2. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

 

Sunday, June 18, 2023

 

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there

 

We are in Sarajevo now in the Herzegovina part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. What a large and modern city it is. With lots of significant world history.

 

We saw the Olympic Rings in a round-about as we approached our hotel. It was great to know that the history of these Olympics is still held in high value in the city.

We are staying in an Ibis Styles Hotel which deeply reflects the blended cultures of this area. Rich woven patterned carpets cover many of the walls. On some hotel floors, the room numbers have been hand woven. The food available for breakfast and throughout the day is representative of the traditional diet and recipes of this area. The bar on the top floor has windows in all four directions and provides a magnificent view of the city. And also, for fun,

several snow boards, handsomely painted, have been hung In the lobby as swings. Throughout our brief time here, we have seen children and adults enjoying a gentle swing.

Two other quick points about our hotel … There was as much care designing the outside as there was doing the inside. The outside of the building is very colourful with panels of yellow, blue, green and red. Very bright and identifiable. The other feature is one we have never seen but seems so sensible. On the property at the front of the building, there is a gas station and variety store. What better place to fill your tank before you set off on your journey, especially when you know that gas stations can be a long way apart once you leave the city?

 

We spent today getting to know the city while, at the same time, we visited many of the key sites that are here. We were eager to learn more about the Sarajevo Olympics. One thing that stood out was their outright success in including every team that wanted to participate. Sarajevo is the only Olympics that were not boycotted by any nation.  We started by visiting the Luge and Bobsled site of the 1984 Olympics (I mistakenly used the date 1974 in the blog that was just posted). Oops!!

 

Up and up we went around curves, hairpin turns and steep climbs to reach a high point on the mountain where the Luge and Bobsled events took place. The facilities been torn down, replaced with an amusement park and a picnic area. We were astonished by how many people were there. The parking lot was full!! And it was still early in the day. It was a beautiful day and families and friends wanted to enjoy the fresh summer air. Most of Sarajevo’s population live in apartments so being in a more open space would have great value for them.

 

Some Olympic sites were damaged during the Yugoslav War in the early 1990’s. Some remnants remain in place as a reminder of how devastating a war can be. We saw a few as we moved around during the day.

 

On our way down the long hill, a group of horses with their colts were alongside the road. Time for a big AHHH, especially when one of the moms fed her babe. As a side note there were hundreds of elderberry trees in full bloom. The birds are going to be well fed later this year even if crowds of people come to pick the berries.

 

We carried on to the site of the Olympic Stadium which already existed (1947) before the Olympics. It was renovated for the Olympics, and further renovated afterward with facilities that continue to encourage physical fitness – a soccer field, tennis courts and fitness facilities

 

Zetra Stadium, the speed skating building adjacent to the Stadium also still exists as a very unique building. It has had a challenging history along the way. It was struck by missiles 1995 during the war in Yugoslavia. It was rebuilt with money from EU, Olympic Committee and the City of Barcelona in late 1990’s.  It is in use today and a skating venue.

OK … enough about the Olympics ….

 

We travelled into the centre of Sarajevo to see the Latin Bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Austria) was assassinated, leading to the outbreak of World War 1. There is a Sarajevo Museum at the site and a replica of the jeep that Franz Ferdinand was in. A plaque on the wall indicates exactly where the assassination took place.

 

As we travelled through the city we saw several mosques and several historic churches, speaking to the two primary religious groups in the city. Of course, we took photos of many.

 

We located the remains of the Taslihan Hotel, the oldest hotel in Europe. Built in abut 1540, its hospitality originated in the form of a ‘caravanserai’, where there was space for people and animals and trading markets. All were welcome. It operated for a very long time until 1879, it was badly damaged by fire and did not reopen. Most of the hotel had to be torn down. What was in the basement was simply covered over by dirt and debris and disappeared … until 1998 when the current  Hotel Europa 1998 was under construction and the ruins of Taslihan were recovered. Built into the construction project, the basement ruins were restored and now house shops where guests and others are able to browse and shop to their heart’s content. And the Hotel Europa can lay claim to having oldest hotel in Europe as a part of its facility.

As we meandered through the city, we saw several markets – some merchandise markets and some food markets, especially fruit and vegetable. All markets were crowded. Fresh food in the pantry and fridge for the coming week. There are also several fast food stalls around town, quite different from our experience in Dubrovnic. We also encountered one familiar brand name … KFC. Say no more … the chains ae coming.

 

We passed by many large and beautiful parks filled with majestic trees and park benches … and people. It seemed like the entire of Sarajevo was out and about on this spectacular day. There is still a tradition in this city that shops and businesses are closed on Sundays. Groups of friends and families were gathered together all over the city. In the central area the parking lots and on street parking was overfull, sidewalks were crowded and outdoor tables at restaurants were packed.

 

In the central area of the city, we also saw the Sarajevo City Hall, the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque, the Yellow Fortress which overlooks the city. It had been a full day.

 

We had dinner back at our hotel and then ran an errand. We visited to the Enterprise rental car office at the airport to ask how to turn on the back up camera. It would be very helpful. A lovely sales associate who spoke impeccable English helped us out. I was glad that it was not a simple procedure. He tried in many different ways but finally reached a conclusion. The car has no back up camera. Newer models of many makes of cars no longer install them but put in place a series of ‘beeps’ instead. When you get too close to something behind or beside your car, your car begins to beep. We, who at home drive two cars that have seen 27 years of life on the road, would never have known that back-up cameras are a thing of the past.

 

Life is good. There is always more to learn.