Last Post

     Well it may be a little late, we have been back for a week, but I feel I need to do a last post to close off our trip. We are all still feeling the effects of our travels, I continue to wake up way too early for summer break. It was 5 a.m. this morning. Mark and Joe are suffering from some gastrointestinal upsets. Joe is convinced it was the swim in the Neretva River in Mostar that did it. While we loved all the places we visitied, this trip definitely had its stressful moments. European travel is not a relaxing vacation by any means, but the travel between destinations was particularly stressful this time. Once we got where we were going things were awesome. We did cover a lot of ground and go to some out of the way places which made things a little more challenging. Well, here goes a little "best of" and "worst of".

Favourite stop: Sarajevo. Totally different culture, fascinating history, great people, great hospitality, interesting architecture, cheap beer.

Best accommodation: Rental apartment in Bayeux, France. In a very old building, totally renovated and modern, amazing views, excellent location - I would stay there again in a heartbeat. We will try to rent apartments for all our travel from now on. So much nicer having a little room to stretch out and a kitchen to make breakfast.

Worst accommodation: None this time, they were all in amazing locations. One small thing - there is a persistent sewer smell in Dubrovnik. We would smell it inside buildings, and when walking the town. We even smelled it in our apartment. I found the source of the smell (a small vent) on the last of our four night stay in the apartment we rented. Wish I had found it sooner!

Favourite Day Trip: We were all pretty much in agreement that it was the D-Day Tour. It was amazing. Vimy Ridge was a close second. Joe liked the Siege of Sarajevo Tour. They were all good.

Best Architecture: France. I absolutely loved the towns of Arras and Bayeux.

Most Picturesque: Dubrovnik - the fortress Old Town walls against the blue/green Adriatic Sea was beautiful. The old bridge in Mostar was a close second.

Best Monument: Vimy Ridge Memorial

Best Museum: The Srebrenica Exhibit in Sarajevo

Best Shopping - Mostar - narrow little streets....felt like you were in a Turkish Bazaar.

Best Dinner: The meat platter for "two" on our first night in Sarajevo. Not sure of the name of the restaurant but really four people could have eaten off that thing. We ended up going back there and ordering it again on our last night there. Bosnian cuisine is very meat heavy. I also had an amazing salad in Arras France on our first day there. The French know how to make a salad that is definitely a meal.

Worst Dinner: Hotel Ibis in Paris the night before we flew home. Insanely expensive and nothing special.

Best Beer: Mark liked the Mostarko beer in Bosnia. I liked the Sarajevska - it was nice and light and cold. Mark's favorite beer "experience" was when we had ice cold Tuborg beer on a lovely terrace on a very hot afternoon in Mostar, Bosnia.

Best Coffee: Mark liked the coffee he had in Arras and Joe liked the Bosnian coffee.

Best Ice Cream: Dubrovnik - Joe liked the mint chocolate chip and the caramel.

Best Pastry: Pain au Chocolat in Bayeux France - literally the best pastry I have ever eaten. The baklava at Ducan in Sarajevo is a close second - we actually went and bought baklava there twice.

Nicest/Friendliest People: Really we had great experiences everywhere but especially in Bosnia.

Most interesting experience: Hiring a driver to take us from Dubronik to Sarajevo. We got to see parts of the country we wouldn't have seen otherwise and our driver stopped at some intersting and historic sites. We also got to see many small Bosnian communities which was really interesting.

Worst Toilet: Dubrovnik Airport, they were modern but the smell was completely disgusting. When we were in Bosnia many of the bathrooms were of the "hole in the floor" variety but they were kept quite clean.

Number of photos taken: Too many to count.

This was a very interesting trip. Even though it is a little bit of a journey to get to Sarajevo I would absolutely recommend it as a destination. They people and the history are amazing. I also hope to explore more of the small towns in France, they are so picturesque and there is so much history. On our bucket list is watching the Tour de France in France so hopefully that will be a future trip. I would like to see a flat stage, a mountain stage, and watch a stage in a pub. I also wouldn't mind riding a little bit of one of the famous climbs of the tour....and I do mean a little bit! On our way home from Paris we ran into an acquaintance that Mark knows and he had just spent 2 weeks in Spain. They rented a villa with a pool, rented a car, and did day trips and hiking. Sounded pretty heavenly. However, for our next big trip we are hoping to go to New Zealand for Spring Break 2021...let the planning begin!

Day 13

Mosque
Minaret Climb
Turkish House
Terrace Drinks
Swimming
Lunch
Bosnian Coffee
Wandering
Dinner

     Today was our last full day in Mostar before we start the two day journey home. We had a little bit of a low start with breakfast in our hotel which was quite good. Bosnian hospitality is really something. We didn't have anything planned that we had to do so we pulled out the guidebook and looked for a few things to do. For our first stop we decided to visit a mosque. There are mosques and minarets everywhere you look in Bosnia and we had never been inside one so we decided to go. There is mosque in Mostar that allows visitors. You don't have to take your shoes off and you can take pictures. They also let you climb the minaret which has great views of the whole town. I was wearing shorts so I had to put a scarf on like a skirt, it was no big deal. They had a big basket of them at the entrance.The inside was very nice, it had some intricate designs and glass. The best part was the views from the top of the minaret. We had to take a very narrow, winding spiral staircase to get to the top but it was so worth it. The views were amazing. It wasn't very busy because it was still fairly early so we pretty much had it to ourselves. We got some good pictures then headed down.

     Our next stop was an old Turkish house from the 1600s. It has been in the same family for generations and part of it is now a historical hotel. They let you come in and see the front courtyard and you can go in the house to see a few of the main rooms. They had nice rugs and lounging couches. They also had intricate carved ceilings. It was a quick visit but pretty interesting.

     One of the things we wanted to do in Mostar was sit in a terrace restaurant that looks out over the river and bridge and have a drink. We found one we liked and Mark had a beer while Joe and I had iced coffees. It was nice to sit in the shade and watch people pour over the bridge. Of course, sitting by the river made Mark and Joe wast to swim so we headed back to the hotel to grab swimsuits. Our hotel was in such a great location, we were never more than 10 minutes from it so it was easy to pop in if we needed something. While we were at the river we finally saw one of the bridge divers jump off the bridge into the river. They do a lot of preening and collecting of cash but this was the first guy we had seen jump.

     We headed to our hotel for lunch which was really good. They have misters and fans so it is really cool and refreshing to sit there. Although, you do have to contend with the cigarette smoke. Bosnians are big time smokers. I have reached the end of my tolerance. I can't wait to get home so I can eat a meal or go outside without the wafts of smoke in my face. We decided to have one more Bosnian coffee. We read about a place that are very focused on coffee and it was really good. One of the staff sat with us and explained every step of making and drinking the coffee. There is a specific way to do it so you don't end up with a mouthful of grounds or the thick sludge at the bottom of the pot.

     We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the town and doing a little final shopping for souvenirs then headed back for some naps and reading. We had our last dinner at a restaurant terrace then went for a really long walk into some of the surrounding areas. We found some interesting ruins from the war and stumbled upon some squares filled with locals enjoying a warm Friday night. Then it was back to the hotel to pack to get read for the 2 day journey home. Day 1 includes a taxi ride to the bus station, a bus ride through 3 border crossings to get from Mostar to Dubrovnik, another bus ride from the bus station in Dubrovnik to the Dubrovnik airport where we will catch a flight to Paris. We are staying overnight at a hotel right at Charles de Gaulle Airport for our flight home Sunday morning.

   

Day 12

Bus - Sarajevo to Mostar
Mostar Old Bridge
Sightseeing
Shopping
Swimming
Dinner
Wandering

     Today we left Sarajevo and headed by bus to Mostar. We were originally going to take a very scenic train ride but we would have had to get up at an ungodly hour, skip breakfast, then end up in Mostar extremely early. The bus ended up being fine. It went the same route we had taken when we came to Sarajevo from Dubrovnik which was very scenic. On the way out of Sarajevo we saw many houses that were only partially finished, it looked like people lived on the ground floor and the upper floor would be empty....missing windows etc. There were also a lot communist era buildings tightly packed together. Many houses and apartment buildings had split wood stacked next to them, I am assuming they use wood burning stoves for heat. There was a lot of graffiti on the buildings as we left town, in fact we saw a lot of graffiti throughout Sarajevo.

     It took about three hours to reach Mostar. There were a lot of little stops along the way to pick up and drop off people. The bus was pretty basic, it had  washroom that didn't work and the luggage bins above the seats had been screwed shut but it was cheap and got us where we wanted to go. When we got to Mostar we opted for a taxi to our hotel. Our driver freaked us out a little....he asked where and when we were leaving Mostar, he wanted to arrange to drive us to our next destination. I told him I had already purchased bus tickets. He said it would take us 6 hours to get to Dubrovnik from Mostar. It didn't sound right to me but it did freak us out  a little because we leave Mostar at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday for Dubrovnik where we have to catch a flight to Paris at 5:25 p.m. We asked our host when we checked into our hotel and he reassured us that the bus would take 4 hours at the most. The taxi driver was just trying to scare us into hiring him. This is the first real tourist stuff we have really faced since we have been here. We have found everyone to be very genuine and helpful.

     Once we had settled the departure question our host gave us a complimentary beverage and shared a little info on Mostar. We headed out to check out the Old Town. It is quite compact and is laid out on either side of the Neretva River connected by a fabulous, and quite famous curved bridge. It is so picturesque I took a lot of pictures. The streets feel like some kind of Turkish bazaar filled with goods. There are some touristy things but also some nice handicrafts and art. I bought a few things to take home and Joe checked out some antique military stuff. He saw a few things he liked but he wants to think about it. We will head back there tomorrow. By this time I had a bit of a headache. I don't think I am drinking enough water because finding bathrooms is sometimes a challenge. Our hotel is pretty central and I saw several WC around so tomorrow I am going to drink a lot more water. The WC are also pretty interesting....Bosnia is the first time I have experienced the old 'hole in the ground' style of toilet. I ended up heading to the hotel to lie down and Mark and Joe went for a swim in the river.

     After a little rest we researched where to head for dinner. I am finding Tripadvisor quite handy in choosing dinner spots and we have been pretty lucky following their recommendations. Tonight we went to a place called Tima-Irma. It is a mother and daughter operation. The food was excellent, very fresh and tasty. We went for a walk after dinner down a street that still has ruined buildings from the Yugoslav Wars. We also came upon a cemetery . We didn't go in but we could see some of the graves from the sidewalk. All the ones we saw were young men who had died in 1992. It was a very peaceful street with homes that looked quite stately if a little run-down. We turned back and headed in the direction of the Old Town for another beverage. There are numerous outside terraces and courtyards which are very nice to sit in with the warm summer nights. A little wandering followed with some photo opportunities as the sun started to go down.  Tomorrow is our last full day of sightseeing before we start the 2 day trek back home. We go to Dubrovnik on Saturday, fly to Paris, stay at an airport hotel and fly home on Sunday morning.