Blogs from Sarajevo, East, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Europe - page 17

At last, after what has seemed like and eternity, it was time for the annual (well, only my second trip) pilgrimage to the Temple of Korfball. This time the tournament was being held in a small city in the centre of Bosnia called Maglaj. So, after a subtle (if that’s possible from me) amount of persuasion that the trip will be worth their while, 4 of us (Spanna, Meryl and Sazza and I) set off in search of fun in the Balkans. Operation Bosnia was born. A route was planned which would take us on a round trip starting from Split in Croatia, via Mostar, Sarajevo, Maglaj and back to Split. Seemed like a good route, mind you I hadn’t quite taken in to account the coast road traffic and the general lack of motorways in ... read more

Right now I’m in Istanbul at an internet café on the 5th floor with an open window over a bustling street below. It’s hot and I’m sweaty so the breeze from the window is a Godsend. Before I move on to this remarkable city, I’ll b... read more

my travel guide described sarajevo as "coming to new life." i think this perhaps the humanitarian impulse of an overly optimistic travel writer who would like to send as many people as possible to this city that dearly needs the traffic. sarajevo is a city constantly resculpted by tradgedy and war. and the couple of young bosnians i spoke to expressed very little hope for a future that promises anything different. and the longer i stayed the more i felt like i'd never again have anyone sing me happy birthday or kiss me on the cheek. the life falls right out of you. and then someone steps on it. (sidenote- the owner of the hostel also told me he'd rather live in bosnia with the danger of war around any corner than in a place with ... read more

Bus from Dubrovnik to Bosnia Herzegovina. Lots of farmland in Bosnia, very sparse, sporadically there were houses that were destroyed in the war, or bullet holes all over the place. Pretty sobering experience. Sarajevo itself is beautiful and small. Especially nice is the Turkish quarter, a pretty small area with lots of interesting shops and stuff. We (Nick from Chicago, and myself) were there during Ramadan, which was cool. Occasionally we could hear the call to prayer being broadcast from the spires of mosques throughout the city, a hauntingly beautiful sound. Also saw the eternal flame, which is dedicated to those who faught in wwi, as well as slavic unity. also saw spot where franz ferdinand was assassinated, starting wwi. next was belgrade, serbia, interesting place kinda, not really. next was budapest hungary. amazing amazing city, ... read more

OK, everyone relax and take a deep breath...we are OK. Fiona and Marcus learned a valuable lesson in Bosnian civil society and local law enforcement. As we entered our blog entry on Budapest last night (trying to catch up) at an Internet cafe, Fiona's digital camera was stolen from her zipped coat pocket. We realized this only as we got up to leave. It was obvious to us who had stolen it and our hostel manager called the police on our behalf. We are fortunate that the office manager speaks very fluent English, as did one of the police officers. We provided a detailed description of the suspect and we were asked to go to the police station to deal with the paperwork. The police volunteered the hostel manager to come along as a translator. Our ... read more