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22nd July-
Ottoman trek busabout.
Had an average nights sleep after been up and down trying to breath and cough. Headed out at 9am for a walking tour with a young local guy. He was born in Sarajevo during the war. We walked down to the old city and stopped to drink at the Sebilj water fountain. It is said that if you drink from this fountain you will return to sarajevo. Then visited a mosque with the ruins of a Turkish bath next to one of the old mosques in the city. I was surprised at the large ottoman influence in the city. The ottoman empire ruled over Bosnia for hundreds of year and the country adopted many of there customs including religion, food and Islamic style. I was surprised to see how much like turkey Sarajevo was, I was not expecting that amount is ottoman influence.
We pasted spite house which is across the river from the town hall. It is called spite house as the government brought a series if house to build the town hall but one man said he wouldn't sell and after a few years they reached an agreement where he would move if the government moved his house to the other side of the river in it current form. We then crossed over the river and visited the site were the archduke of the Austria empire was assassinated and started world war one. Then walked along and visited on the the large perhaps churches in the city before going around the corner and seeing a large catholic church.
In the footpath there are a few still remaining "roses" they are holes that were made in the footpath during the conflict and then filled in with red wax. This results in an abstract rose on the ground. Many of them are now gone as the wax eventually washes away.
As you walk around you can still damage in many of the building and we pasted several that were empty shells, even close to the city center and over 10 years on they are just left as ruins. As you walk around and move a little further away from the old city you begin to see more of the European influence in the building. There is one point were if you look to the left it is traditional ottoman style buildings and then to your right it is 19/20th century double story classic European design. We then headed back to the bus and drove out to the airport to the tunnel museum. During the siege, that lasted 3 years the only way to get supplies in and out of the city was via this tunnel dug underneath the airport. It took just over 6 months to complete and the entry was inside a house. There were three entry points so that there wasn't always a hive of activity around this one house. We watched a DVD showing footage of the city during the siege and then showing troops and supplies moving in and out of the tunnel. It was very interesting to see the images of the city in a war state after spending the morning walking around. During the siege people tried to continue to live a normalish life. People went to work and school, the currency became cigarettes as the factory in town contuined to produce them and then they moved out, via the tunnel to the rest of the country in exchange for other goods.
Back to the hotel were I caught a taxi to the hospital as it is a Sunday afternoon none of the medical centers are open and I need some professional help to get over this cold/flu. Arrived and there didn't seem to be much of a system... More crowd around a door and push your way to the front depending how sick you are. It was a bit of a one person out, one person in. It looked like it was going to be a long wait as there were a dozen or more people around but after 15 mins a lot of them seemed to have moved through or just been there supporting family. I then stood up close to the door and went in. They took my passport details and a doctor was standing right there, I told him how I was feeling and we walked around to the pharmacy, he wrote a script out and then 3$ later I had the drugs I needed. Caught a taxi back into the old town and stopped to try a cevapi. It is small long meatballs served in a pita bread with onions and a cheesy like sause. Was really tasty. Then back to the hotel for a rest.
Walked out briefly before dinner to look at the local shops. They have fantastic copper wears. Ended up buying a large tray... Not sure yet how I am going to carry it around.
Back to the hotel and went out to the local brewery for dinner. The brewery also contuined yo produce during the siege. Enjoyed a delicious meal of local bosnia cold meats and cheese and then grilled sausage with a salad. Back to hotel for a earlyish night. I really want to feel better and get over this infection.
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