Location 13: Sarajevo
I believe we left off during the train to from Zurich to Ljubjana. Not that it was that crazy or anything, but it was an overnight train for which the sleeper cars were sold out. So I bought a seat, figuring that maybe there would be few enough people to stretch out. Not so much. As it turns out, my car was full (its the typical arrangement here, a compartment with 6 seats, 3 facing 3). We also had a dog (who was being smuggled onto the train), and a lady who just would not be quiet. Plus, there was no air conditioning, and it was crazy hot. Now imagine that for 10 hours. Ugh.
But it was worth it, b/c Ljubjana is a beautiful city. I took the city tour, wandered around the old and new cities for a bit, and just in general hung out by the river. The weather was still quite hot during the day, but the evenings were nice. The local food was interesting and engaging (horse meant, yum) and the people were fantastic. I met some locals who helped show me around a bit. It was a ton of fun. It´s actually a small city, but that was nice because it made the whole thing very walkable.
From there I caught took three trains overnight in order to get to Mostar, a city in southeast Bosnia. Not that I was planning on going there originally, but I heard from a few people that it was really worth a visit, and hey, why not? And I'm glad I went. The main attraction there is the Stari Most, which is a beautiful old bridge built by the Ottomans in the 1500's. It's kinda the national icon for Bosnia. It was blown up in the war, but subsequently rebuilt using the same stones that the UN divers fished out of the river. Speaking of the war, it is still evident on some of the buildings where you can see bullet damage and bombed out shells. Of course the war has been over for 15 years now, and there are hordes of tourists there, but still you can sense its on people's minds on occasion. I also took a day long tour of the surrounding area, visiting an old Turkish town, a massive natural spring (Blagaj), and a beautiful waterfall area where one can take a refreshing swim in the freezing cold water.
After a nice long stay in Mostar (3 days) I hit up sarajevo. More on that later. My trip is almost done....and I'm so sad because there are so many more places I want to see and adventures I want to have and people I want to meet and food I want to eat. Ah well.
I believe we left off during the train to from Zurich to Ljubjana. Not that it was that crazy or anything, but it was an overnight train for which the sleeper cars were sold out. So I bought a seat, figuring that maybe there would be few enough people to stretch out. Not so much. As it turns out, my car was full (its the typical arrangement here, a compartment with 6 seats, 3 facing 3). We also had a dog (who was being smuggled onto the train), and a lady who just would not be quiet. Plus, there was no air conditioning, and it was crazy hot. Now imagine that for 10 hours. Ugh.
But it was worth it, b/c Ljubjana is a beautiful city. I took the city tour, wandered around the old and new cities for a bit, and just in general hung out by the river. The weather was still quite hot during the day, but the evenings were nice. The local food was interesting and engaging (horse meant, yum) and the people were fantastic. I met some locals who helped show me around a bit. It was a ton of fun. It´s actually a small city, but that was nice because it made the whole thing very walkable.
From there I caught took three trains overnight in order to get to Mostar, a city in southeast Bosnia. Not that I was planning on going there originally, but I heard from a few people that it was really worth a visit, and hey, why not? And I'm glad I went. The main attraction there is the Stari Most, which is a beautiful old bridge built by the Ottomans in the 1500's. It's kinda the national icon for Bosnia. It was blown up in the war, but subsequently rebuilt using the same stones that the UN divers fished out of the river. Speaking of the war, it is still evident on some of the buildings where you can see bullet damage and bombed out shells. Of course the war has been over for 15 years now, and there are hordes of tourists there, but still you can sense its on people's minds on occasion. I also took a day long tour of the surrounding area, visiting an old Turkish town, a massive natural spring (Blagaj), and a beautiful waterfall area where one can take a refreshing swim in the freezing cold water.
After a nice long stay in Mostar (3 days) I hit up sarajevo. More on that later. My trip is almost done....and I'm so sad because there are so many more places I want to see and adventures I want to have and people I want to meet and food I want to eat. Ah well.
Labels: My Random Life
posted by slithytoves at 9:41 AM
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