Mostar

Wednesday, 24th June.

Before leaving Medugorje this morning, the four of us walked to the church and at 8 am there were already crowds gathering, though not as yet anywhere near the huge number we saw last night.  Since 1981, Medugorje has been a popular Catholic site of pilgrimage due to reports of alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary, by six local Catholics.  

On the way back to camp we stopped at one of the local bakeries for coffee and doughnuts before packing up and leaving for Mostar, about 25kms north.  Our chief objective was to see the bridge there, considered to be one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkan region.  

By the time we arrived in Mostar and had found parking at the bus station, the rain had also arrived so raincoats were donned and umbrellas unfurled.  Sadly, the heavy rain persisted for our entire visit, making it necessary to dodge puddles and other people's umbrellas but managing to view the bridge and take the obligatory photos.  Having soggy shoes and feeling a little damp, we were easily tempted into a cafe where a very pleasant young man served us with 2 shared meat platters and beers all round for the princely sum of €20!   

After our lunch, we squelched back to the bus station where we had left Boris and Bluey, relieved to find no parking tickets on their windscreens, and headed to an autocamp in Blagaj,

which we eventually found after going through narrow country roads and a dead end, and are now sitting in the late afternoon sunshine.