5 days in Sarajevo- probable 1 or 2 days more days more than needed, but we kicked back some. Our Europe excursion is now half over. Weather was again perfect- hot one day but down to 49 our last night. The apartment was again not in the city center- about a 15 drive- with a great view from 5 stories up. We took a culture/ food tour of old town, a short city bus tour around town, a half day tour about the last war (siege) from a guy that was 9 at the time. Can’t say it was an enjoyable tour due to subject matter, but clearly an event that left a big footprint on Sarajevo and one that needs to be remembered so as not to be repeated. It was from April 5, 1992 to February 29, 1996 (1,425 days) – the longest modern day seige. There was still a lot of evidence of the war- bullet holes, gutted buildings, mortar craters, uncleared mine fields (in heavily forested and very rugged terrain). Also went on an alpine slide ride , saw the old Olympic village (1984 winter), Olympic bobsled run and ski jump (all pretty well destroyed in the war). I haven’t wa?tched all 6 but here is a link to a 6 part BBC series on the breaking up of Yugoslavia
Food was like most of the Balkans- meat&potatoes plus cooked veggies. Next we are going rafting down the Drina river on the border between Bosnia and Montenegro. Hope we don’t drown.loving the balcony
4 pics from balcony
traditional Cevapi with onions ( small sausages)- really good- had this twice
traditional Burke- pastry filled with meat, potatoes, spinach, or cheese- good stuff
baklava
apple stuffed with nuts
strong coffee for Beth/ I got my caffeine fix with Diet Coke (Coke zero over here)
went to the only “Mexican” restaurant in Bosnia- pretty bad shit- pic of nachos and then the tortillas and cheese for the fajitas ( meat not pictured)- I guess we wait until we get home for our Texmex fix.
beer, lamb stew and something else for our last lunch
pizza for our last dinner
fountain in the middle of old town
Orthodox Church in old town
eternal flame WWII war memorial
mortar shell spot- saved and painted red as reminders- these were anti personnel mortars with lots of lateral scrapnel and small surface damage
locals playing chess in the middle of park
Catholic church in old town- no pic of the big mosque in old town
old town main pedestrian walk-3 pics
building with war damage- 2 pics
old 16th century fortress overlooking Sarajevo
in war tunnel under airport that was used to supply the Bosnian troops in Sarajevo during the seige as well as food for citizens
uncleared mountain mine field
olympic ski jump
olympic podium
ski jump
tour guide, Ervin, 9 years old when war started
posh olympic hotel near ski jump- used as military quarters by Serbia
bob sled run
view of Sarajevo from surrounding mountain- this position was used for mortar launch and sniper nest-3 pics
Jewish cemetery most way up a mountain side- used by snipers- see bullet holes in next pic- Jews were decimated here during WWII and hurt again in the recent war- only a few hundred left in the Jewish area of town
alpine slide- fun-3pics
view of city from alpine slide restaurant -2 pics