Mostar

We started the day with a walking tour. I was a bit unsure how we would go as it’s meant to get very hot. Luckily our guide found all the shaded areas and there was a lot of sitting and listening. Our guide was a fiery lady that  had gone through the war as a 15 year old and was not afraid to speak her mind. 

We started in a small mosque that was made for the tannery workers in the Ottoman period so the smell didn’t put others off during the prayers. We heard about the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we are currently in Herzegovina. She was quite emphatic on not calling it only Bosnia but to say BnH if it was getting too much of a mouthful. By the way this is a cool August as the temperatures haven’t gone above 40 yet. We are melting!! 

Next stop was the crooked or the oldest bridge. Actually none of the “old” town is old, everything got destroyed in war in 1992 and was reconstructed 20 years ago. As it became a UNESCO heritage site, they had to follow stringent guidelines to ensure everything looked the same as pre war. This bridge though survived the war but fell in the floods in the 2000s, is now rebuilt to look like it did in 1558. It is also the smaller version of the star of Mostar- the Old Bridge.

By the way, the name Mostar means the land of bridges or land of bridge keepers. 8 bridges for this little town. Stari Mos is the old bridge, famous for its beauty and its divers- 24m jump from the centre. It was a tradition in the olden days for boys to become men by jumping, it still continues and now tourists do it too. Luckily there is a dive club that helps prepare you for it, the divers from the club also jump for money. We saw a man walk on the outer edge of the bridge and I got excited that we were going to see a jump but was told he was just drumming up business and it would be sometime before the jump happened. 

We then walked to a coppersmith’s shop and got to see a 5th generation artist at work. I think the best bit was their signature copperplate which depicts Mostar- the old bridge with a church and a mosque on two sides, two doves above with an olive branch and a pomegranate at the bottom for prosperity. His parents are Muslim and Christian so embody the plate well. He said they fight everyday like all married couples but never about religion.

We then headed to two mosques to fill up our water bottles, see the minaret which you can climb up and finally to sit. As we sat we heard about the war in 1992 and how it affected all the people including our guide and her family. We are so lucky with our lives in Australia and gives children more of an appreciation of the lives they have. 

Last stop was the war cemetery where nearly all the people buried there died in 1993. There are some headstones for the people still missing. Grim reminder to never forget. Some of the stones from the old bridge that collapsed in the war are also placed around town as a reminder of the war so people don’t repeat things the past.

We then headed for much needed icecream and lunch before resting for the afternoon. This included doing Aanya’s school project which was a narration in a costume. After some improvisation it came out to be a great story told by a Bar-ba-loot.

Evening was spent roaming the streets again, enjoying the slightly cooler weather.