Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta
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I am subject to motion sickness but didn’t feel anything and I didn’t hear of anyone else in the bus either.
We did pass and were passed by a lot of motorcycles. There was a statistic quoted that Montenegro is the worlds ????? third most popular destination for motorcycling.
Essentially, all we’ve done is drive through Montenegro. I imagine if you want to really delve into it for say 3 to 5 days it’ll be even more amazing.
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Hotel in Sarajevo is Hotel Diamond Rain. Maybe something gets lost in translation. Nice little hotel; mine is a mansard room, the bed is comfy, the bathroom good and the aircon works well, and quietly!
Its a 5-10 min walk up a hill from the river and the beginning of the old town. Too narrow for our bus to get to, so they transferred our bags in to a another vehicle while we walked up, and the bags were waiting when we got there.
We choofed off to a walking tour, led by a local guide. After crossing the Miljaka river (slow moving ATM),
first stop was the point where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princep as the archduke was parading through the streets of Sarajevo in an open car. The Austro-Hungarians were colonial occupiers of the Balkans, having tipped out the Ottomans
en.wikipedia.org
... which was the trigger for WW1. The Austro-Hungarians attacked Serbia, the Russians came to support Serbia, the Germans joined the Austrians and the Germans then attacked France.
This is where it happened. There are 2 footsteps (Princep's) in the pavement under the image at the corner of the left side.
Taken seconds before
There were 4-5 assassins. Earlier in the parade, one of them lobbed a grenade at the car, and this was fended off by the Archduke, then exploded. After regrouping, confident that the danger was passed, the parage continued and Princep killed the Archduke and his wife (likely by mistake) a few minutes later.
I had read Assassin by Tim Butcher and it was great prep for understanding a lot of Bosnia's history, not just the assassination.
www.theguardian.com
Its a 5-10 min walk up a hill from the river and the beginning of the old town. Too narrow for our bus to get to, so they transferred our bags in to a another vehicle while we walked up, and the bags were waiting when we got there.
We choofed off to a walking tour, led by a local guide. After crossing the Miljaka river (slow moving ATM),
first stop was the point where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princep as the archduke was parading through the streets of Sarajevo in an open car. The Austro-Hungarians were colonial occupiers of the Balkans, having tipped out the Ottomans
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand - Wikipedia
... which was the trigger for WW1. The Austro-Hungarians attacked Serbia, the Russians came to support Serbia, the Germans joined the Austrians and the Germans then attacked France.
This is where it happened. There are 2 footsteps (Princep's) in the pavement under the image at the corner of the left side.
Taken seconds before
There were 4-5 assassins. Earlier in the parade, one of them lobbed a grenade at the car, and this was fended off by the Archduke, then exploded. After regrouping, confident that the danger was passed, the parage continued and Princep killed the Archduke and his wife (likely by mistake) a few minutes later.
I had read Assassin by Tim Butcher and it was great prep for understanding a lot of Bosnia's history, not just the assassination.
The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War – review
Tim Butcher brings his own experience of Yugoslavian conflict to bear on this revelatory portrait of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassin, Gavrilo Princip , writes Christopher Clark
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Ever the educator @RooFlyer - had to look that one up, but will now add it to my vocabulary.
I stayed in a mansard room at Mercure Munich - twice!
Stunning
. You’re really whetting my appetite for our trip which starts next Tuesday.
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OK, a bit behind in the TR, so spoiler alert.Stunning
Lukomir
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Back to Sarajevo. The walking tour was interesting, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the Old Town (this would change).
Much of the Old Town was destroyed in the 1990s war, so what we see has been re-built and not always charmingly. There is an 'Ottoman half' and an 'Austro-Hungarian half', quite distinctive and easily recognised as reflecting their respective histories.
Almost all of the Ottoman area has the narrow pedestrianised streets lined with cafes, restaurants and other shops. Mainly deserted in this morning - I'll come back to them later.
Lots of Turkish-style sweets shops.
LOTs of mosques. We didn't go inside any. Islam here is practiced in a pretty relaxed way. Some ladies in hijabs, many (?most) in 'western' dress, including some rather brief attire. We were told if we saw any ladies with face coverings, they would be tourists.
Coppersmith, with some dodgy souvenirs. Its hard not to see remnants of the war everywhere here.
A 'pie shop' - pies are called böreks and again, I'll come back to them
Ruins of an old Ottoman caravanserai. We visited one still extant, but I can't find the pics.
Town Hall
Much of the Old Town was destroyed in the 1990s war, so what we see has been re-built and not always charmingly. There is an 'Ottoman half' and an 'Austro-Hungarian half', quite distinctive and easily recognised as reflecting their respective histories.
Almost all of the Ottoman area has the narrow pedestrianised streets lined with cafes, restaurants and other shops. Mainly deserted in this morning - I'll come back to them later.
Lots of Turkish-style sweets shops.
LOTs of mosques. We didn't go inside any. Islam here is practiced in a pretty relaxed way. Some ladies in hijabs, many (?most) in 'western' dress, including some rather brief attire. We were told if we saw any ladies with face coverings, they would be tourists.
Coppersmith, with some dodgy souvenirs. Its hard not to see remnants of the war everywhere here.
A 'pie shop' - pies are called böreks and again, I'll come back to them
Ruins of an old Ottoman caravanserai. We visited one still extant, but I can't find the pics.
Town Hall
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As you cross over to the Austro-Hungarian part, there is this cute sign; when contemplating where to have dinner, you spin the wheel and it tells you 'east or west'.
Sarajevo seems a very tolerant, well integrated city (Bosnian Serbs perhaps excepted). During WW2, the old texts and manuscripts from the Synagogue were taken into the hills and stored in a mosque.
Many. many buildings exhibited bullet or shrapnel holes. More on the Siege of Sarajevo later.
Pope JP2 visited
Cafe scene in the Austro-Hungarian part.
Sarajevo seems a very tolerant, well integrated city (Bosnian Serbs perhaps excepted). During WW2, the old texts and manuscripts from the Synagogue were taken into the hills and stored in a mosque.
Many. many buildings exhibited bullet or shrapnel holes. More on the Siege of Sarajevo later.
Pope JP2 visited
Cafe scene in the Austro-Hungarian part.
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Sarajevo Tunnel Museum
I'm probably assuming a fair bit of knowledge of readers about the Bosnian War of the 1990s (I've learned a hellavalot on the tour), so please taker some time out to read about it here - you'll see how the Republika Srpska came about
en.wikipedia.org
In the course of the war, Bosnian Serbs lay seige to Sarajevo; again, worth a read:
en.wikipedia.org
The longest siege of a city since Leningrad in WW2. I mentioned the mountains and hills around the city - these were occupied by the Serbs, who didn't have sufficient manpower to invade the city, so they rained down artillery and sniper fore for years. A total of 13,952 people were killed during the siege, including 5,434 civilians. Many were killed by sniper fire - including hundreds of children. Sniper fire.
This diagram shows the positions. The city was surrounded except on one area and between that and the city was the airport, controlled by the UN (white scratched area in the 'neck' below). Free Bosnians could not cross across the airport to escape - they were turned back by the UN. Notwithstanding the city was literally starving. Some made it - it was like escaping over the Berlin Wall (with the UN in the fire towers).
So, the Bosnians built a tunnel under the airport from the city side to the 'Free Bosnian' side. UN didn't know, Serbs didn't know - it was still secret for a few years after the war, we were told.
One one side the entrance of the tuinnel was beneath a house 'donated' by a family; on the other side it was an apartment black. It allowed food and supplies to cross into the besieged city, saving many lives.
One side is now a museum.
Entrance to the house and then the tunnel beneath it.
The airport today from the house.
The actual tunnel is being renovated, so there is a 'model' that you can walk through.
Workers on the tunnel
I'm probably assuming a fair bit of knowledge of readers about the Bosnian War of the 1990s (I've learned a hellavalot on the tour), so please taker some time out to read about it here - you'll see how the Republika Srpska came about
Bosnian War - Wikipedia
In the course of the war, Bosnian Serbs lay seige to Sarajevo; again, worth a read:
Siege of Sarajevo - Wikipedia
The longest siege of a city since Leningrad in WW2. I mentioned the mountains and hills around the city - these were occupied by the Serbs, who didn't have sufficient manpower to invade the city, so they rained down artillery and sniper fore for years. A total of 13,952 people were killed during the siege, including 5,434 civilians. Many were killed by sniper fire - including hundreds of children. Sniper fire.
This diagram shows the positions. The city was surrounded except on one area and between that and the city was the airport, controlled by the UN (white scratched area in the 'neck' below). Free Bosnians could not cross across the airport to escape - they were turned back by the UN. Notwithstanding the city was literally starving. Some made it - it was like escaping over the Berlin Wall (with the UN in the fire towers).
So, the Bosnians built a tunnel under the airport from the city side to the 'Free Bosnian' side. UN didn't know, Serbs didn't know - it was still secret for a few years after the war, we were told.
One one side the entrance of the tuinnel was beneath a house 'donated' by a family; on the other side it was an apartment black. It allowed food and supplies to cross into the besieged city, saving many lives.
One side is now a museum.
Entrance to the house and then the tunnel beneath it.
The airport today from the house.
The actual tunnel is being renovated, so there is a 'model' that you can walk through.
Workers on the tunnel
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