Mostar

So South of Italy...

We were really looking forward to going to Lecce which is called the Florence of the South. Turns out that it just kinda sucks. Nothing to do, everything was closed and I was still sick...so no fun. The next day we went to the caves and that was fun. We went around deciding what all the stalagtites and stalamites looked like and were informed by other members of the group that we are quite entertaining. So yea, good times. The day after the caves we just stayed in Bari---walked around, bought some wine, and went to the park to relax. Besides getting hit on by some creepy guys in the park, it was a good day. That night we took a ferry to the island of Mljet. The ferry was crazy cold but nice enough. We got there early and got a booth so we were comfortable.

So we arrived in Mljet and had the devil of a time finding accomodations. It was the only part of our trip we had not pre-booked and we almost did not find a place to sleep. We lucked out however, and got a nice, though expensive and small room. Mljet was lovely--we were staying in Polače, which is right next to the national park. So yea, we spent most of our time in the park. There was a great place to go swimming and I swam a bunch. It really made me realize how much I miss swimming and I am determined to find myself a cheap pool membership when I get back to the states. We biked around a bit, hiked up to the top of the mountain for beautiful views, and just spent the entire 3 days we were there chilling. Also in Mljet we added another member to our party, Donkey. Donkey is our traveling buddy and we take a lot of pictures with him. You will see.

After Mljet we went to Dubrovnik for the night, and stayed in the same place Emily and I stayed over two years ago. It has barely changed. Inga and I actually ended up in the same exact room as Em and I had so that was pretty fun. We also went to the same pizzeria that Em and I went to and it is still awesome. The next day we caught a bus to Mostar, we we currently are.

Mostar is awesome. It is a European city with a Muslim feel. You sit my the river wearing your bikini while the Muslim call to prayer goes off. Just such a weird feeling. You cannot really do that in most Muslim places. Why it is kosher here is that the city is a mix--Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox. So it just has a very interesting feel. Besides the cool feel, it also still has manz reminants of the recent war. You walk along some of the streets, and see buildings riddled with bullet holes. It is all very sureal. A lot of the buildings have yet to be repaired, so they have signs warning people to not go in. The signs all say something along the lines of "do not enter the ruins." It is just so strange--I am used to seeing the word ruin and assuming that it means something ancient. It is just weird to be surrounded by modern day ruins.

Anywho, so I really like Mostar and wish we had planned for more time in Bosnia--cos it is cool and cheap. Yesterday we went on an excursion through the hostel and we went to these awesome waterfalls. And I went rock jumping, so yea, way fun, but quite chilly. Tomorrow we are heading back into Croatia--I will write again soon.

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