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Blogs from Sarajevo, East, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Europe - page 10
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June 15th 2007
It was onward from Dubrovnik and the first stop was a little medieval town called Mostar. It's claim to fame is it's bridge which was bombed during Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian invasion back in the early 90's, but has now been rebuilt, like the country, as a symbol of the country's reunification. The town itself was a cool little town, but there were still signs of the invasion, like gutted and bullet ridden buildings. Ironically enough, the 'Old City' looks the newest as it was around the bridge, and hence most of the tourist area. Other than a bit of wandering, there wasn't alot else to see, so I moseyed my way up to Sarejevo. The bus ride there was one of the more scenic rides I have had on the trip and I saw truly ... read more
May 27th 2007
Why are you going THERE? Seems to be the standard response when we mention we are going to Bosnia. Agreed, the only time Bosnia Herzagovina ever rated a mention in Australia was on SBS World News when it was having the crap blasted out of it, although Mary Kostakidis does have a way of pronouncing Sarajevo that makes it sound awfully exotic. Of course in reality, Sarajevo does have a rather chequered career. Back in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his significant other were gunned down here and the rest, as they say, is history. It was an incident Sarajevo almost seems proud of. "Look at us, we started WW1". More recently, Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics and all was looking peachy. Jump ahead about 8 years and Ratko Mladic and his band of ... read more
settimane 12-14- Slovania, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovenia
Published: May 8th 2007Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » East » Sarajevo
May 8th 2007
Trip through Eastern Europe Again, I have been traveling for a while and that is why I have not updated in a while. Since the last blog I have had my friend Ethan come and stay for a week, where we basically just stayed in Milan, other than a day trip back to Cinque Terre to go to the beach. After Ethan’s return to the U.S. I took a trip to Eastern Europe and went to Ljubljana, Slovenia then to Zagreb, Croatia and finally to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. My trip was during the week last week, I left on Monday (because Monday and Tuesday are holidays in Italy) and took a morning train to Venice where I spent six hours waiting to leave on my train to Ljubljana. I found out that when travelling ... read more
April 19th 2007
We arrived in Sarajevo after a day train journey from Budapest not really knowing what to expect. I think most of us can remember the pictures from the war and the siege on Sarajevo I was expecting the possibility of a very depressing visit although Lee assured me he had read great things about the city! We were greeted from the train journey by the agent of our hostel who was absolutely bonkers his English wasn't too great as we had realised when it had taken an hour to see that he hadn't sent us a text message in Bosnian but that it was actually English! He took us to the hostel Marko Polo and we were pretty disappointed but he kept telling us that it was the best hostel in Sarajevo... I really hope ... read more
Bosnia Hercegovina - A history Lesson
Published: March 19th 2007Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » East » Sarajevo
March 19th 2007
Between the ages of 14-17 I was finishing the last years of my schooling, starting my first job, played squash and tennis in my free time, met up with mates and doing the usual stuff most of us did during the years of 1992 to 1995. During this time, the news reported on a country called Bosnia, and specifically a city called Sarajevo. Now we were far away from this place and ok I was old enough to remember but not quite old enough to know the extent of what really took place. Maybe it wasn’t even my age that was the reason for not knowing exactly what was going on. Who of us can seriously say we know exactly what is going on in Iraq at this very moment. Who of us knows the ... read more
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March 11th 2007
I love this place. i learned so much, and it was all so interesting. i did the first and probably only tour for the duration of my trip, but the story of sarajevo is incredible. we had this awesome tour guide with the darkest, driest sense of humour. heres some good jokes of his: guy sitting on a swing, just swinging back and forth, another guy says 'what you doing?' he says 'fucking with the snipers' (bosnians like to swear in english they think its funny) (it was a siege-war of sniping and mortaring from around the city, the serbs never really got into the city, they just shot anything that moved from the hills, shot holes in water cans which people had to race/sneak down sniper alley and then line up in the open ... read more
February 23rd 2007
After leaving the flatness of Serbia, it is impossible to overlook the natural beauty of Bosnia. After a brief border crossing, the bus curved around beautiful emerald lakes and wound around rocky crags into Sarajevo. It was a city that I had associated with terrible violence in the 90s, but didnt know much more about. My mission was to stay in the city until I fully understood the conflict. I had no idea it would take hold of me and not let go for 5 days. One of my first experiences, unfortunately, was having my wallet stolen on the tram. It deferred my exploration but has not tarnished my view of the city. It is a city full of welcoming, hospitable people with the exception of a few, needy individuals who are desperate enough to ... read more
February 22nd 2007
Our route until April 2007Sarajevo was not in our original itineray, but Bosnia was included in our railcard so we decided that the 12hour train journey to the capital city would be worth it- it really was! We arrived really late, but were greeted off the train by a very friendly man who spoke no English but knew about 4 words of German and had very imaginative sign language. Our hostel was right on the edge of "Pigeon Square" which is a really lively meeting point for locals because it borders onto the Turkish market and the city's main mosque. It was really nice because we were able to hear the call to prayer which rang across the city five times per day. Also the balcony leading to our hostel room had an excellent view ... read more
January 22nd 2007
Sarajevo One always walks down the cobbled streets of the great Ancient city of Rome imagining how life must have been during those times. You see the Colusseum on the right, Palatine Hill on the left, Trevi Fountain in front of you. All the grandeur, all the glory, all the prosperity that was Rome. Whilst walking the streets of Sarajevo in Bosnia, I tried to imagine the exact opposite. A bullet-ridden wall on the right, a half-destroyed building on the left, a Sarajevo Rose (representing six or more deaths by a mortar explosion) in front of me. All the destruction, all the pain, all the suffering. This city is recovering from an enormous tragedy. The Siege of Sarajevo; a four-year nightmare which resulted in the loss of over 10 000 lives. The longest siege in modern ... read more
November 23rd 2006
We are in Sarajevo this Thanksgiving though we’re supposed to be spending the holiday in Istanbul. We have been eager to see Turkey and loved the idea of being in Turkey for America’s Turkey Day. About ten days ago Roger developed a few nagging problems that two days ago turned into overwhelming pains in his lower back and groin. This occurred, of course, almost immediately after we purchased our train tickets from Sarajevo to Belgrade for what would ultimately be a thirty six hour train ride to Istanbul. Our two day odyssey navigating the health care system here, which thus far appears to have been fruitful, also gave us insight into the way many people here live (and certainly provides perspective that will likely keep us from complaining about the American health care system any time ... read more
