Eurotrip 2019 - Sarajevo
Right, Sarajevo. It's all a distant memory now!
I got a train from Virpazar to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, where I then had an hour or so to kill before getting a 7 hour bus to Sarajevo. The journey was beautiful - we drove alongside a stunning gorge that rivalled anything I had seen in New Zealand, though the ride was slightly terrifying because the driver was on his phone the entire time, there was only a small barrier on the side of the road then a huge plunge into the river, and we went through hundreds of tunnels that had no reinforcements inside. But we made it!
From Sarajevo bus station I took a tram into the city centre then went and found my hostel, dumped my stuff and headed out for a wander. I don't know what was wrong with me but I was feeling really dazey and tired, and at one point as I was crossing a car park a whole bunch of men were shouting and creating a commotion. I ignored them as it's a loud city and assumed they were all talking to eachother when I suddenly came to my senses and out of my peripheral vision I saw a carpark barrier coming down straight for my head. I ducked away just in time , witnessed the men all shaking their heads at me and realised they'd been trying to warn me of my impending head injury. Oops.
At that point I decided it was probably time to get some food inside me and have an early night.
I really liked Sarajevo. It has a lot going on - heaps of tucked away bars and clubs, secret alleyways, restaurants, galleries. It was a lot more westernised than Mostar, and had a young population. I was lucky to coincide my visit with the opening night of the Sarajevo Film Festival, and watched 'stars' walking down the red carpet (I had no clue who they were).
I did 2 tours with Neno and Friends, who run a variety of tours focussed on different aspects of Sarajevo's history. The morning one I did was a city tour focussed on the broader aspects of the history, such as where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, and the afternoon tour was focussed on the 1992-1995 war. Both are well worth attending, firstly to get your bearings around the city and secondly to understand the nature of the city. The lady who gave the tour was 11 when the war finished and was very open about her experiences as a child. It's really moving - you're taken to places of absolute tragedy, such as the food market where a mortar bomb was dropped onto civilians queueing for food rations. The bomb killed over 60 people and injured hundreds more and you can still see the scars of the bomb in the ground today. In fact you can see where a lot of the bombs fell - instead of filling them up and concreting over them, an artist has painted them red as a stark reminder of this terrible time, and it's a weird juxtaposition that they're now tourist attractions when they were scenes of death and suffering. Another spot you visit is Sniper Alley, an innocuous main street lined with shops, but back in the early 90s it was the only way out of the town, and people would be shot dead by snipers on the hills as they tried to escape.
There's a sense of anger and shame over what happened, but also hope - there's still buildings riddled with bullet holes, and mountains lined with landmines, but there's fancy skyscrapers, shisha bars, music venues, festivals and great street food. I took a trip up the Avaz Twist Tower as it was only a few euros to get to the top and you have a 360 degree view of the city. On another day I took a cable car up the mountain to check out the 1984 bob sleigh track, which has been left in a a state of disrepair and covered in graffiti. It was kind of eerie wandering along it and at points I was the only one there, it felt like the beginning of a horror movie!
It's a great city and I would definitely return and explore more of Bosnia & Herzegovina - I am sad I didn't have longer in the country!
I got a train from Virpazar to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, where I then had an hour or so to kill before getting a 7 hour bus to Sarajevo. The journey was beautiful - we drove alongside a stunning gorge that rivalled anything I had seen in New Zealand, though the ride was slightly terrifying because the driver was on his phone the entire time, there was only a small barrier on the side of the road then a huge plunge into the river, and we went through hundreds of tunnels that had no reinforcements inside. But we made it!
From Sarajevo bus station I took a tram into the city centre then went and found my hostel, dumped my stuff and headed out for a wander. I don't know what was wrong with me but I was feeling really dazey and tired, and at one point as I was crossing a car park a whole bunch of men were shouting and creating a commotion. I ignored them as it's a loud city and assumed they were all talking to eachother when I suddenly came to my senses and out of my peripheral vision I saw a carpark barrier coming down straight for my head. I ducked away just in time , witnessed the men all shaking their heads at me and realised they'd been trying to warn me of my impending head injury. Oops.
At that point I decided it was probably time to get some food inside me and have an early night.
I really liked Sarajevo. It has a lot going on - heaps of tucked away bars and clubs, secret alleyways, restaurants, galleries. It was a lot more westernised than Mostar, and had a young population. I was lucky to coincide my visit with the opening night of the Sarajevo Film Festival, and watched 'stars' walking down the red carpet (I had no clue who they were).
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| Apparently the ugliest building in Sarajevo - I loved it |
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| The bridge that Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on |
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| Sarajevo's brewery |
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| and the beer that comes from it - nom nom |
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| Tufahija - a traditional dessert, an apple stuffed with nuts, soaked in honey and topped with cream - delicious but oh so sweet |
I did 2 tours with Neno and Friends, who run a variety of tours focussed on different aspects of Sarajevo's history. The morning one I did was a city tour focussed on the broader aspects of the history, such as where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, and the afternoon tour was focussed on the 1992-1995 war. Both are well worth attending, firstly to get your bearings around the city and secondly to understand the nature of the city. The lady who gave the tour was 11 when the war finished and was very open about her experiences as a child. It's really moving - you're taken to places of absolute tragedy, such as the food market where a mortar bomb was dropped onto civilians queueing for food rations. The bomb killed over 60 people and injured hundreds more and you can still see the scars of the bomb in the ground today. In fact you can see where a lot of the bombs fell - instead of filling them up and concreting over them, an artist has painted them red as a stark reminder of this terrible time, and it's a weird juxtaposition that they're now tourist attractions when they were scenes of death and suffering. Another spot you visit is Sniper Alley, an innocuous main street lined with shops, but back in the early 90s it was the only way out of the town, and people would be shot dead by snipers on the hills as they tried to escape.
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| the fruit market where the mortar bomb was dropped, killing over 60 people |
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| a 'sarajevo rose' - where the mortar bomb landed |
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| bullet holes still riddled in the building, this was near sniper alley |
There's a sense of anger and shame over what happened, but also hope - there's still buildings riddled with bullet holes, and mountains lined with landmines, but there's fancy skyscrapers, shisha bars, music venues, festivals and great street food. I took a trip up the Avaz Twist Tower as it was only a few euros to get to the top and you have a 360 degree view of the city. On another day I took a cable car up the mountain to check out the 1984 bob sleigh track, which has been left in a a state of disrepair and covered in graffiti. It was kind of eerie wandering along it and at points I was the only one there, it felt like the beginning of a horror movie!
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| Avaz Twist Tower |
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| view from the top |
It's a great city and I would definitely return and explore more of Bosnia & Herzegovina - I am sad I didn't have longer in the country!
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