Eastern Europe retroblog: Brčko, part 2

(Brčko, part 1.)Saturday 23 June 2007 Had a wonderful tour of not one but two mosques, both of which are new buildings. The original ones were destroyed in the war; a sheikh, a very nice man, showed us around, with Mujke [MOY-kuh] translating. I enjoy hearing the call to prayer, and not just because it sounds exotic. It's also simply a beautiful sound--even if it is often a recording. Counterpart to church bells, almost.

Coffee with Briony and Mujke afterwards, and then we finally got around to visiting the outdoor fruit and veggie market (also with B.) So glad we made it--dinner is going to be yummy tonight. Can't remember ever seeing such fresh and robust heads of garlic.Briony is from England, and was conducting part of her doctoral research in Brcko in the summer of '07. I was hoping to see her while I was in London, but unfortunately our schedules weren't going to jive. Next time!16 June 2007 Our apartment here has a very lived-in feel, down to the eyeglasses and balled-up socks on the curio shelves, the rotten apple on the kitchen windowsill (Kate threw it out the window and busted out laughing--there's a wild apple tree in the courtyard outside, she wouldn't have gotten away with it otherwise. You can hear the occasional thump as an apple falls to the pavement), the cobwebs dangling from the eaves on the balcony (no view, but we hung up our laundry out there, and some coal-black cobwebs clung to our skivvies. Yuck), cologne bottles and half a dozen toothbrushes in the bathroom.The owner later paid us an unexpected visit at 6:30 in the morning, for no apparent reason.

Kate in the courtyard.

Next and final post: back to Budapest!