This week we continue our travels from the last update. We are in Split, Croatia, one of the most beautiful coastal cities in this part of the world, in my opinion. Of course, I've not seen very many coastal cities, but I'm not sure how anything can be more beautiful than this!
We visited with one of our families for a couple of hours to get to know them and to see how they were doing, and then headed on our way to Bosnia Herzegovina.
We arrived in Mostar to visit with Richard and Linda. They didn't warn us how narrow their streets are in their neighborhood. The streets are NOT one way, but they should be!! Somehow, our trusty GPS got us to their neighborhood but we couldn't really tell which house was theirs because all we could see were closed steel doors everywhere. The steel doors are a good indicator that if something isn't nailed down, it may walk off.
Once Glenn parked the car in their driveway, (and believe me, turning the car into their "yard" was quite a feat in these narrow streets) we decided to take a walking tour of the city.
Not only were Richard and Linda great hosts, but they were exceptional tour guides too!
We got to see some bombed out buildings from the Bosnian war. The war came as a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia. Following the secession of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991, the multi-ethnic Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (inhabited by Muslim Bosniaks--44%, Orthodox Serbs--31%, and Catholic Croats--17%) passed a referendum for their own independence in February of 1992. The Serbs, however, rejected the referendum and mobilized their forces inside the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to secure Serbian territory. War soon broke out across the country, and was accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of the Bosniak people, especially in eastern Bosnia.
Even with remaining signs of the war, the scenery around the city was breath-taking.
The Neretva River is 230 kilometers long, meanders throughout Bosnia, flows through the heart of Mostar, and snakes 22 kilometers through Croatia before it empties in the Adriatic Basin. The rocky banks of the river are gorgeous, but I wouldn't advise going swimming in it!
Richard and Linda took us into Old Town to do some browsing in the shops. The silver jewelry was beautiful! Fortunately, most of it was too BIG for my tastes.
The steps in Old Town were so old that the marble was worn slick! I wonder how many hundreds of years old those steps were???
I do believe those rocky mountains provided the stone to make the buildings, with plenty to spare.
A picture of the two of us in just about every city.
After a great visit in Mostar, we got back in the car and found our way to the capital, Sarajevo. This is our second visit in Sarajevo, and this time the weather was either raining or pouring!!!
We joined Julia, Matt, and Nick for a cup of coffee underneath one of the large cafe umbrellas. Temperature-wise it was quite nice, but the blowing rain caused us to get a little damp, and therefore a little cold. We gave up on the rain ever ending and bought an umbrella from one of the street vendors and then ran all the way back to our hotel. By time we got there we were soaked from head to toe. Literally.
As we were driving out of town the next morning, I saw some more signs of the war. Much work has been done to repair the city, but some marks from bombs and shells still remain.
I could not believe this guy replacing a sign on a busy street with no more protection than a guy standing on the ground in case the ladder falls. I'm definitely not in America. This would have "law suit" all over it!
Our last stop was a few hours in Novi Sad, Serbia on our way back to Budapest to visit with one of our ladies who has recently transferred there from a neighboring country. We got home that night about 10 pm and boy, did it feel good to sleep in my own bed. I have to admit, after being on the road for 11 days, sleeping in 9 different beds, as I stirred the next morning, I couldn't remember where I was!
Ahhhh! Back in Budapest. I love visiting with our families, but once the end of the trip is in sight, I'm like a horse headed to the barn.
We spent the rest of the week getting caught up on emails, and then on Saturday Glenn and I went to the big flea market in town.
We were at Kristof and Judit's house at 6:30 am because Kristof is a serious flea marketer and he wanted to be there when they opened at 7 am!! (Did you know there is a 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday???)
Kristof loves to barter and he did a great job for me but he had to work for it! These folks think very highly of their "stuff". They call them "antiques" and therefore charge ridiculous prices. I found a Herend china plate for 50,000 HUF, which is about $250! At a "flea market"!
I did manage to get a 3" candy dish from the Kalocsai region of Hungary. I love the bright, traditional flowers. Evidently they do too, because even buying it at the flea market, it wasn't cheap. The demitasse cup and saucer is from one of the top Hungarian china companies called Hollohaz. I would have loved a piece of the world famous Herend porcelain (haven't you heard of Herend? No? Me neither, until I moved here) but I can't afford even the tiniest piece of anything. I'll have to settle for Hollohaz and Zsolnay. :-)
We head out for Germany on Wednesday but will be back by the end of the week. Hope your week is good. Mine will be!
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