Bosnia & Herzegovina

MOSTAR
From Dubrovnik it's only a few minutes drive to the Bosnian border and only a couple of hours to the city of Mostar. Mostar is known for the beautiful medieval old bridge over the Neretva river and it's one of the best examples of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.

I booked the Elite Guesthouse ahead of time and the owner, Misha, arranged to meet us at one of the bigger hotels on the outskirts of town with his motorcycle so that he could guide us through the maze of streets to a safe place to park. It wasn't too difficult but it was a nice touch and he let Sebastian sit on his motorbike as we walked the final few hundred yards. Our room at the guesthouse was huge, with a kitchen, washing machine and a nice terrace with a view of the river and only a short walk to the old bridge.

MOSTAR BRIDGE (STARI MOST)
Known as the 'Old Bridge', Stari Most is a rebuilt 16th century Ottoman masterpiece and the highlight of Mostar. It was originally commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 and stood for 427 years until it was destroyed in 1993 during the Croat-Bosniak War. The bridge we see today was rebuilt and opened in 2004 but still looks amazing and better still it was uncrowded.

We spent an afternoon wandering slowly up the cobblestone streets past the Biscevic House and the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque until the bridge came into view in bright late afternoon sunshine. We stopped in a few markets and had to negotiate a few gypsy children that were hanging around and settled into a lovely dinner spot with a perfect view of the bridge. There were a couple of high divers hanging about on the bridge and apparently if you paid them enough they would dive into the river below. We hung about for a little bit but I never actually saw anyone dive.  After dinner I stumbled upon a little shop selling foreign banknotes so everyone left me behind while I searched through a few binders looking for something unique.

The cobblestones leading to the bridge

Stari Most

The kids by the Neretva River under Stari Most

The following day we drove to a few of the interesting sites nearby; Blagaj - an Ottoman style monastery and national monument built around 1520,  Počitelj - an historic village and an open-air museum nestled on the side of a hill beside the Neretva river, and the Kravice Waterfall where the kids swam while Glen, Ale and I had a few drinks in the sun.  The waterfall was a bit crowded, and very slippery in places but well worth the visit.

DON'T MISS SARAJEVO
The next day we tried to find Tito's Bunker but we had a few navigation issues, plus we hadn't booked. We weren't going to be allowed inside so we carried on to Sarajevo where Glen wanted to visit the Tunnel Museum which is a small military-history museum at the site of a storied Bosnian War–era underground tunnel not far from the center of the city. It was a somber experience but a necessary experience to understand what happened during what was the longest siege of a capital city in modern warfare in the early 1990's.  In the city we stopped for lunch and drinks then found the Sarajevo Museum 1878–1918 and the famous inscription the marked the event that would herald in the Great War;

 "FROM THIS PLACE ON 28 JUNE 1914 

GAVRILO PRINCIP ASSASSINATED THE HEIR 

TO THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN THRONE 

FRANZ FERDINAND AND HIS WIFE SOFIA"

No time to waste. We drove to Makarska, back in Croatia, and caught a car ferry to the island of Brač which would be home for the next two days.