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Zdravo Sarajevo! 5 Days in Bosnia.

 

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Zdravo Sarajevo! 5 Days in Bosnia.
Saturday, 3rd August 2024 - Thursday, 8th August

Summary: 

Well into the second half of the trip by now, and with 15 countries visited, it was time for me to add another new country to my list - Bosnia-Herzegovina, my 67th country visited.

We spent three days in the capital Sarajevo and then headed south to Mostar, before crossing into another new country visited for me, Montenegro. Of course both of these countries are relatively new coming into being after the collapse of Yugoslavia. 

It was an interesting stay and our acomodation was among the best in terms of value for money Sarajevo has much to offer and is surrounded by spectacular hills. We enjoyed the street food and I watched FK Sarajevo play in their opening game of the new Bosnian League season. I also visited the ground of the once-famous Zeljeznicar Sarajevo. 

The bus ride south took us through some spectacular countryside to the magical town of Mostar and its famous old stone bridge. That was a nice stay too.

Jodie's Curve Update

Two "above par" on Jodies Curve. 67 countries visited in (almost) 65 years

Layest Countries Visited

Most Time Spent in Countries

Zdravo Sarajevo!  (Saturday, 3rd August.)

Having left Istanbul behind us, the memory of the magnificent sight of the Bosphorus fading, we were soon flying over the hilly country of Bosnia-Herzogiva. Next minute we were landing in Sarajevo, capital of BiH.

We caught a taxi to the part of town where we were staying. This was one of the better appartments, I have to say. Very roomy, comfortable and relatively cheap.

Leb was suffering again so I popped out to do some shopping. A couple of glasses of Macedonian wine and some nice local pastries and cheese ended the day nicely.

Exploring Sarajevo  (Sunday, 4th August.)

Day 149 ~ We spent our first full day in Sarajevo just walking from our apartment, along the river, into the town center and then exploring the touristy old town.

The days started with a nice breakfast of porridge and rye bread with salami and cheese in our very comfortable kitchen.

The View from our Bedroom Window

Soon, we set off down the long flight of steps I'd discovered the night before into the relatively flat bottomed valley where Sarajevo is situated.

As this was a Sunday, it was surprising to hear Christian church (Saint Joseph's Church, no les) bells ringing in what, I had always throught was a muslim country. I guess the detail is always more nuanced than you think.

Soon we were walking along the river Miljacka into the city center. We passed the University and the National Theatre to the spot Gavrilo Princip assasinated Duke Ferdinand starting a chain of events that led to the First World War. The street was, sad to say, rather shabby looking but it's not difficult to remember why. There was a bloody civil war going on here until 1995 and upon closer examinatoin of the buildings you can still see many bullet holes.

Then we went to the splendid city hall with it's magnificent stained glass ceiling and good summary of Bosnia Herzegovina's history.

Next we went into touristville (aka Baščaršija) where we sat down and had some tasty Bosnian cuisine. I had čevapi. Sausage meat in lovely bread. Then after a walk back via a couple of museums and the fruit market we stopped for a pint at the People's Bar.

After climbing the 160 steps from there up to our apartment it was time for a kip before the first face-to-face chat with our birthday boy son Kes in almost 5 months.

Then, after finishing off most of the goodies I bought yesterday I left Leb to watch a film while I set off to find the Olympic Stadium, home of FK Sarajevo for their opening league fixture with Sloboda Tuzla (I'm sure the fixture had a different team down when I checked earlier.)

I arrived half an hour early which was just as well as it took 35 minutes to queue up for a ticket (10 BAM = $8.50). When I finally took my seat there were 14 minutes on the clock and nothing seemed to be happening. The players and ref were just standing around waiting for something... it was VAR. Then the ref went over to the side and watched a replay before predictability giving a penalty. 0-1 to Tuzla. The away team then went out of their way to waste as much time as possible until the tables were turned in the 9th minute of injury time. Another VAR decision: penalty to Sarajevo. So a pretty dire first half ended 1-1.

The second half was very different and Sarajevo put the away team to the sword. It ended 3-1 but it could easily have been 5. We even had a dog run on the pitch to help the home team steady their nerves.

Then it was a half hour walk back to the apartment to see dear Leb again.

Zeljeznicar Sarajevo (Monday, 5th August.)

Day 150 ~ Last in Sarajevo. Visit to Stadium Grbavica, home of Zeljeznicar Sarajevo, where we watched a training session and I was allowed in the ground to take nerdy selfies. We met the loveliest waitress who has a brother in Blackpool and spoke perfect English. She told us some shocking things about the local Serbian and Croatian people. Why, for example, they insist that certain territories be labled "Republika Serpska", when they are, of course, still actually just a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And that they don't teach their children about the genocidal actions of people like general Mladic but rather blame the muslims for everything bad that happened.

Then we caught the bus to the city and walked via the Sarajevsko brewery to the cable car for a ride up the valley for the most fantastic views.

Then, back down for yummy Bosnian food. Burek, spinach and cheese pie and kûnefe (cheesy desert). Then a slow pub crawl back to the apartment up those 160 bleeding steps. Oh. we finally tried some Rakija. (Rocket fuel.)

It has all been very lovely, but why do so many people of the former Yugoslavia smoke? We both find this very irritating.

Bus Ride to Mostar  (Tuesday, 6th August.)

Day 151 Accomodation 64. Big bus ride south from Sarajevo (population 275,000) to Mostar (104,000) through some amazing scenery. Massive rocky valleys, fast flowing rivers and lakes.

Arriving in Mostar I was thrilled to bits as we went past the famous old ground of Velež Mostar. From the bus station it was just a ten minute walk to our 64th home, another nice apartment called Cozy Corner.

After settling in we walked to the old town which was a bit too packed with touristic stores. Still, the Old bridge was lovely, even better than expected and the town itself is very picturesque.

We had a delicious dinner by one of the streams flowing into the Neretva with a view of the so-called Crooked Bridge. I had a fantastic Goulash and Leb had a cabbage salad and spinach (!)

Exploring the Neretva Riva (Wednesday, 7th August.)

Day 152 ~ Bimbling around the Neretva River and the bridges over it in Mostar.

Fearing the overnight bus ride to our next destination Herceg Novi that I had to book (the afternoon one was not available on line) we decided to walk to the bus station to see if there was any chance of buying tix for an earlier bus. Success! One at 9:30am. So we'll be up for that early tomorrow. So then... to spend the final day in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the picturesque town of Mostar. (Named after its famous bridge... so think Bridgetown.)

After a bit of shopping we skirted the high cliffs overlooking the fast flowing Neretva River. We had a nice lunch overlooking it and went to see the beaches down below.

Then it was time for the stirring up of some horrible memories of the 90s war in Bosnia. The Genocide Museum in Mostar is compact but powerfully done. So much sickening violence and bloodshed all in the name of stupid religion and nationalism. I posted a note to say that they designed the museum in the hope that such depravity should never happen again but here we are 30 years later and it's happening again in Ukraine. Of course the vast majority of other posts mentioned Palestine and only one (mine) Kurdistan.

After that somber time the mood was lifted as we crossed the old bridge again and I went down for a fun boat ride. Leb didn't want to risk jolting her hip again so I had a solo ride. Then, after a couple of beers in a couple of cafes we slobbed back at the apartment.

Exploring Sarajevo  (Thursday, 8th August.)

Day 153 Accommodation 65 Bus ride from Mostar to Herceg Novi, Montenegro (population 33,000). Five months exactly now since we left Perth.

Early rise and walk to the bus station to wait for the 9:30 bus from Sarajevo to Ulcinj, stopping at our next destination, Herceg Novi.

We had five naughty urchins to entertain us as the bus was an hour late. Their mother, carrying a baby, begged for money before sending her kids off for more as she lit up a fag.

The bus was comfy and had decent WiFi considering how remote we were. Another spectacular journey through barren, rocky terrain interspersed with wide valleys.

The passport control out of BiH took a twenty minutes or so before getting back on the bus to drive through a slice claimed by Serbia (Welcome to Respublika Srpska is the sign you're greeted with going the other way.) Another twenty minutes at the Montenegro border (wouldn't it be great if all European democracies were in the EU?) before arriving at my 68th country (3 over par). Montenegro, the second youngest (after Kosovo) and 9th smallest in Europe.

Soon the bus was winding down the mountain towards the fabulous sight of the Bay of Kotor and the gem of a town nestled against it. It has a typically chequered history for this part of the world ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herceg_Novi) and the name is derived (like Herzegovina) from the word "Duke" alluding to times when royalty ruled, not the people.

After two months of sciatica pain from Sacro-Iliac joint dysfunction, Leb wasn't really looking forward to a five hour bus ride, but it seems it wasn't too bad this time. It's definitely getting better.

Not wanting to carry our bags for 20 minutes, we got a taxi to our 65th home of the trip, a small but quite swish apartment with a sea view.

Having settled in and got changed we were off 200m down to the rocky/pebbly beach for a lovely snorkel and then walked along the picturesque broad walk right by the sea to the old town. There, next to an imposing statue of Sveti Stepan, the area's founder, and under the old castle walls, was a fabulous water polo stadium which boasted hosting many teams from around the world including the UWA Water Polo team.

I had fried fish and beer (Leb... salad) next to the harbour. Then a stroll back to our apartment as the sun set. I opened a big bottle of local red wine, had a shower and then watched Forest win 4-3 in a friendly in not-too-far-away Piraeus at Olimpiacos the other club owned by the man himself, Evangelos Marinakis. A great individual goal by Elanga added to a sharp poach by Wood and a brace from Yatesey, continuing Forest's impressive pre season. Bring on Bournemouth!

Another fantastic day with mi darling.

Financial Summary

Mood Summary

Booze Summary

Holiday Update

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