Mostar

We caught the bus to Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina yesterday morning. The three-hour trip took almost four (rule of thumb: add about an hour to the quoted bus journey time), but Eleanor and Leo were good and there was no sickness.

Stari Most

Mostar was badly damaged during the war in the 1990's. All of its bridges, including Stari Most the Ottoman bridge built in 1557, were destroyed and only one of its 27 mosques was left standing. The old city and bridges have now been rebuilt, but there are a number of ruined and shelled buildings in the new parts of the city.

On the bridge

It is hard to fathom what people of our age were experiencing in their late teens/early 20's while we were focusing on finishing school, starting university and having fun. It is easier now to have some appreciation of what Miss Pivac (my 7th form dean) meant when she used to say to us 'you girls think you have problems, my people are killing each other'.

We spent the afternoon walking through the bustling cobbled pedestrian streets of the Turkish quarter and across Stari Most (wow!) then had dinner in a little restaurant on the banks of the river overlooking the bridge, which is striking in its simplicity.

The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian influences have created a fascinating
mix of east and west. It is incredibly friendly here, and cheap after Dubrovnik.

It is bright and early and we are about to jump in a train (an 8am start for the second day in a row; I know it isn't early at all, but we've been very relaxed on this trip!) to Sarajevo.

2012 09 Dubrovnik, Croatia

2012 09 Dubrovnik, Croatia, a set on Flickr.

Photos from our trip to Dubrovnik. Croatia. Click on the link to view all 54 photos.

Dubrovnik

Beautiful Dubrovnik

We are running out of superlatives to describe all the amazing places we are seeing, so please excuse the repetition! The old city in Dubrovnik is incredible; the city walls are intact and imposing, they enclose a rabbit warren of little streets, churches, restaurants, cafes, homes and thousands of tourists.

Dubrovnik again

Apparently there is a website with traffic light flags that change depending on the number of people expected in the city each day; green is a good day to visit, red is avoid if possible. A 6000-berth cruise ship was in the harbour on our second day. We weren't aware of the website at the time, but it must have been a red light day. We had to queue for tickets (one of the joys of travelling at this time of year is that queuing is a fairly rare event!) and Eleanor complained that she couldn't see where she was going in amongst all the legs. Time for a shoulder ride!

At the beach

The crowds, while a little frustrating to negotiate, did not detract from the beauty of the city and we very much enjoyed our stay. We popped to the local beach one afternoon. It is a lovely spot with a great view of the city walls and boats passing by, the sea is warm, calm and incredibly clear, but the stones are just the right size to hurt soft feet of all sizes (we need to work on that!) and for some reason the salt got into Eleanor and Leo's cuts and insect bites, which meant neither wanted to swim for long.

Skinny dipping on Kolocep

We had a fun day trip on a boat to three of the Elaphite Islands;
Kolocep, Lopud and Sipan. All four of us had a great time. It involved
sitting on a boat, wandering in the little towns and swimming. Perfect! The islands are similar with subtle differences. One day we will come back to do some sailing around the islands.

Another highlight was a morning spent walking the city walls. A decent 2km hike up and down stairs (the walls are up to 25 metres tall) in brilliant sunshine with spectacular views out to sea and of the old town.

Sea kayaking

Adrian had a great afternoon sea kayaking around Lokrum island in the harbour. Eleanor, Leo and I relaxed at the apartment playing cards before meeting him for a tasty seafood dinner at the port.

The old town is lovely at night and much quieter than during the day. Back home to bed for an outrageously early 8am bus to Bosnia.

23 September, one month since leaving London

2012 09 Split, Croatia

2012 09 Split, Croatia, a set on Flickr.

Photos from our time in Split, Croatia. Click on the link to see all 29 photos.