Pero and his bike

nedjelja, 22.12.2019.

With a girlfriend to the sea, again! The August 9th and 10th

You can come back on the previous part of this travelogue here.

The August 9th

If you don't want to read, skip the text and see the images of this day here.

How painful and heavy was the day before yesterday (at least it's the first part), that much yesterday was light and swaying. And besides, we came early to camp, then lunch, rest, then a walk to the church, then the Mass, and (again) a walk through the town, so sleeping with the knowledge that we will not have to get up early ... all of this together made us this morning woke up bright, fluttery and rested.
Today, after breakfast, we planned to climb the Apparition Hill, then the main mass, and then a tour of the souvenir shops for some little thing to bring from this place, which will remind us of these days in the future. Basically, our bikes have a day off today.
At about 5 am, we were woken up by some commotion and comments (in a foreign, incomprehensible language) by adults and children (children at 5 am?). It was from beside the neighbouring tent. But apart from the annoyance that it woke us up, we didn't think about it in more detail.
But, we should!
When we were, all slowly and easily, after getting up, toilets, breakfast and getting ready, finally started something that was the base, the meaning of this pilgrimage, we reached the church at 10.30 am.

Church of St. Jacob in the center of Medjugorje

After a brief pause, just so much to film the church, with the question to the local for further way, some meandering zigzag, we finally came to a wide path that takes a good uphill to that point of the apparition. Right next to that uphill, a dense row of souvenir shop was placed to keep contemplative pilgrims could leaving some banknote of their national currency.
The souvenir shops before Apparition Hill

And then was started!
The uphill was steep, the trails almost nowhere, just rocks and stones. Some of that rocks and stones were solid and some are wobbly, so maximum concentration is required at each step. We walked somehow randomly zigzag, all in the frantic search for solid support, with the constant fear that this support, instead of firm, will become wobbly. All of this, along with the considerable steep uphill already mentioned, made walking difficult, so we had hard breathing and started to sweat.
A forward view…

...and back view

Although cold rationalists would say this is not true, but what was the climb steeper, the greater was the lack of breeze. Therefore, with all the effort and difficulty in climbing this hill, we got the feeling that this sun had decided to increase its radiance just now by at least one hundred and fifty times. That half a litre of water that my companion carried (with excessive, though unfounded prepotency, I didn't carry even that much, more precisely - nothing) quickly disappeared (my prepotency turned into humble begging).
There is nothing left to us but to slow down the pace, to increase the frequency of pauses for respite. We stopped in the shade as much as we could. These shades were very small, so we considered it a success if only our head was in the shade. While we were resting, I watched the events on this pilgrimage trail. There were groups, small or big, that stopped at the Way of the Cross stations for prayer or for reading quotes from prayer books. It was in all kinds of languages. For some of them, it seems I have never even heard of them.
How big was the desire to cross this rocky, steep path, perhaps best seen in the form of an old woman, whom the two helped to follow step by step, or in the other case the six who carried the seventh in a special stretcher?
Persistence and patience I

Persistence and patience II

With the strange and to us, ordinary mortals, incomprehensible ways of the Lord, the here was "best man's friend" went astray. He was alone, without that man, its friend. True, being alone it did not seem to worry too much, moreover, as if he knew firmly and exactly where and to whom he was going, and which way he would get there.
I know where and whom I'm going to!"

And finally, the goal of this pilgrimage - the Place of Apparitions, now it was in shape of a statue of the Mother of God surrounded by a shiny, stainless fence.




Some pause, perhaps for a break, others gaze thoughtfully while their spirit wandering who knows where, some pray heartily, and some sit, gathering strength lost on this path. I stopped, too, trying to get my thoughts calm.
So this is it!
Now that I have arrived at the destination of this journey (or one of them), I have been confusedly trying to find some kind of delight in my soul. I may have found it, but it was not as intense as I expected. Strangely, but it seemed to me that the goal was to travel toward this Apparition rather than to be here.
I felt a slight bit of conscience, reproach for myself, due to the lack of the stated enthusiasm for this place. This may have been due to the intense dynamics of the people around me, which diverted my attention from that what was in me to those what was around me, perhaps the reason of that was my primaeval fear of crowded people, when I have a strong urge to move away of them, somewhere outside of them, I do not know!
As I browse through my inner paths of consciousness, I unexpectedly find myself with a spark of some cognition, a feeling that grows more and more, and which slowly takes on some concrete, understandable outlines. These outlines indicate to me that despite my advanced age, I managed to reach this place by bicycle, that I was not alone on this trip, but with my life partner, whom I have been marrying for 27 years, that my daughter is at university, that my son is already and ended it (and as I write these lines he got a job) that as a family we are alive and well, that I have a job, that my companion/wife also has a job… While I enumerate to myself what I have achieved till my current fifty-six year of life, something grows and grows in my soul, to eventually emerge in the form of a deep sigh, and I realize ... and that I have a lot of reason to be elated! I shuddered at that realization, lifted my head to a dignified statue, and as if it was a kind of message-bearer to Him, I said one without sound, but loud and determined THANK YOU!
On the way back it was easier to go downhill than uphill, of course. But it wasn't just because of the downhill. A smile flew out of my face uncontrollably when I remembered how people looked like to me at last night's Mass. Then it came to my mind when watching this crowd, whereby I kept myself somehow outside of them as if I were an observer who steadily, calmly, with a cool head, looks at the crowd and makes judgments.
And now I have caught myself, found myself even, as I am leaving the Apparition, I feel a little easier, rejuvenated, comforted, if nothing else, only so much that I can just go on.
There, I became a true pilgrim.
As we descended backwards, we saw a column of people returning to the city by some shortcut, along the path, and we went in that direction too. As we descended into the field I turned back and filmed the hill where the Apparition is.
The hill with Place of Apparitions

In that walk toward the town, now I was very thirsty, with envy I looked at the lush green vineyard, which has its lush greenery thanks to a sophisticated irrigation system where a valuable fluid gets the best way - drip.
Each row received water from its mainline that goes straight to the soil so that it is not lost by unnecessary evaporation on the soil surface.
Drop-by-drop irrigation system

Before reaching the church, the Lord had mercy on us in the form of a shop where we bought cold drinks. As a true dignified pilgrim, I abstained from beer, at least this time.
According to the Google after the founding of the parish in 1892, the first parish church of St. Jacob, large and beautiful at the time, was completed in 1897. Due to the unstable and soft ground on which it was built, its walls soon began to cruck and the entire building sank. So immediately after World War I, the construction of a new church began, on which the works lasted from 1934 to January 19, 1969, when it was also blessed. The external altar was built in 1989, and the prayer space around it (with about 5000 seats) is a gathering place in the summer and during the big holidays when tens of thousands of pilgrims are found in Medjugorje.
Every time I find myself in that church, and especially when it's summer heat, I am particularly impressed by the air conditioning in it. The church is pleasantly fresh, but there is no unpleasant breezing, typical of air-conditioned spaces. There is even no noise, also typical of air conditioners.
The interior of St. Jacob church in the centre of the Medjugorje place

Otherwise church as a church, nothing special. Modern sacral architecture, but still slightly conservative, retaining the typical forms of the classical church. A modernist stained glass on windows.
Stained glass on the window of the church

The peculiarity of this church is located somehow on the side, in the side ship, as if, because of its excessive modesty, it does not want, does not like to be in the eye. It is a statue of the Mother of God decorated with many orchids of beautifully combined colours. There are many pilgrims around this statue, perhaps because of these orchids too.
Contemplation

After Mass, we returned to camp for lunch and rest after it. When we got bored we went again down that path (which connects the camp and the city centre) to the main street in search of souvenirs.
The main street in Medjugorje with a number of shops of the same offer

In fact, my companion was more involved in this search, and I was somehow on the sidelines, watching the street, a series of shops and people moving around. I personally have never been a supporter of this kind of spending money. The most important and the biggest souvenir is the fact that I am here, and I am that now, and it is indelibly written in my memory. If I also need some souvenirs, there's my camera that captures with the sharpness that not fades.
Perhaps that is why I am watching this commercialization of Our Lady's apparitions with a little bit of a uneasy expression on my face.
The commercialization of spirituality I

The commercialization of spirituality II

In an otherwise refined interior with dim but bright lighting, with fresh and refreshing air flowing silently from the air-conditioning (though it is all wide open to the street), the shelf mass is crowded with chains, rosaries, large and small statues, large and small paintings, and other trinkets related to the character of Our Lady. I was astounded by the monotony of this huge offer. I am not some zealous defender of culture, but it was all on the verge of decadent, exaggerated and kitschy, if not beyond that boundary.
Did the Mother of God appear for that !?
In the calm of the day, we were again at an evening outdoor Mass. In order to be able to see through with our the sight, and not only by hearing, for those who are away from the altar, except for a well-tuned sound system (not too loud, but that everything is understood), was mounted a large video wall where we see the priest leading the rite.
The video wall is the left of the altar

It was already night when the Mass was ended. Walking slowly from the church, across the main street, as a fan of night shots, I shot the Medjugorje by night.
Church in the evening

Main Street with a range of souvenir shops

Arriving at camp we slowly got ready to rest. Tomorrow we continue our ride, which will be up and down rides, and as things stand, the rain has finally receded and left the sun to show us during the day in what season we are in.
So, it's gonna be hot!

The August 10th

If you don't want to read, skip the text and see the images of this day here.

You can see the map of this day of the journey here.

The pleasure of the morning freshness combined with the abundant shade simply did not allow us to wake up early and leave early. As much as we swore last night before sleep that we would be more determined and consistent, by the morning that determination and consistency disappeared, turning into the pleasure of stretching out in the fresh and soul-loving linens.
So we left the camp somewhere near eight o'clock. Well, it was still fresh and comfortable, but the brightness of the sun indicated that it would not be so long.
This time we made breakfast in the place itself, so we started the continuation of our journey. On the way out of the place, we passed the building where I had made my morning meal with my companion, nine years ago, when traveling through this area.
In the year 2005

In the year 2014

For the next ten kilometres, to the town of Ljubuški, we drove along a road that was mostly without major climbs, though we pushed a few up and down. This "pushing" does not mean it literally, we still rode, but due to the hot sun, to the "up" from this up-and-down we breathed well and also sweated well.
The road goes through an interesting and even controversial end. On the one hand of that controversy is a rough, cruel, Herzegovina's karst with scrubby macchia, which may have aspired to become a tree at the beginning of its life, but the hot sun, bora and lack of rain reduced that ambition to something between the grass and the smaller tree. There are no specific settlements, not even houses, of those "normal", where people live. Observing only thispart of that contradiction, therefore, this was territory in which "God said goodnight," the total desolation.
But, on the other hand, in this wasteland, there was a lot of business premises, plants and all kinds of entrepreneurial buildings, so that neither Germany nor northern Italy would be ashamed. I have not seen anything like this at home, nor in Croatia. Not going into business justification now, but merely on the basis of a visual impression, these are generally buildings where evidently care was taken of some architectural beauty, that subtle one, mostly far from kitschy.








On one of the longer and steeper uphill ride of those up-and-down, there was a church of modernist sacral architecture, with a lot of cars around it. It was Sunday and it was little before 10 am, so we figured out that Sunday Mass would follow at church. Looking around the church, closer r and farther away, we mostly didn't see the houses, so it was all a little confusing - the church was there, but nowhere near the house, and there were a lot of cars around it. We later learned that this was the parish church of the Cerno place, the place which was scattered all around, which I later saw, at least on the map.
Well, if the modern church is in the middle of nowhere, cars that are not very old, or even modest, lower class, on the contrary, show that there is something!
Parish Church of the Cerno place

That uphill and the fierce sun made us hard-breathing and sweaty, so we were looking quickly for a place to rest in the space in front of the church. We found it on the wall in the thick shade of a thick tree canopy in the space in front of the church.
The resting on Sunday morning

According to the statue not far from us, we concluded that it was the church of St. Leopold Mandic, which was particularly interest to us becouse we have a church also dedicated to this saint in our town.
Monument to Saint Leopold Mandić

As we softened our breath and calmed down the rhythm of the heart, the ringing of the bell suggested that the mass was just beginning. There were no loudspeakers at the entrance to the church, so we did not hear the priest. Therefore we decided to continue the peculiarity of this trip and to pray one-tenth of the rosary by the side of the church. Now, after the crowd in Medjugorje, here in peace, disturbed only by a pleasant breeze, when I prayed that prayer, I felt a much greater conceptual peace, as a hint of that basic in prayer, which is some link, a connection with the Lord. Maybe all this was my imagination, I don't know, but, in any case, at least I reach to God easier when I completely outside of the mass of people.
As we were experiencing this Christian bond with God through prayer, we realized that we were interesting to someone in how we look like and how we do what we do. Three young children who with were with their pregnant mother, were approaching us little by little, so just as we were finishing our prayer and resting in the shade, they approached us close enough that their mother could ask can they look at us (even closer, I guess). When we answered her affirmatively, the children, glowing with a happy smile on their faces, how happy only little children can be, approached us (less) and our loaded bicycles (more). When asked by my companion if all three were her children, the pregnant young mother replied affirmatively. To the admirable comment "wonderful!" from my companion, the young mother replied, "I wouldn't recommend it to anyone!"
In the continuation of our journey, we kept on to look at the architecture by the road while we riding. That's how we passed the "Antonela Wedding Salon", only substantially more luxurious than similar ones in our area, as well as the Volkswagen showroom

The Antonela Wedding Salon

The Volkswagen showroom

At the end of the next building, unlike the previous ones, we did not just pass by. The reason was not the exceptional beauty and interesting of it, but the fountain with cool, refreshing water.
The reason for the stop was not Kiwi-Sport…

...but a fountain in front of it

After parking the bicycle, I gallantly let my companion enjoy in the refreshment first, and then I did too. Or so I thought, because when I reached out for the jet - it disappeared. It's just as if the faucet had closed and - no more water. For a moment a disappointment on the verge of panic has appeared that I would remain not refreshed on this occasion, but my companion calmed me down, calling for patience. And really, a moment later my hands had been cooled by a cold, refreshing, liquid.
In front of us at the top of the hill, we spotted a ruin, the remains of an old town.


Again with the help of Google I found out that the old town of Ljubuški is located on the prominent top of the rocky chain of Buturovica hill, which is located at the eastern end of Ljubuški field. The city was erected in a solid, rocky position at an altitude of 396 m. It is usually attributed to Duke Stephen, though older than he is. In addition to Duke Stjepan Vukčić Kosača and his sons, the nobles Radivojević-Jurjevići-Vlatković stand out in the 15th century.
Leaving the hill with the old town to our right, we descend by the long downhill to the Ljubuški town, where we were enjoying in the refreshing wind. This Herzegovina sun with its radiant intensity is dangerously approaching the tolerance limit, and it just was 11 am. Knowing that today we will have one long uphill, to which we still have at least an hour's drive (so at noon, like uphill in the Žitomislići place two days before), at my recommendation, we bypassed the city and continued on. Nine years ago I visited the city and couldn't find anything interesting. Maybe that's the way it is, and maybe I wasn't persistent enough in the search.
A few kilometres after Ljubuški we passed the house by which we really had to stop. The reason for standing was the luxury of flowers on the fence of the terrace of the house. Someone really put in the effort and put in a considerable amount of patience and hard work, which, above all, was work with love.
House in flowers

For the next ten kilometres, we will drive along the valley of the river Tihaljina, which we do not see in concrete terms, but the presence of that Karst river can be felt. It is immediately clear that this is the end of a rich vegetable garden because it is at the mercy of the bountiful combination of the two abundance - sun and water. There are so many of the latter that the water from the river cools the watermelons on the stands along the way.
Offering fruits and vegetables along the road…



We drove this fertile valley for fifteen kilometres, either by the plain or by a gentle uphill. Mostly we go through settlements where there is mostly nobody, at least that is how it looked to us. I guess the reason for that the lack of people was Sunday with the hot summer sun.
It somehow turns out that the two of us adore the uphill ride at noon. It was needed a half-hour till mid-day when we left the valley of the Tihaljina River and the settlements in it, and through the humble forest, without human habitation, going uphill. The sun was hot frying so that the creeping up the hill was well extended. Wherever we were able to find the shade of the poor forests along the way, we stopped and caught our breath. So we stopped by a deserted house (it wouldn't surprise me that it was abandoned long ago). Across of it was an interesting building of a kind of drywall, which probably was a shed.
Confidence in drywall

Before descending to the Grude town, we found a wall in the thick shade that immediately attracted us with its abundance of shade. The shade was so thick in some places that no ray of sun found its way to the ground. Already a little hungry, in addition to thirst, we took out what we had, and slowly, enjoying this effective protection of the heat from the sky, made one bite, one sip, one bite, one sip...
Impenetrable shade…

… and a modest meal in it

Finally, the panorama of the valley spread out in front of us where the town of Grude was. This valley is, in fact, the Imotsko Polje, whose eastern part with this city belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Grude town

It was just before 2 pm, the heat of the sun, which started warming the ground and the grey rocks early in the morning, did not give me the expected refreshment. The wind was blowing at a steep downhill, true, but that wind was much warmer than my body so that it warmed me up rather than cooled me down.
Upon entering the city, we found our salvation in the abundant shade of the gas station. Across the street was a bakery, which was open even though it was Sunday, so I bought some bakery products for lunch because what we ate in the shade was disappeared from our bodies, we spent it. To make it easier for me to chew down, the cold beer I was drinking from a dewy 2-litre bottle, just bought at this gas station helped. By the way, a two-litre of Löwebrau beer produced in Croatia here on a gas station in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Sunday afternoons, cost just 2.5 KM (€ 1.75).
No matter that we were rested and no longer thirsty or hungry, the fierce heat made it difficult for us to started continuing the riding. Still, we forced ourself to do it. We had about twenty kilometres to Imotski and about five kilometres more, to our final destination today. So it was not much in some normal circumstances, but to us, who were so squeezed, dried and fried by the harsh sun, it seemed much more. The favourable circumstance is that it has only been 2 pm, so by the end of the day we have time to walk those kilometres if it will be necessary, let alone ride them. With frequent stops, breaks were longer and longer. Due to the harder and harder self-start to continue driving, the final average speed of today's trip will not seem to be much higher than the pedestrian's one.
That Grude is not just a bigger village is shown by the residential four-storey buildings and the general arrangement of the places that reflect the spirit of the town.
The Grade town

Just in the city centre, both geometrically and economically and administratively, I paused to filmed interesting buildings as we came across in this town. My companion also used this stopping to rest in one of the abundant shades we found in the Grude town.
While I was filming the town hall of Grude …

… my companion was refreshing in the shade

At about 3 pm the fierce rays of the sun made us find comfort in the shade along the road. When we stopped, we saw that we had received more than ordinary solace in the shade, for there was a bench in that shade, and there was a statue beside the bench - Our Lady of Consolation! Well, let's someone just trying to say it was a coincidence!
The consolation in the shade…

…with Our Lady of Consolation (GOSPA OD UTJEHE = Our Lady of Consolation)

While we were so abundantly comforted by the unexpected comfort, our bikes were in a little less shade. So, after I comforted myself and my companion, I went to our patient metal vehicles to give them some gesture of comfort. They were content about that, so they informed me about the pain of the heat they endure. I mean, the cyclo-computer showed that the temperature, out of the shade, was 42,9 degrees Celsius!


The empty and the big border crossing, which seemed even bigger because of this emptiness, we passed with the support of the border staff in the form of a humble but sincere smile. After a few kilometres, we turned to the left on a shortcut by which we avoided the uphill and then the downhill.
There was hardly any traffic on this hot Sunday afternoon anyway, but on this shortcut, the traffic was zero. We indeed passed by houses and yards, but we didn't see anyone - everyone hid in their shady shelters from this heat. Therefore, we could afford the luxury of parallel riding and sometime left-side riding.
When the sun hits you in the head, you don't know where it's left or right

When we came under the town of Imotski, we turned left and found ourselves on the main road again. The road here, with short and gentle downhill, crossed the Imotsko field.


Arriving, then, on the other side of the field, we cross the bridge over the river Vrljika.
The main road immediately after the bridge with a very sharp turn to the right continues the road to Split, but we should take a steep uphill straight narrow asphalt road.
Although my companion started up that steep uphill, I interrupted her with the suggestion to rest, calm her breath, lower her pulse. This steep uphill in front of us, though short, is not in the least innocuous.
I found refreshments in the cold and clear water of the river Vrljika. Bridge builders built access to the river to anyone who needs to get to the water that means life in this area. To me, it was in the form of washing and refreshing.
The bridge over…

…the Vrljika river…

… and its cool, clear water

And so on that steep uphill, by walking more and riding less, we slowly and reached the long-awaited scene of the yard and house of my niece.
We made it!
Today's kilometers

The time of ending today's ride

You can view the continuation of this travelogue here.

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