Checking out was as simple as dropping the keys in the letterbox. As we had a couple of hours still until our bus to Mostar, we went around the corner to a coffee shop I had seen the previous day that looked really adorable. It was amazing! I don't remember the name of it right now but hopefully I can add that to the blog later.
As we approached the coffee shop, an elderly man with amazing, flowing, yellow-white long hair came out to greet us, and invited us to sit where ever we liked. We chose outside because there was more space, and we had all of our luggage. We plopped ourselves down onto the low pillowed seats and ordered two coffees. He apologised initially, saying it would take about 5 minutes to prepare, and was that ok? Absolutely fine by us. In the meantime, he gave us a couple of books to read about Bosnia and pointed out some things of interest. Sadly we were leaving that day, but we also had a peek at the section about Mostar where we were about to head.
Well! This coffee was quite the performance. It wasn't the ritual that Dan had experienced before - it was quite different. Each of us was brought a tray with a little pot brimming with coffee, a glass of pale yellowish water, a little coffee cup and some sugar cubes. The gentleman demonstrated what needed to be done - first, you scoop of the crema from the top of the coffee pot. Then you pour the coffee into the little cup. You take a sip of the water, which he called sherbet and was flavoured with honey, cinnamon and many other sweet spices, and then you take two sips of the coffee. If we needed sugar, it was there, but the sherbet should be enough.
Oh my it was so tasty! I liked to leave a little bit of the sherbet in my mouth as it sweetened the bitterness of the coffee. We tried to take our time as we were in no rush, but it was very tasty and I was having trouble pacing myself. The whole thing only cost us 7KM, about €3.5, which seemed ridiculously cheap so we left a bit of a tip too.
Getting the tram to the station was reasonably easy - we bought a ticket from a nearby stand and hopped on the next one that came along. We were able to get seats which was pleasant, and the gentleman who sat next to me helped me deal with my things when I went to get off at the bus station. The trams are very old, and reminded me of the old trams we saw in Berlin. We got to the bus station pretty early so just hung around until our bus to Mostar showed up.
The bus journey started off pretty uninteresting but soon became really stunningly beautiful. All I could think was - if this is the un-scenic journey by bus, how beautiful is the train journey! We tried to take a lot of pictures out the window, some worked... The journey was about 3 hours and the second half was truly spectacular.
When we arrived in Mostar, it was quite hot! We walked to our accommodation, and were instantly greeted by some bogan Aussies playing darts. Soon one of the ladies working at the hostel came out to get us started with the check in process. The hostel is called Hostel Majdas and it's a no brainer - this is the place to stay when you are in Mostar! The rooms are amazing, the breakfast each morning is fantastic but most of all the hospitality is second-to-none.
The lady grabbed some paper and some textas. "People," she said, "People. Please draw your names on the paper, which we will then stick on your door. Be as creative as you like!" She got us coffee and, bringing all the other people over to join in, showed us how to drink it the proper Bosnian way while she checked us in. This was slightly different to the coffee we had had in the morning, however the crema and the pouring ritual was the same. Instead of sherbet, though, you took a sugar cube, dunked the corner in the coffee, nibbled on the sugar and then drank the coffee through the sugar in your teeth. After two coffees today, I was surely buzzing!
Now we were taken to our room which was upstairs from the bunk rooms, and was absolutely lovely! There was no one else until our last night here in the privates section.
After a short rest, we went for a walk into the old town - we needed lunch and dinner and I had found a place that was supposed to be cheap called Tima Irma. We meandered through the Old Town - despite how touristy it was I still felt pretty relaxed and enjoyed the atmosphere - there was a lot of beautiful things surrounding us. It wasn't long before we came across the amazing Old Bridge - it's very slippery and very steep! With my bad shoes I had to be extra careful not to slip over on the downhill, but thankfully it's got foot holds along it to help prevent this.
On the other side of the river we found the place I had researched - they did a huge platter for 2 people for 25KM, which was about 12.50€. When it was presented to us, I was pretty sure she had given us the one for 4 people, it was so massive. It was filled with all sorts of local meats - cevapi, cheese filled meats, chicken, skewers, the amazing bright red paprika sauce that I grew to become obsessed with and what excited me the most - roasted tomato and zucchini (I felt like it had been weeks since I had a vegetable!).
After working through as much of the food as possible (we never quite finished it), as well as some local beer and cider, we went down to look at the bridge from the wading area beneath. The water level was a lot higher than when Dan was here last - and there used to be a small bridge connecting the two wading areas which is no longer there.
We sat here for quite some time, taking photos and just soaking it all in. The sun was setting and the bridge was no longer lit up, but it was no less beautiful. When the sun had fallen and there was no light on the houses opposite, we made our return to the hostel.
On the way, we grabbed a beer in case there would be socialising. Everyone we had met that afternoon as well as a few others were sitting there, so we decided to join them. We all chatted for some time, and Dan even went to grab a bit more beer for us as we stayed longer than we had intended. They all went to a nearby bar but we weren't willing to leave the hostel again, and when they left some more people arrived. We continued chatting with them until the outside area closed (11pm), so Dan and I called it a night.
I was really happy I'd gotten to see Mostar already - the original plan wouldn't have had us arriving until that night so being able to see the bridge and wander through the old town already was lovely. The next day would be our crazy tour - and we needed to be well rested for that.
Til next time,
xx
As we approached the coffee shop, an elderly man with amazing, flowing, yellow-white long hair came out to greet us, and invited us to sit where ever we liked. We chose outside because there was more space, and we had all of our luggage. We plopped ourselves down onto the low pillowed seats and ordered two coffees. He apologised initially, saying it would take about 5 minutes to prepare, and was that ok? Absolutely fine by us. In the meantime, he gave us a couple of books to read about Bosnia and pointed out some things of interest. Sadly we were leaving that day, but we also had a peek at the section about Mostar where we were about to head.
Well! This coffee was quite the performance. It wasn't the ritual that Dan had experienced before - it was quite different. Each of us was brought a tray with a little pot brimming with coffee, a glass of pale yellowish water, a little coffee cup and some sugar cubes. The gentleman demonstrated what needed to be done - first, you scoop of the crema from the top of the coffee pot. Then you pour the coffee into the little cup. You take a sip of the water, which he called sherbet and was flavoured with honey, cinnamon and many other sweet spices, and then you take two sips of the coffee. If we needed sugar, it was there, but the sherbet should be enough.
Oh my it was so tasty! I liked to leave a little bit of the sherbet in my mouth as it sweetened the bitterness of the coffee. We tried to take our time as we were in no rush, but it was very tasty and I was having trouble pacing myself. The whole thing only cost us 7KM, about €3.5, which seemed ridiculously cheap so we left a bit of a tip too.
Getting the tram to the station was reasonably easy - we bought a ticket from a nearby stand and hopped on the next one that came along. We were able to get seats which was pleasant, and the gentleman who sat next to me helped me deal with my things when I went to get off at the bus station. The trams are very old, and reminded me of the old trams we saw in Berlin. We got to the bus station pretty early so just hung around until our bus to Mostar showed up.
The bus journey started off pretty uninteresting but soon became really stunningly beautiful. All I could think was - if this is the un-scenic journey by bus, how beautiful is the train journey! We tried to take a lot of pictures out the window, some worked... The journey was about 3 hours and the second half was truly spectacular.
When we arrived in Mostar, it was quite hot! We walked to our accommodation, and were instantly greeted by some bogan Aussies playing darts. Soon one of the ladies working at the hostel came out to get us started with the check in process. The hostel is called Hostel Majdas and it's a no brainer - this is the place to stay when you are in Mostar! The rooms are amazing, the breakfast each morning is fantastic but most of all the hospitality is second-to-none.
The lady grabbed some paper and some textas. "People," she said, "People. Please draw your names on the paper, which we will then stick on your door. Be as creative as you like!" She got us coffee and, bringing all the other people over to join in, showed us how to drink it the proper Bosnian way while she checked us in. This was slightly different to the coffee we had had in the morning, however the crema and the pouring ritual was the same. Instead of sherbet, though, you took a sugar cube, dunked the corner in the coffee, nibbled on the sugar and then drank the coffee through the sugar in your teeth. After two coffees today, I was surely buzzing!
Now we were taken to our room which was upstairs from the bunk rooms, and was absolutely lovely! There was no one else until our last night here in the privates section.
After a short rest, we went for a walk into the old town - we needed lunch and dinner and I had found a place that was supposed to be cheap called Tima Irma. We meandered through the Old Town - despite how touristy it was I still felt pretty relaxed and enjoyed the atmosphere - there was a lot of beautiful things surrounding us. It wasn't long before we came across the amazing Old Bridge - it's very slippery and very steep! With my bad shoes I had to be extra careful not to slip over on the downhill, but thankfully it's got foot holds along it to help prevent this.
On the other side of the river we found the place I had researched - they did a huge platter for 2 people for 25KM, which was about 12.50€. When it was presented to us, I was pretty sure she had given us the one for 4 people, it was so massive. It was filled with all sorts of local meats - cevapi, cheese filled meats, chicken, skewers, the amazing bright red paprika sauce that I grew to become obsessed with and what excited me the most - roasted tomato and zucchini (I felt like it had been weeks since I had a vegetable!).
After working through as much of the food as possible (we never quite finished it), as well as some local beer and cider, we went down to look at the bridge from the wading area beneath. The water level was a lot higher than when Dan was here last - and there used to be a small bridge connecting the two wading areas which is no longer there.
We sat here for quite some time, taking photos and just soaking it all in. The sun was setting and the bridge was no longer lit up, but it was no less beautiful. When the sun had fallen and there was no light on the houses opposite, we made our return to the hostel.
On the way, we grabbed a beer in case there would be socialising. Everyone we had met that afternoon as well as a few others were sitting there, so we decided to join them. We all chatted for some time, and Dan even went to grab a bit more beer for us as we stayed longer than we had intended. They all went to a nearby bar but we weren't willing to leave the hostel again, and when they left some more people arrived. We continued chatting with them until the outside area closed (11pm), so Dan and I called it a night.
I was really happy I'd gotten to see Mostar already - the original plan wouldn't have had us arriving until that night so being able to see the bridge and wander through the old town already was lovely. The next day would be our crazy tour - and we needed to be well rested for that.
Til next time,
xx
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