Okay, so it may not be quite that epic, but Luke and I did have kind of a funny experience. In the hostel we were staying at in Zagreb, we were chatting with a couple of guys from Britain who were booking accommodation online. When Luke hopped on the computer afterwards, one of the dudes got a text from a buddy saying Jackson had died. Having the all-powerful internets, Luke logged onto his email and sure enough, the first page of Yahoo confirmed the news. A few minutes later, a couple of guys from Norway came down needing to know the truth. One of them was apparently a huge fan… Later on that night, we were having coffee with another Brit we met in the train station before heading to Sarajevo. After several english language songs in a row, buddy commented on their affection for North American music. “And they really love their Michael Jackson.” Guess he hadnt heard yet.

In other news, after a mostly sleepless overnight train from Zagreb, we arrived in Sarajevo this morning and have since wandered through the lovely and lively city. Thus far, the highlight has been walking over the Latin bridge, a small pedestrian passage over a shallow river. Its underwhelming appearance belies its overwhelmingly fateful place in history: the place where Archduke Ferdinand was shot by the young Black Hand member, Gabriel Principe, catapulting Europe into war in 1914. Much more is planned: a visit to a few museums, tasting of traditional Bosnian fare, and a stroll along the street formerly referred to as Death Alley. It is the road in front of the Holiday Inn where numerous international journalists stayed to cover the war in the mid 1990s, and where snipers shot and killed many.

—Wendy