Mostar, Bosnia and Split, Croatia

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April 24, 2016 -Mostar -- Today on our way to Split we detoured through Mostar, Bosnia. The city was the most heavily bombed of any Bosnian city during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina following the breakup of Yugoslavia. You can see a lot of the ruins still. Not everything was rebuilt. Our guide was 3 years old when the war started. She and her mother lived in a refuge camp for 2 years while her father stayed behind. Then they retuned to Mostar and lived in the basement of their apartment building for the remainder of the war. There was no electricity and they relied on humanitarian aid for food. During our walking tour we saw a cemetary that used to be a children's park. They needed more space to bury the dead.

We also visited the old city. One of the landmarks of the old city is the Stary most (old bridge). It was originally built in the 16th century. Their is a tradition of jumping off the bridge which dates back almost 5 centuries. The first written record of the Mostar bridge dives dates back to 1664. the official height of the bridge is 20 metres, the jump is actually 23-24 meters long, depending on the level of the river at the time of the jump. It is known internationally and people come here from all over the world for the annual diving competitions. The bridge was completely destroyed during the war and has been rebuilt (2001-2004) as similar as possible to the original, using the same technology and materials, It is now under UNESCO protection.

April 25,2016 - Split is the second largest city in crotia and the oldest in the area. we had a walking tour of the old town. The city was built around the ancient Roman Palace, Palace of Diocletian(UNESCO World Heritage site). It was built at the end of the 3rd century. Like all the other walled cities you can find shops, restaurants and bars. The Riva, Split's seafront promenade, runs the length of the old Town.

April 26-27, 2016 - Opatija has been a popular European vacation destination for 2 centuries. The town's modern history began in 1844, when Iginio Scarpa, a rich merchant from Rijeka, founded Villa Angiolina. In 1872 Railways came to Matulji and thus opened the path for the development of tourism in Opatija. It has a seaside promenade that runs for 13 kms. We went for a walk along the promenade to the next village. The sea was rough today splashing against the wall and sometimes spraying us.

The temperature is a lot cooler than it was in Dubrovnic, 12-14 degrees. But by the sea it is quite cooler because of the wind. The food, the beer and wine are good. We are eating too much, but we are walking a lot.

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Comments

[Lylaenvoyage]

Raging sea!
T and I were alking about your trip today...looks amazing! We'll be grilling you for details once you are back. ?