I was hesitant to travel to Sarajevo, not just because the book warned of stray land mines, but because the only thing I really knew about Sarajevo was that it was perennially war-torn and that I wouldn't be comfortable journeying there just to see what that meant. There was certainly plenty of evidence of the three solid years of Serbian bombing sustained in the mid-90s to justify my initial misgivings, and I didn't take a single picture my first day in town. There are still bombed out buildings,
Sincere requests that you leave your automatic weapons at home when you enter a mosque,
And Muslim graveyards full of those killed between 1992 and 1995, throughout the city.
But after eating some really good cheap food and meeting some incredibly sweet locals I was at ease. Some instant favorites were burek (meat or cheese filled pastry with yogurt) and cevapcici (sausages with kymak cheese and ajvar pepper sauce):
Sarajevo is famous for its sweets. We made multiple return trips to Eqipat for marzipan and baklava.
We stayed in an apartment across the street from this 5th Century church with a sweet elderly lady excitedly preparing for her first hajj to Mecca.
Another favorite sight was the men who played a giant game of chess in the main square. It appears they play all day, every day, and those not actually in the match are consumed with commentary and guidance.
Equally amusing was this cafe:
In the end Sarajevo was interesting, cheap, yummy, and beautiful. We'll be searching for burek and cevapci stateside.xoxo Jessie
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