Mostar

Today was spent wandering around Mostar. Suzie went for a mountain bike ride so I was on my own. First up it was time to find some breakfast. That may sound easy but believe me it is not. Most cafes here only serve drinks and no food. Places that do serve food don’t do anything remotely that looks or feels like breakfast. I wander for about 30minutes looking at menus until I finally find a place that does omelette. As a bonus it also has a terrace overlooking the Stari Most (old bridge).

I had organised a free walking tour which starts at 10am. There were 9 people, 2 Aussies, 2 Poms, 3 Turkish and 2 Italians. Ivan our tour guide was born during the war. His mum fled to Split for him to be born, this was the norm then as it was to dangerous to be in Mostar.

He started the tour at the Spanish Garden then headed into the old city. He had many photos of buildings prior to the war. It’s amazing to see the amount of destruction this tiny city endured during the war from 1992 - 1995. Many of the buildings have been left just as they were at the end of the war. The government has decreed if you are restoring a building it must be returned to the same architecture it once was. The Russian architecture is very boring and easy to recreate but the Ottoman and Austrian style building cost a lot to be returned to their former glory.

We wander around the old city stopping to chat about buildings and culture. The tour ends after approx 1.5hours. Emma, the other Aussie, and I decide to head under the bridge to watch if anyone is going to jump today. The boys pass around a hat to collect tips to jump from the bridge (23 meters above the river). It takes about €25 in summer and €50 in winter to entice a jumper. They tease on top of the bridge until the tips reach the desired amount before jumping into the river below. The jumpers must be registered as competent to jump before doing this act. It looks bloody scary to me. We watch a couple of jumpers before it is time for a drink.

Suzie has finished her ride so we now all hook up for a few drinks, some souvenir shopping before retiring for the night.Read more