We left the hotel by taxi to the bus station this morning. At the last minute I decided to change into pants and carry my rain jacket and it's a good thing I did. The bus left at 10 with a slight delay as it appeared to be overbooked at first.
I sat next to Anthea close to the front (motion sickness girls) and we were both out like a light shortly after leaving the station. For the minute or so I woke up mid-journey I noticed that it was pouring really hard. There was some beautiful mountains and lakes along the journey again, as well. We stopped for a quick 15 minute break somewhere but I didn't bother to move. I was so tired.
Around 12:30 we got into Mostar. It was lightning and pouring out. I put on my rain jacket and got out my umbrella and all was good. I welcomed the weather as it matched my sleepy mood. It unfortunately took a while to get enough taxis to take us all to the hotel, so half an hour later we were on our way. The cab driver was so friendly and tried his best to speak with me in English. He was showing me pictures on his phone while driving (safety don't matter here!). He was a nice man.
The hotel was very modern and the girl at the front desk was a 19-year-old that moved to Bosnia from Chicago when she was 7 because her dad's family was here. She spoke really good English and was extremely helpful. She ended up showing some people around town even.
The group went for a walk to the infamous Mostar bridge, Stari Most, in which the city is named after (bridge keepers: mostari). The bridge is now a reconstruction of a 16th century Ottoman Empire bridge, as the bridge was completey destroyed during the Bosnian War. The bridge is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To get to the bridge you walk through very Turkish influenced cobblestone streets with vendors selling trinkets on the sides. A little ways past the bridge you exit Old Town and find yourself in New Town. As soon as we got to the other side of the bridge, the clouds parted and the sun came out and shined down on us and the beautiful scenery. Just in time for photos! Yay!
It was about lunch time then so we all parted ways. A few of us found a little bakery and grabbed some strudels and then walked a bit further into New Town and sat and had a much needed cappuccino. I was fading fast. All this go, go, go has been hard on my old soul!
After lunch Karren, Steve, and I decided to visit one of the mosques (but not the busy popular one near the bridge) and for a price they actually allowed us inside and let us climb up the minaret, which is very rare to allow non-Muslims to do that. We climbed the steep and narrow windy staircase to the top and we were rewarded with great views. We could see bombed out buildings from the war all around us, as well as the bridge off in the distance. There was also a cemetery right below us that we walked into afterwards and noticed that the whole cemetery was filled with those who had died in 1993, during the war.
The supermarket was near by so we stopped and grabbed our essential supply of chocolate and wine for the evening.
From there I split off on my own and browsed the old town some more. I passed by a store that had beautiful paintings outside and had to go in. The paintings reminded me of the Canadian painter who used really bright colours and painted mostly settings of the Inuit - can't remember his name right now. I took a card and spoke with the parents of the artist and decided to walk around more. I went into the photo gallery museum on the Bosnian war located next to the bridge and watched a really chilling film with footage of the bridge being bombed.
I walked back across the bridge and noticed there was a man in his swimsuit ready to jump off the bridge into the water. Apparently there's jumpers that will dive into the water for money. He was asking 25 Euros - which he must've got because the others saw him dive in afterwards.
I had arranged to meet with the others at 6:15 for chocolate and wine back at the hotel. At this point it was 5:50 and I had decided to go back to the painting shop and take another look. I was in love with the paintings. I chose one I liked and got him down 50 Euros from the original asking price...so I took it. I knew I would likely never be back to Mostar and would kick myself for not buying it. I thought he was going to roll it up for me, but it turned out that wasn't the case. He wrapped it up and sent me on my way, which was fine. I figured for sure I could take it to the post and they'd have a tube I could roll it into and send off. The only minor problem was that I would have to take it on the bus with me in the morning, but it's a private bus for our group, so that wasn't a concern.
I got back and showed everyone my new painting! Then it was time to indulge in wine, which I felt I needed at this point. We left for dinner at 7:15 and walked down to a little spot by a river waterfall. It was beautiful. The table was nicely set up outdoors for us, but sadly after our first few bites we got forced indoors by a huge rain storm. It was dark after dinner so we went and got some night shots of the bridge before heading home to bed!
The night before at the FIFA World Cup viewing tent:
Stari Most in Mostar:
View from the top of the minaret at the mosque:
Mosque we climbed up:
Climbing the minaret stairs:
More evidence of the Bosnian War:
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