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Mostar – Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jeff



Map courtesy of The Organization for World Peace modified for JBRish readers.

Mostar is located in the southern portion of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is divided by the Neretva River.

Walking near Mostar’s old town, tourists may sense that the architecture has Turkish influences with minarets piercing the air.



Of particular note is the Koski Mehmed-Pasha Mosque (below) which stands as an outstanding example of Ottoman architecture. The tall and thin minaret can be climbed with paid admission.



Another aspect of Mostar that is reminiscent of Ottoman and Middle Eastern culture is the Bazaar-like section of old town.



Picture courtesy of mynoadiclifestyle

Flowers carefully planted outside the vintage windows help take the edge off the overabundance of souvenir shops.



The intricate patterned cobbled streets are sometimes tricky to negotiate.



It is the Neretva River, however, which necessitated the creation the area’s most famous landmark – – the “extremely arched” Stari Most (Old Bridge). The bridge has a storied history which you can read HERE.



While crossing the Stari Most, visitors will soon realize that there are raised horizontal strips which may make walking somewhat awkward, but without them the bridge can be very slippery. Tourists are advised to walk on the raised sections if possible.



To entertain visitors, young men stand atop the railings of the bridge and when enough people have provided monetary encouragement, they dive 70 feet from the bridge into the Neretva. The river also serves as a venue for rafting and kayaking.



The panoramic views from the top of the bridge are scenic and picture-worthy.



Mostar came under attack during the Bosnian war and the Croatian army destroyed the famed landmark.

 

While UNESCO and other countries assisted in rebuilding the bridge between 2001 and 2004, the painful experience the destruction represented has been seared deeply into the psyche of the local population.



Orašac Village – Earlier in the Day

On the way to Mostar, we stopped in a very quaint, quiet and picturesque town of Orašac, Croatia founded in 1040.



We were there to visit a small private garden and olive mill that has retained some of the traditional methods of producing olive oil.



The old olive press was quite a machine to see, but what was even more interesting was how the press was operated. One horse power was all that was needed.



Beautiful garden features lined the paths.



After a sampling of the offerings, we were on our way!

 

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See Previous Posts in this series:


Dubrovnik, Croatia – Pearl of the Adriatic

Old Town Dubrovnik – Above it all

Old Town Dubrovnik – The Low Down

Dubrovnik from the Adriatic and Mt. Srd

Montenegro & The Walled City of Kotor

 

 

Spring Buzz in the Sonoran Desert

Jeff

In the Sonoran Desert spring is often like early summer in other locations in the United States with the temperatures often in the mid-70s to mid-80s. We often refer to this as the “sweet spot” since we don’t need heat or air conditioning for the most part. We do know what is ahead of us, but we enjoy this respite while it lasts.

Along with spring, we have some interesting developments. Our neighborhood has a number of horse stables and about two weeks ago, a young colt was born. Like many other babies, he can be very energetic one minute and flat out tired and sleeping the next.

Here is a short video of the youngster running around.

Today I passed the corral on the way home and the colt was nursing, but when I exited the car, he stopped. I decided to take a photo anyway.


The colt is on the left. The mother often stays rather far away, but was next to him this day.

The horse “next door” came over and I decided he needed to have his picture taken as well.



Another sign of spring is the plethora of bees we have on the few plants that are now blooming. We have a Mastic Tree (Pistacia lentiscus) that is loaded with very small flowers.



The morning I walked by the tree, the buzz was loud and persistent. I decided to record it, but it is only a shadow of the real sound as the iPhone has limitations. You can hear the bees in the sound clip below (raise the sound on your computer/device).

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me and I couldn’t capture the mass of bees all over the tree. They were flitting about too quickly for iPhone capture.

A couple of days later, I was able to take my camera outside in the afternoon, but the bees were not as numerous. I did take a few snapshots anyway.


The bee is hard to see, but it is inside the red oval.

I was able to capture another view with the pollen sack showing although once again, it is hard to see.


The head of the bee is by the yellow arrow. The pollen sack is at the tip of the red arrow.

We have already begun our spring/summer gardening chores and we are looking forward to sharing some of our experiences with JBRish readers. I hope your weather is looking more spring-like!

 

Read more miscellaneous stories HERE


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