After my mini road-trip through western Bosnia & Herzegovina last year I wanted to spend some more time in Sarajevo. While planning my return, my ex-mother-in-law – Mo - and I were talking about travel, and one thing led to another, and it was agreed that she would join me on this trip.
We flew from London Gatwick with Malev. There are no direct flights from the UK, and this was the quickest option, with a 50 minute layover and change of plane in Budapest. Total travel time LGW-SAR was 4 hours 10 minutes. The flights were uneventful and we landed 2.30pm local time. We didn’t check any bags, but this didn’t save any time as by the time we’d gone through security everyone else’s bags were waiting.
There is now a bus that runs from the airport to the central bus station, but I am told it tends to be unreliable. A taxi should cost in the region of 30KM (15 euros) though I have heard one should be very careful with using taxis, making sure the meter is switched on and that the driver is clear where you want to go.
I had arranged a guided tour for later in the week, and the young man who takes the tours offers airport pickups for 10 euros if you are taking the tour. His brother met us and drove us into town in a smart Mercedes 4WD.
Although there is a reciprocal currency agreement with 2 Bosnian marks (KM) being worth 1 euro, there is virtually nowhere in town that accepts euros as payment this year. The exception is hotels which will take euros as cash, and many of the tours are quoted in euros and will accept either currency. Also Bosnian marks cannot be obtained or used outside the country.
I had originally booked an apartment in the Austro-Hungarian quarter, though still right in the centre on Strossmajerova, and close to the Cathedral. A couple of weeks before we left I had an email telling me the apartment would no longer be available as there were problems with the heating. All other available apartments were either too far out of the centre or only had one bedroom and a sofa bed. Although most apartments are priced around 50-60 euros, we really wanted 2 bedrooms.
Luckily the lovely little hotel where I stayed last year had 2 rooms free for our dates, and offered them at 50 euros for single occupancy. This is the Hotel Safir, http://www.hotelsafir.ba/engleski/index.php in a terrific location 100m from the Sebili Fountain in the heart of the Bascarsija. The hotel only has 8 rooms and the staff are marvellous. Fatima, Elma and Amra are all so helpful and cannot do enough to help. The place is spotless, the showers are hot and powerful, the sheets and towels are changed daily, and my only quibble is that the towels are a bit on the small side. Most rooms have a small kitchen area, and they all have a mini-bar (very reasonable prices!). The television has something like 50 channels with lots of English speaking ones. Interestingly, all the other guests we met there were fellow Europeans who work in Sarajevo with the EU or UN. They have been staying here regularly for several years. One Danish man stays for 3 weeks every month. Breakfast is excellent, with home-baked bread, cereals, cold meats and cheeses, honey and jam, yoghurt. You can also have eggs, scrambled, fried or an omelette. Plus coffee, a wide selection of teas, and fruit juice.
Once we’d dumped our bags and freshened up, we walked down into the Bascarsija, and stopped at Hodzic 2 for cevapi and a Sarajevski beer (from the brewery just across the river). Then we just wandered through the streets of the old town. The main through-street, known as Saraci, was being dug up and pipes being laid, so we tended to avoid this street – I have a tendency to turn my ankles on uneven surfaces (indeed I had an ankle strapped up at the time) - but it was easy enough to find another route. This afternoon was surprisingly hot, 26 degrees. All the online weather forecasts I’d looked at had only prepared me for heat of 16-18 degrees! So I’d packed long-sleeved t-shirts! We returned to the hotel late afternoon, following a stop at a café which is between 2 streets, with scarlet chair covers with coca-cola logos under the shade of scarlet coca-cola logo-ed parasols and trees just coming into leaf. It’s a very pleasant place to sit and people watch. I think it is called Kobalana. Maybe Kolabana. Either way it is hard to miss if you are walking through the Bascarsija.
Last year I’d not been particularly impressed with either of my evening meals in the city, so I had made sure to do some restaurant research this time. Tonight we headed west into the Austro-Hungarian quarter, turning up behind the Cathedral and Markale market into Ulica Dzenitica Cikma. Here we found Karuso. The owner – Sasha – is also the cook, waiter, wine pourer, washer-up. He does it all himself so service is not quick. You have to be prepared to settle in for a few hours here. There are only 7 tables inside and a couple outside. Sasha’s motto is painted above the stairs to the kitchen – Life is too short to eat anywhere else but at Karuso. The cuisine here is traditional Bosnian, based on fish and vegetables (but meat eaters need not fear, it is on the menu too!)
Still fairly full from cevapi, we only ordered a main course each. We chose off the daily specials board – and we both ordered vegetarian. Mushroom risotto and a wholewheat pancake with eggplant, butternut squash and puy lentils. Both were absolutely fabulous! With 3 large glasses of a very pleasant local red wine from Trebinje, the bill was 56 KM (28 euros). Here we met an Englishman who lives in Sarajevo while working for the Foreign Office, and the Danish man who ‘lives’ at the Hotel Safir while working in the city. He spends weekends on the coast and had just returned from Dubrovnik.
We ambled back to the hotel. I slept amazingly well. So too did Mo, who is suffering quite badly with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome while she waits for an operation in May.
Sarajevo in the springtime. julia_t makes a return trip.
Recent Activity
View all Europe activity »
- 1 Wife's first trip to Europe. Set on Paris & Rome, Need 3rd destination?
- 2 Eiffel tower tickets- June8-15 will I need to queue?
- 3 Help needed with ratp site for Paris bus and metro
- 4 Motor Home North Italy Route Suggestions
- 5
France bed and breakfasts and restaurants in Provence, Vaison La Romaine, Uzès, Paris
- 6 East coast trains
- 7 Florence Day Trip to Sienna: should we stop along the way? Where?
- 8 London Itinerary Advice 6-10 September
- 9 Which tour company would be best?
- 10 First night after arriving in Milan
- 11 Comfortable shoes to wear in Italy this summer and not look like a tourist
- 12 Help with Itinerary for Marseille/Provence trip in September
- 13 France by rail or car?
- 14 Planning my days in Paris
- 15 Suggestions for Istanbul Stayover
- 16 Cinque Terre or Lake Como August - 3 nights
- 17 Otherchelebi and others in Istanbul
- 18 New & Improved 2 Week Honeymoon Itinerary Italy
- 19 Rome weather forecast right now-is anyone there?
- 20 Rome, Florence, Sorrento in 1 week
- 21 ? re hotels in 5 terre
- 22
Sketches from Italy: Rome, Ischia and Frascati
- 23 London at Xmas
- 24 best place to get euros for Ireland trip
- 25
Solo in Sicily - April 2013
I am very glad to see that your trip started out so well and that you liked your hotel. I look forward to reading the rest of your trip report.
Coincidentally, my copy of The Girl in the Film arrived yesterday and I am reading about Sarajevo (for other readers this is a novel by Charlotte Eagar who was a journalist in BiH during the war--recommended by Julia_t on her other trip report thread)
Thank you so much for this, Julia. Your reports and comments about Croatia and Bosnia have been invaluable to me in planning our upcoming trip -- which includes 4 nights in Sarajevo.
Keep it coming! Can't wait to read the rest.
Thank you for your comments.
Vttraveler, I hope you enjoy the book. I didn't find it an easy read, but as I wrote before "I found it riveting, and profoundly moving, almost disturbing, but still recommend it for anyone who has any feeling for this city and its people".
NanBug, I'm happy you have gained some useful information from my reports. To know that makes the effort of remembering stuff (I am not a diarist or note taker) and writing it down worthwhile. 4 days is a really good length of time to spend in Sarajevo. BiH is a gloriously beautiful country (unfortunately I noticed a great deal of litter along the roadsides and riverbanks this time, but once the trees are in full leaf this will not be so visible). When are you going and where else are you visiting?
I also did a day trip by bus to Mostar and took a day to go out to Kraljeva Sutjeska - I'll get to posting about them in due course! In the meantime I just wrote a little more about our first full day, which I'll post shortly, and although I'm working tomorrow will get some more done this weekend.
It was raining the next morning, and much cooler. After a good night’s sleep, and a delicious breakfast, we headed out armed with umbrellas. Well, I had an umbrella, Mo had brought a transparent plastic poncho thing, like what you wear on the water rides at theme parks. She said she had bought it in Rome. Hmmm. I’m not sure she will wear it again if she is travelling with me – I could not hide my appalled amusement when she produced it from her handbag!
Most places/sites in Sarajevo do not open until 10am, but the Olympic Museum opens at 9am, so we were going here first.
We stopped at a tisak (wooden kiosk) and bought a tram pass – valid for10 rides, for 12.80KM (6.40 euros). The tram stops are just down from the Hotel Safir, and all the trams stop here (the stop is Bascarsija). Because we planned to get off at the Kosevo stop it didn’t matter which one we took. When we got off, we walked up the hill (Alipasina) to find a trolleybus stop to take us up the hill to the Olympic Museum. I had thought that the pass would be like other city travel passes and also allow us on buses and trolleybuses, but not so, it was only for trams. Anyway, when we got on the trolley bus we realised this. I asked ‘koliko kosta’ but we had a communication breakdown, so I just held out some coins. The driver waved them away, so we had a free ride up the hill to the Jezero stop. This was actually too high up the hill, so we had to walk back down. The correct stop should have been the Zetra one. Here was the football stadium for FC Sarajevo, the training pitches, and the back of the Zetra Olympic Hall.
http://www.visitsarajevo.ba/sightseeing/arts-culture/museums/olympics-museum/
We eventually found our way round the building to the entrance to the museum. It is a huge building, where the ice skating took place. British couple Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the pairs with a perfect score for their Bolero routine, and Scott Hamilton won gold in the mens figure skating.
I’d read an article published in the Washington Post earlier this year, the link posted originally by vttraveler…
http://www.cultureindevelopment.nl/News/Discussing_Culture_&_Development/700/In_Sarajevo,_rekindling_a_long-lost_flame
Yes, it is true that when you enter the lights are out, and Edin Numankadic rushes around switching them on. He was busy on the phone for much of our visit, which was a shame because I would have like to have spoken to him having visited an exhibition of his installation art last year. Actually I felt the museum to be a sad place. I felt that while they have managed to assemble a considerable amount of relics and memorabilia from that time, and that is an achievement in itself, there was still so much more that could have been made of this – but then perhaps there was no more to be found to make something more. Either way, it made me sad. However there is also a considerable collection of contemporary art in the form of paintings and sculptures which is very interesting and intriguing, much of it dating from around 1984, and the rest in the 1990s.
We left and went a different way down the hill, on the other side of the cemetery. We hopped on a bus down the hill, 1.60KM (.80 eurocents) for a single ticket, and then took a tram back to the Bascarsija. It was barely 11am, and we went to Morica Han, an ancient Ottoman coaching inn, for a coffee.
There is a ritual to drinking Bosnian coffee which I was too timid and unsure of myself to try on my last visit, but this time with Mo in tow, I decided to try. Now I am not a coffee drinker as a rule, though I do like a nice latte and own a Nespresso machine to make my own at home. I can drink an occasional cappuccino but often find them too strong.
We ordered two Bosnian coffees. They arrive in a copper pot called a dzezva (pronounced jezva). Also on the tray will be a china cup called a fildzan (filjan). You stir the coffee in the dzezva until the top turns creamy. The grounds sink to the bottom, so only pour the top ¾ or so into the fildzan. I like to pour onto a sugar cube, but others dip the sugar cube into the coffee and eat it. If the cup is in a copper holder don’t pick this up, this stays on the table and you just pick up the cup (by the rim as it will be very hot). Any candies or Turkish delights are eaten as sweets, not dipped or dunked. I confess I always asked for milk with the coffee, I couldn’t drink it black, but I surprised myself by really liking it. Cost was 2KM (1 euro) each. I went to visit the toilet (a perfectly normal one here, if not quite as clean as I would prefer) and when I returned Mo announced she had just seen a large rat under a neighbouring table. She had stamped her foot at it and it had scarcely moved – obviously well accustomed to humans then!
We walked up the hill behind in search of Svrzina Kuca – a traditional Ottoman house.dating from the 18th century. 2KM (1 euro) entry fee. I found this very interesting and on a sunny day the balconies and enclosed garden would be delightful to sit in. From here we wandered down into the town again, stopping into the Saborna Crkva, the largest Orthodox church in Sarajevo. We felt in need of some sustenance by this time, so we proceeded to ASDZ on Mali Curcilik where I’d eaten lunch before. Here you choose what you want to eat from the counter, then sit and your food is brought to you. It is inexpensive, there is lots of choice from hearty meaty stews to stuffed vegetables and salads. Lots of local people eat here, and a big plus – very nice toilets.
In a moment of madness I did think of subtitling this trip report along the lines of ‘a tale of squat toilets’ but decided against it! However I did encounter more than a few this time, and will post warnings of where to find them (or avoid them) for future visitors to this lovely country to bear in mind (and maybe work on some thigh strengthening exercises before travelling LOL!).
Hi, Julia ~
We're not sure when we'll go -- maybe this (late) fall or early spring of '12 -- definitely in the off-season, due to our work schedules. It certainly can't come soon enough, I'm chomping at the bit!
As it's planned now, the trip is the usual circuit: Fly into Sarajevo (4 nights); Mostar (2); Split / Trogir (2); Korcula (3); Dubrovnik (4) -- fly home from DBV.
I'm loving your report! Can't wait to read the rest. Thanks again for taking the time to post it.
After lunch we walked the short distance to Princip’s Bridge or Latinska Cupriva where the assassination of the Emperor Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia occurred in 1914, and we also visited the small museum there.
This part of town has many elegant Austro-Hungarian buildings and houses. Although many show very visible signs of war damage, there is no denying that a century ago this must have been the most glorious place. There would have been no ugly 60’s concrete blocks or grim Tito-esque architecture along the river or up in the hills. It takes a stretch of the imagination to try to picture these Austro-Hungarian buildings in all their original magnificence along the riverside here, with the steep hills sloping down, unspoilt by the fairly unattractive 20th century buildings now clustered upon them.
I also find it sobering to walk around the town, looking up to those hills, in the knowledge that just 15-18 years ago, if a person could see the hills then the snipers on the hills could see them too.
These days in early April are quite momentous dates historically for Sarajevo. In 1941, on the afternoon of 6th April the Germans bombed the city, initiating the Second World War in this area. The Yugoslav King Petar II fled to exile in London. In the years after this the Nazis and their collaborators murdered 10,961 citizens including 7092 Jews, wiping out almost the entire Jewish population of the city. Many of the citizens of Sarajevo joined the underground resistance movement led by Vladimir Peric Valter.
Valter was the inspiration for the 1972 film Valter Branj Sarajevo (Valter Defends Sarajevo), Because this was the most popular foreign film in China, it has been watched by more than a billion viewers. This is a cracking good action film (terrible subtitles though!) and well worth watching if you can find it. I discovered it showing on the Movies4Men channel we have here in England.
The film ends with a scene where a German officer explains the nature of Sarajevo’s resistance movement to a Gestapo officer (who asks ‘You know who Valter is? Tell me his name!’) with the words ‘I will show him to you. Do you see this city? That is Valter!’
Sarajevo was freed exactly 4 years after the war began on 6th April 1945. Sadly during the final battles on the night between 5th and 6th April, Valter was fatally wounded by shrapnel from an exploding grenade when he was trying to prevent the enemies blowing up the central electric power plant at Skenderija. There is a memorial bust next to the bridge here.
Almost half a century later on 6th April 1992 the battle for Sarajevo started again. There was a peaceful protest against the looming conflict, some of the banners carried that day bore the words ‘We are all Valter’. This was the day that two young lovers were shot by snipers as they crossed the Vrbanja Bridge, now known as the Romeo and Juliet bridge. Also on 6th April Sarajevo Airport was taken over, thus beginning the longest siege of a city in modern history, lasting 1,425 days.
Finally, the United States and Croatia accepted the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 7th April 1992, with Sarajevo as the capital of a new state.
Phew! History lesson over now!
I had been to the National Museum last year, and felt no desire to go again. Mo wasn’t too bothered, but she did want to see the Historical Museum which is on Zmaja od Bosne, next to the National Museum, and both are opposite the Holiday Inn.
The easiest way to get here is by tram, numbers 2 and 3 are the lines to use. We got on right by the Princip’s Bridge and rode round the Bascarsija and out towards Ilidza.
The Museum charges 4KM (2 euros) to enter. I had been here before but it was worth a second visit. Mo was quite quiet afterwards – it has that effect on people I think. She said she just had not been aware of all the terrible things happening then; there wasn’t that much about it in the news.
We crossed the busy dual carriageway – Sniper Alley – to the Holiday Inn. Walking along the pavement I tripped and fell flat on my face! There was a raised hump of asphalt which I hadn’t noticed and it caught me unawares. Luckily I hadn’t twisted an ankle, I just had stinging hands and a slightly bumped knee. We sat in the tall atrium and ordered a cup of tea. I’d not been in here before, and having seen it featured in the film Welcome to Sarajevo, and read about it in the book The Girl in the Film, I was keen to see inside. Well, it is all very smart and cosmopolitan, but it could be any hotel anywhere. It was built for the Olympics in 1984, for the press and visiting dignitaries. I went to the bathroom here to wash my hands and managed to lock myself in – there were two sets of doors and I couldn’t open the outer one for several minutes. Eventually I managed to get the cap off the knob, tweak the inside lock and escape!
We got on the tram to return, and along the way at Skenderija Bridge were two banners hanging from the bridge. We passed by too quickly for me to make out the words, but I did see the name ‘Valter’. Today was 5th April. I found it comforting that he is still remembered.
Back at the Sebilji stop in Bascarsija, and decided to see one final sight just along the road – the Old Orthodox Church. This is consecrated to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, dates from 1539-40, but was built on the site of an even older sacred building. It is known for a large iconostasis covering the entire right wall. You can see a photo here…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sarajevo_old-orthodox_church_03.jpg
It is also a very nice little church with some cases containing relics and bits of saints. Upstairs behind the lattice screen where women would worship is a wooden canopied table, which has a little coffin on it, a picture of the Madonna, and some offerings of flowers. There is a legend attached to this which I learned from Kostake, who wrote it in another trip report of mine, and I quote him here…
‘’Inside the Old Orthodox church is the "child's grave." Restorers of the church from 18th century were digging at the foundations of the Church found the remains of a child. This dead child among the peoples of all faiths, Islamic, Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish, became sacred. The child was placed in a small coffin on a beautifully decorated table. Women of all faiths who would have trouble to bring a new life should pass three times under the table with "child's grave" on it on the knees, believing that it will help them to become pregnant and bring into the world their healthy newborn. “
The museum was not open, and anyway it was getting close to the closing time of 6pm.
We returned to the Hotel Safir, 5 minutes walk away, to prepare for dinner. On the way it was Mo’s turn to trip and fall! Fortunately she was unhurt, but had caught her foot on a small lump of metal which was slightly raised above the level of the pavement. She is in her mid-70s so I was rather concerned for her, but thankfully she was OK. Neither of us felt like walking very far this evening – quite understandably – so we chose Dveri which was very close by on Prote Bakovica, a little side street linking Saraci and Mula Mustafe Baseskije.
The food here was very good indeed. Mo had Punjeni Patlidzani (stuffed eggplant) and I had Steak Dveri (thin steak rolled round a veal stuffing). Both plates came with lots of grilled vegetables. With 2 glasses each of a Herzegovinian Chardonnay, a small bottle of water and some sort of dessert for Mo, the total bill was 70KM (35 euros).
One interesting thing we noticed about the wine here at Dveri and also at Karuso, was that bottles of local wine tended to be priced around 35-40 KM. A bottle is 75cl, a glass is 20cl. We worked out that 4 glasses at 8KM meant that we would be getting 80cl of wine, costing us 32KM – therefore it was definitely cheaper to order wine by the glass than the bottle!
Between reading your trip report and reading The Girl in the Film I almost feel as though I am back in Sarajevo....
For anyone looking for restaurants in Sarajevo, I second the recommendation of Dveri. It is one of our friend's favorites, and we had a good meal there. I would say they are stronger on the meats and stews than on seafood. The black (cuttlefish) risotto we had there was only so-so.
The next day was Wednesday 6th April, the Day of the City of Sarajevo. Apart from the laying of flowers at the Eternal Flame (the monument commemorating the Serbs, Croats, Muslims and other partisans who gave their lives in liberating Sarajevo from the Fascists) we saw little else going on to mark this day.
Having taken a tour out to the Tunnel Museum with a group from the Tourist Information centre last year, I had found it fascinating but felt the guide was rather detached, and all the information we were given was given to us parrot-fashion and it was really quite dry and dull. These tours are quoted at 12 euros. I wanted Mo to visit this place that was a lifeline to the besieged people of Sarajevo, and I came across Sarajevo Funky Tours.
www.sarajevofunkytours.com
Yes, it might seem a bit strange for two women, in their 50s and 70s respectively, to be taking a ‘funky tour’! But I really like the sound of the tours, the reviews were all very good, and the clincher was the 10 euro airport pick-up. I emailed Skender who runs them. His English is excellent, and we exchanged several emails and texts to fix a date and time. As it is still early in the season there was no-one else wanting to take a tour on the days we were going to be in town, which meant he had to increase his prices slightly.
The Tunnel Tour is usually 15 euros per person for 3 or more people. His charge for us was 20 euros each. The Total Siege Tour is usually 20 euros, but for just 2 of us it would be 30 euros each.
We chose the Tunnel Tour, which includes quite a bit more than the Tourist Office tour. Skender met us at our Hotel promptly at 9am. He is 26 years old, very charming and personable. His knowledge is amazing, both of the history of the city he obviously loves, and the country. He was a small boy of 8 when the siege started and spent much of the next 3 years trying to escape from the basement in his house, while his mother spent most of that time trying to keep him in! He missed out on a lot of school, but he still graduated from university and is currently doing a Masters degree in Business and Management. A bright and clever young man. His father passed through the tunnel several times, he lost several childhood friends and his uncle.
He drove us out to the Tunnel, where we watched the short film and Skender filled us in on lots of little personal detail which made it all so much more vivid. After this he drove us up to the Jewish Cemetary from where many snipers lay in wait to shoot the citizens below as they made their daily way about the city.
On the way we were talking about WW2 and how many Jews had been persecuted. I happened to mention Valter and Skender said in a surprised voice ‘How do you know about Valter?’ I said I had seen the film the week before. So he told me more about Valter and the legend that he is, and then pointed out the old station at Bistrik which was a key location towards the end of the film, and the road which used to be the train track down which they filmed the last few scenes! Now I hope the film will be shown again on Movies4Men as I want to see it all again, as well as many other locations in and around Sarajevo!
After the cemetery Skender drove us down to the Kozja Cuprija, or Goats Bridge. This is the oldest bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, existing since before its first documented mention in 1550. This was a symbolic and significant crossing between east and west, where Ottoman visitors arrived from the east, and pilgrims to Mecca began their journey east. It is over 10m high, and the building of it may well have been a practice run for the bigger bridge in Mostar – they both had the same architect.
Then Skender drove us up little narrow lanes to the Yellow Bastion where there were some spectacular views of the city. Here’s some more about it from Skender’s website…
http://www.sarajevofunkytours.com/attraction-popup.php?id=6&lang=en
…and then it was even higher up the hill to the White Bastion (Bijela Tabilja) where there are some excavations going on. Skender dares his clients to climb though a window and stand on the cliff edge outside. However both Mo and I declined!
http://www.visitsarajevo.ba/sightseeing/attractions/historical-sarajevo/bijela-tabija
The tour took 2 ½ hours and was worth every penny of the 40 euros. Skender gave me a DVD about the times of trouble, and we parted feeling like good friends. I whole-heartedly recommend taking a tour with him. He was brilliant.
I'm throughly enjoying your trip report. I was in Croatia, Montenegro and Albania a few years ago and found each place fascinating. I've now put Sarajevo on my travel list.
Another great book about war-torn Sarajevo is The Cellist by Steven Galloway. I highly recommend it.
Today was a hot bright sunny day. We nipped into the hotel to shed our coats and use the bathrooms. I’d visited the toilet at the Tunnel Museum – OMG, it was a nasty dirty squat. Skender warned me before I entered, but I had to go, so I rolled up my trouser legs (yes, you have to do that too!) and braved it. Actually squats are not so bad once you are in position so to speak. This one was not at all nice, yet it was not the worst I encountered on this trip!
We were both feeling a bit hungry now, and decided on Mala Kuhinja (meaning Little Kitchen). There are no menus here, the chef talks to you about what you like to eat, then cooks for you with ingredients bought fresh from the nearby Markale Market that morning. He will go out to buy something if he doesn’t have it. It is small, and when we entered we thought it much larger as all the walls are mirrored. This means that wherever you are seated you can watch the chef as he prepares and cooks your meal! It will only seat 16 people at most, so you either need to make a reservation or be prepared to wait. We were turned away, being told to return in 30 minutes, so we had a glass of wine at Bilbo by the Cathedral before going back for our table – alcohol is not served in the restaurant. Muamar the chef is a delightful young man whose food is delicious. We had a sweetcorn soup followed by a chicken and vegetable stir fry dish that was just so flavoursome and delicious, and quite unlike anything we’d had before. Cost with soft drinks and coffee was 38KM (19 euros) so very affordable.
They have just got a website – here it is – and please do visit if you are in Sarajevo – you really won’t be disappointed with this Bosnian-fusion cuisine!
http://www.malakuhinja.ba/eng/eng.html
historytraveler--if you read julia_t's earlier trip report about Sarajevo and my trip report from last fall you will see that we have recommended books and movies to each other for months. I agree The Cellist of Sarajevo is a good book and recommend it to anyone interested in the Balkans.
Julia, your trip report is wonderful, so concise and informational. I am sure it will be a huge help for anyone interested in visiting Sarajevo, myself included.
http://travelingluck.com/Europe/Bosnia+and+Herzegovina
QUOTE:
An INCREASING NUMBER of British tourists visit Bosnia and Herzegovina each year. Most visits are trouble-free. The main type of incident for which British nationals require consular assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina is for replacing lost or stolen passports. You should be aware of pickpockets in the tourist and pedestrian areas of Sarajevo and on public transport.
END OF QUOTATION.
I am sure, @julia_t is one of the reasons for bh tourism becoming more and more successfull part of economy.
For the first 5 months 2010 in Sarajvo, there were 656.333 what is increase of 14,6% than during 2009.
I am going to inform Tourist Association about your Travel Reports in the Internet.
I would like to ask you to describe Bosnian people bcs, in my opinion, people makes cities and countries. Not, only, buildings, streets,...etc.
After lunch we headed towards the Bistrik side of the river. Along the way we passed the Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque. I hadn’t visited it before, and had always thought it closed as the main front doors were usually shut. However today I realised that there is a side entrance and for a fee of 2KM we went in. Of course we had to cover our heads, but you walk on plastic sheeting and are instructed not to step on the carpets, so we didn’t have to remove our shoes. There is a lovely vaulted dome, and the wall paintings were exquisite. We just sat quietly here for a while.
We crossed the river, and passed the Careva Mosque, which is the oldest mosque in town. As we stopped to look into the courtyard we were beckoned in, and invited to enter the mosque. This is much plainer and simpler than the Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque, but if anything is more beautiful for its simplicity.
We slipped into the Franciscan Church of St Ante for a quick look, and then crossed the road to the Sarajevska Pivara – the brewery. This striking crimson and white building is built upon a large freshwater spring, and was a vital source of water during the years of siege. The bar here has an amazing brick and timber vaulted ceiling, and the beer is very tasty; even if you are not a beer drinker it is worth trying a small glass of either the light or dark beer. I like the light beer. It is 3KM for a small glass, probably around a half pint. Nice ladies room here, down in the basement.
We walked back down the hill to cross the river again, looking up to the Bastions on the hills above and to the front of us where we had been this morning. It was hot, and we stopped at Planet on Bravadziluk for the Bosnian equivalent of gelato. There is a story that an Italian man tasted the vanilla ice here and liked it so much he offered thousands for the recipe. But the recipe was not for sale, and the Italian man went away without it. It certainly was delicious, and there are lots of different flavours to choose from.
We wandered through the coppersmiths' streets on our way back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. We were not particularly hungry after the fabulous lunch, and went to Zeljo’s for cevapi. They say if you haven’t eaten cevapi at Zeljo’s you haven’t been to Sarajevo! Very tasty.
In the Bascarsija, many places do not sell or serve alcohol. We went looking for a nightcap, but gave up and just had a coffee and soft drink at Kolabana before returning to the hotel.
Glad to see that you made it inside the Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque this time. I was frustrated that we could not see all the beautiful carpets that cover the interior. I did not go inside the Emperor's (Careva) mosque as it seemed less open to women when we were there. I wish someone had been there to beckon me in.
A DAY TRIP TO MOSTAR
Today was a bright warm and sunny day, and we were going to Mostar.
The train left at 7.05am, the first bus was 6am, and both were too early, so we planned on taking the second bus at 9am. We caught the No 1 tram which goes to the area in front of both stations. There was no problem with buying the tickets, and because we thought we might get the train back in the evening we only bought a single ticket each – 18KM (9 euros). We waited for the bus to come in and despite my only having one cup of tea that morning (knowing I was in for a long bus journey) I knew I had to go to the bathroom. There was a sign at the end of the platform but OMG, it was dreadful! Needs must and all that, but I do not recommend using this toilet!
We sat on the left of the bus to take in the fabulous views going down the mountains into Herzegovina. Absolutely spectacular, just wonderful. After an hour or so we stopped at Konjic and lots of people got off the bus for a cigarette break, a quick visit to the bakery or the café. The stop was maybe 10 minutes.
I would have liked to have moved to the other side of the bus for the views of the Neretva river valley, but the bus moved off and I didn’t make the effort to move. But I could still see the stunning vistas of the striking green river – it is this amazing colour due to some mineral in the rock which makes it appear thus. With the bright blue sky and the trees just coming into leaf, it was very pretty – apart from the rubbish and litter strewn along the river banks and floating in the water. This problem seemed to me to be much more visible than when I’d driven along this road last year, but maybe I’d just not noticed it being lower down in a car.
The bus pulled into the Mostar Bus Station on time at 11.30am. We set off into town – this is easy, you turn left out of the bus station, then after a few hundred yards take any one of several right turns which lead you down towards the river. You can either turn left and enter the Old Town on the east side, or cross the river here by the Hotel Bristol and the ruins of Tito’s summer villa, then turn left and enter the Old Town on the west. We took this route, and crossed the river back via a footbridge. At this point the famous Stari Most is not in sight. The walk into town takes 10-15 minutes.
Mo had been keen to try burek, and we were feeling a bit peckish so we stopped at a burek place just by the little open air market as you enter the old streets. This cost 2KM each. I find burek gets a bit greasy after a few mouthfuls even though I love it, and I asked if we could have some Ayvar with it – this is a sweet pepper sauce which I think delicious, and it complements burek perfectly.
We turned into the courtyard of the Pasha Mosque which was almost next door, and I took Mo down the steps to a little terrace that runs along the river bank so she could get her first view of the Stari Most, gleaming white in the sunshine and towering above the green river.
We spent several hours wandering around. We had coffee on a terrace of a café down close to the river bank on the west side. We had a glass of wine on the terrace at Bella Vista, also on the west side. I’d not seen the old town or bridge from this vantage point before, and enjoyed it. After the burek we did not really feel much like lunch. There was an exhibition by War Photo www.warphotoltd.com in the tower on the west side of the bridge (although I’d previously seen many of the photos at the permanent gallery in Dubrovnik), and we went into the free display room in the tower on the east side of the bridge.
It was now 3pm. Deciding that the train at 6.35pm was going to be too late we agreed to get the 4pm bus back – it was either this one or wait until 6.15pm. The return bus ride was 16KM (8 euros) each, and uneventful, getting us into Sarajevo at 6.30pm. It was interesting that at Jablanica I could see the bridge featured in the 1969 film Battle of Neretva (starring Orson Welles, Yul Brynner and Franco Nero). This WWII battle in 1943 was a great victory for the Partisans, in which they escaped over the bridge with 4,000 wounded before downing the bridge. You can see a picture of it here…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Neretva
The No 1 tram took us back to the Bascarsija, where we later had dinner at To Be (Or Not) ot) To Be – the words Or Not are crossed out on the sign and on the restaurant logo. This is because during the siege the owners wanted to present a more positive message - on Cizmedziluk, a side street running along from close to Zeljo’s to Saraci by the Mosque. A delicious Herzegovinian chardonnay was only 5Km a glass, we ordered the most delicious grilled squid and vegetables as a starter. This was in fact a main dish, but we asked for it to share before our main courses – and I can’t now remember what we had as I have misplaced the receipt. I think I had a Bosnian platter of smoked meats and grilled vegetables - I know it was very good and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Also it was very reasonably priced
Thank you again, Julia, this is great!
I can't wait to visit Mostar. We have 2 days/nights scheduled.
Is there are reason, other than the schedule, that you chose to take the bus? Is it non-smoking? I'd prefer the train, but am concerned about the smoke. I've also read that train riders need to switch onto a bus, anyway, because of repair work on the rails. Any info on this?
Thanks again for posting!
There is a long thread on tripadvisor's Bosnia & Herzegovina forum about the train v bus Sarajevo-Mostar. Apparently there is still a switch train-to-bus or vice versa at Konjic. It is worth checking out.
But as both train and bus take around the same journey time of 2 1/2 hours, I would say take the bus. You still travel pretty much the same route, you can see the train tracks most of the way, though higher up a lot of the time, I wouldn't say it makes a lot of difference.
The buses are definitely non-smoking (at least the ones I was on), and the only train I took in BiH smoking was only allowed in the corridors, not the compartments.
And yes, we only took the bus because of the timetable, not because of any smoking considerations - I am a reformed smoker and now hate it with a vengeance, whereas Mo very much enjoys a cigarette occasionally, but just a very few a day.
Actually, I wanted to say some more about Mostar...
I first visited this tiny city in October 2007, arriving late afternoon. I spent the evening and night there, taking a tour the following morning and leaving early afternoon. I absolutely loved the place. It just felt so special and wonderful, and snagged a chunk of my heart. Trip report here...
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/mostar---a-city-of-beauty-and-bullet-holes.cfm
However, when I drove from Sarajevo in May 2010 and stopped in Mostar for a few hours, I felt the magic had gone.
The Mostar I remembered with so much affection - well, this wasn't it. The lovely old town was jammed packed with visitors - most up from either Medjugorje or the Croatian coast just for the day. The streets were hard to pass through due to the mass of heaving sweaty humanity, the restaurants were busy with few free tables. And everything was charged in euros, though I did ask to pay in KM which peeved the waiter as he had to make out another bill!
And this was only the end of May - God only knows what it must be like in the really high season of June, July, August.
But I felt that Mo should see Mostar - everyone should see Mostar at least once in their lifetime. She LOVED it, better than Sarajevo - for her it was the highlight of our trip - and the romance was rekindled for me too, but it was purely because there were so few people there and I could feel the heart of the city beating once more. I know if I go again and it is busy the magic will disappear.
Nanbug, I am glad you will be staying there overnight, it is so wonderful without crowds. I will be posting a few more photos in due course, different ones from the link in the TR above.
Oh excellent, I love hearing your impressions and emotional response to everything!
We'll be there, most likely, in the winter, so I'm hoping to catch some of that quiet ambience. We love traveling in the off-season.
Thanks for the details on the train/bus, too.
Keep it coming!
I just looked at the tripadvisor thread - as of 23rd April it was like this...
<<train from Mostar to Sarajevo - still with combination with bus ( checked yesterday, on the spot):
Bus Mostar - Konjic, Konjic - Mostar
Train Sarajevo - Konjic, Konjic - Sarajevo>>
So... if you book the train it will be a half and half journey. The most scenic and mountainous part of the route has got to be the Sarajevo-Konjic part, though I believe there are many tunnels on this part of the route.
The Konjic-Mostar route follows the river most of the way whether you go by bus or train.
Hey, I've not taken the train but I have done this journey twice now, once driving myself and once taking the bus. I'd say the bus is just fine.
Great, thanks! I was looking on TA just now, too. I'm sure Pipi will continue to give up dates.
here are the Sarajevo pictures...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50700210@N06/sets/72157626391086857/
Coming up soon, A Day Trip to Kraljeva Sutjeska - a tiny town, once home to medieval Bosnian Kings. And more photos.
Have you ever been to Lukomir?
No, and I'd like to. The guide books tell you it is inaccessible December - May due to snow.
I did ask in the Tourist Office if there were any guided trips there, and was told not, I'd have to have a car. However there are companies offering tours there, and to other highland villages like Umoljani. I thought perhaps they just meant there were no guides in April, and I'd not want to drive on snowy or icy mountain roads myself!
There are several pages devoted to these villages in Tim Clancy's Bosnia and Herzegovina guide, published by Bradt.
If anyone has looked at the photos, I'd just like to clarify why there is one of a car.
One thing which struck me about Sarajevo, and indeed BiH in general, is it seems that every second car you see is a small VW - and most often a white one.
I have an identical car at home which my boys use as a runabout, it's 16 years old and affectionately know as Phil. I found it childishly amusing to see Phil's twins everywhere I went!
So that's the explanation for a random photo of a car.
NanBug--our friend who has lived in Sarajevo for several years says that Lukomir is a fascinating village to visit. I know there are tours in the summer and fall so probably julia_t's problem was the time of year.
julia_t--thanks for the pictures.
Thanks for the pics and info, Julia.
And you, too, Vttraveler. Your trip reports and info on these threads have been a huge help to me, so thank you for all of your postings.
I've seen the Green Visions tour to Lukomir, but we'll probably have a problem getting there in the winter. Guess it'll have to wait for the next trip!
Tim Clancy is the co-founder of Green Visions.
Apart from the Bradt guide I mentioned above, he also wrote the Thomas Cook Travellers guide to Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, and a very useful little book also by Thomas Cook, called City Spots - Sarajevo. I believe this is now published as an In Your Pocket guide.
Ah, I didn't know that he founded GV. I have his Sarajevo pocket guide to Sarajevo. Thanks!
NanBug
here is a NYT article with information about Green Visions
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/travel/20bosnia.html
There is another guide in Bosnia whom my friend and her family have used and recommend
http://www.bosnian-mountaintourism.com/
I know it is important to have a guide in the mountains as there are still land mines in some areas.
Escellent, thanks, VT!
Er, excellent, I meant.
About VW car:
We in sieged Sarajevo survived, thanks to this type of VW car. It run by diesel, or by oil from huge transformators. If you look at some YouToube videos from war Sarajevo, you can see wonded people have been transported by VW Golf. Great car. Cheap, strong and appropriate for the Bosnian bad roads.
Bosnia is Country Of Occupied WalkboardS.
@julia,
Among your photos, there is no photo of this vy interesting monument which expres sense for humor of Sarajevans.
Monument: International Community/Thankfull Citizens of Sarajevo.
Author: Bojan Sherich-Shoba who lives in NY.
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6129/sarajevo035km1.jpg
ttt 4 later
Yes, those little old VW Golfs are great. Phil goes up all the hills in the snow on his narrow tyres!
Where is that monument? I never saw it!
The monument is next to the Historical Museum, 20m toward the river.
Here is almost the last installment - sorry it's been so long, both in content and in the posting.
KRALJEVA SUTJESKA
This delightful little town has a lot of history. It was once the home of medieval Bosnian Kings, Tvrtko (1338-91) and StjepanTomas, whose wife Queen Katarina (1424-78) was very much loved. She lived here until Kraljeva Sutjeska was taken over by Ottoman rule, and she fled into exile in Rome. Her tomb is in the Aracoeli church. She was very beautiful – there is a copy of her portrait in the Historical Museum, and the original is in Rome in the Capitol Museum. It is attributed to Giovanni Bellini. You can see it half way down the page in this link…
http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/katarina.html
To this day, Bosnians regard her as a role model for women. Women from Kraljeva Sutjeska wear black scarves, even at weddings, in memory of Queen Katarina.
Kraljeva Sutjeska is around an hour from Sarajevo. There are no direct buses or trains, but both run several times a day to Kakanj (pronounced Kakkan) which is the nearest large town. We had thought to get a bus, but then decided on the 10.40am train. Buying tickets was easy, a return was only 8KM (4 euros). The train was a few minutes late, but we found two seats in a compartment. The trains have a long corridor running along the length of each carriage, and there are many compartments each with 8 seats. Smoking is allowed on the trains but only in the corridors. The seats were comfortable, so much so I wondered if we were in first class by mistake! The route followed the course of the River Bosna, pretty enough but not especially scenic, and again there was so much litter and rubbish along the river banks and in the water. You get a good view of the ‘Pyramid of the Sun’ towering above Visoko.
After an hour we arrived in Kakanj – which we would not have known had not the nice young law student sitting across from us told us! The station platform was tiny, but the train did not stop at it – we had to get out by jumping literally 3 feet down from the train directly onto the tracks – and then cross a good few more sets of tracks to the road! Luckily Mo is fit and agile for a woman in her mid-70s, but it could have been a problem.
Once across the road we headed into town. It all seemed very sparse and uninteresting. Well, I suppose Kakanj doesn’t itself have much of interest, except the big ugly asphalt factory and other industrial stuff on the outskirts. Anyway we knew that to get to Kraljeva Sutjeska we would need to get a taxi, though the guidebook did say there were several buses a day I only found evidence of one when searching online..
Close to the bus station, Mo had managed to cross the road, I was still waiting for a gap in the traffic when a taxi came by, so I waved and he stopped. He drove us out of the unattractive town and out into the country. There were lots of signs for Kraljeva Sutjeska which is 12km from Kakanj. The taxi dropped us at the top of the village in a small open place; the fare was 13 KM.
We could see the monastery up ahead, to our left were some old houses, to the right was the river and a shaded area with tables where 2 policemen were sitting smoking, but that was it. Total silence apart from the birdsong and sound of the river. It was also quite hot and the mid-day sun was very bright. It was so pretty too, with all these white-painted houses set amidst the lush green grass and trees of the valley and the tumbling stream, sparkling clean and free of litter and rubbish
I approached the policemen and attempted to ask where the tourist office was, and received shrugs in response. Mo and I started to walk back down another street – there was a small grocery shop on the corner and a café just down. We went in and ordered a coffee each, used the toilet (which was clean and OK!). We were told they were not serving food. Well, the guidebook does say it doesn’t operate on a daily basis. We giggled and thought we’d have to get something from the shop and have a picnic. The policemen came in, and this time I got out the guidebook and showed them the written words! There is supposed to be Tourist Agency Katarina
http://www.turist-katarina.vze.com/
and 'a tourist information office by the bus station' – presumably that means in Kraleva Sutjeska, but I’ve no idea where that might be in this tiny town.
This time one of the policeman took me outside, pointed down the street and I sort of got the idea that I should turn right by a parked car. Well, there were only houses here, so we carried on wandering, we found the tourist agency Katarina but it was closed up. A little yellow bus came past and turned round, but the driver wouldn’t let us on it! (We found out later it was a school bus.) Mo was quite fed up by now, and I was feeling the tension…
I wished I’d brought my phrase book/dictionary. The guide book has some useful words and phrases, but it’s very basic stuff. So far no-one seemed to speak any English at all, and my very limited Croatian/Bosnian was totally inadequate.
I thought we would return to the café or shop and ask someone to call us a taxi. But first I decided to call the telephone number on the window of the tourist agency.
It was Katarina who answered. She and her husband Josip run the agency, and run tours DURING THE SEASON (either booked direct or in conjunction with Green Visions). Note - these tours need to be booked THREE DAYS in advance.
Early April is still out of season, even though it was a glorious spring day. Then a man came running down, and told us to ‘come, come’. He took us to one of the houses on the street by the parked car – so the policeman had understood me and told me the right place to go after all! We were seated at a table in front of the house where Josip was sticking labels on bottles of plum brandy. We were offered some, but declined and accepted some water.
Shortly two young boys arrived from school, one was Josip and Katarina’s son. He and his friend spoke remarkably good English though their understanding wasn’t quite so good, However we were able to communicate better with these lads than anyone else so far. Most of the communication was about football, but Mo and I can say Rooney, Lampard and Cole with the best of them!
Mo was wanting to leave, but they insisted that they would show us round and then take us back to Kakanj. They told us we were the first visitors of the year, and they were not ready for us. Well, that was obvious, but I still felt a bit bad for not considering this. I felt we were imposing on them, but the boys were bouncing around asking about football, and it would have been churlish to have refused the little tour they were trying to arrange – Josip was calling the monastery trying to get the library opened.
Then an older brother joined us, and we set off up the hill to the big white church which towers over the village. Below us by the river were several large cars parked and lots of suited men who were laying wreaths by a memorial – this was something to do with remembrance of WWII.
We entered the Church of St Francis, which is surprisingly large considering the size of the town. It is designed is designed in Venetian style, with a massive statue of Queen Katarina to one side, the oldest organ in the country, and a very modern carved wooden altar. It was very peaceful and quite lovely, even if there are large cracks in the plaster of the ceiling. The boys took us outside where there is another statue of Queen Katarina, and we could see the outside of the monastery buildings. It is a very large monastery, apparently there are only six monks living there now. We were not able to see the museum or the library on this day though, but that didn’t matter.
The boys led us up the hill to the ruins of the old palace and castle. This was the most glorious place, high above the town and a wildflower meadow. So many pretty flowers, it was an idyllic place and would be lovely for a picnic.
A 5km hike from Kraljeva Sutjeska is the Bobovac Fortress, which was built centuries ago for the inhabitants to take shelter when under attack. It is an hour or so walk from KS so we didn’t visit it. On the way back down through the town we admired the very old houses, many seeming to be on the verge of tumbling down, certainly in need of restoration, and saw the Dusper House, the oldest house in central Bosnia, dated back to the 18th century. It is open to visitors during the season, but we couldn’t go inside due to the time of year.
Then we got into Josip’s minibus and were taken back down to Kakanj. They were all so nice and kind to us. We gave the boys each 10KM which they tried to refuse, but when I told them to buy sweets they accepted. We also gave Josip something for his time and petrol.
I’m really glad I got to Kraljeva Sutjeska, it is lovely, but I still feel a bit embarrassed. It was like turning up at a party uninvited and the host making you welcome, but nevertheless you feel like you shouldn’t be there.
We found out that a bus was leaving shortly for Sarajevo so we bought tickets for that. It would have been a 2 1/2 hour wait for the return train and Mo had had enough for the day. The bus tickets were 7.50KM each. I couldn’t understand the time on the tickets, but there was a bus with 'Sarajevo' signed on the front and it was all locked up, though some girls were waiting by it. I asked if this was the right bus and they nodded.
We were well hungry by now! The fast-food shop had greasy looking stuff which we didn’t fancy but there was a little grocery shop close by, so we bought water, bread rolls, a pack of crisps and what Mo thought was a tube of soft cheese spread.
We had just sat down on a bench outside and started to tear the rolls when a young man rushed up to us and told us the bus to Sarajevo was going. I could see it still parked up, and said yes we are going to Sarajevo, but he said no, the bus is going now, and we realised there was a large double-decker bus that had recently come in that was going! The driver was just stubbing out his cigarette and about to get back into his seat – so we bundled up all our food and ran for the bus! We got seats up on the top level, and sat and laughed. We laughed even more when we discovered that it was not soft cheese in the tube but mayonnaise!!! However mayonnaise sandwiched in those rolls with sour cream and chive crisps tasted surprisingly good!
At Visoko we were able to move into the very front upper seats of the bus, and so it was a nice journey back into Sarajevo, after our adventurous day trip.
Once again, the No 1 tram took us back to the Bascarsija and Hotel Safir.
julia - i love the story of your impromptu guided tour. your trip makes me think about how holidays were years ago when people travelled and actually met people and saw places that weren't aimed at tourists.
The trip to Kraljeva Sutjeska does sound like quite an adventure. Our friend in Sarajevo says that people in BiH are unusually helpful and friendly and your experience certainly confirms that.
My husband just finished The Girl in the Film (Charlotte Eagar). We both thought was good and thank you for the recommendation. For others, this is a novel about a journalist in Sarajevo during the siege. It is sub-titled A Love Story About What War Does to People which pretty much sums it up.
annhig and vttraveler - although Kraljeva Sutjeska is mentioned in some the guidebooks, it really does feel an off-the-beaten-track sort of place. I wouldn't think that even in the high tourist season it would get very many visitors, especially from the west. It is visited by people from the former-Yugoslavia countries because of the historical significance.
I also think that had I been on my own I could have made a bit more of my time there, and perhaps felt less awkward. I was trying to defer to Mo who wasn't happy. But that is what happens sometimes when you travel with others and compromises have to be made. By this time we had been together since the previous Sunday afternoon, and it was a day too long!
Yes, I was impressed with the helpfulness and kindness of the people we met, particularly the young man at the bus station without whom we would have missed the bus!
Well, I'm glad you thought that book good. It has some very powerful imagery which was still fresh in my mind and I thought about it a lot as I walked the streets of Sarajevo. I searched for and found the underground bar restaurant Jez. It was closed at the time, around noon, and I would have liked to return one evening to listen to the 'smoky jazz' that is played there - maybe next time!
For our last meal we had wanted to go up the hill behind the Hotel Safir to a restaurant called Kod Kibeta high up on the street Logavina. It is a long way up and you need to get a taxi.
I'd asked Elma to book us a table upstairs with a view of the city - but the whole restaurant was booked for a company function and there was only one table left downstairs for us. We decided that maybe being the odd-ones-out at a company do might not be the best experience, so we'd cancelled the reservation.
Elma rang for a taxi to take us up Bistrik hill on the other side of Sarajevo. Last year I had eaten at a restaurant high up on this hill - Kod Bibana, which I knew had fabulous views, but the food, though traditional, was nothing very special.
We had seen the bright green lighted sign for Park Princeva (pronounced Prinn-ch'ver)
http://www.parkprinceva.ba/en/aboutus.php
which is a bit lower down, and it was here Mo and I for our last evening meal. It was a bit breezy but fairly warm, so we sat outside on the terrace and watched the sun going down.
To start I had the home-made plate, of local meats, cheese and olives, which was served with the most delicious hot doughnut-bread, followed by veal with mushroom sauce. Mo had veal pottage followed by chicken with gorgonzola sauce. With 4 glasses of wine the total bill was the most expensive of the week at 81KM (40 euros). We took a taxi back down to the Bascarsija, this was about 8KM (4 euros). We went for one last coffee/chocolate at Kolabana.
Here are some pictures from Mostar...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50700210@N06/sets/72157626703522498/
Here are some pictures from Kraljeva Sutjeska...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50700210@N06/sets/72157626579122981/
Wonderful pics, thank you!
I enjoyed the pictures, too. I am trying to figure out how to get to Mostar which we missed on our trip last fall. My current theory is that we will take a trip to the northern Dalmatian coast sometime and visit from there.
Thank you both for your compliments. I only have a basic little point-and-shoot camera, and with regard to Mostar, I took so many pictures in 2007 and some more in 2010, that I really didn't need to take many this time. I was looking for different views too.
Vttraveler...
Mostar is not really that far from Split - just choose your route carefully!
And please, try to stay overnight or visit in the off season, but I think you know that.
Bookmarking.
Looking forward to reading this julia_t. I've been away too, so have much trip-report catching up to do.
M.
julia_t--just wanted you to know that I sent my copy of The Girl in the Film to our friend in Sarajevo (via other friends who were going over to visit her). She thought it was very good. It isn't exactly a book you "like" because it is so intense. But very interesting.
I also got my copy of Love Thy Neighbor by Peter Maass back last week. I had forgotten I loaned it to someone in my book group, and she had passed it on to another book group friend. They both agreed it is well worth reading.
I thought that julia_t and others interested in BiH might want to see this video of an exhibit in Burlington Vt on Sunday in memory of the victims at Srebrenica.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/videonetwork/1046793720001/Local-Bosnian-describes-what-Sto-te-nema-memorial-means-to-him
This exhibit has been set up in different cities around the world on the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre
Thank you for posting. My pc speakers aren't connected at the moment, but I will check it out soon.
Something else which may be of interest, and the titles of films to look out for...
http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=661733>1=28101&silentchk=1&wa=wsignin1.0
Thanks for posting this. I had written some in my trip report about Jolie's upcoming film which was quite controversial. The film festival looks like a wonderful event
Comment has been removed by Fodor's moderators
Hi julia_t,
Thought I'd let you know that I checked into the Hotel Safir in Sarajevo this morning (room 301). While I was waiting for the room to be cleaned I showed Fatima your write up on the hotel from the beginning of the thread. She was really pleased, and when she worked out who you were she was thrilled! She asked me to give you a very big hello, and tell you she still has the birthday card.
Thanks for the recommendation. We should enjoy the place while we can, apparently a Rick Steves researcher was just here.... I seem to be following him around, he was ahead of me at the Crooked Bridge motel in Mostar too. (Seems the Danish guy got reassigned, Fatima said they really miss him.)
Hello thursdaysd. Thank you for posting - please say a big hello to Fatima and pass on my best wishes. Tell her I hope to see her again before too long! She is a lovely young woman, and so helpful.
I hope you enjoy Sarajevo. What is the weather like at this time of year?
The Motel Kriva Cuprija in Mostar was already recommended by Rick Steves in his 2007 Croatia and Slovenia guide.
Hi Julia,
It's definitely on the cold side! Especially at night, although I got rather warm trekking up hill to the castle in sunshine this morning. I really need a warmer coat, and think I may be breaking out the fleece soon.
I ate at Karuzo last night - good food, but I was the only customer. Possibly because it looked closed from the outside! Hope to try Dveri tonight. Shorter walk home...
Comment has been removed by Fodor's moderators
Hi, Julia
I just wanted to give you a movie recommendation. I saw Cirkus Columbia, set in Herzegovina in 1991, at a local film festival last night and thought it was very good. According to the amazon.com web site, the DVD will be released in May
And, coincidentally, another interesting update. Our friend in Sarajevo reports that she just met and had dinner with Charlotte Eagar, the author of The Girl in the Film, who is working on a movie (based on a different story)
Thanks for that, I'll look out for the film. And keep me posted on the Charlotte Eagar film. I thought GITF would make a good film, but perhaps a bit too painful.
There was a recent BBC documentary - For the Love of Books, a Sarajeveo Story. You can watch it here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aKiyF47yQk
Thanks for that link about the link. I watched the first few minutes and it looks very good.
I meant link about the library!
One more link to a show about BiH. Public television just aired an episode of the series Women War and Peace about Bosnian women in Foca during the war who testified about the rape camps there. Very powerful as you can imagine
http://video.pbs.org/video/2152159955
We just found out that our friend in Sarajevo will be staying there through December, so we are seriously thinking about visiting her again this fall.