Evo nas u Sarajevu!

Here we are in Sarajevo now! We arrived 4 days ago and on our very first night we were welcomed by a big kaboom! At about 1am a bomb exploded just down the street from Hana grandma's apartment. It seemed to be directed at the car of one of the baker's sons (so say the rumors and the cab drivers). A month ago another bomb blew up the windows of the bakery (guess mafia related). No one was hurt and most of the people got up to look from their windows to see what is going on at the bottom of the street. After 10 minutes everyone went back to bed, especially Miko, who was only interested in sleeping at the time. Did not even go out to take a photo. Anyway, welcome to Sarajevo!

The next day we met Hana's dad Sead and went for a nice hike which started at a 450 years old bridge (Kozja Cuprija), then followed the river back to the city (3km). To reward ourselves (every excuse is good), we went to eat pita with spinach and cheese (zeljanica & sirnica) and pita with meat (burek) in old part of the town (Bascarsija). Very good.

The weather was for the first 2 days but then it got cold and rainy. We have not prepared ourselves for this kind of cold, mentally or physically. Not to mention the lack of warm clothes, since we only have one of each. Hope the cold weather won't last too long, the city is so pretty when it is sunny. It is being repaired and rebuild everywhere. You can see how the city used to be beautiful before the war.

One of 2 Miko's favorite cafes closed, it was a cafe and bookstore in the same place (Karabit), full of art students. Luckily the other one is still open and full of green plants as always, it's called Avlija. Seeing how sad he was about the cafe that closed, Hana showed Miko another cool bar/cafe and now it's his new favorite. It's called Zlatna Ribica (Gold Fish).

By the way, this city is full of bars and cafes. They are literally on every street, corner, basement, apartment building, sometimes even ten in a row, one next to the other. It seems to be the only and best business in town. And in the summer they are all full.

Last Sunday we went on a little day trip to Mostar, which is about 150km away from Sarajevo. It is in part of the country called Herzegovina and since it is a lot closer to the coast, the weather is much nicer and warmer. What a nice change to walk around in a t-shirt instead of a t-shirt, a sweater and a jacket.

The bus ride was supposed to be 3 hours, but 15 minutes before the arrival the bus stopped in the middle of the road. The parking brake blocked (according to the drivers) and the bus would not move. It took them 1 1/2 hours to fix the problem and then we could continue our trip.

Mostar is named after the bridge Stari Most (which means Old Bridge) that was destroyed during the war. Four years ago on our way to the Croatian coast, we stopped in Mostar for quick break just to see the newly rebuilt bridge. The opening ceremony was 2 days after and the bridge was still closed. During the war 80% of the city of Mostar was destroyed by heavy bombing and shooting. Four years ago the marks of the war were evident everywhere and very shocking. Going there now, we were amazed how much of it was rebuilt, so much work. The main area around the bridge is almost completely redone and the city is regaining its beauty. The architecture of it is so unique and it blends with the surrounding hills. Not to mention the color of the river running through (Neretva), is it blue, or green, or tirquoise... Everyone should go visit. That's it.

We will stay in Sarajevo for another week or so, the next destination is Zagreb (Croatia=Hrvatska) and if we have time we'll also visit Hana's relatives in a small town in Western Bosnia.