Day 11: Budva and Kotor, Montenegro
Today we drove from Budva to Kotor to tour the walled city there, and then returned to Budva where we toured the Old Town.
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| Hotel Budva, our home in Budva |
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| A hotel and mall across a park from our hotel |
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| Another view of modern Budva |
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| Oreos are everywhere |
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| Part of Kotor outside the walls |
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| Part of the walls surrounding the old city |
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| Kotor is now a popular cruise destination |
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| One of the entrances to the walled city, with a Yugoslavian marker |
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| The clock tower dates from the 17th century |
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| Inside Kotor Cathedral |
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| Organist in Kotor Cathedral |
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| In the walled city |
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| A modern church, built in 1909 |
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| This guy was playing "House of the Rising Sun" |
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| A street in the walled city |
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| I'll bet she got her gown in Albania |
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| A view from the top of the wall (photo courtesy of Jeff Anderson) |
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| One of the towers in the wall |
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| Part of the wall |
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| On the shoreline outside the walls |
After touring the walled city, we drove up into the mountains and got some spectacular views.
There were several towns up in the mountains, where Montenegrans who had been driven out of the main cities by the Ottomans lived.
We went over the top of the mountain and back down the other side, stopping at the town of Cetinje on the way back to Budva.
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| At the top of the mountain |
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| Vlaska Church in Cetinje, dating from 1450 |
In Cetinje, we stopped at Biljarda, the former residence of Petar II Petrovic Njegos, an Monentegren leader.
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| Biljarda |
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| Statue of Ivan Crnojevic, founder of Cetinje |
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| Main square in Cetinje |
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| On a side street |
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| Models waking in the main square after a photo shoot |
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| A wall on the way out of Cetinje |
From Cetinje, we drove back to Budva.
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| Overview of Budva |
Back in Budva, we took a walking tour along the shoreline and through the old town of Budva.
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| A not-so-great beach in Budva |
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| On the shoreline, looking at part of the old town |
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| Fresh eel, anyone? |
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| More action on the shore |
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| Part of the old town walls |
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| More of the old town and another beach |
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| St. Ivan's (St. John's) church, dating from the 1500s |
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| Artwork outside the church |
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| A vendor outside the church |
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| Church of the Holy Trinity, built in 1804 |
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| Another view of the town wall |
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| Another view of Holy Trinity church |
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| Along the shoreline after dark |
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| A popcorn vendor viewed from my room |
Day 12: Budva to Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
We left Budva and drove along the Bay of Kotor, into Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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| Shoreline of Kotor Bay |
In Kotor Bay, there are a couple of small islands (
Svete Dorde and
Our Lady of the Rocks) that are pretty much empty except for a couple of old churches.
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| Svete Dorde |
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| Our Lady of the Rocks |
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| Along the shoreline of Kotor Bay |
Eventually we crossed into Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country Bosnia and Herzegovina is actually comprised of two smaller republics--Srpska (where most of the Serbians live), and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (where most of the Bosniaks live). When we crossed the border from Montenegro, we entered into Srpska.
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| Mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
We stopped for lunch in the town of
Trebinje.
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| A distant view of Trebinje |
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| Not a firm I want to do business with |
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| World War II monument in Trebejne |
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| A pedestrian street in Trebinje |
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| Waiting for lunch (which never came) |
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| A very small church near Trebinje |
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| Inside the church |
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| Some 14th-century gravestones |
Our next stop was the town of
Medjugorje, which became a pilgrimage site after some children "saw" the Virgin Mary there in 1981.
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| St. James Church in Medjugorje |
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| Either a priest or a baseball player |
The town was lined with religious souvenir shops.
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| Religious items on sale |
From Medjugorje, we drove to
Mostar, our destination for the night. Mostar is famous for its Ottoman bridge (Mostar means "old bridge"), and was heavily damaged during the Bosnian war in the 1990's.
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| View of modern Mostar from my hotel room |
After checking in to our hotel, we drove to the center of town.
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| A modern shopping center |
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| Franciscan church bell tower |
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| Bullet holes from the Bosnian War |
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| More war damage |
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| Tourist street in central Mostar |
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| Copper souvenirs |
There were a lot of souvenirs made with old ammunition (presumably) from the Bosnian War. I wanted to buy one, but I figured I would have a hard time getting it through airport security.
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| Some Bosnian souvenirs |
The
Old Bridge was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, but was severely damaged during the Bosnia war. Parts of the bridge were fished out of the river and it has since been completely reconstructed.
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| The Old Bridge (Stari Most) |
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| Souvenir shop near the bridge |
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| The bridge after dark |
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| On the bridge after dark |
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| Franciscan Church tower after dark |
Day 13: Mostar and Sarajevo
We began the day by traveling back through Mostar to revisit the Old Bridge area during daylight.
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| Memorial on the site of one of Mostar's synagogues |
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| A closer view of the memorial |
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| A building destroyed during the Bosnian war |
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| A mosque in the old part of the city |
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| Another old bridge (not Stari Most) in central Mostar |
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| Stari Most |
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| Another view of Stari Most |
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| View of the old part of Mostar |
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| Wider view of old Mostar |
After visiting old Mostar, we headed towards Sarajevo.with a stop in
Jablanica. Jablanica was the site of a famous incident in World War II, where a group led by Josep Tito blew up a train while it was crossing a railroad bridge.
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| Museum in Jablanica celebrating the event |
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| The train and the bridge (what's left of them) |
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| Don't try this at home |
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| What they're drinking in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
We then drove from Jablanica to Sarajevo.
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| Building in Sarajevo damaged in the Bosnian war |
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| Some Communist-era (or maybe post-Communist) apartment buildings |
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| Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| Our hotel in Sarajevo |
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| The remains of a 15th century inn, next to our hotel |
Sarajevo is allegedly the only city that had a church, synagogue, and a mosque within a block of each other.
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| Sacred Heart Cathedral |
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| Jewish Museum, in the old Ashkenazi synagogue, a block from the cathedral |
Near the cathedral, we encountered a "
Sarajevo Rose", a piece of concrete with shrapnel holes that have been filled with a red resin--sort of a symbol of the war.
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| A Sarajevo Rose |
The "Meeting of Cultures" line is a line across a street, where on the east side of the street are Ottoman buildings, and on the west side are buildings from the Austro-Hungarian empire.
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| The line |
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| Looking east, to the Ottoman section |
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| Looking west, to the Austro-Hungarian section |
From here, we walked into the old Ottoman market area of town.
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| Allegedly the oldest public toilet in the world |
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| Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, built in the 1600's and about a block from the cathedral |
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| Copper shop in the old marketplace |
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| More shops in the marketplace |
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| Feeding pigeons in the market plaza |
From the old market area, we walked to the Miljacka River.
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| Some older buildings along the river |
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| More buildings along the river |
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| A museum near the spot where Archduke Ferdinand was shot, starting World War I |
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| The spot where Archduke Ferdinand's limousine was traveling when he was shot |
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| A few bullet holes from the war |
For our "farewell" dinner, we went to a restaurant overlooking Sarajevo.
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| A wide angle view from the restaurant |
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| Another view--town hall is on the right side |
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| A view of the western part of Sarajevo |
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| One last Sarajevsko beer |
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| View of the city after dark |
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That's all, folks!
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