A Walk Through Sarajevo

February 13th, 2008


(lower right, one of the main streets in Sarajevo; upper right,
me posing next to Sarajevo river; upper left, a Minaret)

Despite the shadow of war looming over these beautiful cities, I’m quite certain they will become an attractive tourist destination within a few years because of the splendor of the city centers, the mosques, the river that runs through them, and other monuments are simply awe-inspiring. The main street in downtown Sarajevo is a beautiful white cobblestone road stretching out with bazaar-type shops on both sides, next to historical mosques, synagogues and churches or museums placed in ancient orthodox churches, or missions. Five times a day you can hear the calling to prayer chanted in Arabic from the several majestic minarets scattered around town. The people are also very friendly (we started chatting with an Iranian immigrant who wanted to have us over for coffee – we were too shy to accept), and an owner of a cafe interrupted her smoking and chatting with an old friend to greet us and attempt to communicate with us in French. People walk around downtown so peacefully and harmoniously, it’s hard to imagine sometimes that they have lived through devastating times. I have to admit I would sometimes look for signs of disturbance in people’s faces, but never found any traces of despair.

The cuisine is fantastic, although I do not, however, recommend the cevapi – pita bread filled with toooons of greasy cheap sausages and onion – almost made me sick! The bureks are delicious - fried breaded potatoes, veal, spinach, or cheese rolled up like a taco, and sold by the kilogram. I’d also recommend the tasting (because maybe once is enough) of the Turkish coffee made in these metal basins at coffee shops and virtually all over Sarajevo, and its pretty strong yet beware of the grains left on the bottom – not so tasty. The bakeries are cheap and delicious with lots of variety…their dessert stuff is incredibly sweet yet mouthwatering! The only factor that mildly surprised us was transportation being so pricey and we certainly did not expect it, especially with buses and trains being so run-down. Hotels and youth hostels also seemed a bit overpriced.