Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

We've been spending some time in Sarajevo. MOJO family fans might remember that we're hanging out in Bosnia for about a month before we can re-enter the EU for visa reasons.

So here are some of the experiences we've had in the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. FYI the weather has been chilly (around 0C / 32F average during the day) and the city tends to collect smog as it lies in a valley. About 500,000 people live in Sarajevo.

Eating out / food

One challenge around here is that the smoking rate in Bosnia is about 35%, and smoking is common in most restaurants. So sometimes we plan to get food out, but then we check out many places that are too smoky to enjoy before we find somewhere or we give up. It is really affordable to eat out here.

We had one really nice meal out and ate traditional food, including cevapi. Cevapi is a dish with sausage-like kababs inside a doughy dome. Meat, potatoes, and dough are common here. 

This traditional soup was really yummy

cevapi

potatoes

kebabs and potatoes

lamb chops

We have continued our bakery journey, as it's pretty easy and awesome to grab a quick pastry at any local bakery.

A smoke-free place with burgers, hot dogs, and stir fry

We enjoyed waffles and pancakes covered in whipped cream and nutella, too.

 

 

We've been able to enjoy some yummy pizza, which reminds us how close we are geographically to Italy. We got these 4 pizzas for $14 USD.

There's still baklava here, so Jason had to go and get himself some. Here is a display of baklava making up the Bosnian flag:

Walking around old town

Sarajevo old town is a cool place to walk around for a couple of hours. We didn't go in any of the museums or churches, because we're kind of fatigued with that kind of thing. But it's still cool to walk around and explore.

City Hall

Pigeons all around the Sebilj fountain plaza

Cool mosques here and there. Friday after the 12:00 prayer is a busy time with a lively vibe!

Beautiful fountain / washing architecture outside the mosque

Walking through the pedestrian-only streets of the old town

Latin bridge, where the assassination that started WWI occured

part of the University art building

Cool modern art bridge

sculptures over the river

shelling from the Bosnian war still visible in many places

sculptures over the river

Beautiful church near our apartment

The Eternal Flame (memorial to WW2)

sacred heart cathedral

One of the 'Sarajevo Roses' - artwork to show the shelling from the Bosnian War

Cable car ride / Bobsled Track

As you may know, Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Olympics. There's a nice gondola ride up out of the city to get to the area of the old Bobsled track. It was really cool to hike down and then back up, right inside the track. We also had a great snowball fight in the deeper snow, and had some great views of the city.

 

Thermal Riviera 

There's a water park in a suburb called Ilidza (not far from the airport) that has an indoor portion and an outer portion. I think in the summer, the giant priate ship and water slides would be fun for kids. In the winter, it's a lovely place to go because it's warm inside and it's fun to swim, but there aren't any water slides. It's connected to the "Hotel Hills" resort, and really just a huge swimming pool like a rec center at home. But we haven't had access to or seen anything like that in a while, so we were happy to go in and play. There was a waterfall and cave, a lazy river, a shallow children's pool for tots, and 6 small jacuzzi tubs. There was enough space to do some swimming, but no formal lengths area. It was fun. It cost our family about $10 to go in for as long as we wanted. 

The first time we went here, we were staying in old town and took public transit to and from, which worked out well. The second time we went, we were staying at a nearby apartment in Ilidza, specifically so that we could be close by.

Don't bring guns into the change rooms

Sarajevo Tunnel Museum

Also near the airport is the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum. Jason and I went for a run from our apartment to go and check this out. Sarajevo was under seige for 1425 days starting in 1992. In 1993, Bosnian citizens dug a tunnel under the airport to supply the citizens of the city with aid. The making of the tunnel and the support that it created is a fascinating story of the courage and resilience of the community. You can walk inside parts of the tunnel that have been restored. 

The entrance to the tunnel was concealed by the Kolar family's home

Thanks Sarajevo. Ciao!