Sarajevo

It was a long bus trip yesterday...7 3/4 hours but very interesting to pass through small towns and climb into the mountains and to see snow on the ground. Our friends had shopped early in the morning and provided us with breakfast along the way...bananas, mandarins, pastries, yogurt and nuts...a delicious addition to our 8:00am departure from Belgrade.

This trip through the Balkans is reminiscent of travels in the 1970's with lengthy border crossings and the confusion of a different currency every time we cross a border...Macedonian debar, Serbian dinar, Bosnian marc. I think(and hope) that they use the euro in Montenegro!

Just after 3:30pm we caught the first glimpses of Sarajevo. This city has such an overwhelming history that it is difficult to imagine the tragedies that it has endured.

The Avaz Twist Tower (on the left)

In 1914, it was the site of the assassination of the Archduke of Austria that sparked World War I. 

Then, in WWII, many Serbs, Bosniaks, and Jews were killed. For nearly four years, from 1992 to 1996, the city suffered the longest siege of a city in the history of modern warfare 

(1,425 days long) during the Bosnian War.

We arrived at the East Bus Station and discovered that there were no ATM's or currency exchange places at the station. The decision was to visit the bar at the station for a drink and ask if the bartender could exchange currency for us. This was a good move because he also called two taxis for the six of us and the taxi driver talked to our hostess and arranged to meet with her at the apartment.

Have I mentioned SNOW?! It is very cold!...minus 5 degrees last night!!!!!

On arrival at the apartment there was some confusion because we thought that we had reserved a larger place. The heat had not been turned on prior to our arrival, there were no lights along the path and stairway and there were many signs in the apartment to ensure that we knew "THE RULES".

It was a cold welcome without much warmth from the young woman (property manager) who greeted us at the apartment and we were overwhelmed by the many signs and conditions. The heat was turned on and slowly the rooms warmed up!

A walk into Old Town was extremely cold. John is getting my bug and had a sore throat that was eased temporarily by a glass of rakia at the restaurant. We shared eight dishes and 2 kilos of wine for a total of 7 euros per person before enduring the cold for a fast walk back to the apartment.

The moon was huge in a clear sky!!!

My apologies for the screwed up text and background colour! The site is misbehaving!!