Niš to Sarajevo

A few words and plenty of pictures for today. We took a 10 hour, mostly empty bus to Sarajevo yesterday morning which firmly cemented our desire to come back to this part of the world on a motorcycle. An enormous part of the trip was through more breathtaking glacier carved canyons, countless mountain-side carved tunnels and even more red tiled roofs dotting the scenery. Sarajevo is a gorgeous town. The decades of communist rule and the all too recent years are easily and proudly overshadowed by the centuries of history that are exuded in from this picturesque city. What I was reminded about in Serbia: the inspiring relationship between local tragedy and the friendliness and spirit of the people can be found here in spades (the cruel irony of this being most recently highlighted in the land of their most recent oppressors not-withstanding). But seriously, the people here are crazy friendly.

We got in yesterday evening to a bus station that was a little further from the center of town than we had expected, but after a long bus ride and a bit of local help, we made it to the immaculately appointed hostel we had booked. After getting a wealth of friendly advice from the guy working reception, we headed through the quaint "Turkish quarter" to a little generations old local restaurant that came with the highest recommendations.  Of the handful of dishes that are distinctive of Sarajevo, "Ćevapčići" (I stole those accents from a google search) has the least clear Ottoman influence and was the one we were told we simply had to try. The restaurant had loads of character and it's reputation was clearly illustrated by the one main wall being covered with photographs of celebrities and various dignitaries posing in the same space. We ordered one plate of the famous dish and one of veal sausage, accompanied by a few local beers (we had also been encouraged to try the beer here (as if encouragement was needed), since it is brewed with the wonderful water that the town also prides itself on). Ćevapčići essentially is a small pile (usually 5 or 10) well seasoned beef sausages, all rolled into 5cm (I'm not sure if there is some sort of creed dictating this or what, it's just what I was told) links and served with onions, piled inside a grilled flat bread. The veal sausage, which was perfectly cooked (hard to find with sausage) and wonderfully flavorful was served with a small salad and a generous dollop of mustard. Not exactly light fare, but I couldn't imagine a better meal for a winter evening in the Balkans. 

Veal sausages and salad

Ćevapčići

This morning we split a cab with a fellow hostel guest to a tiny local museum out by the airport that had been constructed over the tunnel that had been used to secretly and safely supply the city while it was under siege in the the early 90s. Growing up when we did, this was one of the conflicts that had been firmly rooted in our memories, even if it had seemed so distant. The museum was a great experience, really moving in a lot of ways, and recontextualized the rest of our short stay in a place that was already so evocative. 

Hope you can read this

Much of the rest of the afternoon was spent on a lovely free walking tour. We've participated in relatively few pre-organized tours during this trip, but they've all ended up being quite rewarding and offered a lot that we would have missed otherwise (our tour guide was full of interesting or amusing little anecdotes).

The latin bridge: the famous site of the 1914 assassination

I'm tempted to lie and say that adorable stray dogs just randomly seek us out, but really we ask for it. 

A symbol of the city's position as a crossroads between the east and west.

Dinner was in another charming local restaurant full of dark wood, stone-built bars and a prominent wood burning oven. Pasta with spicy sausage, polenta with sharp melted cheese and craime fraiche, and an oversized veal and mushroom sandwich, again complemented by generous pints of delicious, crisp beer. Another wonderful but painfully short stay in a beautiful place. We're taking an early train tomorrow morning to Mostar in Herzegovina. If the pictures do it justice, it should be incredible: