Sarajevo and observations on former Yugoslavia

With an inescapable past, Sarajevo  offered up more learnings on the recent war, as well as WWI. Many of the tourist activities in the city focus on historical  sites,  and the damage to them during the wars. The people are friendly, and surprisingly open to discussing their life during the war, a decidedly  different approach as compared to how western Europeans discuss WWII, even today. Despite the emotional  burden of trying to engage with a troubled past as a tourist, smog that was heavy enough to burn your eyes on a few days, and very lax smoking enforcements, Jim and I did try to have a little fun exploring the city.

Here you can see into the entrance of the Tunnel of Hope. This 800 meter long tunnel was dug under the UN protected airport during the Serbian siege of the city. This tunnel was a critical  passageway to  provide escape for people into free territory and a crucial supply line when UN provisions were insufficient 

The red area on  the map shows you how the Serbian  army occupied the mountains around the valley of Sarajevo  during the seige. That little white strip was the small area protected by UN neutrality and was never closed during the fighting.  Sarajevo citizens lived under constant sniper and mortar fire for more than 3 years until, as our tour guide put it when I asked him what brought an end to what seemed like a stalemate,  the US bombed the shit out of the Serbian positions and ended the thing over night.

Sarajevo  was host to the 1984 winter olympic games. These are the games where both Katarina Witt  and Scott Hamilton  won their first Olympic gold medals. On our tour, we got to visit  the now abandoned bobsleigh and luge tracks (skeleton didn't  enter the games until Salt Lake City,  but they do use the same track). Here you can seem me walking on the cement slab of what used to be the track.

It is now covered in gaffitti

And being actively reclaimed by nature.

Additionally,  and this is the view from the mountain with the track, the track and it's associated facilities , along with many other of the Olympic facilities, also functioned as sniper positions for the Serbs during the seige. I asked our guide if there was any talk about reclaiming such facilities for use in tourism, but he said that politics are really still too corrupt to create any progress, particularly  in an industry like tourism or competitive sport. Our tour guide happened to be the coach for the Bosnian and Croatian bobsleigh and skeleton teams, so he would be the one with a inside scoop.

There are two Olympic facilities in town that  have been restored. This one houses a musuem in service of promotIng the Olympic spirt of world community  through  sport. It's small, and was  in the process of being set up to host a function, but we did get to peek at some memorbelia.

This is the skate rink where the hockey games were hosted.  It is plated in copper and was the first  building to be shelled by Serbs  during the seige. It took 3 days to melt. In the early 2000's, it was rebuilt.

The Latin bridge, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand  was assasinated, sparking WWI

The beautifully decorated city hall, with renovations just completed this year. A stunning example of some of the beauty in the city and a style that honors the large Ottoman history and Muslim population

Since the city is surrounded by mountains,  there is considerable access to nature not too far away. Unfortunately, in our endeavour to find the Skakavac  waterfall, we were misleadingly  told we'd  only need to hike 6 or 7 km uphill. It was really more like 13 km and we lost daylight  before we could actually make it to the waterfall. Alas, nothing ventured,  nothing gained.

On our last day in Sarajevo,  we took  a different  hike up to the white fortress overlooking old town. Unfortunately  between the smog and the fog, most of the view is the cemetery and the mosque minarets  piercing the sky.

Bosnian coffee, like Turkish coffee with mud on the bottom. Tasty and beautifully  served in traditional  hammered  copper

A plate of kajmak  and local beer. Kajmak  is like a cross between butter, ricotta and cream cheese. Someone needs to take this to NY and put it on a bagel stat. It is delcious. 

Lastly, on traditional  food, Cevapi. Grilled meet served in a pita  with chopped onion. After a few days touring the Balkans though, we got wise to the idea that if you add kajmak, and avar (red pepper and eggplant the spread) you really have something tasty. Even still, after eating this for a week, you'll be screaming  for green leafy vegetables .

Other observations on former Yugoslavia:

Scented toilet paper: It's everywhere and I just don't understand the point of perfuming something you'll flush anyway. The perfume is so heavy it even lingers on your hands after washing with soap. It's just weird!

Pajama stores: An odd retail observation. Stores selling just pajamas are about as common as your local CVS. But their whole inventory  is just pajamas. Is there really a strong Balkan market for pajamas only? 

Beautiful  fillagre and metal work.: The Balkans  may not have been my favorite place to be, but they have been a great place for souvenirs . Truly beautiful  crafting in silver and pressed copper.