just passed us up. Another 30 minutes later we finally persuade the bus to make a stop this time and pick us up.

The shuttle took forever making every stop apparently possible, so another 30 minutes and we were finally at the Central Bus Station, an hour after our next shuttle that we had purchased advanced tickets for had departed. Fortunately, we found out that the tickets were transferrable and that we had 1 minute to race down the row of stops to catch our bus to Gatwick airport. We made the shuttle and were on our way, another 40 minute ride and we made it to Gatwick.

At Gatwick we had to track down the hotel shuttle pick up, luckily we were able to stumble across it quite easily and our shuttle was only a few minutes wait. After the 15 minute ride to the prestigious Europa Hotel (said in a very sarcastic tone), we threw down our bags and went back to catch the shuttle back to the airport. From the airport we caught the express train to Victoria Station and would soon find ourselves in the heart of London, only 4 hours after landing at Heathrow.

With the sun appearing to be getting ready to set, we quickly walked up Buckingham Palace road and found ourselves in an amazing area. In front of us was Buckingham Palace, guards and all, behind us stood a huge statue and to our left and right were two very large parks. It was quite an amazing site.

From here we walked down to Parliment which houses Big Ben and is neighbor to Abbey Cathedral. They were all massive in size and the attached pictures dont do them justice.

As it was now about 8pm and it was beginning to get dark we decided to search out a pub and have some food and drinks. We found a cool place called Alberts near the train station and had a couple drinks and some fish and chips (yep...fish and chips....it was decent, but not something I can see myself eating again, it wasnt quite what I had envisioned when I ordered it, I was thinking it would be something similar to chicken strips, but it was a huge slab of fish with skin on one side, battered and fried, served with a side of french fries and mashed peas).

After finishing a couple more beers we decided it best to head back to the station and catch the next train back to gatwick and to the hotel.

We got back around midnight and after making a couple important phone calls to let those I love know I was in London safe and sound, I hit the hay, with a 5 am wake up call waiting just around the corner to kick start our next day of travel to Sarajevo.

Now when I think of wake up call I think of someone picking up the phone at the front lobby and placing a call to our room to let us know it would be a good time to wake up now. I was wrong, apparently, the Europa views it as send a loud alarm through the phone, one that make fire alarms seem like cool jazz music. So with a kick start to the heart our day 2 or i guess it would be 3 at this point, was ready to begin. After a quick shower, we were back on the shuttle to Gatwick airport and on our way to Sarajevo.

The flight went well, the plane was pretty empty and dominated by the now 15 or so of us from ASU. I passed out shortly after take off, waking periodically to turn back the weird looking "egg sandwich" the stewardess was trying so hard to persuade me to take.

Our flight reached Sarajevo with out any problems and after passing through customs and grabbing a few Bosnian Marks we negotiated a fare with a cab and were off racing through the streets of Sarajevo to the Holiday Inn. The ride was interesting. I had a mental image of what I thought Sarajevo would look like and the ride from the airport to the holiday inn confirmed this thought. It seemed gloomy and old worldish. The buildings all appear to be in need of some refurbishment and upgrading.

We arrived at our large yellow Holiday Inn and were pleasently suprised by how nice it was on the inside. It was apparently all redone, mostly due to be shot up during the war. The rooms are nice and the views are great.

We killed the next few hours with some pizza and beers in the hotel bar. At 5pm we were greeted by a few students from the local MBA program who were to escort us through town to their school where we were scheduled to have orientation. The walk through town was great. This part of town was much nicer by far. The streets are lined with shops selling all sorts of stuff.

Upon arrival at the school we were greeted by the local staff and given an overview of what their program consisted of and what we would be doing the next couple days. They also helped to point our some nearby clubs, bars and restaurants. Heading their suggestions we were off again to find a destination for some traditional Bosnian food. This journey took us into the Old Town which is Turkish and drastically different from the rest of the city, the building are amazing and clearly from a very long time ago. The streets are stones that have been smoothed down by years and years of people walking them.

We soon came to a restaurant, I believe called "5", where we all partook in a dish called Cerriviche (my spelling may be off on that), which consisted of beef sausage like products tucked inside a traditional bread. It was delicious.

After stuffing ourselves with this traditional dish we walked down the street to a bar where all the chairs filled the center of the street and we all piled in for a few drinks before retiring to our hotel for some much needed rest.

Tomorrow will bring a sightseeing tour, a lecture from the local school, and a dinner with our local MBA counterparts.

For now I am off to bed, I will post pictures when I get a chance tomorrow as well as my next post.

Night.