For The Love of Travel

My favorite places, photos and stories

August 30, 2023
by Lids
Comments Off on 30/8/2023 Dubrovnik

30/8/2023 Dubrovnik

Historically known as ‘Ragusa’, more recently as ‘the Pearl of the Adriatic’, its one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, a ratio of 36 tourists: 1 resident. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1979 in recognition of its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town. The history of the city dates back to the 7thC and its prosperity based on maritime trade. A protectorate under the Byzantine Empire, later under the Republic of Venice. The entire city was almost destroyed when a devastating earthquake hit in 1667. During the Napoleonic Wars, Dubrovnik was occupied by French Empire forces, with the The Republic of Ragusa being incorporated into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. In the 19th-20thC, Dubrovnik was part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austrian Empire. It became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia immediately upon its creation in 1929, before becoming part of Croatia in 1939.

Some fun facts about Dubrovnik:

  • the world’s first commercial pharmacy opened in 1317, allied to the Monastery. It stills stocks creams and herbal teas with recipes faithful right back to the 1300’s.
  • The second ‘country’ (it was a Republic) to abolish slavery in 1416 (Venice was first in 960).
  • Had the world’s first orphanage in 1432.
  • Has a medieval sewer system from 1296 still in use today.
  • Dubrovnik has its own Shakespeare – Marin Drzic, Croatia’s greatest playwright, was born in 1508.
  • Dubrovnik has its own James Bond – Dusan ‘Dusko’ Popov was a double agent working for MI5 during WW2 under the code name “Tricycle’ and ‘Ivan’ for German military intelligence (Abwehr). He was famous for his playboy lifestyle, while carrying out perilous wartime missions for the British.
  • The walls around the city run an uninterrupted course of 1,940 metres and reach a maximum height of 25 metres. The walls were reinforced by 3 circular and 14 quadrangular towers, 5 bastions, 2 angular fortifications and the large St John’s Fortress.
  • Lokrum island is 600 metres from Dubrovnik and has a Benedictine Abbey and Monastery that date back to 1023.
  • Mt Srdj (pronounced serge) has great panoramic views over the old town.

My last day in Croatia…off to France tomorrow. Adieu Republika Hrvatska! Its been a lovely 2 week journey through your beautiful lands.

August 30, 2023
by Lids
Comments Off on 29/8/2023 Blagaj Tekija (Dervish House), Pocitelj

29/8/2023 Blagaj Tekija (Dervish House), Pocitelj

First stop, a historic three-storey 15thC Sufi monastery, built during the Middle Ages at the base of 240 metre towering cliffs, next to the source of the river Buna. You can take a boat ride into the cave at the side of the monastery. There are a number of restaurants and stalls with local produce, lining the banks of the river, with views across fast-flowing water. Great weather for it today, only 26 degrees after the storm that deluged last night. Time and rock slides have led to extensive repairs and reconstruction of the buildings. A lovely calm, quiet, beautiful place to experience. Dogs were enjoying the beauty as well 🙂 But quite gruelling on my knees, its a Voltaren night!

20 kms further on was a lovely little historic fortified/walled town on the left bank of the river Neretva, Pocitelj. The story is that the settlement of strategic importance was built by Bosnian King Tvrtko 1, sometime in 1383. Hungarians and the Ottomans conquered the town during the 15thC-19thC. The town suffered extensive damage and the town’s people were ‘ethnically cleansed’ during the Bosnian Wars 1992-95. It now has about 800 residents, 59% Bosniaks, 39% Croats, 2% Serbs. Here’s a couple of settlement views – facing the river from the settlement walls and facing the town from the river looking up the escarpment.

The last 100 kms of driving today to get to Dubrovnik, through the Ostrvo mountains and past Svitavsko Lake…very pretty scenery, but narrow back roads so lots of concentration and quite tiring. And then I got to the outskirts of Dubrovnik, to be greeted by this scene.

August 28, 2023
by Lids
Comments Off on 28/8/2023 Mostar

28/8/2023 Mostar

An early start with a fab brekkie, consisting of a personal buffet offering of cheese, meats, tomato, cucumber, olives, rolls, jams …and coffee. Followed by home made syrupy, gooey-sweet baklava.

Mostar, nicknamed the “City of Sunshine”, has a rich history characterised by the peaceful co-existence of three peoples: Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. The city is most well-known for its iconic UNESCO-designated Old Bridge (Stari Most), from which local divers plunge 24 metres below into the icy Neretva River below (after collecting 100 Euro or so from the crowd).

The Old Bridge was commissioned by the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 when Mostar was a frontier town of the empire. Today, the bridge connects two distinct areas of the city: the Catholic Croat side west of the river, and the Muslim Bosniak side to the east.

Bazar Kujundziluk is an Ottoman-era market on either side of Stari Most – the cobblestone streets and ancient edifices are picturesque but jam-packed with visitors. Souvenirs range from textiles and tourist trinkets to beautiful lanterns, traditional tea-ware and ceramics.

A few minutes’ walk north of Stari Most on the Muslim side of the river, Koski-Mehmed Pasha Mosque is exemplary of Ottoman mosque architecture and dates back to 1618.

I decided I had to visit the Museum of War and Genocide which covers the history and atrocities of the Bosnia War of 1992-1995. With over 657 concentration camps; 120,000 civilian deaths; a few hundred thousands wounded; over 2 million displaced persons and refugees; 25,000 rape victims; 30,000 missing…this war was the worst since WW2. The museum is run by the victims of the war. We said ‘never again’ after WW2, yet genocide and massacres have continued around the world. Visitors have posted ‘peace’ and ‘harmony’ notes in one of the rooms.