Day 7
Stepping out your front door and having the Adriatic Sea to
welcome you is an experience few have.
Since Day 7 would be the last our group enjoyed this luxury, we decided
to take advantage of it one more time.
Immediately after breakfast we met by the water and did a swim sprint
workout: Swim 50 meters every 2
minutes on the minute for 20 minutes.
We divided the group into halves (stronger swimmers/weaker swimmers),
and started on opposite ends of the 50 meter distance. Group 1 went on the even minutes, Group
2 went on the odd. This kept the
course relatively clear so people weren’t swimming over each other in an effort
to stay close to shore.
After the workout everyone had free time to enjoy the beach
as they saw fit. Jenn and I chose
to lay around on the beach chairs with a group of others, but many decided to
go out and try the inflatable obstacle course the hotel had set up a short ways
offshore. This was essentially a
balloon bounce house, with jumps, ropes, and handles scattered throughout. The TV show “Wipeout” came immediately
to mind as I watched our group struggle, flail, and eat it all over the
course. Definite comedy for those
of us watching from shore, but an exhausting workout for those directly
involved. Just goes to show you
don’t always need to be “training” to get a work out.
Just before noon we loaded onto the bus and set our sights
on Bosnia. Although it was
certainly sad to say goodbye to Croatia and her infinitely beautiful waters and
coastline, I have to say I was excited to see the interior of the Balkans. So much history from the Yugoslavian
civil war is still fresh and palpable there and I knew our group would find it
interesting.
As we drove across the border the first thing I was struck
by was the landscape. Huge mountains
and forested hillsides, beautiful rivers and cliffs… not exactly what I had
pictured. For some reason the
image in my head was something much flatter and desolate. Chalk it up to ignorance I guess. Throughout the drive Armann got on the
microphone and explained some details about the conflict, including the
cultural peculiarities of Bosnia-Herezgovina. Because this region was home to a large population of
Bosnian Muslims, Catholic Croats, and
Orthodox Serbs, it was where the majority of the fighting took place. To a large degree, each nationality
fighting for independence was defined by its religion, so mosques and
cathedrals were easy targets for bombings. And nowhere else in the Balkans was there such a high
concentration of all three denominations than in present day Bosnia.
We saw the lasting effects of the fighting at our first stop
in Mostar. Mostar is a small town
in the hills that boasts a singular crown jewel: it’s bridge. A beautifully arched stone structure
connecting both sides of the river, this bridge was destroyed by bombs and
mortars during the war. We stopped
and watched a video detailing the process of rebuilding that took place and
couldn’t help but wonder how they did it.
Walking around the town you could feel the poverty. The walls still boast bullet holes,
many of the buildings have not been bothered to be repaired from explosions,
and the street vendors are all huddled onto a single stretch of cobblestones
that lead tourists to the bridge.
While eating lunch we could observe locals enticing foreigners to jump
the 80 foot bridge for a fee.
Apparently it’s common for the local diving club to raise money by
coaching tourists on how to safely enter the water from such a height. Naturally, our group only a few days
removed from a day filled with cliff jumping in the Adriatic, the buzz over
lunch was about who would jump the bridge. It wound up that only Sven, Sunny, and I were willing to pay
the 25 Euros to take the plunge, but boy was it worth it!!!
Before we could jump we had to go below with the diving
coach and do a series of practice jumps from a 10 meter platform he had set up
down river. In severely broken
English, he coached us to keep our knees bent and relax our arms like a bird’s
wings until just before impact. At
this moment we were to violently extend our legs and tuck our arms to our
sides, breaking the water and entering vertical. While this is not the first time I’ve thought of these
things, I’ll admit the practice jumps helped get my nerve up.
As we climbed back up the rocks to the bridge I noticed our
entire group had found seats along the shore to watch and take pictures. I mention this because they looked a
whole lot smaller from the bridge.
I was the first to jump, so I climbed the ledge (a 8 inch piece of stone
was we had to stand on once over the rails), got my balance, and tried to think
of nothing but the practice jumps.
If you ever find yourself in this position, it’s important you don’t
waste time on the edge. Just go for
it. And I did, floating through
the air for over 2 seconds of blistering freefall before entering the
water. I’d love to describe
exactly what it was like, but it happened quite fast. Perhaps the videos will do it better justice. Sunny and Sven followed soon after,
each of us emerging unharmed and exhilarated. And we had to have the biggest, loudest cheering section
Mostar’s seen in quite some time.
By this time it was nearly 6:00 pm and we had to be getting
on to Sarajevo. Only 3 days left
to go…
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