Sarajevo Old Town

Written on the evening of 9/17:

I feel like writing another blog entry tonight.  So far, I am writing more than I intended by sharing the details of every day so far, but I really enjoy keeping a journal of my experiences.  It helps me process and remember everything that is happening.  Maybe one day I will find it amusing to go back and re-read my first impressions of Sarajevo. 

The one thing that makes me sad is that I feel like I can share so much about my life with all of you, but I haven’t heard as much about my friends and family at home.  I have pretty limited internet access (at least for these first couple weeks), so I don’t have time to send all of you emails, but I have time to read (or at least download and save to read later) emails sent to me, so please send me some updates.  J  I’ve definitely enjoyed the few emails I’ve gotten so far!

Also, because I don’t have access to very fast wireless, I don’t think I will have time to post pictures right away (they take forever to load).  But, I am taking tons of pictures, and promise to share them on this blog and on facebook when I can!

Speaking of promises, I promised to write more about the old town (Bascarsija, pronounced Bashcharshiya) once I had more time to explore.  Well, today was a slobodan dan, Bosnian for day off, so I had time to go explore with my American quartet. (That is the most creative nickname I can think of us for the moment.  I will bring back a Bosnian treat to anyone who can think of something catchier.) 

We took the tram two stops past our normal one by the National Theater, and got off right by the famous bridge that I described in my last post.  By the way, my Bosnia guidebook says that the bridge is now called Latinska Cuprija (pronounce Choopriya) and was indeed where World War I started with Arch Franz Ferdinand being shot.  It is nice to stand on and take pictures, because cars are not allowed over it.  However, for being such an important historical monument, it is surprisingly inconspicuous.  The river below is sadly a bit polluted, and the sign marking the bridge is small, so I’m not sure I would have noticed it if it wasn’t pointed out to me. (Gene, I didn't see any locks.)

After getting off the tram, we headed North, right into the heart of Old Town.  I’ve read that Old Town is a microcosm of the meeting of Eastern and Western culture and it is really true.  Walking around, I saw a huge amount of diversity of religion, culture, age, etc. I found it interesting that I saw the diversity even within small groups of family and friends.  For example, I saw a woman in conservative Muslim dress, whose daughters were dressed in jeans and tank tops, and whose friend had a more casual head covering.  Many of the shops in old town sell beautiful scarves, jewelry, and coffee sets.  I can’t wait to go souvenir shopping before Christmas.  There are also many ice-cream stands, bakeries, and cafes, yum. (And thanks, dad, for teaching me “sladoled”, which means ice-cream in Bosnian.)  We ate at an outdoor café, and then got ice-cream at Egipat, which is famous for being perhaps the best dessert store in all of Sarajevo.

We saw a few monuments while walking around, including the remains of a hotel originating in the 16^th century, and some beautiful Muslim quarters (Sara and I weren’t allowed in the courtyard though because of our bare arms.  I’ll have to come back later when I’m dressed appropriately.)  There is still so much more to see and describe, so I will keep going back and gradually sharing more details.

We headed back over to the BBI mall around 3pm so I could attempt to Skype Ross.  Grr…the internet was too slow, but I did get to facebook chat!  Then we took the tram home, stopped at the market, practiced, and ate.  We had fresh bread and I recreated a salad that I made the other night with bell peppers (which are much more flavorful than in America), tomato, cucumber and feta.  I love the produce from the markets here, and think I will end up eating a lot of vegetable and cheese salads.  Everything is so fresh and so cheap.  There is a little old lady at the market who Sara and I really like, and I think we will become regulars J

Anyway, at this point, I am getting quite tired, so I will say “Laku Noc”, which means good night.