More Time in Mostar...

While we’d only intended to spend 1 night in Mostar, it was so interesting and incredibly cheap (other than when the waiter tried overcharging for the house wine) that we stayed for 3 nights. We spent many hours sitting at a bar in the shadow of the bridge working on writing a novel about women fighting terrorism, the idea of which came to Jimmy in a dream. We also wandered around the Islamic section of town shown above to go into a few mosques. I climbed a minaret for the first time, but somehow I was still nervous despite knowing that the small spiral staircase had been renovated since opening in 1552.

The Old Bridge...

After driving around and seeing the destruction, when we arrived in Mostar’s city center it felt surreal, like we’d been transported to Disney’s Epcot Center. With just a few remnants of shelling left, the central area was very charming with the highlight being the Old Bridge, a historically symbolic point where East meets West. The original Turkish bridge was built in 1566, but was sadly completely destroyed in 1993. Under UNESCO’s guidance, the bridge was rebuilt in 2004 utilizing the original techniques and as much salvaged material as possible. Following an old tradition (the first diver was recorder in 1664), several tourists jumped the 69 feet into the river below. Needless to say, it never crossed my mind to jump, but Jimmy was tempted until we saw a fellow hit the water at the wrong angle and need rescuing.

Mostar Instead of 5-Star...

After Darlene and Mike left, I was all set to find a posh beachfront hotel for a few days, but Jimmy had other plans after reading Rick Steve’s advice that to have a truly memorable visit to Croatia it was necessary to cross the border into war-ravaged Bosnia. So, farewell 5-star and hello Mostar. And there’s no doubt that it was a memorable visit. I’d never seen war damage before and it was quite shocking and heartbreaking when we pulled into town and saw how much damage still existed 13 years after the war. Thanks to foreign contributions, much of the city center has been rebuilt, but you can still see remnants such as the below building next to our hotel.

Life in a Roman Palace...

Our final stop on the cruise was the historic city of Split, which is the 2nd biggest city in the country. The city center is within the grounds of Diocletian’s Palace built in 305AD for the emperor when he abdicated, perhaps the world’s first successful retirement plan. We took a guided walking tour of the palace, which was fascinating. After we departed the ship for the final time, we checked into the hotel above for an extra night in town. We visited the cathedral and some museums including one underground, then wandered through the neighborhoods to make our way up the hill for the view shown above. A great end to our week of travel with Darlene and Mike. We’re so glad that they joined us.

Night Life in Croatia...

Since we often didn’t arrive into port until late afternoon, we often ended up staying out rather late. On the island of Korcula, home of Marco Polo, we met back up with Tom and Narcisa for a nice dinner, then went to a bar in a castle turret that was accessed by a ladder. On the island of Hvar, we hiked up to the fort on the hill, had dinner, then sat in the square drinking local wine and watching the world go by. In Makarska, we took a nice hike into the hills in search of ripe figs and ruins, watched the lunar eclipse during dinner, then found a disco in a cave. I felt very old and quite claustrophobic with the huge crowds and crappy music, so we mostly hung outside on the cliffs.

Walking the Wall in Dubrovnik...

The most southern point of our journey and our longest stop was the immensely popular town of Dubrovnik. The old city was heavily damaged in the war in 1991, but was rebuilt by 2005 in the old style as is required of an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is surrounded by an immense 1.25 mile medieval wall that is 20 feet thick in places and has many turrets. After lunch we met up with Hrvoje (aka Tom), whom James met at a conference, and his wife Narcisa. It was great having Croatians give us a tour of the old city with several stops for drinks at beautiful viewpoints. To avoid the crowds and the heat of the day, we got up early the next morning to walk the city wall. Not only were the views of the city wonderful, but it was fascinating to see all the old homes attached to the wall.

Cruising in Croatia...

We chose this particular cruise because of its size (only 18 rooms) and its backwards schedule--sailing each morning, doing breakfast and lunch on board, a swim stop or two, then going to a different port each afternoon. It was amazingly relaxing being on the water all morning, then exploring a different city each afternoon and evening. Our itinerary was a good mix of bigger cities and quaint villages on islands and the mainland. Jimmy felt a little guilty that the girls weren’t along when we found out there were 10 kids on board, so he took it upon himself to help teach the kids how to dive off the boat. Here he’s merely jumping off the main deck, but by the end of the week he was diving off the roof. Sadly, the water wasn’t overly warm and the snorkeling wasn’t great, but the water looked very inviting so I went in most days for a short time using the old-fashioned ladder instead of jumping.