Sarajevsko

During my trip through Croatia and BiH I tried a lot of beers but only Sarajevsko Pivo fully satisfied me; moreover it is one of the most delicious and refreshing beers I ever drunk. OK, it was the whole time there very hot and in such circumstances I love the taste of beer, but Sarajevsko is nevertheless outstanding. It is brewed in the inner city of Sarajevo and its water source was during the Bosnian war for some time one of the very few places where the inhabitants could get water.

The entrance of the brewery. The German word "Actienbrauerei" is a relict from the Austro-Hungarian time.

I arrived in Sarajevo, as I wrote in a former blog post, by train together with a guy from Hong Kong. As it was a spontaneous trip, I did not plan anything and thus had no accommodation. I therefore followed the Hong Kong guy to his hostel but this and also the other hostels around were full. But as friendly as people in Bosnia are, they helped me finding a place to stay. Finally I ended up in the most exquisite hostel I have ever been: Hostel Ville. It was opened a few months ago so that it was not yet listed in the popular hostel booking websites and so I had my own 7 bed apartment with an amazing view over the Baščaršija, the market quarter of the old old town:

View over Baščaršija from the hostel

I can absolutely recommend this place as it is a quiet one but only several 100 meters away from the always crowded places of the inner city. It also has a large terrace where you can enjoy the view and your breakfast. If you like you can cook for yourself, put something in the fridges and the coffee and tea is for free.
Edin, the owner, was during the war in Germany and happy to speak German with me. I met many people who have been in Germany during the war and they are very thankful about this. Klaus Kinkel, the German foreign minister that time, was one of the politicians who made that possible and he is therefore a real hero there. In Germany we are not aware of this - Kinkel is mostly known for being a silent straight worker but he deserves more appreciation!

A lot of people I met in Sarajevo could study in Germany or make a apprenticeship. Of course some were sad that they had to go back to Bosnia after the war was over but most of them told me that this is OK because they now have the necessary knowledge to build up their country if they would have a working government and less corruption. And indeed both issues are the main reason why BiH ist still in a blocked development. Even as a normal tourist I noticed this fact at every corner. I will explain that in a further post.

Edin invited me and another guest to an exclusive tour through the city and I hereby also invite you and recommend to listen to Micatone - To the sound:

We started at the white fortress because of the excellent view over the city:

View along the valley. The sky scrapers form the financial district. Note the cemetery at the left side. All people buried there died during the Bosnian war.

Right beside the white fortress is the Jajce Kasarna. Once built by the Austrians it is now owned by the Bosnian army. Although some damages from the Bosnian war were repaired soon it is no longer under usage and the army doesn't have money to keep it in shape. The city offered to take over and renovate the building but the army refused. Therefore the roof is since 2 years now completely damaged and due to the incoming water it is not clear if this building can be preserved.

View at the Eastern end of the city - the "Road to Istanbul". I cannot explain why, but I love this type of landscape very much.

We continued to walk along the Miljacka and of course stopped at the Latin bridge where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated - the final start of the first world war:

The Latin bridge.

The inner city of Sarajevo can be split into 3 parts: the eastern end of the city is the old Ottoman part with buildings from the 16th century (the Baščaršija) including many mosques and markets:

Typical street view in the Ottoman part.

A store inside the Morića_Han.

Stores in the Kazandžiluk street where they
only sell things made out of metal.

The national and university library is still under renovation.
 

I missed to take a picture of the Gazi-Husrev Beg's Bezistan. This is an archaeological site as well as a market. This type of building is very special and was very important in the Ottoman times.

If one walks from there to the west the buildings are suddenly much higher and in the typical Austro-Hungarian style. This is the second part:

In the Autro-Hungarian part in the Ferhadija street.

The university.

View back to Baščaršija, still from the Autro-Hungarian part, but where many buildings from that time were destroyed.

The third part is one built after the second world war and which I did not found very attractive. This part was very heavily bombarded during the siege of the city.

Viewing towards the new part of the inner city which contains for example the financial district.

For sightseeing locations see this Wikipedia list. But there are so many more nice places to discover in this city and its flair is that is is a melting pot of confessions and cultures.

The next days I will post some more about this city and the strange country that BiH is.

A sundown with various feelings.