Sarajevo...Where East Meets West

Sarajevo...where Eastern Cultures meet Western Cultures

Some cities you know you are going to love from the moment you arrive.  They're historic...well preserved...beautiful when they were first built...and continue to be so today.  Valencia, Spain is like that.  With other cities it requires more time to appreciate what they have to offer.  Sarajevo happens to be one of those cities.  However...that is the beauty of being able to stay for more than just a few days in one location.  You get to know the heart of a city...and some of the hidden places that make it special.  We have been in Sarajevo for about 3 weeks, and we continue to find all kinds of interesting things about this place.  

Our first impression when we arrived was that this is a place that has fallen on hard times.  And, it has.  Unemployment is high...many of the buildings are in need of repairs...and there is tagging (graffiti) everywhere.  In some respects it still seems to be recovering from a war that took place 27 years ago.  

In 1992 a civil war broke out here between the Bosnians (Muslims,) Serbs (Orthodox 
Christians,) and Croats (Catholics).  Although the war is often portrayed as ethnic...in fact all sides were Slavs, differing only in their religious background.  For three and a half years, Sarajevo...which sits in a valley...was under siege by Serbian troops located on the hills that surround the city.

Map of Sarajevo showing how the city was surrounded by the Serbian troops

What the surrounding hillsides of Sarajevo look like today

Sarajevo had no army and no real weapons.  They had to build civilian defense groups, and come together as a community in order to survive.  For more than three years the people had no electricity or heating fuel and had to dart across streets to obtain limited amounts of food or get water.  They were always in fear of getting shot by the snipers that lived in the surrounding hills.  No one was safe from the snipers, not even the children...but somehow life seemed to carry on.  By the end of the war more than 11,000 people had been killed.    

Today the city is filled with cemeteries that popped up during the war in all available spaces...including schoolyards, soccer fields, parks, and, anywhere else they could respectfully bury their dead.  

Muslim Cemetery located on a hillside near the city center

A small graveyard on the grounds of a mosque located near our home

You will also see spots called Sarajevo Roses throughout the city.  These are places where mortar shells hit and killed three or more people during the war.  The craters have been filled in with red paint as a memorial to the war and those who were killed in that spot.  

Sarajevo Rose located in the Vegetable and Fruit Market in the city of Sarajevo

We took a guided tour during our first week here to learn about the war.  Our guide was an 18 year old police officer at the time of the conflict, who fought in the war.  In fact, at one point during our tour, he showed us the scar on his leg where he had been shot.  The wound went through his thigh and out the back.  Today he makes money reliving his memories from this sad time in history. 

Our guide is the man above holding a water bottle in his hand.  The Tunnel of Hope is in the basement of this house which is located in a neighborhood near the airport.  

One of the spots we visited with our guide was the Sarajevo Tunnel...which is also called the Tunnel of Hope...that had been dug by hand during the conflict.  It ran from the airport...which was a safe zone managed by the United Nations...to the city of Sarajevo.  The tunnel allowed the people to get much needed food, war supplies, and humanitarian aid.  It was also a way for people to get safely out of the city. 

Inside the Tunnel of Hope

Tools used to dig the tunnel

Mortars used during the war.

Today there are remnants of the war everywhere you look.  Below are pictures of some of the military vehicles used during the conflict.  They are parked near the Cafe Tito...a popular bar and cafe frequented by locals and tourists.  

Eight years before the war broke out, the 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo.  Today barely anything is left from that period of time, and what does remain lies in ruins.   This past week, Lance and I took a cable car up to the top of the mountain where the Luge track and Bobsled track were built.  Unfortunately, the tracks are now in poor repair, overgrown with weeds and covered in graffiti. 

Cable cars from the 1984 Olympics

Brand new cable cars opened in April, 2018

A section of the bobsled as it looks today

The Olympic torch as it appears today

The good news is that a fancy new hotel can be found close to where the tracks from the bobsled stand.  We stopped by for lunch and a drink before taking the cable car back down the mountain.  The hotel is located in a beautiful space surrounded by the forest.  On the day we arrived the terrace was filled with visitors.  

Of course it is not all doom and gloom here in Sarajevo.  There are many interesting shops in the historic old town...along with many new stores and restaurants in the newer section of the city.  I definitely find the historic part of town much more interesting.  

There are lots of interesting souvenirs available for tourists to buy

A tin worker in the historic old town

Lance and I also enjoy using the trolley system here in Sarajevo.  It is an odd collection of older, used trolley cars donated by numerous countries after the war to help get the city back on it's feet.  One local referred to them as a living museum of trolley cars.     

Recently we came across a Zastava car show in the town square.  These cars were produced in Yugoslavia, and were made by the same company that manufactured the Yugo.  Yugo's were sold in the United States in the late 1970's...and...yes, I did own one at one time.  Oddly enough...so did Lance's brother.  These cars were in mint condition.      

Finally, I must mention how absolutely delicious the local food is here.  My favorite meal is Cevapi.  It is a grilled dish of minced meat that looks like a skinless sausage.  It is served with a type of flat bread, raw chopped onions and sour cream or cream cheese.  It is considered to be the national dish of Bosnia and can be found everywhere in the city.   

Next week we will be visiting Mostar for the day.  And, later in the week we will be attending the Sarajevo Film Festival. 

It is a big affair that runs from morning to night for an entire week.  Some of the movies are shown outside and others are at venues located throughout the town.  In the past, several famous movie stars from the States and Europe have been in attendance.  We have tickets for 11 of the more than 200 movies that will be presented.  When we went to buy our tickets, I was actually interviewed by the local TV station.  Unfortunately, we had no camera with us to record the event.  Maybe next time...