Sarajevo

I want to dedicate an entry in this blog to Sarajevo and my experiences there. I wanted to visit Sarajevo as a last stop on my Bosnia trip. My plan was to visit it for three days and I ended up staying there for five days.

What can I tell you about this city and the impression it made on me? How do I do justice to its people and their character and love of life? Quite simply you have to experience it yourself. Everyone who visits it probably has a unique perspective and experience. Some memories that I take with me are of the mixture of Turkish and Austrian architecture; the beautiful but eery call of afternoon and evening prayer from nearby mosques; the sophisticated and cosmopolitan flair of Sarajevan women; and the alluring green hills surrounndig the city. Cemetaries in parks and the hills all over the city are a constant reminder of what Sarajevans went through not too long ago.

Perhaps what has impressed me most about Sarajevans is their ability to embrace the future head on and with such optimism, in spite of their recent history. Many people you will encounter there are jovial but relaxed and eager to welcome you whether it is in a conversation of broken English and Bosnian (that would be me) or for a cup of coffee. Many choose to celebrate its diversity, rich history and not to mention close proximity to the mountains (people still talk proudly of when Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984 and hope to host it again some day). Apparently the most important question when one Sarajevan meets another is not whether he or she is Muslim, Serb or Croat but which of the two rivaling Sarajevan football teams he or she supports! Both teams have rabid fans who span different age groups, economic classes and ethnic communities. I think that Sarajevo may be the one place you will visit in Bosnia where people identify themselves first as Sarajevans and then Bosnians- again regardless of which community they may be from.

While I was in Sarajevo, I met some incredible people- many of them other travellers discovering the city like me; others living there to conduct PhD research; and others who were local Sarajevans. We would go out in a group at night and sometimes more people would join us spontaneously. On my last night there, I walked with a couple of these newly found friends (whom I felt I had known for far longer) up to a hill overlooking the city. Down we looked onto the city which was starting to close down for the night. Overlooking a large cemetary from the recent war and then the famous city library which was also heavily hit during the war; then over to the Turkish quarter; then over to where there was some night life happening gracefully next to churches and mosques; and then finally over to the hills opposite to where we were; I realized that Sarajevo is a city that is resilliant. The tragedies and colorful events that have occured there have become a part of its charm. I knew taking one last glace down to the city, that I will indeed return one day.

One of many cemeteries around Sarajevo

The bridge next to where Franz Ferdinand was shot in 1914

Sanjin explains how this site from where the 1984 Olympic bobsledding competition happened was also a major point from where Serb paramilitary shot down onto the city a mere 8 years later.

A view of Sarajevo from the hills above.

Sarajevo fashion