Learned another lesson today on driving in Banja Luka (and perhaps pretty much any other European city with narrow roads and not enough parking spaces): be careful not to turn into a place where you cannot be sure where it will lead to, especially when driving a large 9 person van. In my circumstances today, I ended up turning because the road in front of me became one direction (not my direction!), but found myself in parking lots that got progressively narrower. I had two of the kids in the car, asking me lots of questions (none of which had anything to do with our predicament, regarding hotels and something else I couldn’t quite figure out), and felt my heart pounding a little faster as I realized I was at a point where other cars in front of me were backing up and trying to turn around, but, umm, there was no where for me to turn around! Cars were parked on either side, I really though I might, in all my pregnant hormonal glory, just start crying. But this would not get me unstuck so I plodded on (mind you I am driving a manual car and this, for me, adds a whole other dimension!). I did manage, after trying to let numerous other cars around me, to back up and pull through to another alley type way, and as the kids cheered our victory of escape, I warned them not to cheer too soon. And right I was because we were on a road that let to yet another dead end! Worse than the first it seemed, except that it did make a tight 90 degree turn that I thought perhaps I could turn around in since that was likely my only option. B cheered me on, “I know you can do it, Mom!” which was a bit out of character for him, but much appreciated! I almost got out of my car to ask one of the men working there if they would get my car unstuck, but as I got out of the car, I saw I had just a little space behind me so I kept on inching back and forth. Finally, one of the men came over, checked my space in front and guided me forward. Hvala vam!! Really, I can’t believe I made it out…I wondered what I would have to do if I couldn’t get out. Forget dark alleys, it’s the tight ones that are the threat!
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