Wednesday, October 03, 2018

Goodbye Bosnia, Hello Croatia

Goodbye Bosnia, I’ll Miss You

Today was a multi-city journey through Bosnia and Herzegovina on our way to Croatia. 

Our first stop was Mostar, the economic and cultural center of the Herzegovina region. The city is most known for the Old Bridge in the old town from which the town gets its name. Bridge in many Slavic languages is Most and the bridge keepers (those who watched the bridges and collected the tolls needed to pass) were called Monstari.

The Old Bridge was originally built in wood, but was redone in stone in 1566 on the orders of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, in order to make it less of a death trap. At the time of its completion, the bridge was the widest man made arch in the world and quickly became a symbol of the city. To this day, the bridge is considered one of the most important structures of the Ottoman era and perhaps Bosnia's most recognizable architectural piece. 

The Old Bridge was destroyed on November 9th, 1993 during the Bosnian War. After the conflict was resolved, different entities from around the world came together to recreate the bridge just as it used to be. They built the bridge using the original materials (quarried from the same rock) and the same Ottoman building techniques. 

Our group was treated to an informative walking tour through the Old Town area and then left to wander through the colorful stalls of the Souk. There were beautiful copper works inlaid with gems and shiny Turkish lamps with their colorful glass mosaics that kept catching my eye. Em and I couldn’t resist their pull and ended up buying a few small trinkets for gifts back home.

A random tidbit from the tour was that in 2001, the then major of the city, Safet Oručević, stated he would build a Jewish community center and synagogue to repay the Jewish populace for the donation of their synagogue after WWII (which was later destroyed), but due to funding, a changing of the guards in the Majorial office, and too few Jews to fight for it (there are only 20 currently living in the city), the project never advanced past the placing of the cornerstone.

Our short free time having expired, we piled back into the van and headed to another of the hole in the wall locations that Louise had found during her wanderings, the town of Blagaj and the Blagaj Tekke.

The town of Blagaj is picturesque, nestled at the base of a cliff, split by the Buna river, and overlooked by the remains of the Buagaj Fortress. Most of the original town doesn’t exist anymore, but Blagaj Tekke, a Dervish Monastery built in 1520, is still present, as well as some modern homes surrounding the monastery.

We sat on the bank of the Buna and enjoyed a wonderful fish lunch and some terrible wine (Louise keeps trying to convince us that the wine in the Balkans is good, but so far the only wine I’ve liked was the local homemade manischewitz knockoff we had in Kotor) before wandering across one of the bridges that connect the two banks and venturing into the Dervish House.

The dervish house requires women to cover their legs, shoulders, and hair and men to cover their shoulders and legs. While the women in our group weren’t so surprised when we were handed scarves to wrap around our heads, Dale was super surprised when he was asked to wrap a sarong around his legs since he was wearing shorts. Of course we then had to take black mail pictures; which were slightly ruined by the fact that he was hamming it up and actually looked ok in a skirt.

After our tour of the Dervish house (which also acted as a mausoleum), we continued on to our next stop: Počitelj. Počitelj is another small city with a fortress built to encompass (and protect) the city. The cool thing about the ruins for this city though are that the tower is still mainly intact. Em and I climbed In through the door/window and braved the tiny slick marble stairs to walk ring around the rosy all the way to the top. There we took fun pictures of the lower town through the different windows of the turret. As long as you’re not afraid of the dark, small stair passageways, slick steps, and howling winds, I definite recommend the jaunt.

A short time later we had to return from our explorations and continue onto the last leg of our journey; across the border into Croatia, back down to the coast, and left towards Cavtat. 

Cavtat is an adorable little seaside town sitting on the Adriatic coast, 9 miles from Dubrovnik. The town has been there since the 6th century when the Greeks built a settlement in this location. The current town (the area we stayed in) is comprised of numerous hotels, guest houses, restaurants, and kitschy tourist trap shops. The town has become a place for people that want to see Dubrovnik, but stay in a more sedate and low key place. 

Cavtat also has a cute old city that is staggered upon the hill (Mary was thrilled that there were so many more stairs for her to climb after she swore off of them once we’d climbed the 1300 in Kotor). At the top of the town sits a nice little cemetery within which lies the Račić family mausoleum. I have no idea who the family is, but the mausoleum is apparently pretty popular because it was designed by a well-known Croatian architect, Ivan Meštrović.

Upon our reaching of Cavtat, we all said a heartfelt goodbye to Zejko, who was starting his journey back home that same evening. 

Winter is Coming and Here There Be Dragons

Our last day with the entire tour group began with a slightly hectic morning as a result of the mini hurricane that had taken place a few days earlier (when we got the freak wind and rain storm in Sarajevo). The group was originally supposed to taking the local ferry to Dubrovnik while enjoying the calm blue waters. But when we woke up, it was white caps and howling wind and anything but calm. Louise therefore was forced to hire two taxis to take the group to Dubrovnik; at which time as these things go, the wind had stopped, the sea had calmed, and the sun had came out.

Dubrovnik was once called the “Pearl of the Adriatic “ by poet Lord Byron and retains that infamy to this day. The original city (called something else) was most likely founded in the 6th century by the Greeks (either refugees from a nearby town that was destroyed by the Slavs or by sailors (the accounts differ) and went by the name of Ragusa (the city was also the Republic of Ragusa). The name Dubrovnik wasn’t introduced until the 12th century and then both names were used interchangeably until the late 1800s; when Ragusa stopped being use (mainly because the Republic of Ragusa was essentially destroyed - both financially and physically by a combination of the Mediterranean shipping crisis of the time and a catastrophic earthquake in 1667 that killed 5,000 inhabitants and leveled most of the city).

Ragusa was a maritime merchant town that acted as a free state (via hearty tariffs) of the Ottoman Empire from the 1400 to 1800s. The city was ahead of its time in that it started a medical service in 1301, the first pharmacy (still operating to this day) was opened in 1317, an almshouse was opened in 1347, the first quarantine hospital (Lazarete) in 1377, it abolished Slave trade 
in 1418, and it opened an orphanage in 1432. Additionally, a 12 mile long water supply system, instead of a cistern, was constructed in 1438 by the Neapolitan architect and engineer Onofrio della Cava. So pretty much this was a city that you wanted to live in.

In very recent times, Dubrovnik has become a super popular tourist locale as a result of its picturesque beautiful, its gorgeous weather and proximity to lovely beaches, and the popularity of the television show: Game of Thrones, which films there. This uber tourism, while a boost for the economy, has been steadily destroying the atmosphere of the city. The increase in cruise ships and tourists has lead to many locals leaving their homes in the Old Town, wear and tear on the 800 year old city, and talks of UNESO revoking the city’s status as a heritage site. Luckily for us, some of the hordes were not present because we were (a) traveling during the shoulder season and (b) the city has placed some regulations on the cruises ships in terms of how many can be there at once and how long they can stay for.

When we arrived in Dubrovnik, we all went for a guided walk through the Old Town. A few fun facts that we learned were:

There is a statue of Orlando (Italian version of a Ronald) that stands in the middle of Luza Square in front of St Blaise Church. It was erected in 1418. One version of the story goes that Orlando heroically saved the city from a pirate attack, and was also a fair and honest trader. The other story goes that Orlando was erected as a sign of loyalty to Sigismund of Luxembourg and various other King’s when they helped the city fight off Venetian attempts to take away Ragusa’s independence. The statue is a symbol of independence and autonomy.

Luza Square was the main marketplace in medieval times, where laws were passed and law breakers punished. Today it still is the most famous square in town and focal point of the Summer festival. The white independence flag proudly flies from the top of the column. The fun fact here is that because Orlando was associated with honesty, the length of his forearm became known as the “Elbow of Honesty,” and was the Dubrovnik unit of measurement. This unit was the Ragusa ell and equal to 51.2 cm or 20.2 in.

The other fun tidbit was the town clock bell tower. The tower was originally built in 1444 as a symbol of the free state of Ragusa, but was torn down and completely remade in the 1920s due to its dangerous listing as a result of numerous earthquakes. While the tower itself is beautiful, it’s not that that’s the cool thing; it’s the Zelenci, or “The Greens.” 

The Zelenci are two bronze Roman soldiers (named Maro and Baro) that are covered with a green patina (which is how they got their name) and they strike the massive bell of the tower every hour to chime out the time. Their origins are one of the few mysteries in the history of Dubrovnik; a city that wrote down everything and they’re a point of contention with the Venetians, who state that their “Moors” are older when they were actually built 21 years after.

After our walking tour, Em and I split from the group for a few hours. Everyone else only had the one day in Dubrovnik, whereas we had one and a half. Due to having a bit more time, Em and I bought a one day (24hr period) Dubrovnik card which gave us access to walk the wall, visit seven museums and two galleries in the Old Town, and a one day unlimited bus pass. All this for only 50 kuna more than a ticket to just walk the wall. Since we had the pass and some extra time, we decided to spend this day visiting a few of the museums, wandering the small alleyways, and climbing more evermore stairs to see what was around the different corners. 

With our card, we visited the house of Marin Držić, the greatest Croatian Renaissance comedist; the Rupe Ethnographic Museum, the Friars Minor Franciscan Monastery Museum, Cultural Historical Museum, and the Maritime Museum.

Each of these museums has some thing neat or interesting about them. 

From the house of Martin Držić, I learned that he was essentially the Croatian Shakespeare and that there is a statue of him in the old city where because it’s considered good luck to rub his metal nose, the nose has become a completely different color than the rest of him. 

The Rupe Ethnographic Museum contains a lot of great information and dioramas of daily life in Ragusa, as well as a nice exhibit on the making of olive oil. Additionally, this museum is located in the old granary, which took 42 years to build (most likely because the architect wanted to continue to collect the gold coins he was getting paid).

The monastery contains the Friar’s Pharmacy in it. This pharmacy is one of the oldest in Europe (in terms of construction), but the oldest continuous Pharmacy in Europe - operational since 1317 AD and still going strong.

The Cultural History Museum turned out to be Em’s favorite. This museum is located in the Rector’s Palace and is like three mini museums in one. On the ground flood there is a court room, dungeon, and a scribes office, as well as the original Zelenci. On the second level, a selection of the cartographic collection from the maritime museum and a numismatic collection of Dubrovnik coins, seals, weights. The jewel (in Em’s eyes), was the third floor, in which the rooms were decorated with artistic paintings, furniture, and everyday items dating from the 16th and 19th centuries.

The Maritime Museum had some great exhibits on the history of Ragusa and how the Republic used its smarts to essentially become the free state that developed into a maritime superpower for centuries. 

After our afternoon exploring the museums and sites of Dubrovnik, Em and a I met back up with the Aussie and we got our boat ride back to Cavtat. The boat ride was a little chilly, but beautiful. As we were cruising along, we passed some  remains of bomber out and abandoned hotels left as silent monuments not to forget that the war also impacted this country. 

Since it was the last night that the tour group was going to be together, everyone decided that one final dinner together was in order. We enjoyed a nice seafood dinner on the Cavtat pier and finally some good wine (a Croatian Pinot Gringo). After dinner Dale, brought out pieces of paper filled with chicken scratch that turned out to be questions about different parts of the trip. He turned it into a game where he’d ask someone a specific question and that person would have to see if they remembered the answer. Questions could be anything from remembering a city we visited on a specific day to the word in Serbian used for “Cheers” to a detail about a group member’s life from a conversation they’d had with someone while on the Narcoleptic Van.

The game was super fun and soon we all started shouting out our own questions and seeing how much everyone was paying attention during the course of the trip. Louise liked the idea so much she was trying to figure out how to incorporate it into future trips. It definitely was a fun and laughter filled way to end the evening and the trip. 


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