Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina, and is a city with a remarkably tragic and interesting history. It was the place where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, which contributed to the start of WWI. Later, in WWII, Sarajevo was hit hard and the Jewish population went from approximately 30% of the city to having only 80 Jewish survivors left. The Jewish population never recovered, and today there are only 800-1000 Jews in the entire country. Then, after being part of Yugoslavia for several decades under Tito (a good time for the region), Bosnia sought their independence in 1992, sparking the siege attack from the Serbians. The Serbs occupied all the mountains that surround the city. They completely cut the city off and rained shells and bullets on the area day and night. At the height of the siege, the shells numbered 3000 a day and bullets numbered 1 million. Power and gas lines were all cut and communication buildings that housed telephone lines were shelled. 

The people had no food and had to endure bitter winters with no heating. The siege lasted over 1000 days, the longest in modern history, and ran from 1992 to 1995. The people had few weapons but the men fearlessly defended their homes, families and communities. Times were desperate. They burned books for warmth and as products became scarce, prices rose astronomically. The UN took control of the airport to keep it neutral, which further disadvantaged the Sarajevo inhabitants, as the UN limited the imports to only food and medical supplies, no weapons for the people to protect and defend themselves. The food the UN supplied was criticized heavily because it was terrible quality and often displayed expiry dates from the 1960s and earlier. Jokes went around that if the food was offered to cats or dogs, even they would refuse to eat it. However, throughout all this time, the people maintained as much normalcy as possible and would not let the Serbs crush their spirit. Children continued school lessons in their homes, people went to theater performances at night (the cost was a candle - to light the stage!). 

An 800m tunnel was built stretching from the free area of the city to the captured part of the city. It ran underneath the airport and allowed people to smuggle in weapons, food and other supplies.
The siege lasted for three years and 11000 civilians died during that time, including 1600 kids. The city commemorates them in several monuments across the city, including the Sarajevo 'roses' which mark the spot where a shell hit and killed three or more people. The 'rose' is made of a red resin which is poured into the shell crater on the pavement. There are over 100 roses in Sarajevo. Of course, each 'rose' has a unique story behind it. I learned of one 'rose' where people had been waiting in line for bread and a shell hit and killed 26 people. In the days that followed the deaths, a woman brought her cello and played all day for each victim, 26 days in total.

Now, of course the city is full of life and buzz, but the scars of the recent past are still present. I loved Sarajevo. I was couch surfing with a Turkish soldier and three other German couch surfers. We went out for several meals together and tried various Bosnian dishes including burek (pastry pie filled with meat or spinach or cheese), cevapi (pita filled with barbecued meat fingers served with yoghurt), and dvari (Bosnian omelette). I also tried tufahija, a stewed whole apple stuffed with cream - a scrumptious very sweet dessert! During my time in Sarajevo I loved walking the streets of the city, taking in the sights and sounds and people watching. The old part of town was filled with one storey shops and markets. (In fact, the streets were named for what they used to sell, so roughly translated it would read 'shoe street' or 'silversmith street'. They don't abide by those anymore! I loved walking through the large local produce markets, drooling over their colorful displays of fresh fruit and vegetables. I also went on two different free walking tours. They were both very interesting, and while one probably would have been enough for a normal person, hearing the two different perspectives helped me to understand the history in more depth and gave me time to process and remember the information. I visited a poignant photography exhibition from the Muslim massacre and attempted genocide from July 1995, then on my last day in Sarajevo I went to visit the Sarajevo tunnel. I think I spent my time in equal parts enjoying the present city, and learning of the city's history. I was only a child when all these events were unfolding, and while I remember hearing Bosnia always being mentioned in the war news, I never knew anything about what had actually happened here. I was glad to have taken the chance to properly educate myself from the best source - the primary source!
I felt a real affinity for Bosnia Herzegovina, and it is the first place on my trip that I would really like to return to someday.
I am writing this while waiting at the airport, next stop Romania!