By our last day in Rome, we were pretty museum and ruined out, and a change of pace to the 'countryside' was exactly what the doctor ordered. Adrian had wanted to go to Cassino on our way up to Rome from Naples, but we ended up doing it as a day trip.
Cassino is a town half way between Rome and Naples and was the sight of a rather large battle during WWII. It is the home of the order of St Benedict and is home to a beautiful Abbey high up on the hill. Our timing was a bit unfortunate (there was a bus up the hill to the Abbey at 9.30 and 3.30 - we got there at 11am), but it meant a few hours of enforced relaxation in the local park. It's a hard life.
Once we were sick of that (well, once Adrian woke me up), we walked down the road to the Commonwealth WWII cemetery. The Battle of Monte Cassino incurred heavy losses for NZ and Polish troops and it was sobering to see all the graves and list of names. The fact that the vast majority of them hadn't even reached their 30s hit home too. The war museum was unfortunately shut, Saturdays being to Cassino what Monday seems to be to the rest of Italy.
The Abbey was a whole other world. I (Amelia) could totally see the charms of a monastic life while you were perched up there on the hill - it was so peaceful and serene. Having to walk around it in Adrian's shorts and jersey didn't add to the experience however, I must remember to always pack 'church appropriate clothing' just in case. (It was worth it just to see Adrian's hairy legs poking out the bottom of my short skirt).
Adrian checked out the Polish cemetery up on the hill. The ages were a bit different, mostly in their 30s.
All in all, a successful day trip and definitely worth a stop on the way up to/away from Rome if you're ever in the neighbourhood. Just don't go on a Saturday!
Next stop: Florence!
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Friday, 13 June 2008
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar is in the H part of B&H, and is situated on both sides of the Neretva River. They have an 'Old Bridge' spanning the two sides that was completely destroyed during the war and was painstakingly reconstructed. Men still jump off the bridge now as they did pre-1990s, with it being 24 metres high it's no easy feat! They had an interesting museum all about the bridge and how they rebuilt it that we whiled away some time at, as well as checking out the local burek (Balkan version of the pie) and one of the best dinners we have had yet - the 'Herzegovina plate' - that was so large (and meat-laden) we had to take the remains home in a doggy bag... (and for those who know Adrian, that's pretty incredible we couldn't finish it off between us!)
Our hostel in Mostar was the highlight though, Majda's Rooms, where Majda told us all the best places to go, made us feel right at home, and ferried us to and from the bus station. Another highly recommended place! Mostar was nearly completely obliterated during the war and there are empty, bombed out buildings everywhere with signs saying 'dangerous ruins, do not enter'. Most of the inhabitants had to evacuate during the war and seeing the pictures of the town during the war you can completely understand why.
Another interesting things we did in Mostar was climb a minaret in one of the local mosques. It was about 100 very narrow and windy steps up, and the ledge at the top didn't do much to help dampen my growing vertigo that started ever since we went to the Aiguille de Midi (I blame you for this Dad, I'm sure it's inherited!). Gave you a great view over the city though and was cool to think about the guys coming up and doing a call to prayer 'live' rather than through a microphone system.
Overall, B&H was a really interesting country that would be well worth returning to. The people were very friendly and open and seeing as it will be the last 'reasonably priced' country we see for a while, it was hard to leave!
Next stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our hostel in Mostar was the highlight though, Majda's Rooms, where Majda told us all the best places to go, made us feel right at home, and ferried us to and from the bus station. Another highly recommended place! Mostar was nearly completely obliterated during the war and there are empty, bombed out buildings everywhere with signs saying 'dangerous ruins, do not enter'. Most of the inhabitants had to evacuate during the war and seeing the pictures of the town during the war you can completely understand why.
Another interesting things we did in Mostar was climb a minaret in one of the local mosques. It was about 100 very narrow and windy steps up, and the ledge at the top didn't do much to help dampen my growing vertigo that started ever since we went to the Aiguille de Midi (I blame you for this Dad, I'm sure it's inherited!). Gave you a great view over the city though and was cool to think about the guys coming up and doing a call to prayer 'live' rather than through a microphone system.
Overall, B&H was a really interesting country that would be well worth returning to. The people were very friendly and open and seeing as it will be the last 'reasonably priced' country we see for a while, it was hard to leave!
Next stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
We were so close, it would have been rude not to visit... That was the justification for a couple of nights sidetrip into Bosnia and Hercegovina and it was well worth every BAM (convertible marks to the more technical amongst us).
We bused down from Split into Sarajevo (the B part of B&H) along some pretty majestic scenery, dominated by the Neretva River. We arrived into Sarajevo pretty late (about 11pm) armed with directions to our hostel which was apparently only 5 minutes walk from the bus station. Whatever! After walking around for about half an hour we finally capitulated and got a taxi - the guy told us a) it was 'very, very close' (yeah, thanks, we knew that already!) but that we should b) be 'very careful' and that wandering the streets at night was maybe not such a good idea. But not to fear (this is for all the parents out there), we never came to any harm the whole time we were there, and in fact, the B&H's were some of the nicest people we've met so far!
Arriving at the hostel at about midnight, we rang the bell, only for it to be answered by one of the guests who said that the lady had gone and wouldn't be back until 10am the next day! (So much for 24 hour reception...) They let us up anyway and we crashed in one of the rooms. Early the next morning, on wakening and discovering that the kitchen and bathroom were one (ew!) and the whole place was pretty grotty, we left some cash on the bed and left. If you're ever planning on going to Sarajevo, avoid 'Hostel Enjoy' like the plague!
But onwards and upwards. There was another hostel in town that was highly recommended, Hostel City Centre Sarajevo, and it was probably the flashest hostel we stayed in so far. We were lucky to get the last rooms in the house - two lilos in a yet to be completed dorm room! But they were actually really comfortable and getting your own room but paying the least amount possible was pretty sweet. Apparently they do great tours out into the surrounding areas to waterfalls etc. - everyone was raving about them but sadly we didn't have enough time.
Anyway, enough about the accommodation! Sarajevo itself was absolutely fascinating, the recent history of the 1991-1995 conflict is just in your face everywhere you look. It was strange, but you even got used to seeing bullet holes in everything. We did a tunnel tour of a tunnel that the city built under the airport from Sarajevo city itself (which was quasi-surrounded by the Serbians, apart from the airport which was in UN hands) out to the B&H free territory. The guides were two people in their late 20s who gave us a pretty frank description of life during the war - there's still so much hurt and anger about it all which is pretty easy to understand when you go there and see it for yourself. The corruption and confusion that still reigns in the city is also a source of huge frustration - they have two police forces, three presidents that each have power for a year each, and can never get agreement between anyone so can never move forward. It really made you appreciate an open and relatively simple political system!
We had initially planned to spend the night with some other people from the hostel, but Adrian found some really cheap tickets (NZ$7 each!) to Carmen at the National Theatre, performed with the Sarajevo Philharmonic. Well, that's not something you're going to turn down is it! It was Adrian's first time at an opera, so what better place to start than Sarajevo. It wasn't an opera in the sense that I'm used to (a big theatrical production), as the leads and the chorus just stood on stage and the leads were just in regular dresses etc., but it was definitely a lot of fun.
We'll post some pictures as soon as we get our disposable camera developed!
Next stop: Mostar.
We bused down from Split into Sarajevo (the B part of B&H) along some pretty majestic scenery, dominated by the Neretva River. We arrived into Sarajevo pretty late (about 11pm) armed with directions to our hostel which was apparently only 5 minutes walk from the bus station. Whatever! After walking around for about half an hour we finally capitulated and got a taxi - the guy told us a) it was 'very, very close' (yeah, thanks, we knew that already!) but that we should b) be 'very careful' and that wandering the streets at night was maybe not such a good idea. But not to fear (this is for all the parents out there), we never came to any harm the whole time we were there, and in fact, the B&H's were some of the nicest people we've met so far!
Arriving at the hostel at about midnight, we rang the bell, only for it to be answered by one of the guests who said that the lady had gone and wouldn't be back until 10am the next day! (So much for 24 hour reception...) They let us up anyway and we crashed in one of the rooms. Early the next morning, on wakening and discovering that the kitchen and bathroom were one (ew!) and the whole place was pretty grotty, we left some cash on the bed and left. If you're ever planning on going to Sarajevo, avoid 'Hostel Enjoy' like the plague!
But onwards and upwards. There was another hostel in town that was highly recommended, Hostel City Centre Sarajevo, and it was probably the flashest hostel we stayed in so far. We were lucky to get the last rooms in the house - two lilos in a yet to be completed dorm room! But they were actually really comfortable and getting your own room but paying the least amount possible was pretty sweet. Apparently they do great tours out into the surrounding areas to waterfalls etc. - everyone was raving about them but sadly we didn't have enough time.
Anyway, enough about the accommodation! Sarajevo itself was absolutely fascinating, the recent history of the 1991-1995 conflict is just in your face everywhere you look. It was strange, but you even got used to seeing bullet holes in everything. We did a tunnel tour of a tunnel that the city built under the airport from Sarajevo city itself (which was quasi-surrounded by the Serbians, apart from the airport which was in UN hands) out to the B&H free territory. The guides were two people in their late 20s who gave us a pretty frank description of life during the war - there's still so much hurt and anger about it all which is pretty easy to understand when you go there and see it for yourself. The corruption and confusion that still reigns in the city is also a source of huge frustration - they have two police forces, three presidents that each have power for a year each, and can never get agreement between anyone so can never move forward. It really made you appreciate an open and relatively simple political system!
We had initially planned to spend the night with some other people from the hostel, but Adrian found some really cheap tickets (NZ$7 each!) to Carmen at the National Theatre, performed with the Sarajevo Philharmonic. Well, that's not something you're going to turn down is it! It was Adrian's first time at an opera, so what better place to start than Sarajevo. It wasn't an opera in the sense that I'm used to (a big theatrical production), as the leads and the chorus just stood on stage and the leads were just in regular dresses etc., but it was definitely a lot of fun.
We'll post some pictures as soon as we get our disposable camera developed!
Next stop: Mostar.
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