Zenica, Sarajevo and Mostar

Ljubljana-Zenica 4.8.2021

Mother had to go to Zenica. In order not to take the bus, I offered to drive her. I took the car from my sister. We woke up early, but still a little after 6 we started from home. I was a little scared compared to the previous 55 hour experience. However, the route went smoothly, there were no crowds at the borders. On the way I stopped once to refuel, the toll was for 12 €. The only attraction was pedestrians on the roads in an organized escort near Zagreb. We arrived in Zenica before noon. Which meant the trip only took 5 and a half hours. LAst time, it took so long to cross just one border.

I parked under the block and call my cousin. However, they went on a trip because they were expecting my mother the next day to arrive by bus. Now we had to spend 3 hours in Zenica. We were staying in the quarter of Jalija. First we went for Bosnian coffee to the Atlantis Confectionery opposite the Sejmen Mosque. From there, hunger drove us to the Piccolo 7 ćevapi place. When we sat down, they told us that they have run out of čevapi, but that they will arrive within 10 minutes. We really didn’t wait too long. The food was delicious. All in all, it was 13.5 BAM and by mistake they charged too little. I call waitress back and give her a tip in addition to what was missing from bill. This was followed by a walk along the river Bosna, where the water level was really low, there were many birds, fish and pedestrians. There we also sat a little on one bench. Next to it was the Jali Mosque from 1600.

After 3 o’clock we were back in front of the building, everyone gathered at the same time. We put our bags in the apartment and went bit around Zenica, picked up the PCT test for the flight the next day. They haven’t eaten yet and were looking for the right place. We end up in the Titanic inn by the river Lašva. The space is huge, a large parking lot, playground, terrace, accommodation. We sat by the water. Here there are again, birds, fish, the murmur of water. The waiter was among the more confused. Although not long ago I ate trout (2 small trout and potato salad) but I eat it again with ease. After returning, of course, there is also home-made baklava while chatting. We were all quite tired and went to bed early, but we still talk from one bed to another.

Zenica-Sarajevo-Mostar-Ljubljana 5.8.2021

We woke up the next morning at 6:30. It took long time to take turns in the bathroom. For breakfast there were eggs and home-grown tomatoes. While making plans for the current day, we sat down over coffee, Drina cigarettes, Taubisoda and of course baklava. I changed my plan from returning across Slavonski Brod to join the others and go to Sarajevo Butmir Airport to say goodbye to a cousin who is flying home to the USA, from there we will go to Mostar and the last stage is the way to Ljubljana.

We started on the highway (6 BAM) and we were in Sarajevo fairly quickly, access to the airport was a bit bad. On the way, PLavi orkestar is on the radio. Of course, we were early just in case. While we waited there was time for the conversation and we drunk Taubisodo (carbonated grape juice), which everyone except me remembereed from the ’80s.

It was time to say goodbye and we continued towards Mostar. I listened to Dino Merlin and Kemal Monteno. Soon the highway (2.5 BAM) ended and the serpentines began. The path was quite varied. In the meantime, we stopped for a snack, bun and kajmak in Bakery Čelebići. This place was quite full and obviously this is quite a popular stop along the way. As we descend to Lake Jablanica, a series of restaurants with lamb on a spit begin to line up, connoisseurs would say among the best in the world. But if we stopped here, everything would be delayed and I would not have time for Mostar or come to work a day later. Something has to stay for next time.

35 years ago, my cousin was in Mostar on military service and we went to see the barracks first. Of course, this is no longer a barracks but a University. He went around on memory lane, the rest of us stretched a little along Taubisoda, again. From there we headed to the old part of town. On the way we ate “poured” ice cream from the vending machine, another nostalgic move. The old part of the bazaar is beautiful but also extremely touristy, kujundžiluk, the old bridge (UNESCO) and restaurants are what attract foreign guests. Of course, we were no different from them, mandatory pics on all corners. It was time to eat something and we stopped in the tavern Mlinica Neretva, with a beautiful view of the river and the bridge. Here, too, I tried ćevapi, they were 1x more expensive, with more side dishes, but not as good as in Zenica. However, it was clear that the view was paid here (10 BAM).

It was necessary to slowly move towards home. After the farewell, I got in the car and started southwards. GPS has some problems and I end up on the road to Dubrovnik. I thinthought about this bend for a second, but racius wins. After 15 km at Žitomislići, there was a turnoff towards Čitluk, where serpentines were waiting for me again. Along the way are Buna, Medjugorje, Kravice waterfall and other places that will need to be visited some other time. The last part of the route is the motorway (1.2 BAM). Crossing the border at the border Bijača was not a problem, not crowded, the customs didn’t even look at me.

Now I connected to the highway in Croatia and it is more than 400 km and 4 hours to Slovenia. The road is not flat as on the north side, but there are no major traffic jams. Now Oliver Dragojevic and Severina are being listened to. In the meantime, I stopped twice to refuel and once for the toilet. The biggest problem was the bora wind. Tunnel st Rok was open, but the speed was also reduced to 60 km / h. On Bosiljevo I went off the highway to avoid potential congestion and that ament gain the ride was a bit varied. Just before the border there were two deers on the road, I barely could stop. One of the deer bumps lightly into the side of the car. Nothing shows on the car and the deer also went forward, I drove on. In Vinica, the border is empty. Later there was a hedgehog on the road and a fox and a bat almost crash into the window. Despite everything, I happily arrived home around half past one.

Povzetek

Over the weekend I did about 1250 kilometers in 3 countries. The ride itself was about 15 hours. Petrol is the cheapest in BiH at around 1.16 €, in Slovenia 1.27 and the most expensive in Croatia 1.42. I paid around € 40 for tolls in Croatia and around € 5 in BiH. Roads in Slovenia were OK, in Croatia the motorway is OK (bora problem), in BiH from new motorways to really bad regional roads. Culinary in BiH is one of the highlights, ćevapi, pies, baklava, coffee, … The prices are basically really good compared to Slovenia, e.g. you can get a small portion of ćevapi (5 pieces) for 1.5 €, a large portion (10 pieces) for 5 € at a tourist spot. Another highlight are the sights, both natural and architectural (Old Bridge, mosques, rivers, waterfalls). For me, however, this is was mostly important moment of family and nostalgia. It was a busy but still beautiful weekend again.