Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina, 2018

Medjugorje was a tiny hamlet between some hills in Bosnia Herzegovina, south-west of Mostar. See red marker on map. There were several small villages scattered in the area, and each wanted a Catholic Church to be in their village. It was decided to build one church in the middle of them for them all to share - and so the St James Church was built centrally and villagers had the same distance to walk to Mass. Since the Apparitions began in 1981, the number of pilgrims arriving has seen the need for hotels, restaurants and needless to say, like Fatima and Lourdes, flourishing gift and souvenir shops. Medjugorje in the summer months is a very busy area. It is no longer a tiny hamlet between the hills...

St James Church

The original small St James Church was built on faulty ground, and began sinking. The second church that was erected was so large that neighbouring villagers wondered why such a huge church was built for only a few small villages. My photos will show that not only is that large church that seats 750 people too small, even an additional outdoor seating area for 9,000 people is inadequate when an influx of around 12,000 people attend Masses over the weekend of 25 June every year. Medjugorje has around 1 million visitors each year - pilgrims wishing to share in the mystery of the Virgin Mary apparitions that began to 6 young children in June 1981 and continue to this day. If you wish to read more about them, check out this link. 
http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/medjugorje-phenomenon/apparitions/.


Due to the phenomenon of conversions, confessions and ongoing Apparitions in Medjugorje, a few weeks ago Pope Francis confirmed his plan to send Archbishop Henryk Hoser (retired Archbishop of Warsaw, Poland) to assist in caring for the Medjugorje parish. He is due to arrive any day. If you are interested in the background, you can click on this link. https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/05/31/for-second-time-pope-sends-special-envoy-to-medjugorje/

I cannot recall how I first heard about the Apparitions at Medjugorje, but it was several years ago, and I have followed the happenings with interest since then. I knew that I wanted to go there one day, and I finally made it. Murray and I had 4 nights in Medjugorje, staying at a Hotel directly across the road from St James Church. We couldn't help but feel part of the pilgrims euphoria as they celebrated the 37th anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions. I had booked us on an American Pilgrimage Tour, and as it turned out, it was the best way to get the most out of our visit. Interestingly, while we were still in Dubrovnik, Murray was watching the soccer with a chap and mentioned that we were visiting Medjugorje. The guy asked Murray how many days we were planning to stay for,  and Murray replied for 4 nights. He told Murray that was way too long, and that 2 days was enough to see it all. Well, we had 3 full days there and I wish we had a few more. I daresay that if you came here without a tour guide that your time here would not have been as interesting, involved or enjoyable as ours was. 

Our tour guide Slavenka lives in Mostar (28 km/17 miles from Medjugorje), and has been doing this job for 30 years. She was trained by Fr Slavko Barbaric who was very particular about the tour guides at Medjugorje. They had to be devout Catholics and have a thorough knowledge of the history of the area as well as of the Apparitions and Our Lady's messages. Whilst she never went to school with any of the visionaries who Our Lady appears to, she knows them and their families personally; they text her regularly, and she is included in many of their special personal events such as weddings. So we felt as though we had an insiders link to the place.  She showed us numerous photos of her with the various visionaries and it was amazing having her to give us the inside information including many personal anecdotes. She certainly made our pilgrimage more meaningful and enriching. 

A pilgrimage is a very personal journey. Each individual's journey is different, depending on many factors including personal life experiences. I have read books and documents with testimonies by non-Catholic skeptics who have visited Medjugorje and turned their lives around, some even converting to Catholicism. Many Catholics who thought they had the faith, came away realising how naive they were. Our guide told us that it is often said that no one accidentally visits Medjugorje - they have been 'called' by Our Lady. 

Our climb and Rosary on Apparition Hill - Visionary Ivan Dragićevic led the Rosary

As well as attending religious activities, pilgrims have the choice to participate in saying the Rosary on Apparition Hill (so named as it was where Our Lady first appeared to the children in June 1981, and today, still appears to some of them at the base of the hill) and to say the Stations of the Cross as you zigzag up the 518 metres (1700 ft) of the steep, rocky Mt Krizevac or Cross Mountain. If interested, you can read more about these activities in the Medjugorje link I provided in the first paragraph. I would never have done the walk up Apparition Hill or Cross Mountain if we hadn’t been on the pilgrimage. As a group we supported each other and our guide gave us great directions to make the climbs manageable. It sure was euphoric to reach the top of the Mountain and see the Cross so close and know that we had made it. The photos don't do justice to illustrate the rocky terrain - the rocks on Apparition Hill were sharper and seemingly almost at right angles following earthquake activity centuries ago, but the Mountain was obviously steeper and slippery as well as being very rocky. Some pilgrims even do the climb in bare feet to increase their personal sacrifice. It was hard enough wearing joggers!

What amazed me most was the air of total engagement with the whole theme of Our Lady and her continuing presence in Medjugorje. To see people queueing for a Mass that doesn’t start for another 30 minutes, and having standing room not only inside the church, but even in the extensive outside area. Here is a before and after photo showing the outdoor Mass area created to deal with the influx of pilgrims. Behind the rows of benches are hundreds more rows of benches under the trees further back. I couldn't get it all in my photos. The aerial photo below was taken from another site that may be of interest to some. http://mysticpost.com

Taken On 25th June - can you see us in the outdoor Mass? The altar is under the white awning. What a crowd!

Numbers of pilgrims increase substantially during the annual anniversary of the first Apparition. There was a beautiful procession with Our Lady's statue that preceded the main Mass of the weekend, and she was led to the altar by 250 priests. I took a video of the priests entering the altar just so that I could count them later, but thankfully one of my fellow pilgrims had already done the count. There were so many priests that they could not all fit on the huge outside altar, but sat in rows at the base of the altar. They are all needed for communion. I have never seen anything like it. 

Priests filing onto the altar - the overflow proceeded to seats below the altar

Murray with visionary Ivan Dragićevic - he bumped into him in a book store!

Three of the visionaries saying a prayer at the end of Mass - including Ivan who Murray had met, captured on the big screen next to the altar

I'll leave you with the beautiful altar for Our Lady in St James Church. Once again, my photo does not do justice to the beauty of this dedication. 

Dubrovnik, Croatia 2018

Under the third white umbrella from the right is where the lunch photo below was taken from

Lunch in Old Town

The 25 minute taxi from the airport to our hotel gave us an idea of why they call  Dubrovnik ‘the pearl of the Adriatic’ - stunning coastline! The popularity of Game of Thrones (filmed around the walls of the Old City) has helped to make it one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean. We were initially allocated a very dilapidated hotel room, but the next morning we were moved to a room with a stunning sea view. The next 4 days were absolutely wonderful. The weather was hot, 28 C (82 F) throughout our visit. Most days we had either lunch or dinner beside the ocean. Each evening (apart from one night) we timed our meal to allow Murray to make it to the bar to watch the 8pm World Soccer game. Last night's game was the best, given that we were in Croatia and they got 3 goals. 

You’ve probably all heard about) and many of you may have visited) the walled city of Dubrovnik Old Town so I won’t go into too much detail. For those of you who are Game of Throne fans, you will recognise the walls as I understand that is where it was filmed. We checked out the old Franciscan Monastery that opened within the walls in 1317. It houses the 3rd oldest pharmacy in Europe (1317) and it is the only one of the oldest Pharmacies that is still operating. Unbelievable! We made several visits to the walled city as it was too much to take in during a single visit. We wandered the cobblestoned alleys and climbed the winding steps that have been worn smooth over the years. I checked my pedometer readings and over the past 14 days (only 4 of them in Dubrovnik), we have averaged 5.9 Km (3.6 miles) per day. I think steps should count twice as far as the actual distance recorded!! 

The buildings, walls and paved roads radiated heat 

On our first visit to the walled city, the stone buildings and roads radiated so much heat that we jumped in a ferry and took a 45 minute boat ride to the picturesque town of Cavtat - on the mainland and you pass it on the way into Dubrovnik from the airport. There we had a delicious seafood lunch (mussels, oysters, sardines) on the waters edge, and spent several hours strolling along around the town. I highly recommend anyone visiting Dubrovnik to come here for lunch - delightful town and the best meal of our stay!

Our Hotel overlooked the turquoise waters of Sunset Beach. The beach has smooth small stones instead of sand. They may be smooth stones but they sure were painful to walk on.  I noticed that most people wore rubber beach shoes and left them on when swimming. There was sand underfoot once you got away from the shore. Sun lounges with an umbrella and side table can be hired for €10 per person per day. Waiters patrol continuously and take refreshment & snack orders. I had a refreshing swim there as I have to be able to say I have swum in the Adriatic Sea!

They say the thing to do when in Dubrovnik is to take a cable car 780 meters up to the top of a hill to have unparalleled views over the walled city. We timed our visit to coincide with sunset - a chilled beer with a Mediterranean food platter in the restaurant at the cable car plateau as we enjoyed the bird’s eye view below us capped off our day.

One other place I will mention is the More Hotel’s Cave Bar. While the More Hotel was being constructed on the cliff's edge, they discovered a huge cave underneath the construction - down at the waters edge. Thanks to an enterprising mind, they created a unique bar/cafe area - seating can be inside the cave or outside on the terrace, with the Adriatic Sea inches away. The hotel reception is on a road that has an entrance to the hotel on the 5th floor. To get to the cave bar, you have to go down in a lift to level -2. Guests can wear their bathers, sit and have a cold drink or a snack, pop into the water for a swim, and return and dry off before ordering something else. Simply fabulous. 

Interestingly, one of Dubrovnik's twinned sister cities is Bad Homburg in Germany - the last city we stayed in on our Cosmos Europe Tour that ended a few weeks ago. What a coincidence - otherwise, I would never have heard of Bad Homburg! After 3 weeks in Africa, followed by 3 weeks touring Europe, we were ready to have some sleep-ins and get around at a slower pace. Dubrovnik provided all that and more. What a fabulous 5 days!  

Cosmos 'Central Europe' Tour 2018

Just as well we are getting our foreign travel under our belt while we are young enough to handle the pace - 6 countries in 15 days! We were always on the go that’s for sure, but thankfully the Globus/Cosmos driver and hotel staff delivered suitcases to and from our door which made life a lot easier. There were 45 of us on the trip which is a big group, but our Tour Director Orsi (from Transylvania) did an awesome job keeping us informed and on time, as well as catering to individual personalities. She gets 10 out of 10 from me. I will give you a snapshot of the tour...

Our tour started in Frankfurt. Jen, Peter, Murray and I arrived a few days before the tour to settle down after the excitement of our African safaris. That gave us time to catch the bus into the city and enjoy the environs. 

Bradenburg Gate

Our two nights in Germany’s capital Berlin were very enlightening - the local tour guide lived here when the iron curtain came down and we heard first-hand stories of life on both sides, and how euphoric the atmosphere was the night the wall came down. We visited Brandenburg Gate - a dividing line between East and West Germany. The Gate was closed from August 1961 and not re-opened until December 1989. 

Old Town Warsaw

Warsaw in Poland aka Phoenix City (as it was rebuilt and rose from the ashes of WW2) was our home for 2 days. The next day included an entertaining visit to the Jasna  Gora  monastery with its Black Madonna - the monastery opened in 1382 and is a Polish shrine where pilgrims have visited for hundreds of years. In 2011, it was estimated that 3.2 million pilgrims from 80 countries around the world visited the shrine (Wiki). 

Auschwitz 

A very sobering visit to Auschwitz Concentration Camp was next. Our tour was very comprehensive and left us all very silent. Only about 200,000 out of 1.3 million people survived the various death camps. Jews were especially targeted, as were gypsies, the frail, sick, elderly and the disabled. 

Hard to see but this is Chapel in Salt Mine- huge chandeliers

Our walking tour of Kraków (Poland) was interesting. Murray’s dad was born in Poland, so he took a special interest in the history of the Polish cities during the war. Kraków seemed to be the starting point for many cosmetic companies...in particular we saw where Helen Rubenstein lived. Her American husband eventually left her for another woman - none other than Elizabeth Arden - another famous cosmetician! Maksymilian Faktorowicz was also Polish - he named his company Max Factor. 

No visit to Kraków is complete without a visit to the famous Wieliczka Salt Mines, once one of the world’s oldest salt mines in operation. It opened in the 13th Century, and produced table salt until 2007. We took an elevator down to one area, but ended up walking a total of 400 steps and went to a depth of 135 metres. We saw numerous passages all carved into the rock salt, and an amazing chapel decorated with carved salt sculptures- an amazing one of The Last Supper. Mass is still held there every Sunday, and weddings are also performed there. Being so dark underground, my photos don’t do justice to what we saw. We learnt that salt was known as ‘white Gold’, and the word salary comes from the word salt or ‘sal’, as many people were paid their wages in salt! 

Jen and I at castle in Buda, looking over to Pest

I think Budapest got the top vote on the bus for the loveliest city. I think that was mainly helped by a stunning sunset Cruise of the Danube River on the day we arrived. We boarded our boat as the sun set, and as the night sky darkened, the lights of the city illuminated the magnificent buildings and created a fairytale scene. So magical! Our local tour guide explained the history of Buda (hilly area with the Castle) and across the Danube is the flat area of Pest. The underground metro here built in 1894 is the second oldest in the world (London Underground being the oldest). I would have loved to have tried the hot baths in the city, but we did not have enough time as the Great Market Hall (construction started in 1894) beckoned us instead. 

Budapest from the Danube

Vienna Orchestra Chandeliers

In Vienna we attended a theatre where Johann Strauss played in concert with his 2 brothers. The orchestra performed on the same stage, and we were entertained by several Viennese waltzes danced to by professional dancers. The stunning chandeliers and champagne on the balcony at half time added to the atmosphere. We also spent a pleasant hour wandering around Schonbrunn Palace - it houses the oldest zoo in the world, and the biggest zoo in Europe. It has also been voted as the best maintained zoo in the world. Pity we didn’t get to see it! 

We also got to see an area of the Spanish Riding School, and saw one of the famous Lipizzaner stallions

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic has a beautiful old town square. Sadly the famous astronomical clock which was built in 1402 was under restoration, so we had to make do with a video image of how it looks! 

Charles Bridge Built 1357

We walked on the Charles Bridge that was built in 1357. Wow, the history of the cities on this tour has been mind boggling. We also visited the Prague Castle which is the largest castle complex in the world. 















Throughout the trip, strawberries were front and centre in the markets, and in this display, there were some red currants on the top - a bit too sour for my taste, but they sure look pretty!

The final city on our 15 day tour was Munich. We got there at the end of the day and we were tired, but we made our way to the central square, found the market and beer garden, and quickly felt restored! We all wished we had more time in Munich. 

On the way back to Frankfurt we drove along a section of highway known as the Romantic Route. In medieval times it was a trade route, but now it is a beautiful scenic route passing through picturesque towns and villages. We stopped at two of the villages, Nordlingen and Rothenburg.  Very quaint and very enjoyable. 

Our tour came to an end near Frankfurt. We all attended a group dinner in our hotel, and said our goodbyes to each other. It was fantastic to see so many countries that we had never seen before and to be fortunate enough to have great weather. A memorable trip. 

Group Photo