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Published: June 20th 2012
Bridge at Mostar
(no photoshop of the color!!!)We met the correct van this time at 7:45, and picked up the rest of the group for Mostar. 9 including the driver: couple from Australia, 2 young women from Canada, and a mother/daughter from Russia. We headed off to Bosnia-Herzegovina and the famous city of Mostar.
Our tour guide Antonio was excellent. He knew how to manage a group. After an hour, we stopped for bathroom and white coffee in a tiny village of Slano. It was tiny, with a nice little harbor, a 5 star Admiral Grand Hotel ($500 pernight), Hotel Osmina ( very nice for $50 per night). I would think about staying here for a beach holiday and visit Dubrovnik. The value is much greater… Dubrovnik is extremely expensive even for locals.
Next we went through border crossings. First we went into Bosnia-Herzegovina, then 10 miles later into Croatia, then 20 miles later again into B/H. We went through the back roads where the tour buses could not travel to save time at the crossings. We had one problem… Croatian and EU citizens, and Canadian/American/Australian passport holders can enter B-H. But other countries, such as Russia, also need a visa to
enter. Our two Russian group members did not have the visa required to enter. Our guide, Antonio, was very experienced and some how got the two women into the country, since they were obviously tourists. However, all the passports were stamped EXCEPT theirs, so they were never in B-H.
We made another bathroom stop at at the tiny medieval town of Pocitelj. Antonio bought us each a shot of grappa, very good (11:00). We spent 30 minutes wandering around; the town is now an arist colony, has a mix of Christian and Muslim architecture, including a beautiful mosque and multi-domed bath house. There was an artist residency program going on there called the “International Art Colony Pocitelj” where looked like fun, great paintings of the old town.
Then we headed into Mostar. There was still extensive evidence of the war in 1991-1995. Unlike Dubrovnik, which was practically destroyed but now rebuilt, Mostar has not been as successful. The bridge and all the restaurants in the area are restored, but major parts of the town are still in disrepair. It is very poor.
Another sign of anger was road signs. The 3
"Meat Sticks"
Typical Mostar meal official languages are: Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian. They are spoken almost the same but written differently. Serb writing on road signs has been scratched out, showing anger is still around.
We heard much about the history of the war… not enough room to tell much. However there were 3 religious groups in Mostar: Serbs/Orthodox Christian; Bosnia/Muslims; and Herzegovina/Roman Catholics. They all equally bombed each other’s churches and monuments, neighbor against neighbor, with 7000 bombs exploding over the city daily.
We went to the bridge. It is very difficult to walk across because it has stone ridges that go across, probably so no one slips. There are tourists shops and tourists everywhere!!! Lots of jewelry, Middle Eastern looking bags, clothing, etc. It is quite the tourist spot.
We ate lunch of meat sticks (sausage) in a pie, baklava, salad, cold beer, in a restaurant terrace overlooking the bridge. There was a very slight breeze and lots of shade.
It was HOT HOT HOT, 44 according to the thermometer (that would be 110 degrees Fahrenheit). We watched a video about Mostar and the bridge, went in a mosque square with
cold drinkable water coming out of a fountain. I stood in the garden sprinkler to cool off. The Canadian girls were swimming in the river in their clothes. It was so hot we had a cold drink in the shade and watched the people swimming. We watched a man jump off the bridge… guys will do it for the tourists for $25 Euros!
Then we returned to the van and headed home. We made a stop at a large bus stop with millions of tourists and a great bathroom with 8 toilets. There was a grocery below and the tourists were buying lots of candy, chips, drinks, etc.
Our last stop was at the oyster farm. We each bought an oyster for 1 euro, and Gary and I bought 3 kilos of very fresh mussels for $5.00. Then we headed back to Dubrovnik… it was an entertaining day with the great guide, the interesting Australians, and cold AC!!!!!
We took cold showers and looked for the bar on the rocks outside the city wall. People can walk on the city wall, takes about 90 minutes, for a price. We decided not
to, since it is so hot and we have walked walls before… we walked the city walls at Otronto every day. We found the bar and it was quite atmospheric and scenic… I’d like to go back. I had Campari and Gary had beer.
We bought bread from the bakers, lemons and veggies from the vegetable man, and wine and vinegar from the grocery. We cooked the mussels in our room and had a lovely dinner!!! It was an interesting day.
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sarah
non-member comment
Super Hot!
You two look fabulous!!!!!!!!!!