Sarajevo

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We arrived in Sarajevo when the city's lights began to glow. We could tell we were going to like this place from the moment the train pulled into the station and we caught our first glimpse of its hilly landscape.

We arrived in the city late at night and had to decide whether to take a cab or a bus. The bus seemed sketchy that late, so we approached the taxis. We had heard that Sarajevo is known to have one of lowest cab rates. We tried to use our Ukrainian to speak to the driver because the languages seemed similar and we hoped he could understand us and not think we're from North America. Well he thought we were Polish and he didn't really seem to like us after that either. So we spoke to each other in English and he charged us 10 euros for about a 5 minute cab ride. Whenever I meet people who are Eastern European, I can use my knowledge of Ukrainian to understand their languages, however when I try to speak back in Ukrainian no one understands. It's really odd.

The place we stayed at was nice, but deserted. The next morning my sister and I as well as two or three other people were at breakfast. It was very quiet and very dark. Only on the night we were leaving did a soccer team from Ukraine come to stay. They were saying "Dobryden" to everyone who walked by. It was funny.

In the day, we went out to explore the city. We were going to be visiting mosques, so my sister thought we should wear long sleeves and long pants. The weather outside was 30 degrees celsius and as we exited the lobby, the tourists gathered around the tour bus started pointing and laughing. Getting laughed at by people in socks and sandals - the high point of my life.

I have a thing for hilly landscapes. I don't know what it is, but I always fall in love with places that are mountainous or hilly, maybe because Toronto is so flat. So naturally, I fell in love with this city. However, not only was the landscape great, but everything in it. There was so much culture and history. Although, the remnants of the war were still there in some places, the city had been very much rebuilt.

To be continued...

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Photos

Sarajevo
Sarajevo by night.

Sarajevo
The hilly landscape.