Morning Walk in Mostar

A bit of a sleep-in after moving day yesterday. It was 7:30 a.m. by the time we’d had breakfast and set off for the Old Town. The town is a mixture of old and new—the "old" being pre-war, with the war ending in 1995.

A bit of history for those who may not know: the Bosnian War broke out following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1992. The Bosniaks, who are primarily Muslim, were fighting against the Serbians and Croatians, who are primarily Christian. Sound familiar? The war was never won by any side, but in 1995 it came to an end, and international peacekeepers stepped in. Sarah told me that land mines are still a significant hazard in Bosnia and Herzegovina. People still die or are injured by them every year. It pays not to stray out into unexplored areas here. ☹️

Bosnian War Wiki

Mostar was a central location for the fighting. We could still see many signs of the conflict—old, unrestored buildings with mortar or shell damage, and many marked with bullet holes. It’s a town of contrasts: scars of war side by side with a beautiful river, a stunning bridge, and charming streets. The population is 51% Muslim, so there are many local mosques with their distinctive minarets and domes. We expected to hear the call to prayer, which often sounds five times per day in Muslim areas, but we haven’t heard it here.

We wandered the inner-town streets on our side of the river and soon came to the famous bridge: Stari Most, or "Old Bridge" as it’s known. It has been completely rebuilt after being destroyed during the war. It’s quite beautiful and unusually steep—up and down. The surface is made of flat, highly polished stone cobbles. Quite slippery even when dry. Must be dangerous when wet!

We walked to the next road bridge to look back at the Old Bridge and then crossed to the opposite side of the river for our return. We stopped at a bakery for a cheese (A) and cherry (S) pastry. Mine was okay, and Sarah’s was quite nice.

Our final morning stop was at a rebuilt school building called Mostar Gymnasium. Across from it is Spanish Square, dedicated to 21 Spanish soldiers who died in the war. I'm not sure why they have such a fancy square—thousands of local soldiers died during the conflict. I’m assuming there are larger memorials or cemeteries elsewhere. Google didn't seem to suggest there were.

Across from the square was an old sniper tower that used to be a bank. There was a geocache hidden in an old bullet hole, so we stopped to find that. Then we headed back to the apartment for coffee and air conditioning. It was still under 30°C on our walk, which wasn’t too hot, but it's heading for 34°C later in the day.

We spent the rest of the day in the cool, researching and discussing our next destinations and how far ahead to book things. It’s always a double-edged sword—flexibility versus predictability. Currently, we have our bus out of here and our next accommodation booked, but nothing beyond that. This will be an ongoing discussion.

At 3 p.m., I watched the Austrian Grand Prix while Sarah was reading. A good result.

It was almost 5 p.m. by the time the race finished. At that point, we thought it would be cool enough for a short walk to see if more bazaar shops were open and whether more people were around the bridge. More shops were open, and there were a few more people about than in the morning. It was 34°C though, and any time out of the shade was incredibly hot. We treated ourselves to a small single-scoop gelato, which was delicious—mixed berry for Sarah and chocolate for me.

A bit of TV watching before cooking a basic dinner of mince nachos. We realised, though, that we didn’t have any cheese or a microwave to melt it, so it was a little odd without cheese.