Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

What a wonderful way to end our time abroad with a trip through the Balkins for two weeks! We started our adventure in Sarajevo. Honestly, I was a little unsure if we should travel here because I don't think of Sarajevo as being a big tourist destination and it wasn't on my list of places to see...but I was totally wrong. Sarajevo is absolutely amazing and I feel so fortunate to have traveled here. 

After a night flight from Dubai, we arrived in the morning into the city. We stayed in the old part of the city, called Stari Grad. We first visited the Sarajevo Cathedral. The most interesting part was that an artillery shell had dropped right outside of the church during the war. These places are marked by the Sarajevo Rose. 

The Cathedral was damaged during the war but has been restored as one of the most important religious buildings in Sarajevo.

When we walked out the door of the Cathedral, we could see the mountains in the distance. Sarajevo feels like Istanbul, with the intersections of East and West, but in the Swiss Alps.

Everyone was hungry so we ended up in a small courtyard, called a Han, which used to house travelers and people carrying goods from one place to the next. Today, there were several restaurants and a beautiful rug shop.

We were all tired from the night flight so we went to the hotel in the middle of the day for a nap. After that, we walked through the park. I loved these evil eyes drawn on one of the trees.

We happened upon the Sarajevo Eternal Flame, which was installed after WWII.

We then walked to Sebilj, which is one of the public water sources, so see the pigeons. This is probably one of the most iconic sites in the city.

We lived walking down the side streets of the Old Town and looking in the little shops. 

We also walked to the Municipal Building, which was burned by Serbian War Criminals in 1992, which destroyed 2 million volumes of books. When Michael traveled here in 2000, he remembers the building being all boarded up. He was amazed to see the restoration!

We walked to the top of the mountain to the Yellow Fort to see the sun setting on the city. 

We walked past many graveyards with people who had died in 1993 and 1994.

The next morning, we enjoyed a Bosnian Coffee. 

We also visited one of the old markets and bought a coffee set for ourselves. 

I was very excited to visit one of the oldest Greek Orthodox Churches in Bosnia. 

We lit two candles, one for my Uncle Joe who recently passed away and one for Michael's Grandfather, Edward Bates.

We, of course, ended up at the Sarajevo Brewery for lunch!

We then walked past the House of Spite, which is a restaurant that the government decided it wanted their land but the owner refused. After dragging his feet for a very long time the owner moved the house, brick by brick, to its current location across the bridge.

After all we learned about Sarajevo, this is a fitting quote, from the outside of the Municipal Building.