Mostar from afar

The beautiful town, part of a Franciscan church and monastery. Pretty tall town. Now, look behind the town at the hill/mountain. That was our goal this morning! Climb the mountain and get to the cross at the top. 

One hour and a half later, we made it. It was an excellent view, nice breeze, good sunshine! The cross was built in 1997. Not appreciated by all who live in the city...I like it. 

My handsome husband. 

Below is me, checking out some twenty year old barriers that the Croatians used while shooting down at the Bosnian people.

Of course there was a lovely view of the famous bridge.

Half of the city of Mostar. 

Walking back down into the city, we enjoyed the narrow streets and all the blooming flowers!

This sign was on the door to the massive Franciscan church. Please don't come to church in your underwear, okay?

Yes, another bridge picture. I have to try every angle!

Operation Mostar!

The drive to Mostar from Sarajevo took about 2 1/2 hours. It was beautiful scenery along the way. Green, lush mountains, small villages and the river is a wonderful teal color. 

The climate and the landscape changed as we drove. We are now in Mostar and the mountains around us are much less lush and green. Still green, but more dry and a lot less trees than in Sarajevo. We found our guesthouse very easily, we even have a nice place to sit close to the river outside! Then we started wandering!

We found the Old Town to be much more touristy than Sarajevo! Or at least it seemed that way. But super beautiful. The cobblestone walkways, really old brick buildings and then the famous bridge!

Below I am standing on it. 

Here is the bridge, one angle. A diver was just about to jump off into the water. For money of course. They wait until they have received enough money from tourists before jumping.

Brian is really excited about finding things that are similar to doughnuts. He is starving for doughnuts. I will buy fun earrings and other touristy items and he will buy food. 

We couldn't help but notice these super big trees alongside the road, and actually in an intersection. 

Stari most bridge over the Neretva River. First built in the 16th century, it was destroyed in 1993 by Bosnian-Croat forces. It had stood for 427 years. Luckily they rebuilt it. In 2004 it was reopened and now the tourists (including me) flock to it like crazy!

Tomorrow we have a full day here. We plan to hike up a mountain to a huge cross that was put up in 2000. Then wander around some more. It is a small city and doesn't need much more than a full day to see. Then onward to Dubrovnik, Croatia. But, now I'm getting ahead of myself...

Bosnia Pt. 2

I can't help but post more pictures of our time here in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brian and I really have enjoyed our time here. It is really a beautiful city, not yet too expensive to enjoy, the food is great and there is a great night life in the downtown area. The hills and mountains around the city are fresh on our eyes as we have been looking at a flat landscape for the last 10 months in Russia.

We have done quite a bit of climbing on the steep, twisting streets. It is fun to look at the lovely little houses, often adorned with rose bushes or other flowers of the season. 

Last night we climbed up and up and up and got to where most of the houses stopped. It was really nice to get a view of the whole city!

The war and siege that happened here from 1992-1995 has made a lasting impact on Sarajevo. This market below was bombed and 68 people died at one time. 

This apartment building (below) was along "Sniper Alley", and is just one of many buildings with bullet holes still remaining. Apparently there were signs outside saying "Run or RIP" to warn city dwellers to be careful. A few roads and crossroads were more dangerous than others because there was no cover from the surrounding mountains. Most people went out at night or literally rain across the street to get supplies or the things they needed.

What is interesting, is that the city lived on. The tobacco factory continued to produce cigarettes and people used them as currency and a type of exchange for other goods. The factory even had to start using books like dictionaries to made the cigarette boxes in. One liter of milk could cost as much as $25.00. One egg was about $5.00. The journalists and people who produced TV shows in the city all continued to work. The newspaper was still printed, even if it only had two pages. Most of the workers had to go to work at night for safety reasons of course, so they wouldn't get shot on the way to work. There were still clubs and music festivals going on, just underground, in basements and without electricity of course. We heard the winter was the hardest.They had to burn all that they could to keep warm. No fuel or electricity would make a winter pretty miserable!

Looking on the map, you can see the large red line, that is were the enemy was located. At the bottom left hand corner is the airport. The UN was in charge of the airport, so it was the best place for the people of Sarajevo to dig a secret tunnel, under the runway, to get people in and out and get supplies. 

This is the exit of the tunnel, "Tunnel of Hope". Food, wounded men and women, ammunition, electric and gas lines and more were brought in through this tunnel. 

They even had a rail system set up so they could push instead of always carrying people or food through the tunnel. 

Thankfully now Sarajevo is a relatively peaceful city. Muslim, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Jewish people all live intermingled with each other. They may not fully accept the other religion, but they have learned to live together. 

Operation: Adventure Bosnia Pt. 1

We flew into Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina yesterday afternoon. We were immediately shocked with the change of scenery coming from Russia. This landscape really has more to do with Alaska than any other place we have lived. Surrounded by mountains, beautiful rivers etc... 

 The set up of the neighborhoods here are so quaint and cute they look like the fake ones that trains collectors create for the electric trains to go through.

 Last night we went for a stroll and Wendy had to snap a photo of the big Catholic church.

 This is the most popular food here in Bosnia, it is called Chavapichi. It is basically sausages stuffed in pita bread. We didn't know it came separate, but there is a sweet kind of hummus sauce that goes on them. It is tasty, but we want to try it again with the sauce.

History always takes so long to explain, but this is basically the bridge on which Franz Ferdinand was shot that led to WWI.  

 Playing chess is hard enough, now imagine that you have to be like 9 feet tall to see the whole board. While we were watching one man lost his queen because he forgot where she was. We know that our nephews Isaac and Noah would love to play on this board.

 There was a crazy war between Serbia and Bosnia that lasted for about 5 years in the early 90's basically Serbia surrounded the city we are in. So the Sarajavens dug a 800 meter/ 2,500 ft tunnel to bring supplies into the city.

There are many mosques here and they get on loud speakers and do the call to prayer many times a day. The first time we heard it I thought it was dogs howling and then walked outside and realized it was not that.

                                   Stay tuned for Mostar, Bosnia coming up tomorrow

A little more clinic info.

Here is the hand and the hill from the fall. 

Below, check out these stitches! I unwrapped the hand to see what they looked like and was a little surprised! They use some sort of thread, not our nice, plastic thread we use in the USA. And, Brian told me the doctor had to bend his own needle with some pliers. Great! He also had to reuse gloves, but he did wash them with water and alcohol before touching Brian. I enjoyed finally seeing the inside of a clinic! Even if they wouldn't let me watch the stitches :(

So far the hand is looking fine. It is a little painful for Brian and he can't use it for much. But, time will heal it up! We are thankful it wasn't more serious. So, in about 8 days I will take these stitches out and hopefully Brian will have a nice scar to show you all!

Only 4 more days in Russia! Pretty crazy. We are finishing up by visiting friends here and getting everything in order to go through Europe. I am sad to leave, but really excited for our trip and to get back to America. 

Here are some fun little facts:

I haven't driven a car since August. 

Brian and I have worn our wedding bands on our right hand ring finger since that is what they do here in Russia. 

I wore my watch on Oregon time the whole year (it just finally stopped working) since it wouldn't let me change the time. I just had to calculate it in my head.

I haven't worked as a nurse for almost a year! How terrible. I do miss it.

We miss American cereal.Only corn flakes here. 

We walk around 3 miles a day on average.

Brian is very excited to ride his bike, and I am excited to drive a car!!!

And of course we are very excited to see our friends and family.

But, first up: our trip through Eastern Europe. Here is the list of places we will visit: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Salzburg and Hallstatt, Austria,  Prague, and Krakow. 

Stitches, Storms, and Surprises

In our last days here in Nizhny, Wendy and I decided to go for a walk just to get out for a nice time in the morning.

                                  I wanted to take the church home but the dome just wouldn't budge.

                                    

I told Wendy to go across this little valley and I would take a cool little picture. I do like how it turned out.

However when I followed down the other side of the hill, I started to slide and go really fast. I did not know that there was metal fencing on the ground to hold the hill in place. I tried to slow down and a piece of metal decided to slice my hand.

                                         
 Wendy was really excited to finally get to see a Russian medical facility, our friend recommended Поликлиника 21 (polyclinicka 21).

            We only have a few photos because the doctor and nurse were the most unpleasant medical professionals we have ever met. They did not say hello, just "sit here" they gave me two crummy stitches, and they wouldn't let Wendy in to the room. At the end we expected to pay in cash, but they just kicked us out without any payment. It was totally free.
                                             
After our underwhelming ER experience, Wendy and I decided to go get Shaooerma Шаурма. Which is basically a Russian burrito. It is really good, but it doesn't have anything on carne asada.

After our fun day walking and going to a clinic, we went to our friends apartment for dinner. What we didn't know, was they had invited many of our friends for a surprise farewell party for us and our friend Ted. It was awesome, we were both surprised, Brian more than I. (I had suspicions). Thanks to Franziska and Sven for the use of their lovely flat. And to everyone who came. I don't have a group picture unfortunately, but a picture of Sven's gift to me will be enough. A mojito!

We made wonderful friends here and it is really sad and hard to say goodbye. I am thankful for our friends here. 

Lovely Russian Village

This quaint village was on the way to our camp. About a mile and a half walk away from camp. A few afternoons we ventured out to saunter through it. It was fun. I wish I could have gone in some of the houses and learned some history of them. But, no one invited us in!

We thought about calling my mom from this phone, but realized we didn't have enough quarters.

The road out, the green fields and blue sky. and once in the sun, the mosquitoes weren't quite so bad!

Many dead butterflies on the sides of the roads. Brian was thinking about snacking on this one. 

Protective rooster. Scaring us away!

A big turkey in the middle of the photo. 

Another village picture. 

Overall, camp was a good experience for both of us. Brian had a great time and probably could have worked out there all summer. Me? Well, it had good times and not so fun times. It was difficult to be the only NON-Russian speaker in the midst of so many. I had limited people to talk to. Plus, we were almost like celebrities out there with the kids. So every time we walked out of our room, kids would come up to us, surround us almost! Especially Brian because he would stop and chat for hours. I would put my head down and walk quickly and hope no on would notice me. :) Ha ha, just kidding, I wasn't that bad (all the time)! 

If you look hard, you can see Brian in the middle of the photo. The back of his head, he has a red shirt on. Surrounded by a group of Russian kids. Just a little example of how "popular" we were at camp. The last few days of camp, we took numerous photos, we even signed a girl's arm. WOW. 

BUT, on the other hand, the kids were so friendly, and we really enjoyed them. They really wanted to speak English with us. The scenery was great. And as all the Russians say "The air is so clean in the forest".