Magnificent Mostar (Honeymoon part2)

The Old Bridge
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Our choice of honeymoon location surprised a lot of people, but from the first few minutes in Mostar we knew we'd made the right choice.

Mostar is in Hercegovinia and sustained a great deal of damage during the war in the 1990s.  It is a city of terrible tragedy, but shows the incredible resiliency of the human spirit.  Walking through the city you see horrible reminders of the war, buildings all over the city sit abandoned and suffer major damage (if not structural, than cosmetic).  At the heart of the city is a beautiful bridge that was completely destroyed by fighting, but has now been rebuilt to its former glory.

the incredible resiliency of the human spirit

Mostar
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NATO continues to occupy Mostar, and all four of us were starttled when we witnessed the military patrolling the streets.  Really we never saw any evidence of the need for NATO to be there as all of the people were really friendly and happy to have tourists there - they are deeply proud of their country, despite its troubled past.

We thought that while in Bosnia all we would hear about was the war in the 1990's, but quickly realised that Bosnia has a very long and diverse history.  The Ottoman's originally settled this region and there is evidence of it throughout the town - including in the homes and the old town.

NATO Vehicle
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While in Mostar we headed out to a small village that houses a Muslim Dervish Monestary.  The Monestary is located next to a spectacular natural spring and river valley.  Although the Monestary was small, it was a nice way for the four of us to get a better understanding of the Muslim culture in the region.  And get a better understanding of some of the tensions that errupted during the war.

In all honesty there isn't a whole lot to see or do in Mostar, but we found it so emotionally draining that having the time for it to soak in was important.  We all felt moved by what we saw and changed in certain respects.