I was first surprised to see that many buildings and houses still had bullet holes on the facade. The war had ended 13 years ago but they still seem to be reliving it. You can see abandoned and burned out buildings throughout the city. Several of them have trees growing inside them. It is surreal.
Our aunt and uncle took us to a nice restaurant overlooking Sarajevo, and I was surprised to see how numerous mosques are in Sarajevo. Muslims make up about 70% of the population, while Croats, Serbs and other minorities make up the the rest. From where we were, over Sarajevo, I could count over twenty mosques, 4 catholic churches, 2 orthodox churches and one synagogue. The people of this city belong to at least four different religions, which was the main problem during the war.
During the war, Sarajevo was under siege for three years. A long time to be hiding from snipers and mortar attacks. That kind of life changes people. People of Sarajevo seem to be longing for the time before the war. They want to take back the time to the days of unity, happiness and innocence that they had before the war. It seems that people are stuck in the past and ignoring the present because they don't like the present and have nothing to look forward in the future.
Carla observed how we did not see a lot of smiling faces or people holding hands. The atmosphere was much different from what we've seen in Zagreb. Sarajevo is still a beautiful city, and I was surprised how developed Ferhadija (the main street) was.
As you walk down Ferhadija, you are enjoying the architecture of the Habsburg era. At the end of Ferhadija, you come to the old town (Bas Carsija) that was built during the time that Ottoman Empire ruled over this region. The transition was so sudden and obvious that it felt like you stepped back in time by 500 years. Short buildings with interesting looking rooves, stone path for a street, and mosques behind big stone walls. Cool!
We had our favourite Bosnian food here: cevapi and burek! Sarajevo cevapi and burek are the best. Much better than the average cevapi store fare in Zagreb (though we know of a few excellent cevapi places in Zagreb). I had so much burek and cevapi that I probably won't be having them again for at least a month.
All in all, it was a great city to visit, and we will definitely do it again.
Our aunt and uncle took us to a nice restaurant overlooking Sarajevo, and I was surprised to see how numerous mosques are in Sarajevo. Muslims make up about 70% of the population, while Croats, Serbs and other minorities make up the the rest. From where we were, over Sarajevo, I could count over twenty mosques, 4 catholic churches, 2 orthodox churches and one synagogue. The people of this city belong to at least four different religions, which was the main problem during the war.
During the war, Sarajevo was under siege for three years. A long time to be hiding from snipers and mortar attacks. That kind of life changes people. People of Sarajevo seem to be longing for the time before the war. They want to take back the time to the days of unity, happiness and innocence that they had before the war. It seems that people are stuck in the past and ignoring the present because they don't like the present and have nothing to look forward in the future.
Carla observed how we did not see a lot of smiling faces or people holding hands. The atmosphere was much different from what we've seen in Zagreb. Sarajevo is still a beautiful city, and I was surprised how developed Ferhadija (the main street) was.
As you walk down Ferhadija, you are enjoying the architecture of the Habsburg era. At the end of Ferhadija, you come to the old town (Bas Carsija) that was built during the time that Ottoman Empire ruled over this region. The transition was so sudden and obvious that it felt like you stepped back in time by 500 years. Short buildings with interesting looking rooves, stone path for a street, and mosques behind big stone walls. Cool!
We had our favourite Bosnian food here: cevapi and burek! Sarajevo cevapi and burek are the best. Much better than the average cevapi store fare in Zagreb (though we know of a few excellent cevapi places in Zagreb). I had so much burek and cevapi that I probably won't be having them again for at least a month.
All in all, it was a great city to visit, and we will definitely do it again.
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