more mostar, more pics

ok, were back inside because of a thunderstorm that just rolled in from out of nowhere. fortunately we found solace in a fancy italian restaurant where i got a great chicken alfredo for about 5 bucks, plus a couple of $2 beers. we were hoping that the rain would just give up, but it seemed to be going steady. finally, after about two hours we simply caved and went outside, only to find the rain actually letting up and nearly stopping. a bit of luck there.

Mostar is kind of a sad place, simply due to the ubiquitous ruined buildings. This area was hit particularly hard during the war in 1993. Evidently the Serbs attacked first, but were driven off by combined Croat-Bosnian Muslim forces. Unfortunately, the Croats then decided that they wanted the area for themselves, and set to shelling the old city and the east side of the river incessantly. They destroyed the Old Bridge (Stari Most) with artillery, which was actually caught on tape. we saw a video of it on a big projection tv in one of the museums, which I surreptitiously filmed with my camera. crazy stuff. So theres just bombed out buildings everwhere in this city. in one central square theres a brand new, shiny glass modern building right next to a three story, shelled out stone building. its all incredibly interesting, but I almost feel guilty about how fascinated I am- these people had to live through this, while I am here feeling as if Im being entertained by it. Of course thats the shallowest possible interpretation. Really it can only be good for the world to come and see the true destruction that a war leaves behind. You can see it on tv, but the simple things that TV ignores are whats more powerful - walk down a flight of stone steps thatve probably been around for hundreds of years, and suddenly you have to step very carefully because theyre half destroyed.

Despite the destruction, this city is gaining steam again. The bridge has been rebuilt (its the center photo in my blogs mosaic pic) and is just beautiful. The people are friendly and trying to enjoy every day. If you thought there were a lot of coffee shops in Victoria, you would not believe how many cafes there are around here. its as if people spend all their time sitting around drinking coffee. Its actually a little frustrating when all youre really looking for is some food (they dont serve any food at a cafe).

Ill post up some pics here again. These ones are from Sarajevo, where we went out for FANTASTIC dinner at a restaurant called To Be (or not) To Be. The -or not- is crossed out on their sign. The tower is the minaret in the central old mosque in the old town of sarajevo.

I really cant say enough good things about sarajevo. The city was not exactly beautiful in a classic sense, but it was so interesting and full of life, with an old town that is actually still the pulse of the city for the locals. Its all cobbled streets and low, old buildings, with cafes, restaurants, shops and all manner of goods. At first we thought it was all touristy, but in fact the locals use it just as much as we did. That really changes a place. Mostar, for example, is clearly a city where the old town is now completely dedicated to tourists.