This occurred on Wednesday, May 13 in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
The day began as a usual touring, non-driving day. Made breakfast in our terrific apartment in Old Town and actually did some laundry. Rescued those socks from multiple use. Then I did something that I had not done in a very long time, hung wet clothes on a clothesline in the courtyard. Not too hard.
We began following the tour book self walk, with deviations as we saw something interesting. One of those was to go into the newly renovated City Hall, a building that had originally been constructed by the Austrians in the late 19th century, but as had much of Sarajevo, been destroyed in the siege. It was finally rebuilt with money from Qatar (see the Serbs are saying, radical muslims) and opened only last year. There were lots of photographs and historical accounts and artifacts from the rich Sarajevo history and then we went upstairs to look at the building.
There I saw a sort of bohemian looking guy with a younger and older woman. He was taking a picture of the women and I went over to ask if he wanted me to take a picture of all of them. I did and then asked him to take a picture of us. After that we began to talk. He is originally from Sarajevo, but has lived overseas for a long time. It was around lunch time and he asked if we liked lamb. We replied that we did and he asked us to follow him to what he characterized as the best lamb restaurant in Sarajevo.
But first we went for a beer. During the drinking he disappeared abruptly. His daughter, who lived in the US for a time said that her father regularly did that. The older woman is his cousin. She previously was the Chief Justice in the Bosnian Constitutional Court, now retired.
He came back and said that he had to get money, but said that he had been very lucky with money all his life. After some of us finished our beers, we got into two cabs. We were in the first one going to an address designated by our new friend. We went way up into the Sarajevo hills to where the Serbian artillery probably had been stationed during the siege. When we arrived there were police and several Secret Service like persons guarding the place. Our new friend's cab did not arrive for a while and I wondered if this was a joke. However, he arrived shortly thereafter with the women and explained that he needed to get money.
The restaurant was Kibe Mahala. It was beautifully laid out on the hillside, and the meal was spectacular. A 6-course meal with some of the best lamb I have ever eaten. Topped off by an orange-flavored chocolate tort with vanilla ice cream and Bosnian style Turkish coffee which I was instructed to consume by dipping a sugar cube into the coffee, biting off the soaked portion and then sipping the coffee to dissolve the sugar. This from a man who dumped huge quantities of sugar into his fresh fruit drink.
However the most interesting part of the meal was conversing with him. He is a self-made man who rejected the use of his family's influence in Sarajevo to make his fortune in chess and art. About my age, he is very opinionated and charismatic. Very interesting discussions with him about his perceptions of the US and his view that Europe is dying due to its heavy reliance of family and connections rather than merit, and its resistance/inability to assimilate immigrants. To my relief he declined my offer to pay for the meal and he picked up the entire check. I think that his daughter and cousin were annoyed at him due to the attention he paid to us throughout the meal.
It was a three-hour meal and we departed taking separate cabs down the hillside.
After that we resumed our tour of Sarajevo. We went to a synagogue whose congregation went back to 1581 and whose building is almost 300 years old. Refugees from the inquisition and another example of Sarajevo's remarkable level of tolerance, no mater who was in charge.
That of course was ripped apart by the Bosnian war in general and the siege of Sarajevo in particular. Many buildings still remain destroyed and lots show the effects of bullets and mortar shells; some look as if they have the measles with their patched repairs. One major, and wide thoroughfare was referred to as Snipers Alley and, despite lots of reconstruction, still shows the effects of the siege. It was within the sights of the Serbian snipers who (of all places) stationed themselevs in the old Jewish cemetery in the hillside and shot at anything that moved. To cross that area during daylight the only protection was crouching in the shadow of a UN armored vehicle. Apparently the European UN troops were studiously neutral. They did not stop either side from shooting. It was only after 3.8 years when a couple of Serbian shells landed in the market [we wandered through there and purchased some tomatoes and cucumber for dinner] and killed a few hundred people that Clinton/Albright got NATO approval to bomb the Serbians, who then agreed to negotiations within two days. Many of the Sarajevoians are still bitter about that. Our new friend, who was not there during the siege, described it as strikingly extreme and Machiavellian on the part of the Serbs.
Theer is a very moving memorial to the 1100 children who were killed during the siege and we saw the first McDonald's in Bosnia. It apparently has not dented sales of the grilled meats that seem to be very popular here.
Patronized the post office whose rates are less than half of those in Italy.
Walked on the Latin Bridge that crossed the river (the same one the flows under the Mostar Bridge) where Archduke Ferdinand and his wife (a commoner who had a two-year affair with the Archduke before they were married, who had to get the Pope's approval for their marriage had to renounce their children's rights to the throne -- probably better for them) were assassinated in 1914, thus triggering WWI. The assassin was too young to be executed, but he died in prison in 1918. Yugoslavia erected a statue of the assassin, which Hitler had chopped up and sent to him for his birthday. The Austrians erected a statue honoring the Archduke, which the Yugoslaves chopped up. We saw that a plaque recognizing that statue had been pulverized. Memories do not die in the Balkans, and I will always recall this wonderful day.
The day began as a usual touring, non-driving day. Made breakfast in our terrific apartment in Old Town and actually did some laundry. Rescued those socks from multiple use. Then I did something that I had not done in a very long time, hung wet clothes on a clothesline in the courtyard. Not too hard.
We began following the tour book self walk, with deviations as we saw something interesting. One of those was to go into the newly renovated City Hall, a building that had originally been constructed by the Austrians in the late 19th century, but as had much of Sarajevo, been destroyed in the siege. It was finally rebuilt with money from Qatar (see the Serbs are saying, radical muslims) and opened only last year. There were lots of photographs and historical accounts and artifacts from the rich Sarajevo history and then we went upstairs to look at the building.
There I saw a sort of bohemian looking guy with a younger and older woman. He was taking a picture of the women and I went over to ask if he wanted me to take a picture of all of them. I did and then asked him to take a picture of us. After that we began to talk. He is originally from Sarajevo, but has lived overseas for a long time. It was around lunch time and he asked if we liked lamb. We replied that we did and he asked us to follow him to what he characterized as the best lamb restaurant in Sarajevo.
But first we went for a beer. During the drinking he disappeared abruptly. His daughter, who lived in the US for a time said that her father regularly did that. The older woman is his cousin. She previously was the Chief Justice in the Bosnian Constitutional Court, now retired.
He came back and said that he had to get money, but said that he had been very lucky with money all his life. After some of us finished our beers, we got into two cabs. We were in the first one going to an address designated by our new friend. We went way up into the Sarajevo hills to where the Serbian artillery probably had been stationed during the siege. When we arrived there were police and several Secret Service like persons guarding the place. Our new friend's cab did not arrive for a while and I wondered if this was a joke. However, he arrived shortly thereafter with the women and explained that he needed to get money.
The restaurant was Kibe Mahala. It was beautifully laid out on the hillside, and the meal was spectacular. A 6-course meal with some of the best lamb I have ever eaten. Topped off by an orange-flavored chocolate tort with vanilla ice cream and Bosnian style Turkish coffee which I was instructed to consume by dipping a sugar cube into the coffee, biting off the soaked portion and then sipping the coffee to dissolve the sugar. This from a man who dumped huge quantities of sugar into his fresh fruit drink.
However the most interesting part of the meal was conversing with him. He is a self-made man who rejected the use of his family's influence in Sarajevo to make his fortune in chess and art. About my age, he is very opinionated and charismatic. Very interesting discussions with him about his perceptions of the US and his view that Europe is dying due to its heavy reliance of family and connections rather than merit, and its resistance/inability to assimilate immigrants. To my relief he declined my offer to pay for the meal and he picked up the entire check. I think that his daughter and cousin were annoyed at him due to the attention he paid to us throughout the meal.
It was a three-hour meal and we departed taking separate cabs down the hillside.
After that we resumed our tour of Sarajevo. We went to a synagogue whose congregation went back to 1581 and whose building is almost 300 years old. Refugees from the inquisition and another example of Sarajevo's remarkable level of tolerance, no mater who was in charge.
That of course was ripped apart by the Bosnian war in general and the siege of Sarajevo in particular. Many buildings still remain destroyed and lots show the effects of bullets and mortar shells; some look as if they have the measles with their patched repairs. One major, and wide thoroughfare was referred to as Snipers Alley and, despite lots of reconstruction, still shows the effects of the siege. It was within the sights of the Serbian snipers who (of all places) stationed themselevs in the old Jewish cemetery in the hillside and shot at anything that moved. To cross that area during daylight the only protection was crouching in the shadow of a UN armored vehicle. Apparently the European UN troops were studiously neutral. They did not stop either side from shooting. It was only after 3.8 years when a couple of Serbian shells landed in the market [we wandered through there and purchased some tomatoes and cucumber for dinner] and killed a few hundred people that Clinton/Albright got NATO approval to bomb the Serbians, who then agreed to negotiations within two days. Many of the Sarajevoians are still bitter about that. Our new friend, who was not there during the siege, described it as strikingly extreme and Machiavellian on the part of the Serbs.
Theer is a very moving memorial to the 1100 children who were killed during the siege and we saw the first McDonald's in Bosnia. It apparently has not dented sales of the grilled meats that seem to be very popular here.
Patronized the post office whose rates are less than half of those in Italy.
Walked on the Latin Bridge that crossed the river (the same one the flows under the Mostar Bridge) where Archduke Ferdinand and his wife (a commoner who had a two-year affair with the Archduke before they were married, who had to get the Pope's approval for their marriage had to renounce their children's rights to the throne -- probably better for them) were assassinated in 1914, thus triggering WWI. The assassin was too young to be executed, but he died in prison in 1918. Yugoslavia erected a statue of the assassin, which Hitler had chopped up and sent to him for his birthday. The Austrians erected a statue honoring the Archduke, which the Yugoslaves chopped up. We saw that a plaque recognizing that statue had been pulverized. Memories do not die in the Balkans, and I will always recall this wonderful day.
Are you running for president of Bosnia?
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