Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of those countries that has everyone scratching their heads every four years when they march out at the Olympics. Bosnia and who? Maybe they're sponsored by Hertz? Forged through a shotgun marriage in the dying days of the old Yugoslavia, this uneasy amalgamation of ethnicities is a fascinating place of contrasts. And nowhere symbolizes the melding of two cultures better than the city of Mostar, and its legendary Old Bridge. Which is actually a New Bridge, but more on that in a second.
Mostar is only an short three hours from the glitzy Adriatic coast, but those three hours might as well be three centuries. As the kilometers slip but, the masts of super yachts are replaced by elegant marble minarets, and the skimpy bikinis give way to mysterious burqas.
Apparently the start of the cobblestones indicates the start of, you guessed it, another UNESCO World Heritage site.
It's tough choosing between the 20% off magic carpets, and the buy one get one free Genie lamps. Unfortunately the fine print precludes the chaining of wishes in a ponzi-esque wishing for more wishes fashion.
The Old Bridge of Mostar is symbolically, and indeed literally, the link between two cultures. Alas, that link was severed rather violently in 1993 during the Croat-Bosniak war.
Luckily, mutually assured destruction is something reserved for superpowers. After patching up their differences, the bridge was painstakingly pieced back together, using traditional techniques wherever possible.
The interior of a traditional Turkish house. Actually, it's a traditional Turkish mansion. Apparently the owners were quite rich, hence their expansive courtyard, complete with water feature and center spread in Better Mosques and Gardens.
Apparently those pantaloon-like pants that you see in Aladdin and the like were actually invented because they make it impossible to tell how fat a women really is, until it's too late and you've already married her. True story. Unlike everything else you read on this blog.
Does anyone else get the feeling this is a one bridge town?
Bargaining is a way of life out here. Unfortunately, clicking on the Amazon order button does not keep one's skills very sharp.
Apparently every summer there's a diving contest off the middle of the bridge. The only problem is, the river is quite shallow other than a few pockets of deep water. Hit the wrong spot, and instead of a 6.5 from the Ukrainian judge, you're looking at 6.5 less vertebrae.
Bosnian coffee is apparently a real treat. Ok, so it's better than Dunkin Donuts, but that hardly justifies elevating it to a pedestal that falls only just short of say, an Old Bridge.
A relic from the war, and a grim reminder that despite feel good symbols like a friendship bridge, the truce is an uneasy one. After all, this is a country that still hasn't agreed on a flag...
Sunset over the Adriatic, on the road back to Dubrovnik.It looks nice, but the only reason we are seeing it is because our bus blew out a tire somewhere around the "and" in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Team J00ster's fifth floor loft pad smack bang in the middle of the old town. Thank goodness UNESCO doesn't care about wifi waves polluting an otherwise time invariant old town.
Going out is easy. It's trying to work out the convoluted locking system on the way in that is the problem. Funnily enough, it's only a problem when Rock has the key though.
Tough place to leave. Luckily all you have to do is click close.
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