Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

In 1984 Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics; just over a decade later, the world watched as Sarajevo burned and the sites of the games became cemeteries for those killed in the siege, at four years the longest in modern warfare. Before the war Sarajevo was often described as the “European Jerusalem” in reference to the mix of cultures who happily lived alongside each other; today an invisible line divides the city separating Bosniaks from Bosnian Serbs. Although I remember both the Olympic Games and the Siege of Sarajevo very well, it was an earlier event that ignited my interest in Sarajevo: ... more

My first visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia was a few years ago,- to think this place is twinned with Coventry! At the time, it was hardly a tourist desitination, and I made a Lada Riva shift like a Ferrari as my skin tone turned a whiter shade of pale due to the onslaught of bullets falling around me. Fortunately, I, and said Lada made it out of there in just about one piece (The exhaust fell off as I hand break turned around a corner to come face to face with an IFOR truck full of Germans) In latter years, certainly since the end of the war, the City has cleaned up a bit, and you can walk freely ... more

My announcement that I would be spending my summer in Bosnia met with bemused silences. "But why?", they asked - "Be careful" or "Good for you". My neighbour told me "be sure to take a headscarf with you, it's a Muslim country y'know." So many concerned family members asked me if it was safe, that I began to have doubts. After watching the film "Welcome to Sarajevo" and reading graphic books about the conflict in an attempt at researching this forgotten corner of Europe, I felt even more unsure. My worries were to prove unfounded. The hijab I didn't pack proved to be unnecessary, and ... more

Sarajevo...Jewel in the Balkan Crown...location of the 1984 Winter Olympics....place where thousands of Bosniaks were killed 1994. I worked in Bosnia Herzegovina for 12 months in 1998 as part of the Police Peace Keeping Force and lived in Sarajevo for the whole time. Although ravaged by war, the city is still a beautiful place. The people, although poor and still coming to terms with rebuilding the city, are excellent. A short 15 minute drive out of the city and you find yourself in the mountains of Igman and Jahorina. During the winter the skiing is excellent and really cheap. 2 weeks in a ... more

Sarajevo...Jewel in the Balkan Crown...location of the 1984 Winter Olympics....place where thousands of Bosniaks were killed 1994. I worked in Bosnia Herzegovina for 12 months in 1998 as part of the Police Peace Keeping Force and lived in Sarajevo for the whole time. Although ravaged by war, the city is still a beautiful place. The people, although poor and still coming to terms with rebuilding the city, are excellent. A short 15 minute drive out of the city and you find yourself in the mountains of Igman and Jahorina. During the winter the skiing is excellent and really cheap. 2 weeks in a ... more