Bosnia Has Three Presidents

A Few More Hours in Montenegro and Then It’s Onward to Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Our last morning in Kotor we had until 10 am to explore. Since Em was finally starting to look human again and really wanted to see something more than our apartment walls and the waterfront, we ventured back to Old Town. The nice thing about being out and about at 7:30 am, is that most other people aren’t. We had a great time snapping away with our cameras and wandering the street of Old Town and the old ramparts unimpeded by fellow tourists, or really even locals. Em even managed to walk about for 2+ hours (abet slowly) without dying; so I called it a win.

When the whole group piled into the mini bus to head to a local Montenegrin style lunch, we were told that it would be a two hour ride, so we settled in for our drive, but were surprised when 20 minutes later we were stopping and told to disembark. It turns out that Zejko and Louise were surprising us with a trip to the islet, Our Lady of the Rocks. It is an artificial island just off the shore from the small town of Perast, that was created by bulwark of rocks and by sinking old and seized ships loaded with rocks.

The legend of the area goes that on July 22, 1452, some local fisherman saw an image of Madonna and Child on a rock in the area where the island now stands. When one of the fishermen, who was sick, touched the image, he was healed. Because of the image and the power it held, the local people of the area wanted to honor the Virgin, so they decided to make her an island and then build a church on it. The island was built over centuries by passing boats tossing rocks into the bay. The tradition still continues to this day, when at sunset every July 22nd, the locals climb in their boats, head out to the islet, and drop additional rocks in the water; thus slowly enlarging the island.

The church is most famous for a votive tapestry embroidered by Jacinta Kunić-Mijović from Perast. While waiting for the return of her husband from Sea, she spent 25 years embroidering the tapestry with such fine stitches that she eventually went blind. She used golden and silver fibers throughout, but what makes this tapestry so famous is the fact that she also embroidered her own hair into it (and you can see her age progression via the color of the hair used). The sad part is that both versions of the story’s end with the husband never coming back.

Randomly of note, there is one additional islet next to Our Lady of the Rocks and that is Saint George’s island. It is a natural island that is only big enough to hold the small 12th century Benedictine Monastery and tiny graveyard that are located there. What makes it more interested in is that this island is part of Hungary. They have a 100 year lease on the island. 

It was a fun little excursion to take the motor boat out to the island, wander around the church (which is also a mini museum of sorts), and then continue on our way to lunch in the country. 

In the down season, Louise likes to rent a car and drive aimlessly along the different roads throughout the Balkans. This is how she discovers random different locations that are slightly off the beaten path and wonderful. It seems though that word of some of these places has gotten back to others, as they’re not so secret gems anymore. One such gem that Louise found in her wandering was Etno Selo lzlazak, an ethnic Montenegrin village overlooking the rich blue and green hues of Piva lake. The village sits at the edge of the borders between Durmitor National Park and Piva Regional Park and contains bungalows and a restaurant. The operators will also organize excursions into the parks or along the Piva river for you if you opt for it.

Because we were having exceptional weather (in that it wasn’t “boil your skin off” hot), we opted to sit on the patio overlooking the lake. Our companions at lunch were some local kittens that we kept encouraging to come closer with fish heads and chicken. The best part of this was that Dale seems to detest cats (even the adorable fuzzy kittens) due to thinking they’re the devil incarnate, so of course we took great pleasure in trying to get the kittens to come close to him and brush up against his legs. We had a great lunch, where in traditional Balkan style they fed us too much food so that by the time we piled back in the minibus and were 10 miles down the road, the van was living up to its nickname of “The Narcoleptic Van.”

When we crossed the border from Albania to Montenegro, it took an exceptionally long time considering there really weren’t that many cars and nothing we could see to really cause a hold up. Louise said that that was just kind of typical at the Albanian border. But as we came to the Montenegrin and Bosnia and Herzegovina border, the cars were crawling forward at such a slow pace that a few us got out, walked to the tavern, had a cup of coffee, and caught back up with the van 20 minutes and 200 yards from crossing the border. This is where we reassessed the data and determined it’s not the Albanians that are the problem, it’s that the Montenegrins are lazy. It’s not unusual for there only to be one guy working the border and then for that guy to get up randomly, close the gate, and go for a coffee. I’ll admit that Bosnian coffee is wonderful, but I’m not sure it’s worth the aggravation and time delay of so many that you should leave your post in the middle of the working day.

Just shy of an hour wait at the border and then a three hour drive through gorgeous mountains, past cute little towns marred by evidence of the Bosnian War and we arrived in Sarajevo; our home for the evening and the following day.

Sarajevo, the Capital of a Country With Three Presidents

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a very unique country in that it is comprised of three main ethnic/religious groups: Serbs (Orthodox Christians), Bosnian Croats (Catholics) and Bosniaks (Muslims). As a condition of the peace treaty that ended the Bosnian War (which took place between 1992 and 1995) the country is required to have three presidents at all time; one for each major group. Even though the country is called Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is comprised of two autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia is primarily the area in which the Bosniaks live and Herzegovina is primarily the area in which the Bosnian Croats live) and Republika Srpska (the area where the Serbs primarily live). Sarajevo is the capital of the entire country, even though it sits in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Due to its long and rich history of religious and cultural diversity, Sarajevo is sometimes called the "Jerusalem of Europe"or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It is one of only a few major European cities which have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox Church and synagogue all within the same neighborhood. 

As a result of its size, diversity, and status as the capital, it was surrounded early in the Bosnian War by Serbian forces, which resulted in the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare (April 5th, 1992 until February 29th, 1995). Because of the siege, the citizens of the city were almost completely cut off from the rest of the world (for periods of time, there was no water, food, electricity, or monetary system in place...denizens bartered and used cigarettes as currency) and subjected to daily rocket and mortar attacks, as well as sniper fire. Over 11,000 civilians were killed during the siege. 

Today, many people have returned to the city and Serbs, Bosniaks, and Bosnian Croats live side by side once again (with some underlying tensions, but mostly peaceful). The physical scars left from rockets and bullets remain on most of the buildings throughout the city (and the country) partially due to lack of funds to fix them and partially as a reminder of that turbulent time. The effect of the hustle and bustle of the modern city with the evidence of war that is only a few decades old creates a kind of surreal feeling. There are newer, post-war buildings interspersed between the hollowed out remains of burned buildings and those that are still lived in but pockmarked with bullet and rocket holes. 

After the war, the scars left in concrete from the mortars hitting the ground (and taking human life) were filled in with a red resin. The resin harden and made the areas look like abstract flowers. As a result, these areas were dubbed Sarajevo Roses and the locals consider it bad juju to walk over them.

In addition to the most recent war, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sarajevo in particular - is also the site on another very important historical event; this is where self-declared Yugoslav, Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia assassinated the Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, on June 28, 1914, thus instigating World War I.

Our group only really had one full day in Sarajevo, so while the Aussie contingent opted for a multiple hour tour that discussed in depth the Bosnian War and took them to important sites, Em and I split from the others in order to pack in as much as we could. 

We started the day with a walking tour of the main downtown/Old Town area. The tour started at the site of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, walked us across the Latin Bridge (which is also called the Gavrilo Princip bridge after the belief that he was standing on the bridge earlier in the day during the failed attempt on Ferdinand’s life), to the City Hall (which was burned almost completely during the war obliterating over 2,000,000 important books and documents...it’s been rebuilt and renovated since), and through the Old Town, with its various cultural sections. 

This was the only day of our trip (to date) where the weather wasn’t cooperating. About 20 minutes into the tour strong winds from the mini hurricane occurring in Croatia at the same time started knocking souvenirs from stalls and stirring up the dirt in the air. This was coupled a short time later by light rain and led to our tour leader shortening the “walking” portion of the walking tour in favor of having the group retreat to a coffee shop to try Bosnian coffee. I had tried Bosnian coffee a few times before this in the preceding days and determined that I really liked it (like actually enjoyed the taste whereas most coffee I just drink with creamer and honey out of habit and addiction rather than care for it), so I was game.

Bosnian Coffee is similar to Turkish coffee in that it is a strong, thick coffee served with the grounds still in the cup. The coffee is made by putting 2-3 small spoonfuls of grounds in a small metal (typically copper) container and heating it until the aroma wafts up. Then water is added, along with another spoonful of grounds, and left to boil three times. 

The coffee is served in the metal container in which it was brewed, on a platter with a small cup (probably holds about an ounce, two at the most), two sugar cubes, and a piece of Turkish delight. The proper way to drink the coffee is to lightly dunk a sugar cube in the coffee, take a nibble, and then take a sip of coffee. You repeat this process until the coffee and sugar are gone. Each container of coffee gets you one or two (if you’re lucky) small cups. 

Shortly after coffee, the walking tour concluded and Em and I decided to visit a few of the local museums to get out from the worst of the inclement weather. Our first stop was the Velika Avlija (The Old Temple), a Sephardic Synagogue built in 1581. The synagogue was built by donations from Turkish Beylerbey Sijamush Pasha as a way to help the poorer Jews in the city. 

Due to the Spanish Inquisition in the 1490s, a large percentage of Sephardic Jews from Spain fled to Bosnia and were welcomed with open arms by the Ottoman Empire. Ashkenazi Jews began migrating to the city in the mid-1600s when the Ottomans were expelled from Hungary. Just before World War II, there were around 20,000 Jewish citizens in Bosnia, 14,000 of which lived in Sarajevo. Today, there are barely 1,000 in the whole of the country. Velika Avlija currently serves as a museum dedicated to World War II and the Jewish populace of the area during that time. The only time the synagogue is used for active ceremonies and services is during specific High Holy days. 

Next we wandered through the narrow streets to the Despić House, a 18th century Ottoman merchant house that has been preserved to show what it would have looked like during that time. When we arrived, there were movie makers and actors milling about so the proprietor told us that we didn’t need to pay to enter since they’d kind of taken over various parts of the house. While I thought it was interesting to walk through a movie set of some sort (they were currently just sitting around waiting for the rain to stop), Em was less than impressed that work followed her half way around the world. I think the crew was even more surprised that tourists where still wandering around their “set” since the property was open to the public even though they were making a film.

After our trip to the 18th century, we returned to the present to visit the Gazi Husrev-beg's Mosque, Madrasa (school of learning), library, and museum. Husrev-Beg was a Bosniak Ottoman Governor in the 16th century who was known for developing and constructing many parts of Old Sarajevo and for helping the Turks expand their territory further into present day Croatia. 

The mosque was built in 1530 AD and is the biggest historical mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a great example of Ottoman structural design. We didn’t venture inside, but saw the exterior. We did however, go into the modern Husrev-beg library (this one opened in 2014, but the original one dates to the 1500s), where there was a small museum with donated artifacts related to Islamic calligraphy, time keeping, and traditional dress. There also was a video about the saving of volumes from the original library during the War.

A quick lunch and then we headed to catch the Tunnel Tour. When we arrived at the tour office, we found out that the tour for that day consisted of an entire Dutch contingent (20 older individuals and one guide who broken off from a larger tour group) and us. This led to an interesting experience. I think that the Dutch group thought they were going on a private tour to the tunnel and probably wondered how they picked up two young Americans. 

The Bosnian tour leader spoke amazing English and was a great orator. On the 30 minute drive to the Tunnel of Life, he told us an abridged version of the history of the country, focusing on the Bosnian War (as this tour was about that). While Em and I enjoyed the history lesson, some of the Dutch waited 20 minutes to say they couldn’t hear anything nor understand what they could hear. This led to their tour leader translating a portion of the rest of the guide’s words, but only some. It didn’t really help the hard of hearing folks cause they continued to grumble for the rest of the afternoon even though they were sitting closest to where the guide was talking and he projected his voice well.

The Tunnel of Life was an 800m tunnel that was dug between the Sarajevo Airport (once it was claimed from Serbian forces by NATO forces) and a neighborhood within the besieged city. The tunnel took four months and four days of nonstop digging to create and was 800m long, 1.6m tall, and 1m wide. 

Once it was constructed, it was the only way for food, weapons, medicine, and support to get into the city and the only way for refugees to flee the city. Anyone and everyone (once vetted) were allowed to go through the tunnel and it was open unidirectionally for two hours one way before transitioning to the other direction. 

The matriarch of the family that owned the property where the tunnel popped out would greet the wary travelers with water as the emerged from the tunnel. She was nicknamed “The Light at the End of the Tunnel” and is considered now a national hero for putting herself and her family in peril to save countless others.

Due to lack of preservation until it was almost too late, only a small portion (23m) of the original tunnel exists today. That 23m has been preserved and turned into a museum that talks about the need for the tunnel, its creation, and and how it saved the besieged city. While the museum was well done and had what I believe were some nice exhibits, we were rushed through and didn’t really have a chance to see much. I didn’t even get enough time to take a non-blurry picture of the Tunnel section we walked through. The tour leader later apologized and said he’d kind of rushed us through because of the large Dutch group that wasn’t understanding anything and complaining. 

When we arrived back in the Old Town from the Tunnel tour, Em and I had just enough time to do one additional touristy thing. We took the brand new (opened on April 6th of this year) cable car to the top of Mt. Trebević. The original cable car was opened for business in 1959 and was used by many to get to the top of the mountain; a favorite excursion site for many locals and tourists alike. It unfortunately met an untimely demise early in the Siege of Sarajevo and the area around it was littered with mines and snipers, making it far less attractive. 25 years after the war, the cable cars are once again running.

Besides the novelty of the 8 minute ride up the mountain with amazing views of the rain soaked city, Em and I had an ulterior motive for the excursion; to visit the decaying 1984 Winter Olympic bobsled and luge track. The sign at the top of the hill wasn’t the most intuitive, so after some bumbling around (including a short excursion through a small bramble covered path that Em insisted was a real trail), we found what we were searching for. After the Olympics were finished, the tracks were used for additional competitions until 1992 when it was taken by the Bosnian Serb forces as an artillery outpost. After the war, there was talk of fixing the tracks so that they can be reused again for their original purposed, but for the last 25 years, the bobsled and lunge tracks have been left to be reclaimed by the earth.

Over the past few decades, the tracks have become a Mecca for graffiti artists, cyclists, and adventurous travelers. Due to the inclement weather, Em and I didn’t have to fight off hordes of other tourists for shots of the graffiti covered runs. We had the whole place to ourselves and merrily wandered down the first course, happily snapping away with our cameras.

We capped our time in Sarajevo off with a nice dinner at the local brewery (where I found a dark beer that I thoroughly enjoyed), followed by a diabetic inducting waffle. The kid at the waffle counter says you can pick whatever you want as a topping and proceeds to pile the sugar on. It was delicious, but definitely sugar overload.