Today's post is special because we will directly present two days of the trip at once. The reason for this is actually we are lacking photos for Day 10. When leaving Dubrovnik, we are leaving Croatia at the same time and heading towards Bosnia Herzegovina. This is a very long drive, almost take the whole day from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo. So, almost no pictures are taken. :( That's why we combined Day 10 and Day 11 together. Enjoy!! :)
We stopped by Medjugorje for lunch. It is a small village in Bosnia known for the apparition of Virgin Mary. Since then, it has become one of the pilgrimage site for Christians around the world. All of us in the group are Christians, thus we were very happy to have the chance to visit Medjugorje. After lunch, we climbed the Apparition Hill, where Virgin Mary was said to appear in front of 6 children in 1981.
Medjugorje village from the Apparition Hill
A rocky climb towards the top of the Apparition Hill
After descending from the hill, we visited St. James Church, the first church built in Medjugorje. The church that we saw was actually the new church, built after the ground underneath the first church began to sink.
Milo and Croco in the piazza
of St. James Church
We left Medjugorje soon after to continue the trip to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Actually, compared to Croatia and Serbia (which is our last destination), Bosnia is a bit left behind after the war in 1991. It's a bit shocking to see Sararjevo a while later.
Towards Sarajevo, not many road signs available
Almost reaching Sarajevo, it's almost dinner time
We had dinner in Bosnian style restaurant. The taste was quite similar to Croatian style. :) We finished the day afterwards, but before that we took some pictures of the Federal Building and Latin Bridge.
Latin Bridge, crossing after dinner
The on-construction ex Federal Building,
destructed in the bombing during the war
After having a good night rest in Sarajevo, it was time to continue the journey to Serbia. We only stayed in Bosnia for 1 day, since not many places could be seen. We did the sightseeing inside Sarajevo in the morning before driving towards Belgrade, Serbia.
Sebilj, a fountain used as water source
for Sarajevo people in Ottoman era
The oldest orthodox church in Sarajevo
The beautiful icon inside the church
The entrance door is very short,
meant to make people bow in order to
show their respect when entering the church
Icon of Virgin Mary and baby Jesus
We moved on to Sultan Mosque,
one of the biggest mosque in Sarajevo
The mosque tower, usually used to
announce time to pray for the Moslems
Entrance of the Sultan Mosque
After the mosque, we went to see the corner where
Franz Ferdinand was killed. The bridge is then called Gavrilo Princip's Bridge,
after the name of the assassin.
after the name of the assassin.
Looking back at the tragic corner once again
Hotel Europe, the witness of the tragic history in Sarajevo.
Franz Ferdinand was on the way to the hotel
when he was shot.
In front of the first goldsmith in Sarajevo,
if I remembered correctly :p
Cathedral of Jesus' Heart
The entrance of the cathedral,
we didn't have time to go inside
After the sightseeing inside Sarajevo, it's time to waive goodbye to Bosnia and continue the trip to Serbia. We stopped by a city called Zvornik, near the border, to have our lunch. It was a beautiful little village in the middle of the mountain. We then crossed the border and arrived at our last destination, Serbia.
Welcome to the Republic of Serbia!
The shot was taken from the bus since we're not allowed to go down.
Moving towards Belgrade (or Beograd),
around 2 - 2.5 hours drive
The highway towards Belgrade,
we're almost there
Finally, exiting the highway to enter Belgrade
Some cityscapes in front..
Yayy...
We passed by a cute Pet Centre with a balloon dog on top,
before entering the city centre of Belgrade
We reached Belgrade at dinner time. The traffic was very bad, we were stuck around 30 minutes before reaching the hotel. We had dinner in the hotel and relaxed to prepare for the last day tomorrow. ;) We're ending the trip soon...
Many thanks Milo and Croco for sharing the nice photos of the churches and the mosque :-) It is very sad that these wonderful countries had to suffer such a lot of pain during the long war and so many worthful buildings and places are destroyed!
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