Not everyone has given up on socialism

Here in Kiev, under the statue of Lenin and in the cold autumn weather, are a few true believers - red flags, hammer and sickle, the whole bit. Nice to see that someone still has a bit of faith. One policeman seems to be enough to keep the crowd in order.

Sunday afternoon in Sarajevo

Here are a few shots from my afternoon walk, including the lovely old Ottoman era bridge, buildings along the river, and the museum just near where Archduke Ferdinand got assassinated.

Leaning Tower of Gradacac

It is not just Pisa that has a leaning tower - they have one (at least) here in Bosnia. The town of Gradaca has lots of other old buildings too - great fun - including a castle on top of the big hill in the centre of town. We had lunch at the top of the tower.

Lunchtime in Banja Luka, Republic Srpska, Bosnia

The Serbs (and everyone else in the region) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE meat. It is meat paradise. This was the dish served as the main course for four people today. As you can see from my face, it was genuine shock at how much meat they could fit onto a single plate. Almost every domesticated animal was represented. My new friend Dragan (to my left) took it in his stride.

Inside Ceauşescu's palace of the people

I have always been to scared to visit this building - it is so so big (second only to the Pentagon) and intimidating. It is a bit Dr Who. But, with a little help from my friend Marcel at the Romanian land registry office, I braved both the building and the security to go on a tour of the building. It is big - big rooms, big halls, big everything. The one hour tour showed us 7% of it (according to our guide). Lots of marble, gold, wood and carpets.

My favourite destination in Bucharest Romania

When I am in Bucharest, there is only one destination - one way to go: the Carrefour shopping centre, just near the National Agency for Real Estate. It has everything from French cheese to Argentinean wine to clothes, TVs and tyres. Sometimes I think I could survive in there for a couple of months.

A fitting tribute to Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa grew up in Skopje, Macedonia before going off to India to live a penniless life caring for the poor, sick and young. So what better than to erect a monument to her penniless life of helping others. This is what the architects in Skopje thought would reflect her and her ideals.

Macedonian parking

Macedonians love to park. They park everywhere, including the footpaths. They even manage, sometimes, to completely block access for pedestrians (not easy) as this photo shows. But they do have nice cheese, so I guess that makes up for all the inconvenience.