Hello everyone! It's been a longer hiatus than normal for me, but it's good because it means that I'm out and about taking pictures and exploring instead of sitting in front of the computer. Bosnia and Sarajevo are now behind me after having made my way to Croatia and the coast of the Adriatic Sea. I had it in my mind that Croatia and Bosnia would be nearly the same, and in some ways they are, but the coastal towns of Croatia at least feel quite a long way from the Bosnian mountains.
I first heard about Sarajevo when I was in middle school (possibly before that but I honestly don't remember). Anyway, the reason that I was interested by it in the first place was because I was just getting into U2 back then and I had heard that they had played a concert here. I watched a documentary on the relationship the band had with the city during the war of the 1990's and how they promised to come to the city one day to play. Later on I read a book by Bill Carter called "Fools Rush In" that is about his time as a reporter in the city while it was under siege. Because of these two things it's been a place that I've been interested in seeing. My first point of interest to see was the football stadium (where the U2 concert took place) and from there I wandered through the other parts of the city. Unfortunately, the rain kept me inside for three days but on my last day I was able to get out on a Siege Tour that takes you around the city to important points during the war. The most interesting one to me was the Tunnel of Hope that the people of Sarajevo dug (by hand) under the airport runway to connect the city with free territory on the other side of the Serbian Army's position.
After Sarajevo, I took a bus south to Mostar. It was somewhat of a mess of a travel day though. The owner of the hostel in Sarajevo offered to call his friend in Mostar who ran a hostel and have him pick me up from the bus station. The call happened without a hitch, but it wasn't until I was standing at the Mostar bus station that I realized that I had no idea what this guy looked like, what his hostel was called or where it was. I thought I was supposed to be getting better at this whole traveling thing! After waiting for someone to show up who looked like they were searching for a foreigner with a backpack for about an hour, I decided to wander into the city and find my own accommodation. Once I had that all settled, I went out to check out the Old Town and the Old Bridge, which were the two reasons I had come to Mostar. The next two days I had planned to take day trips to Blagaj and Medjugorje, but was thwarted by rain once again. So it was reading time instead!
Both Seat (owner of the hostel in Sarajevo) and Nedad (owner of the one in Mostar) recommended going to Split, Croatia. It seems like anytime you hear the same thing from different people, there is a reason for it. I knew that they were both right as soon as I got off the bus. The city is beautiful and much more like a western European town than anywhere I had seen in Bosnia. I think a lot of this is due to the fact that the war didn't extend this far west, or at least not in such as devastating manner as it did across Bosnia. Luckily, the weather has been much better than in Bosnia so I've been able to get out and see the city. Today I'm going to an island off the coast called Brac - supposedly it has some of the most beautiful coastline, even better than the mainland.
I first heard about Sarajevo when I was in middle school (possibly before that but I honestly don't remember). Anyway, the reason that I was interested by it in the first place was because I was just getting into U2 back then and I had heard that they had played a concert here. I watched a documentary on the relationship the band had with the city during the war of the 1990's and how they promised to come to the city one day to play. Later on I read a book by Bill Carter called "Fools Rush In" that is about his time as a reporter in the city while it was under siege. Because of these two things it's been a place that I've been interested in seeing. My first point of interest to see was the football stadium (where the U2 concert took place) and from there I wandered through the other parts of the city. Unfortunately, the rain kept me inside for three days but on my last day I was able to get out on a Siege Tour that takes you around the city to important points during the war. The most interesting one to me was the Tunnel of Hope that the people of Sarajevo dug (by hand) under the airport runway to connect the city with free territory on the other side of the Serbian Army's position.
After Sarajevo, I took a bus south to Mostar. It was somewhat of a mess of a travel day though. The owner of the hostel in Sarajevo offered to call his friend in Mostar who ran a hostel and have him pick me up from the bus station. The call happened without a hitch, but it wasn't until I was standing at the Mostar bus station that I realized that I had no idea what this guy looked like, what his hostel was called or where it was. I thought I was supposed to be getting better at this whole traveling thing! After waiting for someone to show up who looked like they were searching for a foreigner with a backpack for about an hour, I decided to wander into the city and find my own accommodation. Once I had that all settled, I went out to check out the Old Town and the Old Bridge, which were the two reasons I had come to Mostar. The next two days I had planned to take day trips to Blagaj and Medjugorje, but was thwarted by rain once again. So it was reading time instead!
Both Seat (owner of the hostel in Sarajevo) and Nedad (owner of the one in Mostar) recommended going to Split, Croatia. It seems like anytime you hear the same thing from different people, there is a reason for it. I knew that they were both right as soon as I got off the bus. The city is beautiful and much more like a western European town than anywhere I had seen in Bosnia. I think a lot of this is due to the fact that the war didn't extend this far west, or at least not in such as devastating manner as it did across Bosnia. Luckily, the weather has been much better than in Bosnia so I've been able to get out and see the city. Today I'm going to an island off the coast called Brac - supposedly it has some of the most beautiful coastline, even better than the mainland.
Sarajevo:
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| A view of the city, and the rain clouds that kept coming back (they're still following me too). |
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| Football, fighting, and fizz? Ball, BAM, and beer? |
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| Mix of the old with the new. |
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| The National Bosnian Museum, closed due to lack of funding. |
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| Relic from the 1984 Olympics, it survived the war, but I guess when they restored it they decided to stick with the original color scheme... |
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| Bridge that leads to "Sniper Alley". |
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| Standing guard. |
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| Try crossing that bridge! |
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| Cool window. |
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| The Latin Bridge in the old town. Just down from this is where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated with his wife. |
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| A tall, lonely building. |
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| The Sarajevo equivalent of the Frontier, sadly without an equivalent cinnamon roll. |
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| One of the mosques in the old city. |
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| The restored national library. |
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| The house that covers the entrance to the Tunnel of Hope. |
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| Entrance to the Sarajevo tunnel. |
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| Inside the museum - display of how the people moved supplies along the tunnel. |
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| The Bosnian flag during the war. |
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| The President's chair - only he had the honor of sitting while someone rolled hime through the tunnel. |
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| Original plans and schematics for the tunnel. |
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| The museum's collection of weapons used during the 1990's. |
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| Sarajevo as seen from the Serbian Army's position. |
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| Architectural marvel from the Yugoslavia days....yikes. |
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| Bobsled! Leftover from the '84 winter games. |
Mostar:
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| Mostar and the Old Bridge. |
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| Battle scars. |
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| Wait, I didn't know Marshall amplifiers were made in Bosnia! |
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| Afternoon sky. |
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| No more Hunger Games...Peace Games is taking over. |
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| Watch out for those flying kisses. |
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| Also..........owls. |
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| Building at the Spanish Square in Mostar. It was built as a memorial to the Spanish soldiers who died while working for the UN in Bosnia. |
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| This building across the street makes for a sharp contrast between the rebuilt city and what remains from during the fighting. |
Split:
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| Split by night. |
