Thursday, June 1st, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Greetings!

Jasmina, our guide today, took us through the city she grew up in.  She described a childhood that no one should have endured.  At seven, she and her family began to endure the War in Bosnia.  Mostar is a town which did not suffer the worst of the war.  You all know that war from the last year of it watching snipers shoot pedestrians in Sarajevo. But children in Mostar, like Jasmina, hid from the terror of war for five years.  And today, she took us for a walk through her city.

One of the most famous destructions in Mostar is the Old Bridge (Stari Most).  Built by the Ottoman Sultan (Suleiman the Magnificent) in 1566, it was bombed in November of 1993.  Jasmina led us through the tunnels that were used while the bridge was being rebuilt after the war ended.

We've had many local tour guides, but few integrated her own storyline as well as Jasmina.  I think we understand her town better because of it, and we hope that she someday gets to regain her childhood joys.

Leaving Mostar, we crossed three passport checkpoints to get to Dubronik, Croatia, where we'll be staying for the next three days.  Tomorrow, we head to Montenegro for a day trip, and then back here for some final exploring before this group breaks up, and Pat and I head on wth a guide for two more weeks in the former Republic of Macedonia and Albania.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Thursday, June 1st, Dubrovnik, Croatia