Mostar

We left Sarajevo in bright sunshine though the air was cool. We stopped at Jablanica where one of the worst WW2 battles in the Balkans took place. The partisans blew up the bridge because they were surrounded by Nazis and then evacuated all the wounded (around 4000) from the town by building a small bridge. Here it’s called the Battle of the Wounded and an Oscar-nominated film Battle of Neretva was made about it in 1969. Picasso designed one of the posters.

We queued for over half an hour at traffic lights to get into Mostar, left our bags at the hotel then as a group headed for a restaurant overlooking the famous bridge. I had salad and chips. Mr C had the veg stuffed with mince. We had a great view of young men jumping off the bridge, (once they had collected enough money and a safety boat was in place).

We were joined by the Kent crew - today Alan wore a crass T-shirt saying “adventure before dementia”. Some of us don’t think it’s funny.

It’s 25 degrees so we are happy the tour of the old town wasn’t till 5pm. We walked to see the small bridge built as a prototype for the famous one, destroyed in the war between Croats and Bosnians. Croatia bombed and destroyed the 400-year-old original, claiming Muslims were using it to transport military equipment. It has been rebuilt with donations from some European countries (not UK) and a loan from the World Bank. It’s very beautiful and also so busy. The cobbles on the streets are very slippy. We went to see a mosque near where the leather industry was then went on to a traditional Turkish house, now a museum.

We tipped the guide and made our way back without the crowd, buying a fridge magnet for €1 on the way. We got some bread and hummus and a banana in a shop near the hotel for our supper. It will be a nice change from deep fried pies. The group is fine but it’s more relaxing being on our own after a day spent with them!