sarajevo, the bosnian capital

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R: We took a train from Mostar to Sarajevo (lonely planet best journey recommendation) that had an open window and covered all of us in the car with soot. We couldn’t escape it and our hands would get black from everything we touched. We reserved a double room but we got a small

room with two sets of bunk beds (with thin mattresses), but we didn’t mind. The city has an interesting history, only

being out of war for just over ten years now and the evidence of war is still visible. The food here is different from what we have had so far. They eat a lot of meat, kabobs or sausages (and in large quantity), with pita bread and cheese and onions. Also, yogurt seems to be the drink of choice for lunch (we weren’t that brave). We found a Mexican food restaurant and had

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dinner there two nights. We also had a lot of coffee (Turkish) in little cups and very strong. During the days we walked around the town

and took in the culture. The famous bridge in town is where Franz Ferdinand was executed, thus starting World War I. There is another further down stream built by Eiffel. Things are cheaper here and we bought four bootlegged movies our first day here (we have been wanting some sort of entertainment). Once you get past the bullet holes in the buildings you see the architecture that was influenced during the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Bosnia is primarily a Muslim country, but it

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is also a hotspot for religions. There is a cathedral, a mosque, an orthodox church and a Jewish synagogue all within spitting distance from one another. As with any other poorer country there are a lot of beggars and people trying hard to sell you random things. This gets hard when people use a physical handicap or a small child to illicit sympathy. I had a good time in Bosnia, as it was a drastic change from the catholic influenced Croatia.