Tag Archives: Sarajevo

On the night bus.

Posted on November 15, 2015 by

Eyes closed, you rub your palms on the face, trying to restart circulation. You stop and catch your reflex in the brown bottle of Sarajevska – the fifth, or sixth? – of the day. It looks exactly as tired as it … Continue reading →

Posted in Balkans, Bosnia Herzegovina, Europe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Börek, burek, byrek, byorek, bouréki: a food pilgrimage.

Posted on November 5, 2015 by

In 1389 a momentous event happened, something that changed the landscape of the Balkans, and of much of Central Europe, for ever. The armies of Murad I, no longer held in check by the Byzantine empire, swarmed into the Balkan … Continue reading →

Posted in All things food, Balkans, Bosnia Herzegovina, Europe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sarajevo people (and dog) watching

Posted on August 31, 2015 by

I had always had a positive connotation towards Sarajevo. For whatever reason, the Bosnian capital is in my list of places – including Tbilisi, Budapest and a few others – that, I’m convinced, cannot harbor any fathead. This belief has … Continue reading →

Posted in Balkans, Bosnia Herzegovina, Europe | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Veterans

Posted on August 27, 2015 by

I was standing outside the National Library of Sarajevo, looking at the mountains reflecting in the glass doors of the grand entrance – the same mountains from which incendiary ordnance was dropped, burning the Library and its heritage to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Balkans, Bosnia Herzegovina, Europe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bullet holes and tombstones: entering Sarajevo

Posted on August 23, 2015 by

If I had any doubts about how fragmented the kaleidoscope of Bosnia’s ethnicities was, a drive to Sarajevo was all I needed to dispel them. My passport was stamped at a crossing in Šamac, in the Republika Srpska and as … Continue reading →

Posted in Balkans, Bosnia Herzegovina, Europe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Honey, scenic roads and wrong turns: A brief guide to driving in the Balkans

Posted on August 20, 2015 by

The road is a perfect combination of smooth tarmac, beautifully designed hairpin bends and quick straights that seem to say “Come on, get loose on that accelerator”. A bit of traffic is coming the other way – trucks, mostly, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Balkans, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments