Sarajevo

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Sarajevo is on my list of favorite cities in the world. Kathleen and I had been planning this trip since last year. It was my plan going into this year to go to Sarajevo during the ski break.

But we didn't start in Sarajevo. Despite how it looks on a map, Sarajevo is really hard to get to from Budapest. There aren't any trains, and the only buses are about a day long. Thankfully, a few friends of ours went last summer and told us about this magical car service that picks you up from your door and takes you to your hostel in Belgrade and then to your hostel in Sarajevo. For 45 euros. Seems too good to be true? Actually no!

On Friday, Kathleen and I got picked up from my flat after school, around 2:00. We sat in the back of a van for about 5 hours with a bunch of other people (and lots of snacks. Don't worry). We got to our hostel in Belgrade and walked in to about 15 people sitting around a long table eating some sort of stew. We had barely made it to the front desk to check in before being offered shots of Rakia (the Serbian liquor. Tastes like something between pálinka and rubbing alcohol). Then we were invited to sit down and enjoy the home-made spinach, cheese, and potato stew, some beer, and a lot more Rakia. It was a great meal, and we met some Greek guys who satisfied all of the stereotypes of loud Greeks. We dropped our things in our room and headed back down to the common room. We met a British girl who asked if we wanted to go to a party. So we got in a cab with her and some Serbian guy, and drove out into the middle of nowhere to a warehouse where there was a rave going on. We were overwhelmed to say the least. We stayed for about an hour and then hailed a cab home. We were exhausted from a day of school plus all of the Serbian craziness. Our hostel room was FREEZING cold. Boo.

The next morning, we had planned to see a bit of Belgrade. I went down to the common room, woke up the guy, and asked him if he could call the car company for me to check the pick-up time. He called and was like "all the cars are full." I had to explain to him a few times that I had made a reservation before he figured out how to communicate with that. He finally hangs up the phone and says "Ok. They'll be here between 9 and 10." It was 8:30. I ran back to the room, woke up Kathleen, bought a bunch of food, and waited in the common room for about an hour before the car picked us up. Bye, Belgrade!

On the way to Sarajevo, we were squished into the front seat with an incredibly sarcastic Serbian driver who kept switching between jokes and full-on insults while we listened to EDM at 10 am. At one point he told us that if we were going to speak English, we weren't allowed to speak. Thanks. The drive was beautiful but 6 hours long. We drove through the mountains, past insanely blue lakes, bombed out villages, and loads of haystacks. We got high enough in the mountains that there were a few feet of snow on the sides of the road. It was absolutely gorgeous. As we approached the border, our driver said, "Ok. If they ask, we're all friends traveling to Visegrad together." So...that seemed super legal. Thankfully, no one asked. The border town was about 3 buildings on an unpaved road. A Chinese man had to get out of the van, and there was a really awkward moment where we weren't sure if we were leaving him at the border or not (we didn't).

We arrived in Sarajevo around 4, and the sun was about to set. We got into our hostel, which was LOVELY. It's called Travelers Home Hostel, and everyone should stay there. We met this Aussie named Chris, who, consequently, was also in our van. And then in our hostel room. And later came and visited us in Budapest! Kathleen and I threw our stuff in the room and set our to explore Sarajevo. The first street we found in the Old Town was full of pounded metal objects and old war trinkets. It had rained, and the lights were on, and it was so beautiful. It reminded me of a mini Istanbul. We had a great dinner for wicked cheap and went back to the hostel. We picked Chris up and went with him to get Cevapi. Then we all went to a tea place our hostel recommended. The place was tiny and run by an old hippy. Everyone in there welcomed us in. It was a strange mix of personalities, ages, and nationalities, but everyone was awesome. We had a great night with them and for the rest of the weekend we ran into them everywhere in the city!

In the morning we woke up, made breakfast, and went exploring. First we went up to one of the cemeteries.

A little history of Sarajevo: The city was under siege for 3 years in the 90s. It was bombed, shelled, and starved. The city is situated in a valley, and a small river cuts through the middle. Now, the mountainsides and full of houses and cemeteries. The cemeteries all have uniform white obelisks, and most of the dates of deaths are between 1992 and 1995. It's incredibly sad and incredibly beautiful.

We sat on top of an old fort looking out over the city before we walked up to the yellow fortress. The yellow fortress can be seen from the city, so we just walked towards it. It was surrounded by walls and fences, and we couldn't find a way in. It wasn't until we got to the back that we realized why. HALF OF IT IS GONE. The whole thing has been bombed to pieces, and only the facade remains. The walls that are still standing are riddled with bullet holes. Most of the city is riddled with bullet holes. They're in houses, garage doors, and pretty much anything that hasn't been painted over.

We walked down the hill, over the river, explored an unfinished building, and made our way to a famous Ottoman cemetery on a hillside. It had the same white obelisks, but there were also insanely old obelisks that were topped with stone turbans. Then one of the coolest things happened. First, a call to prayer came from a nearby minaret. About 10 seconds later, we heard another call to prayer from a further minaret. The two men sang in harmony and discord for about 30 seconds before church bells started chiming. It was noon. We stood in silence for about 5 minutes listening to about 7 calls to prayer and church bells echoing over the city. It was unbelievable. We spent the rest of the day exploring the city including the corner where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. We walked through more shops, smoked some shisha, played cards, went to another beautiful teahouse, and went to bed early. Very successful first day.

On our second day in Sarajevo, we did something different. Now, when Kathleen and I travel, I take care of all the transportation and accommodation. Kathleen researches culture, history, and activities. It works out really well. After digging, she found that there is an abandoned bobsled track from the 1984 winter olympics. We took a taxi up to the top, and the cab driver pointed in a direction, so we walked. I was in Converse, and Kathleen had little boots. There was about 6 inches of snow. We found the bobsled track, which at first looked insanely creepy. But also SO COOL. We climbed inside, stopped caring about our wet and cold feet, and started running down the track. It was covered in graffiti and surrounded by nothing. We were the only ones there. We walked, sprinted, and tried to slide the whole way down. It was so much fun.

At the finish line we tried to go down the mountain but ended up going up to the top of the mountain with panoramic views and abandoned hotels. The hotels were destroyed in the siege. One building still had a stairwell but only some walls and floors. So, naturally, we explored the building, stepping around the holes in the floor. From the "windows" we could see all of Sarajevo. That was another one of my favorite moments.

The hike down was...interesting. The entire mountainside was snow and mud, and I fell on my butt no fewer than 5 times. And when I say fell, I mean fell and slid. It was exhausting. We ended up in some guy's backyard. He popped his head out of the window and I pointed and said "road?" He just pointed towards the road and looked confused. We went down his steps, and the whole neighborhood came out to wave at us and see what was going on. We finally made it back to the hostel, put on dry pants, and ate and smoked shisha for the rest of the night.

On the third day of Sarajevo, we couldn't find the tour we were supposed to do. So we gave up and went into an exhibit on the genocide in Srebrenica. It was full of photos and stories. We sat and watched (sobbed through) a couple of videos on the siege of Sarajevo. It was really incredible. We spent the rest of the day wandering around and exploring the places we hadn't yet seen.

On Tuesday morning we got ready to leave. When we had gotten to Sarajevo, I had no idea how we were going to get back to Budapest, because the van times were really weird and annoying. However, our amazing hostel was like "Oh. There's a van that will take you from Sarajevo to Budapest for 50 euros. Door to door." So...we got that! We got picked up Tuesday morning, and our driver took us back to Budapest. Except there was no one else in the van. We switched to a car at one point. But, basically, Kathleen and I took a taxi from Sarajevo to Budapest for 50 euros each. It was a great end to a perfect trip.

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