This morning, after an absolutely fabulous hostel breakfast, it was time to explore Mostar.
Mostar was one of the front lines for the recent war. I overheard a tour guide say over 99% of the city was destroyed. All of the bridges were knocked down. Snipers used the 7-story bank building on one side of the river as a sniper post. Damaged badly in the war, the building has stood in ruin since then. Yet, it’s open to urban exploration. I crawled under the bent iron grating to explore the building. A great view of the city, but eerily open with only the support beams and floors remaining – no walls.
I climbed back down to explore the rest of Mostar. On the way I stopped by a pharmacy to replace what I used the day before. The Old Town was packed with tour groups, reminding me of a tiny section (very tiny) of Istanbul.
Abandoning the Old Town to the mid-day heat, I returned to the hostel to relax through the peak heat of the day. I also researched the Ciro trail – the rails-to-trails path between here and Dubrovnik. In the late afternoon I returned to wandering the city. I kept passing Moritz, each of us always headed to where the other had just been.
Later in the evening I hung out with other travelers, getting skunked at cards and talking about US politics and health care.
While I decided to leave tomorrow after the hostel breakfast, I decided to pack early. I also can’t find my flash drive, so I pulled everything out looking for it. While doing so I discovered I had torn the front pannier in the crash. I pulled it apart and restitched the damaged section. While doing so I had animated conversations with my room mates. Everything repaired and packed, yet more discussion back in the common area.
With breakfast served at 9:30 am, I stayed up too late reading. I still woke to the sun, and said goodbye to Moritz when he left for his 7:00 am bus. I might have talked him into trying EuroVelo 6 from Passau; Moritz being from Germany makes that an easy start.