Sarajevo Bosnia - Herzegovina Day 1

Sarajevo Bosnia- Herzegovina 






The impact of war is everywhere

 We arrived in Sarajevo after a long bus ride from Belgrade through some stunning scenery, large rivers, high mountains and deep valleys. The countryside is very lush this time of year with lots of different types of farms, there were vegetable farms, sheep farms and cattle farms along the way.

The Bosnian countryside taken from bus window

Since we were on the go by 6am we didn’t do much after we arrived…checked into our pansion which is quite nice, very clean as well. It is a custom to remove your shoes when you enter a house in Bosnia and the hosts will offer you slippers. We have a little room with a small kitchenette with breakfast supplies so we are quite comfortable. The pansion is located about 15 minutes’ walk from the centre of the city so we went for a walk through the Old Town, got some money and of course a Bosnian meal. cevapcici




Our first glimpse of Sarajevo, many homes built high on the hills



Our little kitchenette



 Cevapcici,minced meat in a flatbread with onions and cheese, served in a Muslim restaurant with yogurt drink.This is Sarajevo's version of fast food. It is eaten by everyone.


Sarajevo is the capital city of Bosnia – Herzegovina with an estimated population of 400,000.This number is hard to verify because of the huge numbers of people who moved after the war in the early 1990s. This war lasted almost 4 years resulted in a divided city with Serbians on one side and the Croats on the other. Sarajevo was under siege for over 1200 days and 11,000 people were killed.



The city is separated by a river with many bridges joining each side



The impact of the war is also seen in the buildings and streets of the city. There are still many bombed out and crumbling buildings, lots of shrapnel marks and bomb craters on the streets. Both Don and I feel it is a city with a pall over it, with a long road to recovery to the glory days of 1984 Winter Olympics. However the people we speak to are hopeful and optimistic that this will come but realize that it is most of all an economic issue as the economy was completed destroyed during the war and has not rebounded.


The old tram cars that were donated by other countries after the war since all their cars were destroyed



Tea sets from the marketplace.Bosnian tea is much like Turkish tea...very strong and served with sugar cubes and turkish delight.



Everything is quite cheap here compared to the other countries we have visited. The currency is the Bosnian Mark with our dollar buying 1.5 of theirs. As an example Don bought four large bottles of beer for 4.6 marks. Food is also cheap as you can buy a meal for less than 5 Canadian dollars. A ticket to the National Theatre with the National Ballet and Orchestra cost me 20 marks.



Inside the National Theatre where I saw a performance of Carmen with the National Ballet and Orchestra.Great performance with great seats.



Today we also took a tour to the greatest example of the spirit of the people and it was the War Tunnel. Sarajevo is located in a bowl with high mountains all around it so the Serb army set up in the mountains where they continually shelled and bombed the city. There was no way in or out and the city was cut off from basic supplies so the army built a 800m tunnel under the airport to find a way for both military and civilians to get supplies in order to survive. Our impression is that the Sarajevians are a very proud people who feel because of their courage they still own their city.




Don going into the tunnel.It was built 5m underground and was often filled with water and dangerous supply cables.


Another piece of Sarajevo history is that it was the place where the event that allegedly started the WW1 took place. We stood on the corner where Gavrilo Princip assassinated Prince Ferdinand and his wife. This was the trigger for the beginning of the war. As all our guides tell us the history of the Balkans is quite complicated and we cannot understand it, but somehow there is always war.




The plaque marks the spot