Bosnia Hotel Sarajevo

... tour, which gave a brief tour of the city sites, but was predominately focused on a tunnel, 12km from the city centre that was built under the airport by the Bosnian army as a means of survival during the conflict. Sarajevo is set within a valley, with the airport to the west, during the conflict the city was (~80%) surrounded by the Serbian army who also had occupied the airport. The UN were ...

... have chronic back injuries. The tunnel was only about 5 feet tall because anything taller would have caved in.

I spoke with several people from here and they each said life went on as normal as best they could. They held plays with candlelight, schools were held in secret locations so the Serbs wouldn't kill anymore children than they already had (1,601 to be exact). And nightclubs still operated.

Fast forward a few years and ...

... a very basic one worded, sign language conversation. She'd prattle away with her sentences, mixing it up with hand gestures which I tried to understand. I'd give what I thought was the answer and she'd nod and answer my (probably equally as confusing) questions in the same way. I headed back upstairs and lay on the bed thinking about what a shame it was that I didn't speak in a language we could communicate together in and vice versa as I'm sure she would have had some really ...

... newspaper kept printing despite its headquarters being bombed. Children went to school in apartment stairways, people crossed the streets behind UN tanks for protection from gunfire. Hard to even imagine, and very sad to think about all the cities that are under siege today. The museum really put a human face on war for me.

We drove down sniper alley and saw the Yellow Holiday Inn. It was the safest place in ...

... war, the spirit of the people seems to have survived in tact. They are a warm and hopeful people and their story and the story of this City are inspiring. Our schedule only allowed us a day and a half here, but we wished we had an extra day or two to check out the museums, the tunnel, and the Olympic stadium. We definitely recommend it to other travelers who want to experience a pleasant city with a lot to offer including a hearty dose of inspiration.

... qu'un pretre orthodoxe me fait ce grand signe d'amitie... 2eme miracle... je me rends ensuite souper au resto AEROPLAN; oui, oui je n'invente pas, moi qui suis ici grace a mes points d'aeroplan...c'est un resto traditionnel, c'est le ramadan et il est 20 heures, alors le resto se remplit vite car les Musulmans viennent briser le jeune ici... je demande pour la toilette et on me donne une cle en m'indiquant l'escalier vers le bas... je descends suivi d'une femme agee, j'entre dans une ...

... almost flattened in the recent war. Remembering the tv footage and looking at the photos from during the war in the local museum you can see the extensive and hard work that has gone into restoring this place. However on the back streets there are buildings that are ruined and derilict, all riddled with bullet holes. Our drive to Sarajevo is also beautiful along the Neretva River with a short stop in a peaceful medieval village in the mountains called Kresevo. To be continued...

THREE WORDS, TWO NAMES, ONE PLACE: GORNJI VAKUF-USKOPLJE VOL II BY DHo BRIDGE (BRĬJ) -NOUN. A STRUCTURE THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE OR VEHICLES TO CROSS AN OBSTACLE SUCH AS A RIVER OR CANAL OR RAILWAY ETC. -NOUN. A GAME DERIVED FROM WHIST IN WHICH ONE PARTNERSHIP PLAYS TO FULFILL A CERTAIN DECLARATION AGAINST AN OPPOSING PARTNERSHIP ACTING AS DEFENDERS. -IDIOM. BURN ONE'S BRIDGES ...

... guy I spoke to she told me my name "is like tom and jerry". Oh, and in Bosnia you have to walk across the tracks to get to your train- even in Sarajevo She got off the train and I ordered a beer, sat alone for a while until a Serb called Ivan got on- he spoke good English and said he had taught himself, he also informed me that all Albanians were in the mafia, and lets face it, Serbs have no reason to hate Albanians... Eventually got ...

... Charlotte Gray, but I feel obliged to now. A&Vx PS - If you are ever in Sarajevo, I would recommend seeking out a museum that we found by accident. The Museum of Broken relationships is more of an art exhibition where people have donated items and a few words relating to a failed relationship of theirs. It works really well and can have you laughing and almost crying at some of the exhibits. The website is not really very developed yet but I've included it here for completness.