In Sarajevo
This morning, after breakfast we all met in the hotel lobby at 9:30 AM and met Mustafa ( our guide for the day)
The next four hours were the best part of the trip so far as Mustafa guided us (while in a mini bus) to two main locations in the area. The first was the tunnel under the airport runway; dug and used by the Bosnians during the siege of Sarajevo. Not only was the story of the tunnel really interesting but Mustafa’s stories as a young teenager during these same times were super compelling and really brought home the reality of living with no electricity, no running water, virtually no food and constant shelling from the surrounding mountains by the Serbians. He stated he just missed getting shot by a sniper while going to school, his house’s upper floor was destroyed by a Serbian shell, neighbours and friends killed by bombing or being shot. Considering everything he went through as a kid he seemed very normal.
The tunnel ( we walked through a 130 meter remake of the actual 800 meter tunnel) was built (initially) undetected by the Bosnian army in order to bring in supplies relatively safely from the surrounding area ( Sarajevo being surrounded almost completely except for the airport which was under UN control ).
People going through the tunnel risked getting shot by snipers on both sides of the tunnel (note the bullet holes in the wall of the house which was near theentry point).
After that visit we went up into the nearby mountains ending up at the Bobsled track where we snapped a few photos and heard the stories of this (at the time) marvel of engineering.
At a viewpoint on the way back we stopped for a city view. The green looking space in the photo below is the location of the Olympic stadium which became a huge cemetery for many of the Bosnians killed in the war.
Upon return, Caro and I went shopping, enjoyed some kind of rolled toffee,nut, caramel candy that you have to buy by weight. It was wonderful.
After that we split up for a hour with me going to the see the locations of the assassination and the museum right next door. Caro wandered around for a bit
Once back together we walked to the nearby city hall and paid to look around inside. The building is stunning and has been rebuilt after being totally gutted in the war. This is the same building that has the Sarajevo sign in front of it (photo in yesterdays post)
We had an early supper in one of the many restaurants here. We were very happy with what we had chosen (Bosnian food of course).
There was a thunderstorm around 5PM which was OK as we were back in our room.
The rest of our group headed out tonight at 7:20 for supper however we preferred to eat earlier.
After the rain we walked the streets of the old city, first enjoying some ice cream, and then later some Bosnian baklava (we think).Totally awesome!
Below are some random images I took tonight
We leave at 11. AM tomorrow so after breakfast we have some things we are looking for.
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