“More Rakija!”, “More Rakija!” Wild cries rose from the table in the back of the dingy, smoke filled bar hidden deep behind the ageing walls of the Montenegrin town of Kotor. The Old Town Hostel had brought me to the harrowing...
The white gravestones stretch from the edge of Sarajevo’s Old Town to the fortress perched on the summit of the hill. The first few that I pass have the year 1991 engraved upon them, the next ’92, then ’93, ’94 and on and on as I climb higher...
Beautiful yet brutal. That’s Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is a country where Bosnian Muslims live next to Orthodox Serbs, and orthodox Serbs live next to Catholic Croatians. Everyone gets on smashingly, except for when they don’t get on smashingly....
Amongst the lively and crowded streets of central Belgrade, it’s easy to forget that this was once a city at war. The city has moved on since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign hit Serbia, but the ruins of the conflict have been left heaped along the roadsides,...
“Be careful”, said Miran. “Don’t step off the path”. The crazy Bosnian had led us right into the middle of a minefield. “If you go to the right there’s a fifty percent chance of death, and if you do down there to the left,...
In 1984 the Winter Olympics were hosted by the city of Sarajevo. Then part of Yugoslavia, the games brought together athletes and spectators from all over the world in a communist state for the first time in history. But only a few years later war would shake the...
I had made it to the top of the steps, and in front of me stood a monumental Soviet Soldier, a victory flag firmly planted into the column he proudly paraded upon, and a machine gun slung behind his back. I had already seen the statue from the city below, but up close...
In the 1990’s Yugoslavia met its death in the vicious wars that split the country apart. Now, across the new nations of the Balkans, you can see the abandoned remnants of this previous era. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, I found a secret Yugoslav Airbase,...
I love a good lake and Plitvice National Park in Croatia is home to a staggering array of lakes. It’s a popular place to visit though, and in summer the crowds can be so fearsome you’re in danger of being forced into the water by the sheer...
Luxembourg, the crossroads of Europe. A land which doesn’t quite know if it’s French, German or some hybrid mix of it all, and a land which makes a hell of a lot of money doing whatever the hell it is they do. I went to Luxembourg City, not quite sure what...
Along the Borders chronicles my multi-year journey along Britain's borders, boundaries and frontiers. Published by Penguin Random House, and available now!
