Ah, yes, Sarajevo. The stuff of motion pictures (in 2006 Welcome to Sarajevo, in 2014 the titular depiction of the events of 1914). The stuff of wars, violence, and raw beauty. Perhaps the instigator of World War I, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia AND Herzegovina, is sometimes called "the Jerusalem of the Balkans" because of its religious and cultural diversity. There are Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Sarajevo, and you can find synagogues, churches, and mosques. It is also tragically war torn up until very recent times. Sarajevo owns the distinction of suffering the longest siege of a capital city in modern history, being more or less constantly under attack in the Bosnian Wars from 1992 to 1996. Well, I was there. And I would say more, but we were there only for an afternoon, en route to Antalya in Turkey. Still, I snapped a few photos on a cloudy day in November. Sarajevo Fun Fact: If you take the bus from Podgorica to Sarajevo, well, this was our experience. You drive in an exhaust-ridden old clunky bus on middle of nowhere highways with ruts and potholes. The driver doesn't speak English and doesn't bother to turn on the heat until someone (like me) complains by walking up to him and asking if he can turn on the heat. Expect a grumble, and then for it to get volcanically hot as the heat blasts and the rest of the passengers start grumbling about the Yank that screwed everything up. It's a good time. You gotta do it. Photos? Photos...
City Center.
"Thanks for pissing off the bus driver and roasting us all on that six hour bus ride through hell."
"Maybe you can do it again?" All in a days work. No problem.
Sarajevo has a big cultural center (to the left in the photo) and attracts big names in music and other live performances.
Taking a picture of Anya taking a picture.
Standing in the same spot, snapping photos of what I can see.
Dunno.
Part of my Depressing Balkans series...
Money shot.
Those Eddie Bauer hiking boots lasted forever!!! I finally threw them out somewhere in Georgia in Transcaucasia, by Azerbaijan.
Lost of bluish tinted buildings and towers. Seriously. The city had a bluish hue to it.
The bus terminal. Off now to Istanbul to catch a flight to Antalya in Western Turkey.