Blogs from Mostar, South, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Europe

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Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar August 11th 2021

Bonjour à tous, Hier au soir je cherche un resto, personne à la réception à qui demander. Tous ceux devant lesquels je passe et je vois les gens manger plus ou moins la même choses, des saucisses dans une pâte, genre "pâte à pain", ça ne me tente pas vraiment. Au bout d'un quart d'heure de marche, je me retrouve devant l'hôtel, et maintenant il y une jeune femme, qui me dit il faut aller au ??? à 100 mètres à 2 rues. A peine arrivé devant la terrasse de ce resto, j'entends "hello Daniel" je reste scotché, c'est 2 jolies filles qui m'interpellent et par mon nom. Je les regarde quelques secondes sans savoir où les situer. C'est elle qui se présentent, elles sont les réceptionnistes de l'hôtel, qui avaient si sympa le matin. Elles ... read more
Sarajevo
Mostar
Mostar

Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar October 27th 2019

We left Jajce straight after breakfast and headed off in the direction of our final stop in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mostar. Unfortunately it was rather foggy for much of the drive so we didn’t get to see a lot of scenery during the first part of the trip. Once the fog lifted, the scenery was quite lovely. High mountains covered in autumn leaves next to a blue-green river. The drive to Mostar took about 2.5 hours. As we entered the area close to the Old Town a man in a hi-vis vest waved at us and said something in Bosnian that we didn’t understand. I thought he was dodgy but Scott chose to turn around and find another route to our hotel. On the second route towards our hotel we were again waved at by another ... read more
Mostar from lunch
Mostar
Mostar Old Bridge...and hoards of tourists

Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar May 10th 2019

"Prince Charles gave me 500 euros to give him a guided tour of the town" he said. "Oh did he?" I replied. "I am a local, I know everything" " I know the bazaar, I can take you there" " I find you parking and the best spot to view the bridge" He opened my door and climbed in to Gabby. He smelled of diesel, of petrol fumes and smelt like a garage mechanic covered in oil . He sat in my seat. "Get out of the way woman, I show you parking". We had already sussed out the parking but it was not easy to locate it on the narrow streets in Gabby. Negotiating the double parked cars and the pedestrians . Not to mention the language barrier. The P for parking was OK but ... read more
that iconic bridge
Ottoman houses close to the bridge
Walking up to and on the bridge

Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar April 7th 2019

We had a leisurely breakfast this morning (cold cuts, cheese, fresh bread, banana), although I left early to write sketchy travel notes. This tour is so full, I can’t record it all before the next day. Not a bad thing. Our guide, Boris, met us at our Villa Fortuna Hotel. Immediately obvious was his deep knowledge of the centuries of history in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the country’s full name). Later we learned that he is a government archivist, as well as a tour guide. His mordant sense of humour lightened the essentially horrific two thousand years of conquests and wars in the area. Thankfully, he explained why this land has suffered so much turmoil. When the Christian church split into Catholic and Orthodox, this land was on the dividing line, always a guarantee of tension... read more
Surrounds of the Old Bridge
Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque 1618
Blagaj Tekke, Dervish retreat

Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar April 5th 2019

Rain poured down this morning, putting the final kibosh on the boat trip around a nearby island park that was originally on the itinerary but is now closed. I was happy because I didn’t want to go on the boat trip anyway. Yesterday’s anti-motion pill made me foggy enough to lose my glasses, and a repetition on a boat was too much to contemplate. Much better was the substituted visit to Čilipi and the Konavale ethnographic museum where fabric arts displayed ordinary life in history. The knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide spoke at some length about the embroidered and woven items in a woman’s dress. Each item, such as belt, apron, vest, and head-covering, conveyed certain information about her, for example, if she were single, engaged or married. Even within one day, she might change some of ... read more
Mussel farm by the Peljasac Penninsula
Ston Walls 15 century
Villa Fortuna, Mostar

Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar November 2nd 2018

For some reason my last blog didnt post. I was in mostar, then Sarajevo for 3 nights. What an interesting city. They hosted the winter Olympics in 1984, then 7 years later, they were under siege by the Serbians. They were caught un aware by this attack, did not have time to organize a proper army. The Serbs thought they would take the Bosnians in 2 weeks, but the ragtag army held them off for 4 years! We spoke to numerous people who were living in Sarajevo at the time to hear their personal stories, we visited the tunnel they dug in 4 short months, we visited a museum about the era, we drove around and noted the holes in the buildings caused by the shelling, we saw what is called the roses of Sarajevo which ... read more
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Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar September 19th 2018

This morning getting up is not easy. My legs are stiff from all the steps they climbed yesterday. After a breakfast of cherry and sour cream croissants we head back down the steps (247 to be precise) to the car park. Today we are crossing into Bosnia to visit Mostar. I know 3 things about Mostar; (1) it has a famous Old Bridge (2) the front line in the civil war ran through Mostar and (3) the Old Bridge was destroyed during the war so isn’t old at all. The border crossing is in the hills on the outskirts of Dubrovnik. Once through, we are in a remote mountainous area. If we’d realised quite how remote it was, we’d have filled up with petrol beforehand. We start to get a bit worried. Then suddenly, like a ... read more
Driving to Mostar
Welcome to Mostar
View from the Old Bridge

Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar May 29th 2018

Another beautiful day in Croatia. We were up and ready by 8:30 today. Our wonderful hosts were so kind and they helped us with our luggage to our pick-up point. Normally we would be fine taking care of it ourselves, but have you seen the number of steps to our place? They were so generous and their help was much appreciated. Especially because it was already so hot and Kirsten and Chester definitely over-packed. Damien met us at our pick-up spot just outside the walls of Old Dubrovnik. It was an amazing place to spend two nights right in the middle of the city walls. We were told it was a two-hour drive to Mostar, Bosnia. Chester slept most of the way and missed out on several conversations. For once, Kirsten was wide awake in the ... read more
Smelly Mosque
River
War Torn Building

Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar April 26th 2018

Car hire was definitely the way forward for a day trip into Bosnia from Split. The bus, as usual, is a rather time consuming affair and car hire is comparatively cheap. However, a serious of tunnel closures, diversions and the absence of a sat nav and we became quickly unstuck. Instead of barrelling down the major inland conduit of the E65, we found ourselves hugging the coastline on the Route 8 coastal road. The scenery was moving sluggishly by as we went through the closely spaced seaside resorts along this route. Traffic stopping regularly at every crossing and road work. Fortunately the further along we went along Route 8, the more dramatic it became and we eventually started losing the signs of tourist industry over-development and the straggle of cheap pensions and motels. Time anxiety in ... read more
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