The Road to Dubrovnik

Friday morning, we woke early, quickly packed our bags, grab some free breakfast and jumped on our bus, leaving Sarajevo after 3 amazing days, and setting a course for Dubrovnik, Croatia. We had two scheduled stops along the way to Dubrovnik, one being the city of Mostar and the other the city of Medjugorje.

The road between cities was pretty interesting, littered with small towns/villages, some great mountain views and a couple rivers. The best part was hanging out with my fellow students and getting to enjoy their company and get to know each other a little better. We shared in jokes, stories and music, as we took turns playing random tunes off our mp3 players, including Barbie Girl, Candy Shop, In the Club, and many other classic hits to help pass the 3-4 hours of driving.

Our first stop came at Mostar, a city that was heavily hit by the war. It is also home of the famous Mostar Bridge. In 1993, after surviving many conflicts through the ages, shelling by Bosnian Croat forces during the devastating war sent the bridge crashing into the Neretva River. Its destruction caused international outrage. The broken arch became a symbol of the division of Mostar between its Roman Catholic Croat inhabitants in the west and Muslims in the east. The two communities are still divided. Our stop in Mostar included a visit to this now rebuilt bridge as well as free time to walk the old town and take in the sights of the war torn city, which many buildings still have bullet holes covering them. It was the first time I have witnessed a city or town hit by war still showing such obvious signs as these. Sarajevo was pretty well rebuilt, and was not quite as obvious in the destruction as much of Mostar was. It seemed like every other building showed some signs of attack, which is a shame as it is a very beautiful city.

After our walk and sight seeing, and a quick stop for ice cream and a coke, we were back on the road to our next stop Medjugorje. Medjugorje is a city that has turned into a religious mecca when in June of 1981, several children, while out in the hillsides, had a vision of the Virgin Mary appear to them, and they still receive this vision on a regular basis to this day. As such this has become a pilgrimage site from many of the devout. The city was interesting, a large red path in the hillside marked the spot of the visions and there were many, many gift shops lining the streets selling all sorts of religious trinkets. We walked around for a little bit, checked some of the shops, and then found a local restaurant for lunch, where a few of us enjoyed some pizza. After making a stop and the church, we were back on the bus, destined for Dubrovnik.

As we pulled into Dubrovnik it was amazing, the city lines the Croatian coast with many small islands just off the shore. Our hotel sits on the water and my hotel room opens up to a patio overlooking the water, islands and hillside….it is simply stunning…..I can definitely get used to this.

We met back in the lobby and headed out to the old town to get acquainted with the city. Inside the city walls was amazing, everything looks so old yet so pristine and well maintained. We found a little restaurant down one of the alleys and enjoyed in the local food…I chose pork skewers, they were delicious. After dinner we found a bar and settled in for some drinking, which was more of shot taking, including a kick to the balls, a test tube baby, and a B-52, which is one they light on fire and you have to drink through a straw before it melts.

It was a fun night, and a great end to a long day. Tomorrow should be even better, so stayed tuned.