russia: moscow: VDNKh ekowalk

This was a quick Saturday outing on a day when I had almost no motivation to do anything, or go anywhere. I'm not sure why, as I usually want to see everything and everywhere on a weekend, but that definitely didn't happen this weekend.

Social media had showed me photos of a newly opened 'ekowalk' in VDNKh. It's basically a raised wooden walkway in one corner of the property of the entire complex.

Getting there took a fair amount of walking, after a metro ride. Lucky me decided to go out there on a day with gray skies and some rain, but there were still plenty of people out and about. I'll admit I'd hoped the crappy weather would keep people at home, and out of my photos, but no such luck.

The photos I got without many people were after a lot of waiting, as it seemed everyone and their mother wanted an Instagram worthy photo on this new walkway. I guess that's how social media works these days.

I knew almost immediately that I'd have to come back another day for that kind of photo for myself, and it would probably have to be a weekday.

After walking the full length of the walkway I walked through the main part of VDNKh, seeing a few buildings I hadn't seen before. I'm glad Moscow was one of the host cities for the World Cup tournament 18 months ago, as some of these buildings had finally been updated, after being covered by scaffolding for quite a while.

bosnia: travnik and the last day in sarajevo

After leaving Mostar we drove straight to the airport in Sarajevo, to drop Bo off. It was sad to say goodbye, but we both knew we'd travel together again, we just didn't know when. I was sad to realize that my Bosnian adventure was almost over, my holidays always go by too quickly.

From there I drove another 90 minutes or so to a town called Travnik. When I'd been looking for places to go for my last night or two in Bosnia, I didn't want to go super far away from Sarajevo, and Travnik seemed to fit that bill perfectly.

Travnik is a town of nearly 20,000 people, with a long long history. Wikipedia tells me there is evidence of human habitation in the area going all the way back to the Bronze Age, but most people consider Travnik's history as really starting in the first few centuries A.D. There are plenty of pieces remaining from Roman rule, including coins, forts, graves, etc...

Like a lot of other areas in what is now Bosnia, Travnik was a fortified town. The remains of that fortification are easily the most visited spot in the modern town.

During Ottoman rule, most of the locals converted to Islam, and from what I saw, this hasn't changed, despite the Austrians being in charge for a while. During Ottoman times Travnik became so powerful that both France and Austria-Hungary established consulates there.

A fire at the beginning of the 20^th century destroyed most of the town, so what you can now see of Travnik is just over 100 years old. Apparently the basic industries of the city haven't changed much over the years, the economy still relies on farming and herding. There are a few factories, one of which makes matches, another makes furniture.

Travnik is built in a valley, with some of the town on the hill. My hostel was on that hill, I was rather terrified when I parked the car as it was a steep downhill. My hostel was awesome, I wish I'd had more time in the town to enjoy it.

After resting up for a while after arriving, I went to visit the main sight: the old fortress. It's often called Stari Grad, meaning old city, but I didn't feel like there was a city there, just the ruins of some walls of the old fortress. There was a small museum in one area, but it didn't have a lot to see.

Hands down the best reason to visit this fortress is for the views it offers over the whole area. I got to see a glorious rainbow of fall colour on the surrounding hills, it was beautiful. If I'd had more water and snacks with me I would've gone for a mini hike right then, as it was just gorgeous.

After taking in every possible view from the fortress I walked into town. I walked past a clock tower, which still looked very nice. It was tucked into a courtyard of sorts, I wasn't able to get close. I couldn't tell if visitors could go up into the tower, but someone must be able to in order to keep the clock working properly.

Wikipedia tells me Travnik is the only city in the country that has two clock towers, but I don't remember seeing another one. Obviously I missed the other one, as they wouldn't make that statement if it wasn't true.

My next stop was a mosque, the main mosque in the city. I've seen it called the Painted Mosque or the Decorated Mosque or the Ornamented Mosque, but I don't know which one is the official name. I was thrilled to find an unlocked door and an empty interior. Despite no one else being around, I put on a headscarf, because that's the right thing to do in a mosque.

I loved the windows, I loved the colours, I loved the thick carpets, I loved everything about this mosque. From what I've read since, this mosque is different from most mosques of the era in that there is no obvious exterior dome. 

I walked a little bit on the main floor, which is probably the men's section. I also went up to the women's section, which is a balcony that goes around three sides of the worship area, it was quite nice.

After the mosque I walked through town, but didn't see anything else in particular. There isn't much of note in Travnik, but the atmosphere is quiet and peaceful. I did find a bust of Tito in a small park, which surprised me, considering how 'well' he treated the people when he was in power.

The next morning I went for a hike. There is a very small chapel on a plateau area on one of the mountains, it seemed like a good idea to hike up there. Google maps told me it would only take 52 minutes to walk up there, but I knew that was going to be completely wrong, and it was. Going up took me 90 minutes, going down took about 40.

It was a steady climb to go up the mountain, with a number of switchbacks on the trail. I stopped a few times to catch my breath and just take in the views, because the entire valley was open for me to see. It was neat to get up close to all the trees with beautiful leaves, and see the colours of all the buildings in the town..

I might or might not have fallen a few times on the way down, because my legs were not at all in shape for descending, and the trail had a lot of scree. I didn't care though, the hike was worth it.

After showering, packing up and checking out, I put my pack in the car, then walked into the town center, as there was one more place I wanted to see.

As I did this walk I saw a city sign, the first one I'd seen outside Sarajevo. Yay for city signs!

My next sight was a house museum, the birthplace of writer Ivo Andric. 

He wasn't just any writer, he was a Nobel laureate, having won the prize in 1961. His writing focused on novels, poems, and short stories, mostly about life in Bosnia under Ottoman rule.

The home wasn't very exciting, to be honest. Since I'd already seen a couple traditional homes in Bosnia I was looking for something new, but that didn't happen. The museum had a room completely filled with his books and other writings, and a room with a traditional oven/heating system. It's probably worth taking a tour, so at least you get some information while walking around this museum.

After that I walked back up to the car and drove a little way out of town. I only went a little way because I wanted to see another spomenik. The closest one was in the suburb of Novi Travnik, on the edge of town.

The spomenik I saw honours the victims of fascism and communism. Like so many other spomeniks, the design of this one is unique. I'd almost describe it as a series of faces in the middle of a field. They're all quite large, though they don't initially appear that way. I didn't realize they're all bigger than me until I got up close. They're out in the middle of a field, I just hoped I wasn't trespassing on anyone's property.

From there I drove back to Sarajevo, and dropped off the car first thing. The guy in the rental office was surprised that I was a few hours, but I figured that was the best plan for me because I would've had to deal with city parking in order to keep it those last few hours.

Back in the city center I checked into my room, and relaxed for a while. At some point I went for a walk, just enjoying the city sounds. I got lucky with the timing of sunset, as my photo while standing on a bridge turned out really well. Sarajevo isn't stunning, but it is beautiful in its own way.

The next morning I did my usual pack up and check out, taking my bag with me. I was determined to finally see the history museum, so I made a beeline in that direction.

The musem was impressive, mostly because it is huge. Parts of it were under renovation, but there was still plenty for me to see. Since Bosnia has had people living here for millenia, the history on display had a loooong timeline. There were religious items, daily life items, and information. That was just the main building though, there were a couple other buildings too.

I also visited the zoology building, to see all the fauna from this area. From what I could tell, the entire fauna history of Bosnia was on display in this building. I enjoy the history of people more than that of animals, but this was still impressive. There was also a section on geology, so I got to see small bits and pieces of gems and minerals.

By the time I left the museum I was a bit museumed out. I guess that means it was a good, and comprehensive museum?

Back in the city center I headed straight for a convenience store to pick up snacks for my trip back home, then a bakery to have dessert before hopping on the bus to the airport.

I'll definitely be back to Sarajevo and Bosnia.

bosnia: mostar

I've never rented a car before in another country, which pretty much guaranteed an adventure no matter what else we saw or did during the rest of the trip.

Our last morning in Sarajevo we packed up and checked out, then put our stuff in the car. We went to a bakery to stock up before hitting the road, because a road trip practically guarantees the need for snacks.

Our end goal for the day was Mostar. Getting out of Sarajevo was the first adventure, as many of the roads in the city center are one way, and I didn't always have much warning about any turns I needed to make. 

Once we got on the highway we were pretty stoked, as the speed limit was fast, and the views were great.

The fast speed limit didn't last long, unfortunately. It turned out we were on a highway requiring a toll, and after getting off that highway, the next one was not so great. The next one was just two lanes, and very twisty.

Since I hadn't driven in a while, and it had been even longer in a country where I couldn't read the signs, and didn't know the rules of the road, I was nervous.

I saw quite a few places where I wanted to pull the car over and take a photo of the scenery, but I only actually did so a handful of times. Bosnia is relatively unknown in the travel world, especially because it is in Europe, but absolutely gorgeous.

As we got closer to Mostar there were people passing me regularly, even on blind curves, which I find to be incredibly stupid, no matter how well you know the roads. They passed while we were in tunnels too, eeeeek. I was mostly terrified there would be a huge crash in front of me, thank goodness that didn't happen.

Once we got to Mostar it took a while to find our accomodation. The way it is labeled on google maps and yandex maps is wrong, and makes it look as if it's on one street, but it isn't. Our room was actually in a guesthouse tucked into the very back of a courtyard. We loved the room though, it even had a skylight. Our landlady spoke German, so Bo was able to do all our communicating, which was awesome.

Mostar is supposed to have been named for the people who guarded its bridges, called mostari.

The Neretva River goes right through the city, (which currently has almost 115,000 residents,) and the bridges over the river have been around as long as the city itself. Like Sarajevo, Mostar is in a valley, though the surrounding hills aren't as big as those around Sarajevo.

There is evidence of human habitation in the area of Mostar even in prehistoric times. Archaeologists have found remains of life from Roman times under the current city. Wikipedia tells me the first written mention of Mostar is in a document from 1474, when the area was under Ottoman rule. 

The bridge that everyone thinks of in Mostar was first built as a wooden bridge, and redone in stone in 1566.

Austria-Hungary took control of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, ruling all the way through the end of WW1, in 1918. At that point it became the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, followed by Yugoslavia. Wikipedia tells me Mostar was the unofficial capital for a while, but it doesn't say why, nor does it say what the official capital was at the time.

Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, which was basically the start of the war in the 1990s. What followed were at least three years of fighting, much of which completely confuses me. There were more than two sides in the war, I'm not sure what all each one of them wanted.

In 1993 the famous bridge was destroyed, it was 400+ years old at the time. It took a three year rebuild before being opened again in 2004. One series of postcards I saw showed how much the bridge changed from the 80s till now, whoa. 

The bridge was one of the first sights we saw in the city, after walking along the river for a bit. The area around the bridge is filled with stalls selling all kinds of tourist knick knacks. I suppose they're just a modern version of the market that once filled the area, but they definitely take away from the atmosphere.

I have to admit that being on the bridge wasn't that amazing, but the view of the bridge from a couple other spots in town was amazing. There are lots of people trying to take photos on the bridge, but I don't think you get a good photo on the bridge. 

Unless you're the only one on the bridge, and your photographer is standing in a place that shows the entire bridge.

Since I wanted photos of the bridge, we figured out how to get to one of the viewpoints of the entire bridge. Getting there meant following a couple very narrow walkways that weren't obvious, but there were plenty of people down closer to the river, so there must be a more obvious way to get there. Anywho. Some of those people had clearly been waiting for quite a while to get their perfect photo. 

One of the things locals like to do is jump off the bridge. Sometimes they stand on the edge for a long while, waiting for a big enough crowd to gather before jumping. We saw two people waiting to jump, but they still hadn't jumped a full ten minutes later, so we stopped waiting and started walking.

Our next stop was another traditional home from the Ottoman era. Called the Katjaz house, it was formerly the home of a judge, so it was quite nice. We were the only visitors at the time, which made us love it even before walking around. 

The owner/manager gave us some of the history of the house and era, then let us wander around on our own.

The intricate wood carving was amazing. The carpets were amazing. The way the second level had so many windows was amazing. The whole thing was amazing. Wow, just wow. The owner told us it used to be twice as big, which made us appreciate it even more, because it still felt quite big. I don't know how many people were in the judge's family, that would make a big difference in how spacious it felt at the time. 

We walked back in the general direction of our accomodation to get to one of the war sights of the city, the so-called Snipers Tower. It was probably going to be an apartment building, but it wasn't finished. The stairs go all the way up I think, but there are no exterior walls. Being anywhere in view of the building during the war was a massive risk.

There is graffiti all over the building, both 'inside' and out. There is a fence all the way around, but if you really wanted to it wouldn't be that hard to get inside and go up to the top. Fascinating, in a morbid way.

We also took a look at two buildings close to the Snipers Tower. One of them had Moorish architecture, I read the sign out front to figure out it was a local school. Really impressive architecture for a school.

The school was right next to the other building, which was fascinating because it was abandoned and falling apart. Trees and vines growing up through the floors, the walls had already collapsed. I love abandoned buildings, but I didn't go much past the front porch because I didn't want to fall into a basement and get stuck.

The next morning we drove out of town to do a day trip around the area.

The second morning we stopped at a spomenik before heading out of town. It was related to WW2, from Italy I think. It was smaller than many of the spomeniks around the country, but it was still worth seeing.

I'd love to go back to Mostar, as it is very pretty. That being said, I'm not sure how much more there would be for me to see.

bosnia: blagaj, pocitelj, and kravica waterfall

Several years ago I went to Israel and Palestine for my New Year's holidays. While there, I met a Polish blogger, we've followed each other on social media ever since. When Bo and I were trying to figure out where we should go in Bosnia we ended up reading several blog posts written by Kami, and ended up choosing to visit several of the locations she had written about. So many options!

This post is about the day we did a road trip around Mostar, using the car to drive to three different places.

As expected, the hardest part of the day was simply in figuring out how to get out of Mostar. Bo doesn't like listening to the voice on google maps, he wanted to read the map himself. This was all well and good until I had to make fast turns or lane changes. I much prefer having plenty of notice, so I know what I'm looking for, and don't risk life and limb to get to where we want to go.

Our first stop was a small place called Blagaj. Wikipedia tells me the name Blagaj probably came from the Bosnian word blaga, which means mild. Apparently Blagaj has very mild weather; it was fantastic weather while we were there. 

Not surprisingly, the original name wasn't Blagaj, the first written name was Bona, (which is Latin for good, fine,) going all the way back to the Byzantine Empire.

The town has never been big, as the location simply hasn't attracted a trade route which is what often caused town growth back in the day. There is a fort up on the ridge overlooking the area, the fort has been there since the very beginning. You can hike up to the fort, but we chose not to do so, though I'm not sure why. Maybe I'll go back?

The main thing we wanted to see is sometimes called the Dervish House. It's the prayer house at the mouth of a spring that comes out of the bottom of the mountain. If I understand correcly, the house goes all the way back to the mid 17^th century, without any major renovation.

There was an entrance fee, of course. Sigh. As the house is still an active Muslim prayer area, women are required to wear a head covering, and they wanted me to wear a wraparound skirt as well. There were separate prayer rooms for men and women, the women's room was a bit smaller, but not too much.

There was a room where you can wash your hands and feet, in order to pray properly. This room had a small skylight of sorts, pretty impressive.

The best part of the house was its setting. You can hear the constant flow of water, and nothing but the occasional sounds of people talking. It's a really quiet, peaceful place. Unfortunately, it has become a place tourist buses come, because the walkway close to the entrance is lined with tourist stalls, and the other side of the water is lined with cafes. Argh.

After our quick walk around we walked back up the walkway, turning down a random road just because we could. There was an abandoned building, with a gate that wasn't completely locked. I wanted to go in, and convinced Bo we could open the gate and walk right in.

As we walked through, we didn't know what we were seeing, but I did appreciate how old it was, and we did make sure to avoid the holes in the floor that opened to the water flowing underneath the building. We took a peek out the other side of the buiding, it was just open land.

As we were about to leave a couple came into the building, looking at us in surprise. 

I was nervous we were going to get into trouble for going into an abandoned building, but it didn't happen.

I tried speaking a little Russian, it didn't work. Bo figured out the lady spoke some German, which was a relief. It turned out the building we were in was an abandoned mill, over 300 years old. This couple owned the mill and the land it was on, because her husband's family had owned it back when this area was part of the Ottoman Empire. They were essentially using the mill as a gate to their property, until deciding to do something else with it. 

The lady indicated that we should follow her, so we did. She showed us to a house she and her husband were renovating in the style of the Ottoman Empire. It was GORGEOUS. The main 'living room' had a natural system of air conditioning, as there was a door in the floor that could be opened to let the breeze in, which came from the water flowing under the house.

The house had plenty of intricate wood carving, and coffee sets, and lounging areas. I would've happily spent the rest of our day there, if I'd had a book. It was just one of those places that was incredibly comfortable. When this couple opens the house for business I'd love to stay there for a couple days to relax.

After that unintended tour, we went back to the car and drove to our next spot, a town called Pocitelj. Getting there was tough, as Bo wanted to use the GPS on his tablet, which seemed to keep directing us onto nonexistent roads. I finally turned on my phone, which got us where we wanted to go.

Pocitelj has written history going back to the 15^th century, but probably predates that time. It's a walled city, it must've been quite the feat to build the walls around the city. As the city was built during Ottoman rule, the houses are still mostly in that style. Since Bo and I had visited the judge's house in Mostar, we didn't feel the need to visit any homes in Pocitelj.

Pocitelj is built on the steep side of a hill, visiting it means you're getting a step workout whether you want one or not. We parked in a big platz at the bottom, I assume this is where tour buses park. It was free, so I didn't care.

Our walk through the town involved a few breaks so I could catch my breath. Neverending steps and heat did not make me feel good, hee hee. The views from all over were amazing. We found a crumbling tower at one corner of the walls, and were even able to climb up to the top. Looking out over the whole area was incredible.

We visited one of the mosques in Pocitelj, thankfully it wasn't prayer time. 

The builders had found a way to put small pieces of coloured glass in the walls, so the interior was really colourful and really light, I loved it. The women's section was a balcony on a level overlooking the main floor, not nearly equal to the men's section in size.

Pocitelj isn't big, so it didn't take all that long for us to wander all over. We didn't find main roads going through, so I'm not sure we saw everything. Instead we were climbing up various stairs between buildings, then on narrow streets for a short while, then more stairs. Half the fun was figuring out how to get back down the hill to our car!

I should mention that Bo was basically over being in photos by the time we left Pocitelj. I love taking 'team' photos when I travel, you have to be okay with those for us to travel well together. I don't blame Bo, since I'd probably asked for at least 6 by that point in the day, hee hee.

It was easy to get to our last sight for the day, the roads weren't too confusing, and the signage was really obvious. Kravica waterfall isn't just one waterfall, it's a series of them.

We probably should've visited the waterfalls first, since the sun was backlighting everything by the time we arrived, argh. It's a beautiful area, really easy to reach from the parkplatz where both a parking fee and entry fee are assessed.

The walk to the waterfalls from the parkplatz is only five minutes, down a specially constructed pavement. If you can walk with a railing, then you need no other physical skills to visit this waterfall. There were lots of groups taking photos, I didn't blame them but I did get impatient after waiting through a couple amateur photo shoots.

There is a rope blocking off the pool at the bottom of the falls, but you can get into that area by hiring a small boat for a quick tour that gets you up close to the falls. The water wasn't warm since we were there near the end of October, but I bet its a great place to have a swim in the middle of summer. There also looked to be a camping area nearby, which would also be awesome in summer, depending on how many people are there with you.

After a while we decided we'd had enough, and drove back to Mostar. There are so many small but amazing places to visit in Bosnia!

bosnia: return to sarajevo

One of the things I love about working for my school is the amount of proper vacation time I get, as it is a rarity in this industry. After some back and forth, my long time travel buddy Bo and I decided to meet up and travel together for a few days.

To get the cheapest flights, I ended up flying out of Moscow at 0410. That meant taking the last train to the airport then, hanging out for a couple hours before checking in, then hanging out again until the flight left. I was knackered, and I hadn't even traveled yet!

My first flight went to Belgrade, then my second flight went to Sarajevo. My arrival was a lot easier this time, as it was in daytime, and I already knew how to get to my accomodation. Once I got there I took a short nap while charging my phone, then went out.

Since I'd arrived before Bo, I had a couple things I wanted to see and re-take some photos that had been on the camera I'd lost in July. My first sight on that list was the White Fortress, which sits on top of one of the hills surrounding Sarajevo. 

The hike to get up there was just as steep as I remembered, but not quite as long since I knew where I was going.

That being said, I was still super sweaty by the time I got to the top. The breeze up there as well as the views were awesome, and it felt good to stand and look at everything.

Unlike my last visit, the fortress was open to visitors this time around. Entry fee was 5KM, with no maps/brochures/information provided. 

I would've liked some information, but I loved being able to wander around the area on my own. 

It looks as if some areas are being rebuilt, I don't know if there is a plan to rebuild the whole thing or not, I kinda hope not.

Also unlike my last visit, my White Fortress visit took place as sunset was starting. The views from up there were pretty fantastic, and there were only a couple other people there. Sarajevo doesn't have a well known skyline, especially since it sits in a valley, but sunset over mountains is always pretty.

I followed the twisty roads down the hill to the Yellow Fortress, which no longer has any resemblance of a fortress. Now it's just a cafe with another great view of the city. This one is a lot easier to get to, and as such, was a lot busier. Heaps of people trying to get their perfect sunset photo. I ended up taking a photo of all of them against the sunset, which was as good as I was going to get.

Since I had traveled a lot, I ended up heading to dinner at that point, then went to bed and crashed early that night. 

The next morning I was up and checked out sometime in the morning, then walked my bag to the accomodation I'd booked with Bo. I wasn't able to check in yet, but I was able to leave my bag there, which was good enough.

I walked through the old city centre, and found a place to buy a SIM card for my phone. Since this trip was going to be a week long, I figured it would be worth it to have some data access. If I understood correctly, the way I bought my SIM card is the same as most Bosnians, who simply top up the credit on their card from time to time.

After the SIM card purchase I again walked what is sometimes called Sniper's Alley. It is a main road coming into the city, and you can still see the marks made by bullets as they hit the buildings during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. Nearly 30 years ago, and yet that history is still very visible. I wonder if those bullet 'wounds' will ever be fixed.

I ended up missing the opening hours for the National History Museum by just a few minutes, the same way I did during my last visit to Sarajevo. Argh. 

Obviously I should've checked those sorts of things ahead of time, and rearranged my day accordingly. This is not the first time I've made this mistake, you'd think I would've learned my lesson by now. Whoops.

Instead of checking out the museum, I just walked along the street for a while, until I felt like turning around. There was nothing in particular to see, but I wanted to walk for a while, and this seemed like a good way to do it. After turning around, I went back to the city center, then found a way to walk up the hill on another side of the city, to see if I could get high enough for some kind of a city view.

I didn't really find a view, but I did see a few more mosques and a couple cemeteries. There are always reminders of Bosnia's very recent history in Sarajevo, no matter where you are in the city.

I had dinner, then officially checked into our room, hung out for a while, then went to the airport to meet Bo.

Bo ended up arriving on the flight I'd taken the first time I'd come to Sarajevo, which arrived around 2230. It was easy to meet him (as the airport in Sarajevo is quite small,) then walk to the bus stop and take that back into the city. 

By this point I was super comfortable with how to get to and from the airport in Sarajevo.

Bo had been to Sarajevo before, but it was years ago, so it was a bit of a new place to visit for him. He had no desire to repeat the war museums, I don't blame him for that. They're intense, and somewhat emotionally draining, so you need more time to balance them out, if that makes sense.

I found out he had not seen the spot where WW1 started, so our first place to see was the plaque that marks that spot. 

More visible history. I don't know much about WW1, especially in comparison to WW2, I probably ought to do some basic research.

After that plaque we found a corner store to get some snacks, then walked to the cable car station. I think he wanted to get one way tickets, and walk our way back down the hill, but I convinced him we didn't really have enough time in the day for that.

The ride up the mountain was just as pretty, as some of the trees were already starting to change colours. 

Plus it was a clear day, the city was beautiful. Once we got to the top it was easy to follow the roads again to the top of the bobsleigh track, to explore that again.

Almost immediately I decided I liked visiting in autumn better than summer, simply because of the aesthetics. Some of the trees had already dropped a few leaves, which gathered in small areas of the track, which looked amazing in photos. Some of the graffiti had already changed since my last visit, I suppose some of the designs end up being painted over quite often.

We went all the way to the bottom of the track, where we ended up talking to two couples who were doing long term travels across Europe, living in their own cars. They had great stories, I was jealous. One day I want to do another long term trip, but that's going to take a while to save for. Anywho.

We walked back up to the top of the track, taking even more photos along the way, as there are so many spots that scream 'take a photo' as you walk along. I still wonder if this area will ever be monetized. Will the government close it and start charging admission?

I led Bo over to the other side of the station area, which gives a completely different view of the city. Beautiful. In the grand scheme of things these mountains are small, but even these remind you of how small humans are in the grand scheme of things.

The cable car took us back down the hill, then we went back to our room to relax for a bit. We spent too long inside, because by the time we got to the next place I wanted to see, we were 15 minutes too late. Argh. I'd really wanted Bo to see the Svrzo house, which used to be the house of a middle class Ottoman family back in the day of the Empire.

Instead, we went to the city center area, and since both of us were wearing appropriate clothing, we visited the most famous mosque of the city. Well, famous might not be the right word, but it is the most that gets the most tourist visitors. After my last visit I knew how to get inside, which was completely empty this time. There is something about the silence in a house of faith that I absolutely adore.

After the mosque we decided to get dinner. Bo is a chef, so food means a lot more to him than it does to me. He usually wants to try local food, and since I knew this, I'd asked a friend of mine to do some research about where to find cheap local food. 

We went to a place that serves exactly one thing: cevapci.

As far as I can tell, cevapci is a type of sausage. Of course there are different recipes in different areas, but that's the basic description. It is typically served in a pita, and you choose whether you want onions, a cream cheese sauce of sorts, and how many you want. Those were our only choices, which I kinda liked.

Not long after eating, we made our way to the airport to pick up the hire car I'd rented. It was only $9USD a day, inclusive of taxes and fees, which is a pretty amazing price. 

I hadn't driven stick in years, so it took some time to remember, making it a 'fun' drive back into the city. The other 'fun' part of this was figuring out where to park.

The next morning, we packed up and checked out, then started our great Bosnian road trip :)

I'd be happy to return to Sarajevo, there is more I want to see again, and more I want to see for the first time.