Sarajevo

We traveled from Dubrovnik through Herzegovina to Sarajevo, Bosnia today.  The drive took about six hours and we stopped a few times along the way.  Once on the Bosnian Riviera (which is about 10 miles long), and once in an old ghost town that has become somewhat of an artists community in Herzegovina.  The scenery all along the way was spectacular.  First we had the Dalmatian Coast, with beautiful views of the the blue waters of the Adriatic.  Then we turned east into the mountains.  Crossing from Herzegovina to Bosnia we experienced a rather dramatic change in weather.  We entered a tunnel on one side of the mountain range where we were experiencing the mild weather Herzegovina, warmed by the Adriatic, has and we emerged on the other side of the mountains to the much cooler weather of Bosnia.  We were wearing coats and sweaters when we went out for dinner this evening.

PS-After we got to Sarajevo Tom went for a walk.  When he stopped at a cash machine he found that it would not give him any money.  Returning to the hotel he called the International service line to find out what was up.  To his surprise he found that yesterday and today someone in Dubrovnik had withdrawn $1,000 from his account!  As a result Tom's card has now been disabled (we sure hope that Sandy's card remains active or we may have trouble getting cash).  The good news is that the money is being refunded to our account by the bank.

The scenery along the Dalmatian coast is lovely.

Most of these island have a single fishing village located on them.

When the war was settled Bosnia had only 13 miles of the coast being surrounded by Croatia!

Once we turned inland we started to see signs of fall!

This fortress town used to be the outpost that guarded the border between Bosnia and Croatia.  In the 1800s it was abandoned.  It has now been partially rebuilt as an artists community.

During WWII the Nazis had chased Tito and his men up to this gorge.  Tito dynamited the bridge leaving himself and the Germans isolated on the same side of the river.  The Germans, thinking that they had him, delayed their attack while they brought up their heavy weapons.  That night Tito and his men crossed the river and escaped leaving the Germans with their heavy trucks, etc. stranded on the far side.

Here is the Holiday Inn that all of the news folks stayed in during the shelling of Sarajevo.

This museum marks the spot where the assassin stood and fired the shots that killed Arch Duke Ferdinand, starting WWI.