Barefoot & Heart & Ego & Wine

So Fresh

The hostel I am staying at organizes day trips to a couple of places run by the son of the family. The Aussies and I picked a day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina and loaded into the car with the son and headed out. I asked the guide if he had lived in Dubrovnik his whole life and he said that he had, and then said mostly. He lived in Dubrovnik while Croatia was invaded and bombed by the Serbs and had to live in a refugee camp while the conflict was going on. I could not imagine experiencing something like that in my life and then just going on with my life, living it in such a normal way.

On the way to Mostar we stopped at a grocery store to take a quick bathroom break and then get back on the road. The guide kept telling us we needed to hurry so that we could fit in everything before the sun went down but he was the only one shopping.

The first stop was at a house along the river that had been converted into a kind of mosque, with a gift and coffee shop. We had some Turkish tea and Turkish Delight, which was really delicious. Next we stopped in Mostar and walked across the famous old bridge that young men have historically jumped off of. The bridge is 30 meters (100 feet) tall, and the current was really fast, it looked like it would be really scary to try and jump. Fortunately it was too cold out and I didn’t have to figure out if I was brave enough to try jumping. Again the guide was telling us we should hurry but he disappeared to buy postcards and a fancy looking knife.

We stopped at a shop and ordered lunch, a traditional regional dish that looks like little dog poops but is actually beef. We packed up our lunches and took them with us to our third stop the Bosnia and Herzegovina Niagara Falls to have a mini picnic. The rivers are really full at this time of year because of all the rain and the waterfall was quite impressive.

On the way back to Dubrovnik we were behind a bus that broke down and the guide thought out loud that maybe one of the 2 new people coming to the hostel that night would be on the bus. The guide pulled in front of the bus and called the cell phone of the girl he thought might be on the bus. It turns out she was on the bus and he told her to get off the bus and get in the car in front of the bus. Now that is amazing customer service!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TO SEE ALL OF TODAY'S PICTURES

11_06_09 Mostar small