Slouching towards Sarajevo
Filip met us early in the morning to take us to Sarajevo, a city that was under siege for about 4 years during the Yoguslavian war in the early 90's. On our way there we stopped in Mostar, a small, cozy city where the main attraction is a huge bridge. There were also divers who would stay on the brigde walking back and forth trying to get money from the tourists, and as soon as he had collected €25, he would jump. Mostar was also bomed during the war, but the turks and other nations skipped in to help them rebuild the bridge after the war ended.
Sarajevo is, as all too many cities are described, "east meets west". Personally I don't think that term suits the city, but I would use "Christianity meets Islam". There is even a clear line in the main walking street when you cross over to the other.The assasination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914, the many remains after the war, the old town where they still sold all kinds of copper products as they did in the old days, and the highly differentiated eating places, all made Sarajevo one of the brigthest highlights on the trip for me - as expected.The heat wasnn't as unbearable as it could've been when we were there, still hot, but nothing a scoop of gelato or a bottle of water couldn't cope with.
As part of our guided tour (the second day we stayed there) we went out to the guides' summerhouse about half an hour out of the city for an excellent barberque in real bosnian style. Excellent meat and even better vegetables. We also bought the largest watermellon I've seen in a long time, but none were able to touch it after the massive meal.A stop by the "tunnel of hope", or "tunnel of life" as it's also called on our way back ended the day before we had a day off in Sarajevo.The tunnel was built during the siege on Sarajevo, underneth the airport which was controlled by UN to help bring in supplies to the city and also help some refugees leave the city.
Next stop, Bay of Kotor in Montenegro.
Post title references the essay collection "slouching towards Bethlehem" by Joan Didion
