Blogs from Sarajevo, East, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Europe - page 5

From Belgrade, Mirela helped me arrange a shuttle bus that picks you up and drops you off in Sarajevo where you would like. This was especially helpful as it rained most of the day. I left quite early in the morning, around 6am and was in Sarajevo by lunchtime. The drive was interesting, through mountain roads, really fast, in the rain. Sarajevo is quite a cool town, very alive and yet still mending after the war in the 90s. I really enjoyed my time here. I stayed in a dorm, which I said I would not do on this trip, but sometimes it is inevitable (especially when you are traveling for so long and don't want to spend all your money on accommodation). But, I stayed for four nights and three of those nights I had ... read more

Nun bin ich also in Sarajevo, dieser faszinierenden Balkanmetropole mit der bewegten Geschichte und etwas abseits des Mainstream-Tourismus. Die Fahrt hierher verlief dann doch ohne Probleme. Mit dem Bus von Zagreb über mehrere Zwischenstationen hierher. Auf dem Weg durch eine bergige Landschaft mit vielen schönen Schluchten. Minarette gab es auch jede Menge. Die Namen der Städte hat man in den 90ern oft im Fernsehen gehört. Von Überschwemmung war auf dem Weg hierher nichts zu sehen. Ich bin abends hier angekommen, zum Hotel gefahren und habe begleitet mit bosnischem Wein schön gegessen. Nur für die Online-Tagesschau ist das Internet hier etwas langsam. Bilder muss ich noch nachreichen. Ich hoffe, das schaffe ich morgen, weil das ohne PC anscheinend nicht geht. Dann werde ich auch das Tunnelmuseum aus dem Bürgerkrieg und den Platz des Attentats, welches sich dieses ... read more

The other major event in the relatively recent past that brought Sarajevo to the international attention is the 1984 Winter Olympics. We set off confidently up the hill in the direction of the Stadium. The Man in the Middle suggested a short sit down was in order half way up the hill. It was steep to be fair – perhaps a different approach route would have been a better bet. We had reason to be at the Stadium. It was Bosnian FA Cup quarter-final Wednesday and FK Sarajevo were playing at the Stadium in the 2ndleg of their tie with FK Vitez. It was finely balanced at 1 – 1, although we didn’t know that at the time. We had taken our detour to look at Princip’s grave and arrived in good time. The approach to ... read more

The football business temporarily over in Belgrade, we were up at 5 am and down to the Bus Station for the 6.15 express to Sarajevo. The bus company was called Kondor, which was quite appropriate as we would be going over the high ground into Bosnia. We already had our tickets and I had the little tokens to get on to the platform secured. There was no sign of any seat numbers being employed on the bus - at least nobody came up and said move - so we settled down to early morning departure heading intially north out of Belgrade past the airport. The early scenery was not memorable - the flat agricultural land only interupted by the occasional feature incluing the West Balkan branch of the family diesel engine firm. We re-crossed the Sava ... read more

The JAT Airways turboprop from Belgrade to Sarajevo took only forty minutes, even if it did sound like a Lancaster bomber. The first thing we did when we stepped into the arrivals hall of Sarajevo Airport was to change some British pounds into the local currency, the convertible mark. Then we caught a cheap taxi to our hotel. From the taxi, we noticed how hilly Sarajevo was. It was on these hills that snipers hid during the Bosnian War. We also noticed the abundance of mosques. Minarets were everywhere, a distinct difference from the Orthodox Christianity of Serbia. "Look," said Michael, pointing at a dilapidated building we were driving past. It was pockmarked with bullet holes. The driver noticed us looking. "From war," he said. The Siege of Sarajevo lasted for almost four years. It occurred ... read more