On my last post we were leaving Klobuk behind and heading to Mostar for the night.  I had plotted the trip on Google Maps with a double-check against the road map of Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Slovenia I purchased in Dubrovnik.  [To backtrack with an amusing story, while in Dubrovnik I decided I needed a highlighter pen to identify the route on our paper map.  I searched Dubrovnik historic city until I found a bookstore,   and almost purchased a pack of four yellow highlighters when ever-thrifty Mike said they had individual pens at the cash register.  The attendant said she had only one single highlighter and showed us one that came oddly packaged as a play hypodermic syringe.  We decided to buy it as it was cheaper than the four-pack, but I have since been traveling in fear of being pulled over at the Bosnian border for carrying drug paraphernalia :)]

ORANGE HYPODERMIC HIGHLIGHTER

In any event, we left Klobuk in our rear-view mirror guided by a Google Map printout, an orange-highlighted road map, and our GPS.  The route continued north through the mountains, turned east at Grude, meandered through Sirokei Brijeg, and came downhill into Mostar.  I was surprised at the size of Mostar, very impressive from the hills above.

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect of Mostar, knowing only from a brief TV story that Mostar is the largest city is the Herzegovina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  I wish I had done my homework ahead of time, because I was unprepared for the cultural initiation I would receive into this extraordinary city.  The central and most-visited part is the historic city of hilly streets, paved in unusual rock patterns, and lined by small shops and restaurants.  The historical Ottoman influence permeates the air with aromas of spices and music and art. The historic center streets cross the Neretva river by the beautiful Old Bridge (Stari Most) that was recently painstakingly rebuilt after being destroyed in the 1990s war.  I learned that the Old Bridge is said to be where East meets West, and one can certainly observe the mix of cultures in the community.

Outside the small historic town, the city of Mostar can only be described as “war torn.”  Mostar is the closest I have been to the evidence of war, with bombed out buildings covered in street art, roads yet to be repaired, mortar holes in the sides of homes.  At our hotel we met a young couple from the U.S. who were only their honeymoon.  The wife spoke Polish and so could read some of the graffiti on the buildings.  She said one of them read “Is Freedom Worth It?”  It is so hard for us Americans to fathom making a decision between freedom and prosperity.

We stayed one night at a lovely hotel, the Muslibegovic House which is actually a Bosnian National Monument, having been a former wealthy Ottoman home.  Inside its walls is a lovely courtyard and comfortable rooms with Turkish beds. At breakfast Mike declared the coffee was the best he’d ever had, I’m certain it was Turkish coffee, and it was at the very least the best we’ve had this trip.

Our hotel host was kind enough to help map our way out of town (she declined to use the syringe-highlighter, however), and in short order we were on our way to our next stop, Medjugorje. I wish I’d had more time to explore Mostar and take a “deeper dive” in,  and hope to return one day.