Italian Friend

I stopped at a rooftop cafe overlooking the Mostar bridge.  Some of the sitting areas were communal. I was lucky. I met an Italian professor of Robotics.  We spent the lazy afternoon chatting and enjoying our view.  The people you meet make traveling so much richer and alive.
Here we are....

 The Bridge in the background....

More Mostar Photos

My Cozy Room

 The Mosque

Sitting area in Hotel

 Jack's Cafe pick, inside smelled like a 400 year old ashtray. I walked in and walked out!

and of course Kitties

Mostar Hotel: Review

 Muslinbegvica Hotel

Pros:

Excellent WiFi
Historic House
Museum as well
Great breakfast
Excellent service
Short walk to everything
Reasonable about $75
Beautiful decor
Nice cozy room

Cons:
None

Mostar Book Store and Bridge

There is the wonderful book store by the bridge that shows a continuous video of the actual destruction of the Mostar Bridge. The photos below will show building where bullet holes and artillery made their mark.  However, along the my walk to the bridge there is a cemetery where the graves of those who died here in the Bosnian war are bury mostly young men. Sad!

Cemetery where so many young men are buried...

Destroyed Mostar Bridge!

Building riddles with bullet holes

Destroyed building from the war....

Bus to Mostar: The House

All good things must end unless you are traveling then there is the next good thing----Mostar!

The comfortable bus to Mostar took about 3 hours. I loved every hour stopping for a coffee break. Those Europeans know how to live Il Dolce Far Niente.
The bus ride is lovely through the mountains. I arrive in Mostar, pull out my directions and walk about 20 minutes to my hotel. When you walk with your pack on your back, you truly appreciate traveling light.
My hotel for the night is the Muslinbegvica a former nobleman's house dating back to the  Ottoman    Empire.  It is also a museum which they give you and interesting tour and history of the house.  The house is a ten minute walk to the famous bridge.

Amazing II: Budva

Great Pub!

Budva I

A hidden lane in Budva which had a great view and just as good bar..

 From the Budva walls..

Day Trip to Montenegro II

The drive was beautiful along the bay of Kotor on one side and mountain range on the other.  Some photos of the drive and the first city we visited which was Kotor.

The small island has one high end hotel/villa

Day Trip Montenegro I

The drive that is what I should called this post.  I hopped on a day tour of Montenegro driving down the Balkan coast to the cities of Kotor and Budva.  If you take this tour, I suggest you sit on the right side to view the stunning Adriatic Coast and coming into the Bay of Kotor.

You will have mountains on your left and glorious blue vistas combined with mouuntains (in the bay) on your right.

Our first stop was the smaller, walled city version of Dubrovnik called Kotor.  Kotor like Dubrovnik gets loads of day traffic tourist visiting and exploring its twisting, back street. Cafe abound with tourist memorabilia shops.  We had about an hour free time so I make my walk through the town visiting a local cafe and relaxing while watching the parade of people.

The last city we visited was Budva. I found Budva more accessible and less with day tourist. In fact, most of its streets were empty. I did find this amazing English pub called the Prince where I stopped to eat something and enjoy the back alley place.  There is also a wonderful fortress wall I climbed to get some great photos.

It was a full day as we got back about 7 pm. I thought to retire for a few hours before going back out.

in front of some Palace or another

I loved the stairway leading to this small townhouse on a back alley street...

The Awesome City of Dubrovnik IV

 

A Great Bar and Cannon Balls.....

The Awesome City of Dubrovnik III

Onward.......

 School House for Sarah

 Romantic Dubrovnik

 and again

The Awesome City of Dubrovnik II

The apartment where I stayed....

 View from the Walk along the City walls