Saturday
We hit the road Saturday morning with our rental car. Keller took the bus to the Split airport where he’d arranged a good deal on a car for the next three weeks. It is a manual, so I can’t even drive it if I wanted to. Perhaps that’s something I can work on when we get back home. 😉
Our stuff fit in the car … barely. I’m glad we pared down our suitcases! A 5th bag certainly would NOT have fit!
We drove down to Dubrovnik along the nice highway. The road twisted between and through some pretty massive mountains, including one tunnel nearly 6 km long! I was very impressive … and very long!
We wound our way down the coast and crossed into Bosnia. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant on the coast in the Bosnian town of Neum. It was pretty good and better than a lot of the meals we had in Split.
Back on the road, we pulled into Dubrovnik mid-afternoon. Keller had to drive down a tiiiiiny little alley way between the buildings to get to our parking spot. We managed to get there without adding any scratches to the rental car and promptly agreed not to move the car from that spot until we were ready to leave town. We didn’t want to do that more than necessary!
After getting checked in a unloading the car, we walked down the hill to Old Town Dubrovnik. We passed the large fortified walls and headed to the funicular that runs up the mountain.
An old Napoleon-era fort once stood at the top of the mountain, but we mostly rode it for the view. And what a view it was! The sunset didn’t really cooperate, but we were able to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet on the hillside for a while before heading back down.
Since it is getting dark by about 7:30, it wasn’t all that late by the time we got back to Old Town. We wandered through the streets and up and down little alleys.
We bought ice cream from Peppino’s as recommended by a couple of ladies in Split … and they were right! The ice cream was BEAUTIFUL and it tasted phenomenal as well! I’ve never seen Ferrero Rocher ice cream before, but it definitely tasted like a cold version of the chocolate. 😉 Keller got a scoop of mint chocolate, Caden chose blueberry, and Kamy got chocolate banana.
We attempted to get a little something for dinner at the grocery store, but everything was already closed in the area. We hiked back up the hill to the apartment … up a LOT OF STAIRS! Our legs were all a bit numb and tired by the time we made it back. We made do with what we brought with us for dinner and called it a night.
Sunday
Today we had another full day planned for Dubrovnik. We started off with an early breakfast and then walked down to the Old Town.
We bought tickets to walk the City Walls and climbed up for quite the view! The weather was a bit overcast and drizzly at times, but it didn’t deter us. We managed to stay in front of the big tour groups too, so it was not very busy either.
After circling the walls, we found a restaurant up the hill near the walls for lunch. It had a lovely view, but that was the best thing going for it. The food was okay and over priced, but the bees that were hanging out and harassing us certainly detracted from the enjoyment of lunch.
So after eating we went and got some more ice cream from Peppinos! 😉 This time Keller got a scoop of mint chocolate AND kinder pengui, Caden and Kamy both had mango vanilla, and I had ferrero rocher again. It was delicious! And arguably the best ice cream we’ve had (ever)!
We stopped in a little Orthodox church on the way back to the apartment, via an Uber this time to save our tired legs.
I walked to the grocery store while the kids and Keller had some quiet time. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the apartment. I cooked dinner and zucchini bread for tomorrow and we called it a night. Both kids like playing cards, so we played 13 and Peston before bedtime. We had such a lovely view of the sunset from our dining table over the Adriatic Sea. It sure is lovely here!
Monday
First thing in the morning we loaded everybody and everything up, squeezed down the alley, and headed south!
While not initially in our plans for this trip, so many people recommended visiting the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro that we decided to add it in. The Bay is also a recognized UNESCO site, so I was already interested in it from that perspective alone. The Bay comes highly recommended by Rick Steves as a day trip too, so that was enough to push it onto our schedule.
The border crossing from Croatia into Montenegro was simple (if a little long) and we worked our way toward the narrowest part of the Bay. The mountains and valley is almost like a fjord and seems so out of place here! At less than 1/4 mile across and still 130 feet deep, this channel was critical to controlling the security of the Bay and the villages beyond.
We got out of the car and explored along the coast line a bit. Both kids took off their shoes and enjoyed walking around in the clear water, hunting for crabs and mussels and throwing rocks.
Caden apparently got into something that he was allergic to because he ended up with a massive rash all over his legs, torso, and arms shortly thereafter. We never figured out what caused it, but it must have been something in the water to have covered him so completely.
We made reservations at Ćatovića Mlini in Morinj — a restaurant highly recommended by Rick Steves as his favorite in Montenegro. It did not disappoint! The setting was lovely and the food was delicious!
After lunch we drove around the Bay to the town of Perast. Here we boarded a little boat to take us to the Catholic church on the island — Our Lady of the Rocks. It is a beautiful little church on a man-made island.
When we were done at the island, we took the boat back to shore and then wandered around town a bit. We dropped into another church in town, this time Saint Nikola Church where we saw an extensive collection of clergy vestments.
We arranged for an AirBNB in the little hamlet of Orahovac. There is plenty of parking and we have a lovely view off the balcony over the Bay. Not that we hung out there long — after dropping off our stuff we drove down to Kotor.
We had ambitions to climb the city walls and steps up to the top of the fortress way above the town of Kotor. 1355 stairs, according to the internet! The sun was already starting to set behind the mountains when we started, so we had to be in a hurry.
Caden and I made it about 75% of the way up before calling it quits, but Keller and Kamy high tailed it all the way to the top! Keller said the stairs got significantly steeper the higher they went, and while Kamy made it look easy, it was a brutal climb at the end. It was quite a view from the top though! The two massive cruise ships in the Bay looked pretty small from that high up.
(On a side note, Keller totally fell for the cruise ship with sails and said he’d be up for cruising on that. Only tickets start at like $8,000 for a week cruise. So probably not coming up in the budget. 😉 It’s pretty cool looking though!)
We met up with them back in town, grabbed a quick pizza dinner, and then wandered the Old Town a bit. There are so many stray cats in town (and really all the little Old Towns we’ve encountered in the Balkans), and this time a black and white kitty made friends with Caden and decided my lap looked perfect. Some mediocre ice cream rounded out the walking tour. Then it was back to the apartment for some sleep before hitting the road again in the morning!
Tuesday
From Kotor, we then drove north over the mountains to Bosnia. The drive itself was beautiful — especially up the mountain from the Bay of Kotor. The tunnels were super dark too … there was no electricity in the tunnels so it was really as dark as a pocket!
The views along the drive were quite stunning though, including this one, one of my favorites from the entire trip looking over the Bay of Kotor.
The border crossing into Bosnia was on a road that was currently under reconstruction, so the road condition wasn’t great. There wasn’t a line at the border crossing though!
Before our trip, I really did not know much about Bosnia, other than as a reference to the Bosnian War in the 1990s. It truly is a land that was ravaged by the war and there are so many battle scars still visible. In researching for this trip, many many people recommend a side trip from Croatia into Mostar, Bosnia. Mostar was a bi-cultural city, split about 50/50 between Croat Catholics and Bosniak Muslims. The cultural divide came to a head during the war, but since then the city and country as a whole has been working on reconciliation. There are still numerous abandoned and destroyed buildings, even in the heart of the city.
The most iconic example of the reconciliation is the Mostar bridge. Stari Most was built in the 16th century by the Ottomans and was a symbol of the region for hundreds of years. It was destroyed by Croat shelling during the war and then rebuilt in 2004 under UNESCO oversight. It retained it’s UNESCO designation after rebuilding because it was built with limestone from the same quarry as the original and with the same tools and techniques as it was back in the 1500s. It actually took longer and cost more to rebuild it than when it was new!
When we arrived in Mostar, we checked into our AirBNB for the night and then headed off to explore the city. We were hungry and started with a meal at Tima Lima. It was FABULOUS and truly a bargain meal. For 15 euros, we ordered a massive platter with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and bread. It easily fed all of us, and it was “a platter for 2.” o.O
After lunch we did the walking tour of Old Town, as well as some souvenir (and Christmas!) gift shopping. We also stopped at a local coffee shop to experience some “Bosnian” coffee. I can’t say it is my favorite, but I don’t really drink hot coffee anyway unless it has a lot of sugar and cream in it. Black isn’t my thing! Caden also picked out a tea, while Kamy had a mint syrup drink. We did try it though!
We were also presented with the opportunity to visit a mosque in Mostar. Caden always enjoys visiting the churches we run across, so this was a perfect chance to experience a mosque in a very Muslim part of the world. The Koski Mehmed Pasha mosque is very welcoming of tourists, so we did not have to remove our shoes, nor are women required to cover their heads, and photos were allowed.
We climbed to the top of the minaret and had a spectacular view of the river, the old bridge, and the rest of town.
After descending, we walked to the terrace near the river and enjoyed the sunset. Concurrently, we could hear the broadcast call to prayer of the various mosques in town. It was very eerie and special to experience the overlapping chanting and was quite memorable. Keller said it’s one of his favorite moments of the trip so far.
Most of the other tourist sights were closed for the evening by now, so we walked back to the apartment and stopped for some pastry desserts on the way. Back home, we fed the kids a light dinner and then went to bed.
Wednesday
This morning our plan was to explore the city a bit more, including visiting another mosque, do a bit of souvenir shopping, and explore the urban ruins next door.
One of the tallest buildings in Mostar during the war was a bank building next to our AirBNB. It was taken over by Croat forces and used as a sniper tower and for surveillance. There is nothing other than the concrete shell left … but it has a lot of graffiti (including artistic creations) and interesting views of the area. We very carefully explored the building and climbed all the way to the top. It’s a sobering situation to ponder and led to some interesting discussions with the kids. Good and bad and black and white have a tendency to turn gray during war time and this was the most tangible evidence of a recent war we have experienced.
We walked down to visit the Karadoz Bey mosque next and also climbed to the top of that minaret. Caden loves going up bell towers and minarets! Keller was more than willing to sit this one out. It was TINY!
Then we worked our way back to Tima Lima for lunch again. We debated going somewhere else, but we had such a good experience we just opted to order the same thing. 😉 Who knows when we’ll have another chance to order the platter in Mostar?
We dropped into the small Turkish Baths museum in Mostar before leaving town. Then it was back on the road to Croatia!
We all found Mostar very fascinating — a true meeting of Eastern and Western cultures, with a lot of Ottoman Turk influence that was new to us. We really enjoyed it!