Ever been to Bosnia? I know, it’s not usually top of the holiday destination list, but last year, I made a trip over there to watch a footie match.
Ever been to Bosnia? I know, it’s not usually top of the holiday destination list, but last year, I made a trip over there to watch a footie match.
As you know, I’m a keen Villa fan, and I try my best to support their matches, wherever in the world they are. So a couple of weeks before Christmas I hopped on a plane and made my way to Mostar. Bosnia has a war-torn past, and in the UK, that’s pretty much all it’s known for. So I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect.
But I loved it. Yes, it still has obvious scars from its devastating past… The city of Mostar is a perfect example, with a combination of burnt-down, bullet-sprayed buildings right next to bright, shiny new malls. But it also has incredible culture, delicious food and some of the friendliest, kindest people I’ve ever met.
During my visit, I took a wander through the streets to see the famous Mostar Bridge(or Stari Most). This pretty stone structure crosses the river Neretva, connecting the two parts of the city. It’s about 78ft high – and is famous for its bridge-jumping buskers! Visit in the summer and you can pop a penny or two in a bridge jumper’s hat and once he’s collected enough from the crowd, he will dive off the bridge, plummeting into the shallow waters below.
Sounds dangerous? It is… if you don’t know what you’re doing it can go very wrong. These bridge jumpers are experts in what they do. They know exactly how and where to jump. They’ve done it a hundred times before – they know their stuff. Sadly, sometimes tourists see the bridge jumpers doing their thing and think they’ll give it a go – it doesn’t end well. Lives have been lost. But that’s the thing isn’t it? Experts make the complicated things look easy.
Take freight for example, I’ve been working in freight for over 35 years. There’s not much I haven’t seen, done or experienced when it comes to moving goods around the world – I can make it look easy. But is it? Not really. There’s a million ways to get it wrong and it can be costly if you do…
So I think I’ll leave the bridge jumping to the experts – but if you need a little help with your freight, you know who to come to!