sets of lessons to life . Our target was Sarajevo , a city that most of us know of as being the centre of a dramatic history . I feel quite comfortable in saying that this city has affected most of our lives ; I ’ ll explain more in a moment ; first the ride .
Arriving from the south coast of England into the port of Cherbourg in Normandy , Birgit and I cut diagonally across France to the borders of both Switzerland and Italy . The route we ’ d semi-planned kept us on small roads , and had us easing in and out of quirky , sunlit towns and villages , which seemed to have changed little for a couple of centuries . Our gentle pace fit the mood in the backwater countryside perfectly . We wild camped on riverbanks , on the edge of forests and steered well clear of camp sites that described themselves as ‘ resorts ’! The skies were blue , it was warm , and we were constantly surrounded by quite beautiful scenery . In fact , what could go wrong ? The travel gods were with us , and each day gifted us with intrigue , fascination moments and smiles , but life changed as we rolled across the border into Italy .
Instead of the sanitised and expensive tedium of toll motorways across northern Italy , we ’ d hunted out a more direct route to take us eastwards towards the border with Slovenia , and the start of the Balkan countries . The smaller roads we ’ d finger traced on our map would guide us through Italy ’ s versions of the towns and villages we ’ d left standing sleepily behind us in France .
It always amazes me how a line on a map can change so much . Clothing styles , language of course , sometimes religion , architecture , and foods . Sometimes the landscape changes dramatically too . The thought of the border between Sudan and Ethiopia pops into my mind as an example . Arid desert scrubland on one side , and mountains and forests on the other .
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