Day 12 - Sarajevo
Tuesday 4th July 2017
American Independence Day dawns bright and clear. We bid farewell to the Stari Grad (I think it means Old Town) after a breakfast of cheese omelette, bread and jam and Nescafé.
We are on the way to Sarajevo. It is only around 100 miles and at first it is a very pleasant ride along the banks of the river Pliva, in and out of the sunshine with a high rock wall on the left and the rushing river on the right.
We emerge onto a broad plain. After a brief coffee stop in a small village the traffic gets heavier and the last 50 miles into Sarajevo are tough, a series of conjoined villages like one continuous suburb with constant speed limit changes and busy junctions.
When I was last in Bosnia for my cousin's wedding in 2004 it was very obvious that there had been a recent war. In some towns every building was laced with heavy calibre machine gun damage and half the houses in the countryside were in various stages of reconstruction after massive shell damage.
Now everything is much better and you have to look hard to see the signs of patching that show where the holes used to be.
The satnav is set to lead us to the Hotel Hayat deep in the heart of the winding lanes that make up the old town of Sarajevo.
The city outskirts are like any other large city in southern Europe but as we ride along the river into the old town the streets get narrower and the gradients steeper.
The Hotel Hayat looked good on the web and so it proves to be. Parking arrangements were vague on the website but when we arrive we are directed into a spacious garage under the hotel where a number of bikes are already parked up. Ideal. We add ours to the crowd.
The hotel itself is busy and functional, obviously well used to travellers from every corner of the earth. our room is small but comfortable and has everything you would expect in a 3-star.
As we pull into the garage we are greeted in English by a guy who introduces himself as Johno. Interesting guy is Johno. He was here as part of the UN peace-keeping force during the conflict and has suffered badly from post traumatic stress disorder since those days. He is here in Bosnia to revisit some of the places he went during those times in an attempt to come to some sort of terms with his demons.
It's a sad story and we wish him well.
After we get checked in and changed we rejoin Johno for a wander through the narrow lanes and alleyways of Sarajevo's old town. There is a very Turkish feel to the place and we could be in old Istanbul as we walk past mosques (and some churches), market stalls and cafes. We stop for a beer or two as we make our way down to the river.
Here is the site of one of the most influential incidents of the 20th century. We find the spot where on 28th June 1914 one Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb just 19 years old, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, an event which sparked off the first World War and changed the face of European history and demography forever.
It was all a comedy of errors too. Princip and his fellow conspirators had failed in their original plan after a thrown bomb failed to kill the Austrian heir, instead rolling under the next car in line and seriously injuring members of the royal party when it exploded.
Gavrilo Princip repaired to a restaurant for lunch and in an awful coincidence the car carrying the royal couple to the hospital to visit the wounded, made a wrong turn and stalled while reversing right outside the restaurant where Princip was holed up. Seizing his chance he came out and shot the couple at point blank range.
I've made something of a study of WWI over the years and for anyone interested in this period I would strongly recommend that you download and listen to the Hardcore History podcasts of Dan Carlin on the subject. "Blueprint For Armageddon #1-6 (get them here) are still available for free download on iTunes or other podcast sites.
After our history fix we mooch around the bazaars and bars in the narow streets stopping on occasion for more beer. finally as night comes on we stagger back up the steep hill to our hotel, stopping off for a magnificent (and very cheap) pizza that would not shame the streets of Napoli.
We sit outside the hotel in the light from a nearby mosque that is lit up like a roman candle.
Life can be really good sometimes.
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| On the road to Sarajevo |
We are on the way to Sarajevo. It is only around 100 miles and at first it is a very pleasant ride along the banks of the river Pliva, in and out of the sunshine with a high rock wall on the left and the rushing river on the right.
We emerge onto a broad plain. After a brief coffee stop in a small village the traffic gets heavier and the last 50 miles into Sarajevo are tough, a series of conjoined villages like one continuous suburb with constant speed limit changes and busy junctions.
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| Coffee stop on the Sarajevo road |
Now everything is much better and you have to look hard to see the signs of patching that show where the holes used to be.
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| Our hotel for the night |
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| Handy bike parking under the hotel |
The city outskirts are like any other large city in southern Europe but as we ride along the river into the old town the streets get narrower and the gradients steeper.
The Hotel Hayat looked good on the web and so it proves to be. Parking arrangements were vague on the website but when we arrive we are directed into a spacious garage under the hotel where a number of bikes are already parked up. Ideal. We add ours to the crowd.
The hotel itself is busy and functional, obviously well used to travellers from every corner of the earth. our room is small but comfortable and has everything you would expect in a 3-star.
 |
| Mick with Johno |
It's a sad story and we wish him well.
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| Sarajevo old town |
Here is the site of one of the most influential incidents of the 20th century. We find the spot where on 28th June 1914 one Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb just 19 years old, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, an event which sparked off the first World War and changed the face of European history and demography forever.
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| Beer time in old Sarajevo |
Gavrilo Princip repaired to a restaurant for lunch and in an awful coincidence the car carrying the royal couple to the hospital to visit the wounded, made a wrong turn and stalled while reversing right outside the restaurant where Princip was holed up. Seizing his chance he came out and shot the couple at point blank range.
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| The wording |
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| Monument to the fallen |
I've made something of a study of WWI over the years and for anyone interested in this period I would strongly recommend that you download and listen to the Hardcore History podcasts of Dan Carlin on the subject. "Blueprint For Armageddon #1-6 (get them here) are still available for free download on iTunes or other podcast sites.
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| Johno studying the form |
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| On this spot..... |
After our history fix we mooch around the bazaars and bars in the narow streets stopping on occasion for more beer. finally as night comes on we stagger back up the steep hill to our hotel, stopping off for a magnificent (and very cheap) pizza that would not shame the streets of Napoli.
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| Pizza paddling |
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| Quality Sarajevo pizza |
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| Illuminated mosque |
We sit outside the hotel in the light from a nearby mosque that is lit up like a roman candle.
Life can be really good sometimes.
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