Serbia & Bosnia and Herzegovenia

On April 3, 2012, we loaded our van and drove to Belgrade, Serbia (population 1.6 million). It was a working trip for Arvid, but we managed to celebrate Arvid's birthday and our anniversary the next day. He worked while I explored a little, but I was sick, so didn't do a lot - just walked around our hotel and through a big, beautiful, modern mall.  For a country that has been independent from the former Yugoslavia for only 6 years, it was surprising to see modernity such as that. However, I suspect that the country, as a whole, still struggles economically. (This is where we saw The Hunger Games at a really nice mall near our hotel in Belgrade!)

The view from our hotel window in Belgrade

Another view of Belgrade - really there wasn't much to take pictures of (at least in the spots we were at).

We then drove on to Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have friends, John & Linda Christensen, living in Sarajevo (population over 300,000), so Linda and I went all over that city while Arvid and John worked at the embassy. Linda first took me to the most famous spot in the city: the site where, in 1914, the Archduke of Austria and his pregnant wife were assassinated, which sparked World War I. 

 The plaque on the building at the assassination site, now a museum. Linda and I also went to the museum and learned more of the history of the event, and viewed pictures of those involved.

The view of the Latin Bridge, the right hand side of which is the site of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination.
The bridge is an Ottoman bridge over the River Miljacka

Where the car is parked on the corner is where the car was, carrying the Archduke and his wife.
The bridge is to the left (out of the picture).

 Linda and I went into the old downtown shopping area.

Just look at all the wares on display...

It seemed that most things were metallic - copper, brass, bronze, etc....

This guy was using tools to make designs in old mortar shells that were, at one time,

 plentiful all over the city.

He hammers away ....

...and ends up with "vases" of all sizes - this is a picture of the larger ones. 

I couldn't help but imagine the damage caused by each of these.

More shops...

And more...
Would you believe I didn't buy anything!?

Cool old guns hanging on a sign that mentions Sarajevo.

 It was interesting to see the mix of culture and religion. You could walk down a street that houses buildings seemingly from Vienna, then immediately see a mosque and a row of buildings that look like Istanbul. I was reminded of recent wars at almost every turn of a corner.

The courtyard of one of the mosques

One of the Christian churches. On the left, you'll European-looking buildings,
while on the right it looks like shops from the Ottoman Empire

Another Christian church

 The Eternal Flame, shown below, is a memorial to both military and civilian victims of World War II. 

I noticed the date - April 6, 1945 - which marked the liberation of Sarajevo from the Nazi occupation. 

As it was then April 5, I asked Linda if there would be any events the next day (our departure date)

to honor that day and she did not think so. 

 It turned out that while there were apparently no events dedicated to the 1945 liberation, what we didn't know is that it was the 20th anniversary of the start of the siege that killed some 11,541 citizens. Although Sarajevo's downtown, where we stayed, is quite small, it took us over an hour to get out of town. Many of the downtown streets were closed, for the commemoration. To see a picture of the city on that day, go here: http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-04-06/news/31302005_1_bosnian-serbs-haris-pasovic-christian-orthodox-serbs

A Muslim cemetery

I looked at a water fountain that was built to commemorate children killed in the city's 

siege from 1992- 96. Siblings or friends of these children made imprints of their 

hands or feet in the fountain's basin. Water flows over these prints. 

A close-up of the prints on the fountain.

I saw a strange thing on a sidewalk that Linda told me is called a "Sarajevo Rose." They are found in various places in the city and are simply scars caused by mortar shell's explosions, later filled with red resin. The mortar landing on concrete creates a pattern that almost looks like a flower. They are reminders of one or more individuals killed on these spots. 

A Sarajevo Rose

Spring flowers blooming at a park in Sarajevo 

I did not take any pictures of the sites from the 1984 Olympics as they were largely destroyed. 

While I felt that the effects of war abounds, the people seem to get along 

well with each other and were very friendly with us.

John and Linda and their dog

We then drove to Mostar - the fifth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina (population over 100,000). It was named after the bridge keepers who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) in medieval times - built by the Ottomans in the 16th century. It was a beautiful city and we enjoyed walking the streets, eating their foods, and visiting many shops. Once again we were surprised to see so many mosques in a European city. It seems that most of (western) Europe practices Christianity, but these cities in the east have been around for so long and have seen people from varied religions settling therein. For a great picture, go here: http://www.mostar.hu/

We drove through a village near Mostar called Blagaj. It is the site of a very strong spring, and is the source of the Buna River. There was an amazing amount of water flowing there! We kept asking each other where this unfathomable amount of water comes from. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blagaj_-_source_of_the_Buna_river.jpg

Plo.... (we're blank on the name - the Unesco site) was fun. We hiked up to the castle and just enjoyed all the views. What a pretty place. We drove through the "upper" way  and then down south and back a little west to Dubrovnic. We encountered a bad single car accident up there in the middle of nothing. Arvid went out to help - not much you can do without equipment, etc. An off-duty police officer was thrown from the vehicle and was lying in the middle of the road with massive head injuries. He wasn't responsive but, when the paramedics arrived, fought them when they were putting a collar around his neck. Arvid was stressed after that. And we wonder about the guy, but will probably never know.

 The pictures of Mostar, Glagaj, Plo-whatever, and Dubrovnic will have to wait as they are on our computer that hasn't arrived yet at our new post of Buenos Aires (which is where I am as I post this - just a little behind, obviously!).