By ISA BELLE
The Old Town, or Stari Most as the locals say, is the pride of Mostar. It was inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2005. The showpiece is the famous Old Bridge (Stari Most), built by the Ottomans in the 15th century and characterized by cobblestones, truly a beautiful place. The bridge, however, is not as old as you may suspect. It was destroyed during the Bosnian war and has been rebuilt since and opened just in 2004.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Herzegovina.
I was abruptly woken up by the alarm clock. My head was heavy, and I could not properly open my eyes or get out of the bed. Why should I anyway when the bed was so warm? But you know what? It was not even my alarm clock. Shit! I could have slept for at least half an hour more.Situations like these await you every day living in a three-person dormitory room. But who complains? There are some sacrifices you have to accept when you want to experience the adventure of finishing your high school abroad, sharing a small territory with two incredibly interesting roommates from the United States and Russia in an incredibly interesting town called Mostar.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Herzegovina.
Partisans or Yugoslav partisans were a communist-led resistance movement during the Second World War who fought both the Axis of power in Yugoslavia and their collaborators. Thanks to them, Yugoslavia was the only country in Eastern Europe not liberated by outside forces but by its own people. This led to a lot of praises for these heroes and massive support for the communists after the war. Because of the overwhelming support for former partisans, their leader, Josip Broz Tito, abandoned other political parties in Yugoslavia as he deemed it unnecessary.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Herzegovina.
A student’s life is not the most active. Thus I like to go for a run once or twice a week. Running keeps me fit and makes me feel healthier and stronger, but most of all after the exercise I feel an incredible surge of energy. Running gives me the opportunity to empty my mind and to listen to the rhythm of my steps and the beating of my heart.
This article was submitted by LISA DRITTENBAS, a traveler in Bosnia.
My friend Yanush and I arrived in the pouring rain one cold, early December day in Mostar. We tried to find a couple of hostels but they were all closed. Finally, we ended up at Hostel Miturno, the last hostel on our list, whose doors were also closed. The nice lady in the shop next door called the hostel manager, Armel, and soon we were comfy in our sleigh beds with a big powerful heater drying our drenched clothes. Although there were only a few guests, Armel was so hospitable.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Mostar, Herzegovina.
Trebinje is a city in the far south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, part of Republika Srpska entity. Only 10km from the Adriatic Sea and 24 km by road to the jewel of Dubrovnik makes it a perfect day trip from there. It is a little bit longer by bus from Mostar for those who want to start the excursion from there.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Mostar, Herzegovina.
People in the Balkan love football, and Bosnia is no exception. They play, watch and support big clubs from the English Premier League and then fight about it. There have been several occasions when I was not allowed to leave my house in Mostar because the city’s rival teams were playing against each other resulting in riots after the game. Local people say that it has less to do with the match than the temperamental Balkans who need to burst.
This tip was submitted by BELEN, a foreign student studying in Sarajevo.
The best way to get to Sarajevo is by plane. There are daily flights from a few European airports for example Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich or Vienna International Airport in Austria. If you are departing from another European city, you will have to book a flight which stops at one of these cities. It’s also possible via Budapest, in Hungary.
Banja Luka is the capital of Republika Srpska, one of the two entities of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As you can see from the name, the population of Republika Srpska consists of mainly Bosnian Serbs versus Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from the Federation. Banja Luka has around 200,000 people, making it the second biggest city, after Sarajevo. Over the past year, I have visited a lot of places in the Federation, but I have never properly been in the Republika Srpska. Thus I was curious to go there and see whether it would be any different from the Federation. I know that I should visit the entire entity to come to a clear conclusion, but I don’t have the opportunity to do that–and nobody ever will see something in its entirety–so I thought the capital was a good place to start.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Mostar, Herzegovina.
45 minutes north of Mostar is an area perfect for hiking, called Diva Grabovia. It is a perfect example of Karst landscape, defined by layers of bedrocks. If you are not familiar with this geographical term, it’s just incredibly beautiful nature with high mountains and the magical turquoise Neretva River flowing in between. People made an effort to turn this area into a recreational place where you can have the most wonderful hikes.
My name is Cindy, also rhymes with travel junkie. A friend said I was probably a gipsy in my previous life. One of my many secret missions in life is to convert you to run off every once in awhile.
