Finally the never-ending detour through the mountain passes came to an end and we reached the border crossing and passed into the sovereign state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When I studied European history at University I was always intrigued by this mouthful of a name because it sounded different and intriguing. And it was!
Posted in Croatia, Europe, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina, Mostar, Serbia, Stari Most, Yugoslavia
It was another perfect start to the day on Friday morning and we had our breakfast outside and were amused by the gardener who was watering the plants in an inefficient way that involved a fifty metre trek in between each inadequate fill of the watering can. After we had eaten, packed and checked out of the hotel we joined the rush hour traffic and crawled out of Dubrovnik towards the E65 main road. Our destination was north but first we went a couple of kilometres south to find a viewing platform with a last panoramic view of Dubrovnik.
We were relieved to find that despite a gloomy weather forecast on Croatian breakfast TV the sun was shining again because there was much more of Dubrovnik yet to see so after an excellent buffet breakfast at the hotel we caught the bus once again into the city.
The streets were busy this morning and the bus quickly filled up as it crawled through the early morning traffic competing with local people going to work and a procession of taxis ferrying people from the cruise ships in the harbour making their way like us to the old town. Even though it was early it was already heaving and we had to negotiate crowds of people as we entered the city walls for the second time.
After we left Bosnia there was still fifty kilometres to go and the worrying thing was that we were leaving the clear blue skies behind and travelling south east directly towards nasty black rain clouds. I complained about this (several times) and was chastised for negative thinking but it really didn’t look very promising at all and my mood was in freefall. Despite the weather the scenery was good with tall pepper grey mountains covered in lush green trees to the left, scarlet poppies dancing by the roadside, velveteen blue sea to the right and a very good view over the emerald islands.
Posted in Croatia, Europe, History, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Bosnia, Croatia, dubrovnik, UNESCO, World Heritage Site, Yugoslavia
I woke in a negative mood and first checked for stomach cramps and when there were none, and it was obvious that last night I was being a total drama queen, I then strained my ears for the sound of pelting rain on the balcony of the room. But there was good news because I couldn’t hear gushing water or even a gentle pitter-patter or even a solitary drip and when I nervously opened the window blinds I was greeted with a perfect blue sky and uninterrupted views across the Adriatic
. The sun had decided to visit Croatia and I couldn’t wait to get started.
Have Bag, Will Travel 