Yes Folks, I Went to Bosnia, and I Loved it

When I was growing up, the name "Bosnia" was interchangeable with "place there's no way in hell I'm traveling to."  I was actually watching a movie from the 90s recently and one of the lines was something in the spirit of "it's not like I'm moving to Bosnia!"

But for those of you who have trouble with math, the war there was 20 years ago.  And boy have things changed.

I'll admit when Bosnia was first recommended by a travel acquaintance I was a bit stumped.  It had literally never crossed my mind, but when you have at least five different people on different occasions in different countries all tell you it's a must-see, you get to thinking.

Which was what brought me to Sarajevo.  

I arrived by bus in the afternoon, and the first thing was I wound up somewhere that was definitely not the main bus station.  Thank god for cheap taxis.  I showed the driver the address of my hostel, hopped in, and drove for literal ages.  But eventually I made it to the general area of the hostel, and found the place without too much difficulty with their directions.

Got myself checked in, settled, and eventually was driven by hunger to go out and find myself some dinner.

Which was where I discovered my first favorite local food - ćevapčići.  Take pita or flat bread, fill with sausages made with ground meat, accompany with diced raw onions and a some sort of cheese that resembles a more savory cream cheese.  Eat with a knife and fork.  Enjoy.

By the way, if you dislike raw onions, the Balkans are not for you.  These guys love their raw onions.

From there I found the nearest grocery store and grabbed a couple beers (plus a pack of these Croatian cookies I love), and spent the evening watching movies and relaxing in my dorm.  

Good start.

Day two I woke up without a plan, and opted to wander around in the hopes of finding the spot where Franz Ferdinand was shot, which for those of you who slept through high school world history, was the event that set WWI in motion, which of course effectively led to WWII.  It was during this first day of walking that I started to fall in love with Sarajevo.

Street right by my hostel.

Mosque plus guy selling pomegranate juice (fresh made).

Old town, which had a more Ottomon feel to it.

Restaurant decor in old town.

The spot that started two world wars.

A walk to the "twist tower," which has a view of the whole city from its cafe.

It was a lovely day, punctuated with dinner of what became my other favorite local food: burek.

Burek is absolutely outstanding, and I will be learning how to make it when I get home.  Phyllo dough stuffed with your choice of savory fillings; personally I am partial to the potato followed closely by the meat, although the spinach was good as well.  Not the biggest fan of the cheese Burek.  

Day three I was a little bit lazy, just wandered a bit around town.  It was raining and I was feeling unmotivated.

Monument to murdered children.  Yeah, they don't mince words here.

I ate more Burek, watched movies, explored old town, and that was about it.

My final full day in Sarajevo I made my way up to the 1984 Olympic stadium.  What an experience!  It's pretty much abandoned, and is a Mecca for street artists.  It's amazing to think that under ten years after the games the entire area would be involved in a bitter war from which they are still recovering.  And now it's a tourist destination.  It just goes to show you just how quickly things can and will change.

Human beings seem to be a bit slow on the learning curve.

So for those of you that never thought about visiting Bosnia and you have the chance, I would highly encourage you to do it.  I didn't make it to Mostar because of limited time, but I plan to go back for that purpose later this Spring or Summer if possible.

From Sarajevo I found myself a cheap flight to Turkey, which is where I am as we speak.  So I just have to catch you up on Istanbul and now, Cappadocia, and we'll be good to go!  Today was a golden opportunity to do some blogging because I find myself a bit under the weather, some sort of minor head cold (no doubt the result of having a bit too much fun in Istanbul the last several days).  C'est la vie.

Thanks for reading!

~Swan