Day 4 - Morstar Bosnia

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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 car. Dan rode shot-gun and carried on with Damian and listened to all of the history he could tell us. The two hour drive turned into almost 3 hours because there were long lines at the borders. We crossed into Bosnia at one point, then back into Croatia, and then back into Bosnia on our way to Mostar.

We were late for our tour, but no worries, the guide waited for us and actually had to merge two groups because everyone was late because we all got caught up at the borders. It was only 2 people from New Hampshire who were very nice. Our guide was named Jasmine and he was great. He explained the Bosnian War to us in detail and even what he remembered of it as a child. It was an interesting perspective. Mostar is basically cut down the middle between the Catholics and the Muslims. The main road is basically like a metaphorical "Berlin Wall" that separates them. They do not mix nor cross the road. Jas stated how many Catholics on the one side have never even seen the famous bridge that crosses into the old town. The old town road was the first part we noticed and we prayed we would not slip and fall. We couldn't believe that as clumsy as Kirsten is, that she didn't fall. It was a banner day. We all concurred that if Judy were here, this road would be her demise. It was all stones just placed in the concrete every which way, so it was very uneven, but the rocks were completely smooth. Had we been there when it rained, we all would have been wiped out. The main road was basically a Suk, store fronts and restaurants. We walked through and made our way to the emerald green river where bridge divers were collecting money before they jumped. It was impressive to watch them make the 50 foot dive into the waters. Our guide stated that the Red Bull Cliff Diving series has taken place off that bridge.

From the diving we continued to walk through the market place and visited a mosque and a tannery. Our tour concluded with a few pictures and then we walked back to the Suk to have lunch. We had a traditional Bosnia meal called the "National Plate". It was delicious. The plate was made up of lots of meat-lamb, potatoes, wrapped grape leaves, falafels, stuffed peppers, pita bread and rice. It was delicious and we ate so much we did not have any room for ice cream. These people love their ice cream and so do we!

After our meal we actually ran into Damian on our way to the car and were off for our next city, and back into Croatia. We drove for about an hour to a small town where six children had said they were visited by the Virgin Mary. Damian said the church was the place to visit, so we stopped and checked it out. For Dan and Chester, they were counting this as attending mass. It was a quick stop as we were soon back in the car and drove another 2 hours to Split, Croatia.

Dan was nice enough to continue to sit shot-gun and carry on a conversation with our guide. Damian was great, but Kirsten and Chester definitely took in another nap in the back seat. Game of Thrones is on a lot of people's tour stops. Everyone here watches the show and knows which episode has which site. The series is shot all over Croatia and every site is pointed out by the guides. Driving into Split, Damian pointed out several places where the series has been filmed. Dan is all over the Game of Thrones series, while Chester has only seen the first two episodes. Kirsten is not having any of it.

We made it to our hotel in Split where Damian made sure we had a room with three single beds. The place is nice, modern and all parties are happy with our second accommodation. We settled into our room and dropped off all our luggage. After a short rest, and a few drinks at the bar we headed out for dinner and then back to the hotel for the night. We have not had a problem finding good meals and cold drinks. Dan and Chester had a final drink at the bar while Kirsten actually did some work on a bid for a new project.

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Comments

[Mikki]

I'm with Kirsten!
Don't stop at those G of T sites.