Dubrovnik Day 3

I'm going for a record it seems-- how little sleep can I actually function on? Well, I'm hoping to not find out but unfortunately my busy brain has other ideas. I think I've had 9 hours of sleep in four days, but I'm still going and have a cup of coffee to get me kick-started.

I forgot to mention yesterday that we went to the hole in the wall cafe. It literally is a hole through one of the Dubrovnik city walls onto a little section overlooking the water. It's a beautiful view with a bunch of seats packed into a tiny little area. Fun little place and we got a drink.

I should also mention that the birds here are strange. They really make the strangest sounds for pigeons and seagulls. And apparently the stray cats are not fixed as I've heard three in heat so far. Disturbing aspect of this beautiful city.

Today we head to Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovina. I read about it as a recommended trip though many people do an overnight there. We found a travel agency that offers transportation there. There is a stop on the way (it's three hours). They orient you, give you 3 - 3.5 hours to walk around and drive you back. I'm looking forward to it.. If I can stay awake. Hopefully I can catch a snooze on the bus though I usually can't sleep sitting up. Sleep when I'm dead I suppose..

We walked to Ploce Gate to be picked up for our tour. It was a long ride, and we stopped a couple of times on the way. We made a stop at Medjugorje where there have been reported Virgin Mary sightings up on the hill overlooking the city. It's quite a heavily traveled place, with a lot of huge busses dropping off huge groups. Catholics make a pilgrimage here, though the Church has never sanctioned it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medjugorje. According to Rick Steeves, "To the cynical non-Catholic, it's just a strip of crassly-commercial hotels, restaurants and rosary shops leading up to a dull church, all tied together about a silly legend about a hilltop apparition. :)

We went through the checkpoints-- from Croatia to Bosnia, back to Croatia and again to Bosnia Herzegovina. The van was filled with people from all over-- a lady from Poland, four guys from turkey, a couple from France, couple from England, and a couple from the States. The driver and tour guide own the company and are locals. Romeo is a big affable guy and 6' 6" tall. Metro Tours was recommended through Tripadvisor.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant overlooking the Mostar bridge. It was recommended that we get cevapcici, a local sandwich of a thin bread, lamb and veal sausages, and cream cheese. I have been to a Bosnian restaurant with a friend of mine in Phoenix and it was very similar to something we ate there. Yum! We looked out at the Stari Most, or old bridge. It was destroyed during the war in the early 1990's and rebuilt a couple of years later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostar. It was built by the Ottoman in the 16th C.

This town is an interesting mix of east and west. There's a lot of muslim influences, and is inhabited by Croatians (catholic), Serbians and Muslims. The old town area is lined with tourist shops with some beautiful things with a very Turkish influence. After we ate, we climbed the bridge then walked through the town. It was pouring but we did manage to get some great shots of the bridge and this beautiful picturesque area. We headed towards the Mosque and climbed the minaret. It was extremely narrow with very small steps and a steep climb. I only panicked a little bit :) on the way down.

The top had several inches of water, so we sucked it up and walked around, taking some gorgeous pictures. The stairway was only wide enough for one at a time, so I was very glad no one was coming up when we went down. In the bottom of the mosque were some beautiful rugs and tapestries and some gorgeous painted and glass decorations on the wall.

This is such a pretty town and I'm glad we came. It would be really stunning in good weather, but even the rain didn't really damper its beauty. We unfortunately only had a couple of hours there before we had to head back. We stopped at a town called Pocetilj, an artists' colony filled with a mix of Christian and Muslim architecture. It was pretty steep on a hillside and really gorgeous. It had a big mosque and several other buildings, along with some houses and some ruins throughout. At the top of the hilli s the ruins of a fortress built in the 15th century. It was largely destroyed during the 1990s war though around 100 still live there. We made a quick stop for a break, and went back to Dubrovnik, but didn't get in until after 8 pm.

We decided to have a snack of cheese, salami and crackers with some beer and wine instead of a full meal. It's been a long day, but fun. I'm very ready for bed now, though!