Thursday, May 4, 2017

From Herzegovina to Croatia

We spent the morning walking around Mostar for a bit again. We tried to get some new vantage points on the bridge. I got a couple of postcards and mailed them from a Bosnian post box. Good luck everyone! If you did your reading on the Bosnian War, you would know that Mostar was under siege for over nine months during which time every bridge in the city was destroyed. I now realized that the large pieces of stone that were on the beach below the bridge were in fact the original bridge.

The town is now a UNESCO heritage site, so hopefully the new old bridge doesn't get shelled again. You can still find ruins if you look for them, but nature (and graffiti artists) have all but consumed the remains. It was hard to imagine on this sunny May day that there was once a really horrific war going on here involving mass-rape, ethnic cleansing, and starvation. On our way out of Mostar, we made a brief stop near the Mostar airport which was once an air base. I wanted to see an abandoned underground aircraft hangar from the Tito era. If you have more time to kill, research Josef Broz Tito and Yugoslavia.
We continued up the mountains of Herzegovina on our way to Split. Herzegovina you ask? Why not Bosnia? Ah, see that's all part of the confusing fun that is Bosnia & Herzegovina. Bosnia is the casual name for the whole country, though it is still partitioned with unofficial borders based on historical ethnic divisions. Considering this was considered a failed state not long ago, it seems to be working for the most part. Maybe Israel should take notes.

High in the mountains, we stopped at Kravica Falls, a set of several waterfalls plunging into clear green water. It's the kind of site you don't expect to see in Bosnia... or Herzegovina. It was a nice little retreat in the countryside. We saw a few people swimming in the waters, but it is evidently pretty frigid, so I wouldn't last long. We then continued on our way toward Croatia. And unlike yesterday, the border was quick and easy to cross. We were the only car. Shortly after coming down the mountains on the Croatian side, we encountered our first real highway.

The speed limit was 130kph and the Porsche was flat out and doing about . . . 110. With the help of a little downhill, I made it to 130. It was like a whole different style of driving, which changed again once we got into Split. Cars were driving onto the sidewalk to park. Two-way streets would only have space for one-way of traffic because everyone just parked in the middle of the lanes. Clearly Split needs more parking spots. We were miraculously able to find our airbnb, even if it may have entailed reversing down a one-way street the wrong way. I was just trying to blend in...

We got settled and walked into the old town. The main site is the Roman Diocletian Palace from around 400 AD. There's a pantheon-esque building just behind it and the entire area has been repurposed as cafés, restaurants, and jewelry shops. Even the underground region of the palace has been converted into a market for religious icons and other tchotchkes. It is a very bustling city. Dubrovnik was small potatoes by comparison (and I already mentioned how difficult parking was there, so now you know why everyone in Split is parking on the sidewalk). One other detail should be shared about Split and it is that the entire waterfront smells like egg salad -- or more accurately egg salad that has been left out for a month. It is a key part of Split's identity along with parking on the sidewalk.

We had dinner at a pizza place in the old town that was tucked away in an alley. Then we went out to take pictures at night. It was still just as bustling. Tomorrow we drive to Plitvice Lakes, which after doing some research, is probably no better with the crowds than Split. Wish us luck.

 

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