I am celebrating having finally approved the proofs for my forthcoming book. To mark the occasion I am posting photos of three bridges. No not the town near Gatwick Airport, but three bridges from Eastern Europe, the subject of my writing.
The first is the infamous bridge in Sarajevo, the place where Archduke Frank Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in 1914. The event sparked the events that led to World War 1.
Next up, the amazing bridge in Mostar in Bosnia. The bridge was notoriously totally destroyed during the Yugoslav conflict , but remarkably restored to its former glory using much of the original material.
Nowadays, young men plunge from the bridge into the shallow waters below to earn a few dollars.
Lastly, probably my favourite bridge in the world. Karlovy Most (Charles Bridge) straddles the Vltava River in Prague. Is there a more picturesque city bridge anywhere?
Wilbur's Travels 
They do dive, but just during the competition, as it is very dangerous and often bursts the capillaries in their face when they hit the water. They call it the swallow dive. During the tourist season, they just jump like in the photo. 🙂
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Didn’t know that. Jumping looks scary enough to me!
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very beautiful pictures and nice comments
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Did you see anyone dive into the water. The day I went they were there and kept preparing as though to jump but they never got around to it. Perhaps the conditions were right!
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Andrew – you can make out a hardy chap taking the plunge if you look near the top. I also have a short video on the site within my ‘Mostar’ piece. Think we saw 4 or 5 jumps in the few hours we were there.
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Yes, I see him now, but that looks more like a jump than a dive. Would you try it?
There are a couple of nice bridges in Budapest but I would suggest the Rialto in Venice. I always think that the Ponte Vecchio in Florence is rather ugly!
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Yes it was a jump and no way!
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They do dive, but just during the competition, as it is very dangerous and often bursts the capillaries in their face when they hit the water. They call it the swallow dive. During the tourist season, they just jump like in the photo. 🙂
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Thanks for the information.
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