Balkans - Part 1

05 Jan 2016 . category: Travel . Comments
#Balkans

This begins a series of (retroactive) blog posts about my spring break 2015 trip to the Balkans with Aaron Roper. As with the Iceland series, the posts are more of a collection of funny stories and happenings from the trip, and less a true travel journal recounting the details of every city, church, and square. Many of the sights have a lot of associated history - I’ll try whenever possible to give a quick summary and then link to the Wikipedia page for more info.

Introduction

After Iceland the year before, we had to go somewhere even more crazy, so we decided on a whirlwind tour of the Balkans: “7 Countries 7 Days.” Specifically, we hit (in order): Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. Here’s a map of the trip:

And to make it even more fun, we were backpacking! My first time lugging around a heavy backpack…not the best experience. But now I get to say that I backpacked across Europe, so there’s that.

Day 1: Sarajevo

We arrived in Sarajevo and were met by our guide for the day, Skender, from Sarajevo Funky Tours. Given the difficulty of getting from the airport to the Tunnel Museum and then into the city, we decided on brief guided period. Overall, we had a great time with Skender, and would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for a tour in Sarajevo.

First up was the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum which is on the site of the tunnel built by the Bosnians to supply the city during the Serbian siege. It immediately set the theme for much of the trip, rooted in very recent and tragic history. Definitely in stark contrast to Iceland, which was about carefree and serene nature. Here, and all over the Balkans, you can still see bullet holes from the conflict and signs about mines:

We then got an unexpected extension to our tour: a drive around the mountains around the city, which really made us feel back in Iceland. It was unfortunately just as cold and snowy! So much for a slightly warmer spring break… At one point, Aaron almost fell down the side of the snowy mountain while taking a picture up on an outcropping. I think our guide said those mountains were still uncleared of mines, so good thing he scrambled back up. We also got to see the super cool Sarajevo Bobsleigh Track which was originally built for the 1984 Winter Olympics and then abandoned, though that Wikipedia page says it’s being renovated for an upcoming event. Hopefully this gives a sense of the general cold and snow.

As we drove around, we were continuously crossing the confusing frontline of the war, which is now the twisty border between the two major political entities within Bosnia & Herzegovina. And we stopped by an old cemetery where our guide’s father, uncle, and grandfather all fought during the war. As cliche as it sounds, Skender’s personal stories about receiving rations during the siege and his relatives fighting really made the history real. Here is a gravestone studded with bullet holes from that cemetery:

Satisfying my inner European history nerd, we also stopped by the bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 (the event which eventually triggered WWI):

And finally, we got ourselves kicked out of the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque that evening, as we didn’t realize it wasn’t a non-visitor night. We actually entered and sat down for a bit, only to have a kind and apologetic old man ask us to leave.

We had dinner at a very touristy, but still surprisingly affordable restaurant. There we tried some local brandy, which I thought was pretty awful but Aaron seemed to like. We then spent the night at a extremely affordable but rather cold Sarajevo Airbnb.

Other sights visited: Bascarsija (old bazaar), Vijecnica (old city hall), and Vratnik citadel.

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