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Jonnys Eastern Delights!
What a cool place Sarajevo is! It is quite small really, which has made me more than happy to just wander the streets for the past couple of days. Arriving lat on Saturday afternoon, and being rudely disturbed from my siesta by the local mosque singer bellowing from the tower, I just headed out for some food and a couple of beers. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Bosnian ladies are extremely fine specimins! And what else is a guy to do when travelling alone but have a beer in a pavementside bar and admire the local talent??? And believe me there is a lot of it! So my first impressions were that this place had a really great feel to it, and would put me a day behind schedule already!
On Sunday I started the day by getting pleasantly lost in Basčarsija, the bustling old Turkish Quarter made up by a labyrinth of polished cobble laneways. Then I walked along the Miljacka River - retracing the route taken by Archduke Franz Ferdinand on that fateful 35th June afternoon, 1914, when Gavrilo Princip's pistol shot from the Latin Bridge was the spark that lit the bonfire and set off WWI - the history lessons came flooding back!! After more wanderings, during which I began to see the same faces over and over again - wander is all everone seems to do!, and another siesta, I ate at a lovely little restaurant where a friendly Italian guy invited me to join him, so it was nice chatting to someone for an hour or so as I tasted the house special - Macedonian Polenta.
Today has been more of the same; an early(ish) start to visit the History Museum to get an appreciation of the turbulent times this country has been through, followed by a walk down "sniper alley" - so called since Serb snipers in the surrounding hills used to pick off civilians as they crossed the road. Many of the buildings still have bullet holes as testament to this. Along here was also a bright yellow Holiday Inn which was home to all the international journalists during the 90's conflict since it was the only hotel operating. Later in the afternoon I stopped to sample a Bosnian coffee at Moričc Han, an ancient crossroads that again had a distinctive Turkish influence.
It really is hard to believe that not too long ago I would be in the middle of a war zone. But as it is, Sarajevo has treated me to a couple of nice relaxing days strolling through the streets and people watching by grabbing a ringside seat at the theatre of live that is the Sarajevo throughfare, all whilst sipping coffee and beers!
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