Bosnia & Herzegovina

Though we prepared ourselves as much as possible for a day trip to Bosnia, I was still super nervous. Here's a tip: if you plan on entering a former war zone (I guess everywhere is practically a former war zone, huh?) and non EU country in Europe, do NOT read the state department's travel page for the country.  It will freak you right out.  I'll give you a small sample:

Landmines remain a problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2014, there were still numerous minefields and an estimated 200,000 active land mines and unexploded ordnances throughout the country. Excessive flooding and landslides in May 2014 shifted or washed away many mines throughout northern Bosnia and Herzegovina and many are still unaccounted for at this time. Since 1996, approximately 16,830 people have been injured due to mine accidents, of which almost 600 people died. Incidents involving injury or death due to mines still occur annually. While most urban areas have been largely cleared, you should still take special care when near the former lines of conflict, including the suburbs of Sarajevo. The de-mining community recommends staying on hard surfaced areas and out of abandoned buildings. Families traveling with children in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be especially aware of the danger posed by mines and unexploded ordnance. 

Several paragraphs more detail criminal activity to be aware of, the over 40% unemployment rate (which apparently is responsible for the crime), and so on.  Yeah, don't do that.  It will just make you scared. 

Upon crossing the border, we suddenly discovered that we had a problem with the papers for our car. Our car needed major unexpected repairs the day before we left for our trip.  Luckily, the lease company provided us with another car of a similar size.  They had to go through a rental company instead of giving us one of their cars because they didn't have any available that were big enough.  So, here we are driving around Eastern Europe in this rental car with no registration papers (green slip).  We had no idea because passing borders within the EU is no big deal.  The border guard in Bosnia was like, "Hey, you don't have the right papers, but if you go to this booth over there and pay them 20 euros, I'll give you a temporary permit and let you through."  Pretty sketchy, but we went for it.
We noticed an immediate difference as we crossed the border.  The roads were super bumpy and the buildings were in disrepair.  Our kids needed a bathroom break, per the norm, so we stopped at a gas station.  The toilet was literally a hole in the ground.  It was filthy and disgusting.  We entered Mostar and headed toward what is supposed to be a more touristy area.  Right off the bat, Ryan had a heated conversation with the parking lot attendant who was clearly trying to scam us out of money.  We headed into the city to see some sites, but I was worried about our car the entire time.  We pretty much decided to have a quick look at the Mostar bridge and the street market leading up to it, then head back to our car.  We were the ONLY people around with kids...that made me even more nervous.

The bridge was beautiful, as was the view of the other side.  Of course, Ryan wanted to head deeper into the city and tour some mosques...he was in total travel mode and unconcerned with the safety issues.  I insisted on a B-line toward the car.

A couple of sites on the way back to our car...

These buildings riddled with bullets were directly across from our parking...

Mostar would've been a nice day trip without kids or a car to worry about.  If I came in kid free on a tour bus, I think I could've had a better look around.  With 5 kids and a car, I suggest snapping a picture of the bridge, grabbing some knock off soccer jerseys and raybans, and getting the heck outta there...just like we did.