BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
I always thought that writing was something people from cities did, but boy oh boy was I was wrong. Welshpool is where this story begins, a story that eventually found its way to the Balkans via Liverpool, Venezuela and more, although that makes it all sound a bit like Candide. The best of all possible worlds? I’m not going to disagree, although Venezuela was a bit weird. Anyway, I digress, the combination of what was once Yugoslavia and what is still me turned out to be a match made in a heaven (a match made in Welshpool and what was once Yugoslavia). I sort of grew up during these years and wrote 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', not that I’m suggesting you need to write a book in order to grow up. You don’t. I now write for In Your Pocket, Fodor’s, Culture Trip and many others, and am always on the look out for new avenues through which to make Eastern Europe look shinier. Get in touch with the email below, or the social media icons placed above.
johnwilliambills@gmail.com
Kozarska Dubica is home to a beautifully peaceful monastery that is everything I want a church to be. Also, a monument to milk, because of course…
Nature is pretty darn stonkin’, and the wilds around Ključ are packed with the stuff. It all comes back to water, always.
It isn’t easy being a border town, especially when the goalposts are constantly moving. This is the story of Kostajnica.
Cazin is a stubborn city defined by progress and an unwillingness to play along for an easy life. I absolutely love it.
The perfect 24 hours in Bosanska Krupa (and Bosanska Otoka), one of the prettiest towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Officially, I said so.
A double whammy in the shape of a gorgeous monastery and the home of kisela voda. 24 hours in Fojnica and Kiseljak, ready, steady, teddy.
24 hours in Banja Luka, a city of history, energy, and the best damn pizza I have ever eaten in my life. Sorry, pinca.