This German Texan: 24 Hours in Bosnia

After Dubrovnik, it was on to Bosnia. We stopped in Medjugorje, a small town that has become a pilgrimage site for Catholics. In 1981 several children from the area reported seeing the Virgin Mary on top of the hill; her message to the children was that members of all faiths are equal under God. It makes perfect sense to me that Mary would appear and give that message to people in Bosnia; what I don't get is what those kids were doing up there.

I am sorry to report that I didn't make it to the place where the children saw the Virgin Mary. I tried, but I went about halfway. Some of the rocks had sharp points, and most were slippery because of the rain. I am a wimp.

I got this far...

...and then I stopped. You can see part of what I didn't climb below.

Next stop was MOSTAR.

Above: the famous Mostar Bridge; when it is warm, guys will dive off the bridge for money (the water was still too cold in April). Below: the marketplace in Mostar; it reminded me a little of the bazaar in Istanbul, but without people hassling you to buy stuff.

We only had a few hours to spend in Mostar, because we wanted to get to Sarajevo before dark. We barely made it. By the time we checked in the hotel and made our way to downtown, the sun was going down, which is why I don't have many pictures of Sarajevo (Who cares about photos??? We had to buy stuff before the shops closed, and we had to eat!) I can't explain it, but I just got a good feeling about the place...so much so that I have already booked a ticket to go to Sarajevo on a long weekend next fall. So, consider this a very short preview.

The famous bridge where Serb Gavrilo Princip shot Franz Ferdinand and set off WWI. Its original name was the Latin Bridge, but after the assassination, it was named after the assassin, Princip! Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, it is again called the Latin Bridge.

I took a picture of the restaurant so I will remember it for next time. We feasted on cevapcici, sudzukice, salata sopska, and kajmak--all for about four Euros per person.