Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Peggy and Shellee, thanks for the very funny comments!  They warmed our hearts (not that we needed warming since we are back in the HOT land of the Adriatic.

So, today we left Sarajevo with a 5:50 am wake up followed by a taxi and 9 hour bus ride (and it was HOT on the bus!!!!) so most of today's story will be in pictures.  But we will preface it with this:  we realized how far from the western civilization we know we had strayed when at the rest area this morning that there were 9 large animals roasting on spits (and 40 or 50 people chowing down) at 9:00 am and we were absolutely thrilled that the squatting toilet had toilet paper AND soap. 

Shellee:  A word about war torn countries:  not as bad as you would think.  There is no war going on.  There is not fighting and actually far less violence than most places in the US (especially Detroit says Janna).  The only time we felt even slightly nervous about our safety was when we first arrived in Mostar and we were wheeling our bags (looking like American tourists) past blocks of bombed out buildings.  Seriously, the cities are vibrant and fully functional and full of life.  Just because we think bathrooms should have toilet paper and soap is our ethnocentrism.

Peggy, about our suitcases.   Let's just say we acquired a LOT of sourvenirs in Bosnia (including tea!).  They were light and empty before, now they are exploding and quite heavy.  Good thing Bosnia was not our first stop.  We may not have made it up the hill to Plitvice if it had been.

Okay, so our day in pictures (Carol, we thought of you the whole time!):
Is it a goat, or is it a sheep?  You be the judge. Look closely at the head.  It is a big clue.

 
The view from the rest stop.  Honestly, this country is so beautiful it makes you cry.  Maybe another summer trip would be to hike the hills with a guide (too many land mines to stray off the pavement alone)  Safety first.


A view from the bus.  Impossible to capture how beautful and rich the landscape is.


A "typical" picture close to the Croatian border.  Notice a nice house next to a bombed house.


We will miss the road signs posted in both Roman and Cyrillic alphabets.

The last mosque we saw.  It was a two minaret mosque.

Oops.  Back in Mostar on our trip.


The Turkish markets had corn nuts "Kikos".  They are much better than I remember the ones at the school store.


Between BiH and Croatia.

Sue with cat food.  The poor white one had a dog bite off one of its back legs.  What a cutie.  Now we have two cats that we call "stumpy"
If you feed them, they will come.  Sue with the "white triplets" and "stripey".


Don't bite the hand that feeds you.  "Callie baby".

Taking a break from the cat rescue mission to enjoy the sunset on the pier.

Sue with "thumper", "yellow man", "doger", "roger", "blinkie", and "winkie".  (not pictured "little fuzzy", "scaredy man", and "wet nose".)

2 comments:

  1. Corn nuts how interesting. Haven't tasted those in years. Tell Sue not to feed the Cats pretty soon she won't be able to shed them. :o)

    Beautiful pictures

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  2. Wow! Hard to believe the stories from Sarajevo - so interesting where two (or more) cultures combine. Glad you were thinking of me. We were camping & certainly thinking of you both. Glad to finally see some kittys - not so happy to see the roasting meat! That could turn even me off meat. Hope you get some swimming in soon - it looks so hot. Love, Mom

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