Day 11: To Bosnia-Herzegovina
Today we slipped away from our temporary island home and crossed the boarder into Bosnia-Herzegovina to visit and spend the night in Mostar.
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Highlights
Today was really impactful for me. I remember watching the war in Bosnia unfold on the my television every night as I was growing up and witnessing the change and rebirth of the region first hand was both difficult and inspirational. Difficult because there is still so far to go, inspirational because the people exhibit such a strong resilience and hopefulness. Today's special moments included:
- Walking the Bulevar and realizing how close the combatants were to each other. It was literally neighbor fighting neighbor. We stayed in the communist chic hotel where the international press stayed during the siege as we walked down the street we saw many new buildings dotted with bullet-ridden buildings. It was amazing to see people were actually living in the bullet-ridden buildings as they waited for the structure to be rebuilt.
- Alma shared her personal stories of the siege. She described the human ingenuity it took for her family to rig up a radio powered by a bicycle so they could hear the news and how she would pass time during heavy shelling and gunfire by placing her young son in the bathtub and reading him stories all day long.
- Along our walk we visited a mosque and Alma pointed out all the characteristic features. Mosques are all over this town, some still in use, some now converted into museums (such as the one we visited) or even retail stores.
- Stopping in the bookstore near the Old Bridge we watched the video of the bridge's destruction. Even as it was being shelled from the hillside above, people were frantically running across it to get to the other side. Actually seeing the giant limestone blocks begin to crumble under the fire then tumble into the water below was quite sad. Then to see the rebuilt bridge and realize that the bazaar we had just walked through was reconstructed since the war as well shows how far this town has come in a short time.
- Free time in the bazaar reminded me of my visit to Turkey two years ago, we had fun poking in the shops and Sebastian picked up a cool new copper bracelet that we got to watch the coppersmith make in front of us.
- It was a perfect evening on the patio overlooking the Old Bridge to take in another delightful dinner.
Activity Tracking
We knew that there was going to be a lot of time on the bus today so we took the opportunity to get in some exercise while we could - walking on the brief ferry ride from Korčula to Pelješac.
Totals for the day: 15,103 steps, 29 flights of stairs
- A: Walking a few laps on the ferry as we sailed from Korčula to Pelješac
- B: Strolling around Počitelj after lunch
- C: Tour of Mostar with our local guide, Alma
- D: Walking back to the hotel after dinner
Totals for the day: 15,103 steps, 29 flights of stairs
Tomorrow it's more of Bosnia-Herzegovina's history in Stolac.
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