In Bosnia catching up with Sarah Jevo!

22/08/12

Leaving the hostel at 12 pm meant the first stop for four hungry travellers was a good feed. And after getting a taste of a Burek in the countries before Bosnia, we thought we would dig in to some wood-fired pastry treats in the country that it calls home. On the advice of some young Bosnians sitting at a nearby restaurant who recognised 4 lost, tired and hungry Australians we headed down a small laneway to a hole in the wall burek shops. Ordering one of each type of Burek the shop had, all with yoghurt, we ended up with nearly 2kgs of aggressively sliced between 4 of us. Working our way through the endless supply of filled pastry we soon pulled up stumps on the dim sim-style Balkan treat- it was simply too much for us. We were Bu-wrecked! Leaving with our stomachs stuffed we headed to the markets.

4:30 pm had arrived and it was time to start our Free Walking tour of Sarajevo. Meeting a local and hearing them pronounce Sarajevo really put us to shame in our pronounciation- it became of a bit of a running joke so much so that we renamed Sarajevo with what we thought could be a good Australian bogan girls' name, Sarah Jevo! Anyhow, the free walking tours in most major cities around Europe are often a great way to see the sights and get your orientation for only a small tip or donation to your often University student guide. This walking tour was no different. Guided by a passionate young Bosnian man Alun, we were educated on all things historical, political and religious about Bosnia. But most striking from the tour was Alun’s message of tolerance especially in light of all that has happened in the recent history of Bosnia.

With great kitchen facilities at our hostel we were trying to make the most of them by cooking our usual feasts. On tonights menu was mushroom pesto spaghetti with a large Italian salad. After dinner we were privileged to witness some pre-pub crawl drinking; sometimes people watching and observing people dynamics ois more entertaining than actually being involved. Additionally we could play 500 to the sounds of Big Dave the American smashing out some pub rock hits. Naturally 500 led to the Super Team Harris and Batts storming to victory!!!!!

23/8/12

Rolling into bed with the tones of Big Dave in our head, Harros was again confronted by an invasion of the dreaded bed bugs. This was at a time when we were sure that the days of the bed bug attacks were over. But while many suggest a thorough clothes washing and a hot iron to kill them and antihistamine tablets and cream to reduce the itch and swelling, we preferred to take the Bosnian approach- eating 10 cevapcici with pita bread and a scoop of kajmak.

Nursing a Tiba’s-like food baby, we decided it may be a good idea to try and walk it off. Our destination would be the Yellow Fortress sitting on a hill above Belgrade where many had suggested going to catch a great view of the city. And they were not wrong! Our long walk had paid off and being a beautiful clear day we were able to see for miles over a city that was beautiful yet had a tortured past. From this vantage point, it was easy to envisage the Serbian forces perched high atop the surrounding hills about to begin their siege. Walking down from the lookout, we thought we would pop in to an interesting tea house owned by quite an old man with shoulder length white hair and dense white beard. Through a translation from Italian to English from some Italian friends in the shop we discovered that the charismatic owner had lived in Italy for about 20 years but returned to Sarajevo in the early 1990s to visit his family. However, before he knew it, he was caught up in a bloody and complex war. Since then, Sarajevo has been his home where he has made a living through his tea house selling 20 or so types of organic teas, tea blends and tisanes. Sipping a cup of chai whilst watching the streets shop owners locking up to go to the mosque after the call to prayer was a special moment of the trip. It really says a lot about Sarajevo- unique, beautiful with a story always to be told.

Euro posing our way to the vantage point

24/8/12

We decided after a couple of days in Sarajevo we would head to Mostars, capital of Herzegovina and famous for its landmark the Stari Most or Old Bridge. The Bridge is most famous for its bridge jumpers who dive 25m from the bridge into the Neretva river below. Many of you may have seen the concept on Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year so I briefly considered it before I got there but seeing the bridge in real life all bets were off. However, we did get the opportunity to see a professional give it a crack; and that was something to behold. You can see the video below.

Bosnian Business Train

Apart from the bridge there is really nothing else to see in Mostar despite all the good reviews. The highlight in Mostar apart from the bridge is the small old town which took us about 10 minutes to walk through. After fulfilling our craving for some more cevapcici with kajmak and pita we were back to the train station to jump back on the much loved Sarajevo-Mostar business train. This time we hoped to stay awake for the journey through the Bosnian gorges, past long winding rivers and in sight of some ridgetop wildfires. A 2 hour train ride also brought game of 500. And with 500 brought a Harris and Batts 3-hand clean sweep; amazing scenes.

After recuperating from a long hot day in the sun, we thought wed get dressed up and celebrate Megans last night with the wolf pack. So with a suggestion from the Hostel guy we headed to a small enclosed courtyard within Sarajevo’s old town to get some of the best Italian food in Bosnia. The restaurant didn’t disappoint and after some killer pizza and a few beers we looked for an onward venue. We decided that the venue would be a Sisha bar in the old town’s main street. But it was necessary to also get some dessert. Picking 4 different desserts from an amazing looking patisserie we concluded that all 4 desserts were chocolate nut dessert simply in different shapes, sizes and colours. Nevertheless, they were delicious and an accompanying coffee made it all better. Arriving at the Sisha bar we were faced with a long menu of flavoured tobacco. On Harros suggestion we picked cherry and were pleased with our choice. Conforming to the choices on the males on other nearby tables we ordered various types of coffee and tea; Megan choosing her favourite or not so favourite chamomile tea. Out quite Shisha pipe however quickly turned into a turbo folk Bosnian dance party with some crazy Bosnian crumper. Having a quick dance we then moved on to a bar close to our hostel for a quick beer before calling it quits.

25/8/12

Our last day in Sarajevo we thought we would start by completing another MUNBATS pre season training session in a cemetery kind of park on a fairly steep hill in the centre of Sarajevo. Avoiding the pack of wild dogs that roam the streets of Sarajevo we completed a sweet hills session and an accompanying weights circuit past a variety of muslim graves. The shisha was hurting all of our lungs so we called it quits and headed back to get some lunch. Then we were out and about just wandering the streets sipping coffee at various locations in the pedestrian zone and old town.

Then it was about time to get Megan to the airport. Saying her goodbyes to the 2 boys of the wolfpack I took her to the airport to make sure she got away alright. All went well and she was off to Istanbul.Finlay returned from the airport with the red eye syndrome which was quickly cured by Andy and my home made risotto and a few hours of spooning. Safe Travels Renault Megane!

26/8/12

Everyone enjoys a train ride but no one more than one Paris Petrovic, a local Belgrade man who was returning home from Croatia via a 20hour train journey with his wife and two daughters ages 6 & 8. He was not in our compartment but barged in and started to make friends. He informed us that the best way to ride the train is to start with a line of coke followed by 10 beers and some pot. His parental techniques were questionable however his life and tourism advice was second to none as he owned ibikebelgrade (offering some fantasic deals) and pulled out some excellent one liners such as “The Balkans are like south east asia except more expensive and complicated”.

Arriving in Belgrade we said our goodbyes to Paris and his family and headed off to our hostel. However our hostel informed us that they overbook and we could no longer stay with them which was not what we wanted at 9pm after an 8hour train ride. We eventually found a hostel and put our tired bodies to rest after a Loki burger- a meat pattie filled with melted cheese topped with all kinds of sauce, kajmak, onion and cabbage. Mmmmm delish!