Darrell and I flew from Athens to Dubrovnik, Croatia on April 20th and found our Airbnb in nearby
Gruž with an amazing view over the harbor. Dubrovnik itself is to the south (left of photo) and you can read about our earlier adventures in that amazing UNESCO Heritage city
here.
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| View from our Airbnb in Gruz! |
The next morning I was off on a tour bus with a driver, guide, and 22 others to visit Kravica Waterfalls and the UNESCO Heritage city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We took the beautiful coastal road north and made three border crossings because Bosnia and Herzegovina has a short strip of land on the Adriatic Sea that we crossed before we went back into Croatia and then back into Bosnia and Herzegovina further inland. You may need a current map to see this puzzle!
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| The beautiful Kravica Waterfalla in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Mostar is named after the medieval bridge keepers (
mostari) who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the river. This stone bridge, replacing an earlier wooden bridge, was built by the Ottomons in 1566 and lasted millenia until it was destroyed in 1993 during the Croat-Bosniak War. Thankfully, it was rebuilt after the war, using many of the original stones that had sunk into the river after its destruction.
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| The spectacular rebuilt Mostar Bridge |
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| Time-worn stones on the bridge walkway |
Wade Goddard, a photojournalist from New Zealand, wrote this about September 1994: "The encirclement and bombardment of east Mostar was well into its fourth month, when I climbed out of the back of a Spanish armed transporter in the centre of the enclave. East Mostar was what I imagined the Warsaw Ghetto might have been like; the destruction, hunger, misery and squalor were my first observations. After spending more time there, I came to realise the resilience, determination and pride of the population." Three of his photographs are below. Bottom left shows the view after the bridge was destroyed.
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| Photographs from Wade Goddard's exhibit "Enclave" in Mostar |
When I returned, Darrell and I ate a salad together on the patio overlooking the harbor. Darrell had worked all day on his significant contributions to the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, while I had been immersed in new scenery and a continuous reminder of why I travel - witnessing people, no matter their religion or culture or color, loving their children and hoping for a peaceful future.
