Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sept 19 - 21

For me, Sarajavo was more or less just a city. The war history was interesting, but the city itself was nothing special. We spent our morning walking around quite aimlessly.

On Copper Street the market-style shops were full of handmade copper goods. Inside the shops, men chipped away at their craft.

There were lots of churches and mosques, but the most beautiful building was the City Hall/National Library.

In the afternoon Aamer and I joined a tour to learn more about the Sarajevo Seige, when Serbia surrounded and attacked the city from 1992-1995. Those who were not fighting in the war either left Sarajevo or hid out in their basement for three years. Our guide was a soldier and told us how he lost his brother at the start of the war. As we were driving he pointed out the streets known as "sniper alleys" that one would never dare to cross, because it was in clear view of the Serbian snipers.

The first stop on the tour was the Tunnel of Hope. The UN was based at the airport but that didn't mean it was a safe place. If one attempted to cross the airport, they were sure to be shot. So eventually, the Bosnians built a tunnel to go under the runway, stretching 800m. The tunnel was only 1.6m tall and 1m wide, so soldiers had to crouch down to even fit through. If one person (injured, perhaps) needed to stop for a break, everyone behind them had to stop too. Sometimes it took hours to get from one end to the other.

From the tunnel we drove up into the mountains. I'm sure it would've been a spectacular view, had the clouds not been covering it.

While we were up in the mountains we went to the bob sled track, built for the 1984 Winter Olympics. The Serbians used the track as a base during the war and what's left of it is now covered in street art.

The last stop for the day was the fortress, which looks over the whole city. This was another spot the Serbians occupied during the war.

That evening, we had the most incredible dinner! We went to Apetit, a small restaurant with just four tables and no menu. They simply asked what we might like and created a dish from that. They even had GF pasta! What a treat!!