The Heart of SE Europe

---

“The Balkans produce more history than they can consume”
Winston Churchill

From the first moment in Bosnia I knew I will love being here.

Crossing the border from Croatia you notice that things look a little bit unordered in a manner that is not quite “European”. Right after the border crossing (with a non-English speaking guard) the Bosnian flag is followed by a …Serbian looking flag. Strange. The houses are not decorated with flowers as we got used to in Slovenia and Croatia. The feeling is that you have arrived to someplace different and not “yet-another European country”. The first village you pass has a church that looks different than the ones we saw before (its orthodox). In the second village from the border you notice a mosque. Its minaret is made of wood!

That was our first encounter with Bosnia a few weeks ago when we were heading south via the mountains. This week we returned to Bosnia on our way north to fill in some gaps.

Even before we set out on our 2 month trip, Bosnia was the only location I was really excited we were going to. Start with the long and complex name - “Bosnia and Herzegovina” - it’s intriguing and raises questions that must be answered. Why 2 names? where is this Herzegovina? Follow that with its complex history and mixture of cultures and you understand why I was eager to go.

Bosnia is a land of rolling green hills and mountain roads. Much is empty land with natural forests and crystal clear rivers. The small hamlets are surrounded by many fruit trees, corn fields and orchids. Each little village has its own character. Serbian orthodox, Croatian Catholic, and - most fun for an Orientophile like me -Muslim villages and towns with minarets and imams calling for prayer. All this in the middle of Christian Europe.

Bosnia is a land of contradictions that somehow manage to coexist side by side…well…at least for the last 15 years . It’s the kind of place the captures the imagination as you are left wondering and contemplating history. Traveling in Bosnia is more of an experience then a “take-a-photo” tourist location. It’s a corner of Europe that is off the map. Google Maps, for instance, does not let you route via Bosnia and basic GPS maps of Europe include only a few major towns in Bosnia and no street maps. (we downloaded an extension in advance….)

For the most part it’s also off the tourist map. Except for the major tourist locations of Sarajevo and Herzegovina (apparently it’s a province near the Adriatic) we were the only foreign tourists. So we had places like Travink and Maglaj to ourselves and ate in restaurants catering solely to locals and shopped in markets with no tourists souvenir shops. In the Evening ,what seems to be all the people in the town, stroll in the of the center of town to see and be seen. Because it was also Ramadan there was extra hustle and bustle around sunset when the town cannons fired signifying the end of the daily feast.

The food was excellent. Partially because the local food is influenced by many cultures near and far. Partially because that at Muslim restaurants we felt free to eat all the local Balkan food without the concern of being served pork. Apart from delicious Kababs (called Chevapchichi here) we had stuffed pepers and onions, bean casserole, minced rice and other foods not very different from what we know from home but somehow a little different. Call it “authentic”.

And there is Sarajevo, home of the 1984 Winter Olympics. I think that only a 4th grader can have enough attention on one hand and free time on the other to properly follow and care about the Winter Olympics. It happened to be that I was in the 4th grade in 1984. So in my mind Sarajevo will always be a magical place, surrounded by snowy-white peaks hosting a world-wide gathering of esoteric sports.

What is it good for?

And there is Sarajevo, home of the famous 1992-95 siege. I think that only a person in his early 20s can look at the news and think it actually shows something really new and be influenced by it. It happened to be that I was in my early 20s in the beginning of the 90s. So in my mind there are places in Sarajevo like the parliament building, the Holliday Inn and sniper’s alley that still resonate from the CNN pictures.

All these places are now fully renovated but It’s hard to come to Bosnia and not contemplating about war. Why it starts? Does it end? Who win? Regarding the Yugoslav wars of the 90s we cannot say that we got any insight in 5 days. From what I gather either all sides were right or all sides were wrong. Part of the time we reflected on another conflict area. The one we come from.


What surprised us was the large amount of physical damage still evident in all major cities and smalltowns. Mostly the damage is in the form of buildings with bullet and mortar markings on the outer walls. In almost all cases this does not affect the usability of the building. We did not photograph this destruction. It felt that if we did we would be like Paparazzi taking a photograph of a drug addictive actor at his worst. it’s just not nice to do. But the destruction serves as a constant reminder of the fact that there was a war.


On the other hand maybe it doesn’t.


I did a bit of personal research about Israel. In the past 15 years Israel suffered from 150 suicide bombings, 7500 rockets fired from Gaza and 4000 missiles fired from Lebanon. You will find no physical damage (it is usually fixed within 24hrs) but there are numerous plaques commemorating events in these locations. Still most Israelis will pass these places at which awful things happened at and not even give it a fraction of a thought. It might be a will to return to normality. It might be a nationwide physiological repression. The point is that people adapt not to think about war envy if there are physical reminders of it..


In Sarajevo we sat at a first floor café. The café was newish and renovated. The young crowed was drinking and laughing. The floors above us in the same building had bullet markings on the entire wall but sitting in the café you would not have noticed. Maybe Bosnians don’t notice the bullet marking any more. Maybe they got used to it. Maybe they just don’t think about it.

Laying on my personal Psychologist Sofa

Personal reflection -

To this day there are 2 places in Israel which when I pass do trigger a though in my mind. I always feel anxiety when I cross the crowded zebra-crossing at Dizengof Center (1996 Purim Bombing ) and will never ever enter the shop at the corner of the X junction in Jerusalem (which formally housed a Sbarro restaurant bombed in 2001)

I do not know why these two affect me.

The Sbarro location is especially befalling to me because Jerusalem has 2 or 3 terror sites which affected me and my close friend directly and still they don’t trigger any feelings. The same day of the Sbarro terror attack there was another attack, 5 min walk from my grandparents’ house. It too triggers no afterthought even when I pass next to the location it happened at.

Like I wrote above, you cannot visit Bosnia and not contemplate about war.

Travel Tip #427

If you are asked by a tourist or even a local Bosnian where to find the best Chevapchichi (Bosnian lamb kabab) send him to Hari in Travnik. You will not only recommend a good restaurant but also show that you positively know what you are talking about. It’s akin to saying that the best Shawarma in Israel is at Hazan in Haifa. The first recommendation for this restaurant was given to us from a Serbian born Croat living about 400km away. Even Liya had 10 pieces of Chevapchichi and asked for more! Finger licking good!

---

Photos

Sarajevo
Skyline of Mosques and churches

Mostar
Liya tasting Rahat Lokum (Turkish delight)

Entering the Serbian controlled part
notice the Cyrillic signs and Serbian flag

Mostar
Old Cities are not good places for the stroller. It ends up that neither of the children are in the stroller and one of us has to drag it over the cobble-stone streets

Sarajevo
We stayed in the suite of the Hotel Astra with views of the city in the panoramic windows in the room

Sarajevo - Olympic Village
The Koshevo Stadium converted to a cemetery during the 1992-95 siege. a;; the graves are from that period

Ilidza
Liya walked 3km to the source of the Bosna River

Ilidza
Hagit crossing the ice cold waters at the source of the Bosna River

Ilidza
Liya admiring the geese and swans

Ilidza
Instead of walking back 3km we took a horse drawn carriage back to the car "just like Cinderella"

Comments

[Lee Kay]

Great post- very thought provoking
You really got me thinking with this one- not an easy feat these days. War and peace, sieges and bypassing them, what makes you remember and what makes you forget. Hmm. Sounds like this might be the part of the trip you will remember the most. But then again, you guys have so many of these trips under your belt, that I really don't know. BTW, did you fix your old camera, or did it fix itself?

[Yosi]

Charm
Your blog is CHARMING! Both text & pictures are interesting and fascinating. Eagerly awaiting next update.