Bosnia | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Capital

March 18, 2015 by David Herd

A very interesting city

Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Capital

Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina capital is the largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an estimated population of 369,534. The Sarajevo metropolitan area, including Sarajevo, East Sarajevo and surrounding municipalities, is home to 608,354 people.

The photo above is in the Baščaršija district of the Old Town and is only about 80 meters from my hotel.

Sebilj

The Sebilj is a pseudo-Ottoman-style wooden fountain (Sebil) in the centre of Baščaršija square in Sarajevo built by Mehmed Pasha Kukavica in 1753. It was relocated by Austrian architect Alexander Wittek in 1891. It is also frequently called “the pigeon square”.

Painting of The Sebilj

I saw this in a coffee shop just near the The Sebilj and thought it looked so good I would include it in this post.

Hotel Kovaci

The location is perfect, the rooms are average for the price of $70 aud per night. Breakfast is very average indeed but I would stay there again purely for the location. For a very good room rate just book through THIS LINK.

Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Capital, close to Kavaci hotel

The tram is right at your doorstep of the Kovaci hotel. You can catch the number 1 tram straight to the Bus & railway station. A word of caution, make sure you validate your ticket inside the tram, I didn’t and had to pay a $20 aud fine to a couple of Bosnian thugs, c’est la vie. 🙂

Avaz Twist Tower

The Avaz Twist Tower is a 176 m tall skyscraper, construction began in 2003 and was finished in 2008.

View from the tower

I imagine the snow on the mountains is normal for March.

Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Capital

The view from the tower really give you an appreciation of the layout of the city.

Foyer of Avaz Twist Tower

This huge interesting sculpture dominates the foyer of the Avaz Twist Tower.

Cevapcici

Ćevapi has its origins in the Balkans during the Ottoman period, and represents a regional specialty similar to the kofte kebab. I had one in Dudbovnik and was rather disappointed, however in Bosnia they were perfect, in fact I ate them three days in a row, twice for lunch and once for breakfast.

Donner Kebab

Another specialty is the Donner Kebab originally from Turkey, delicious but for me the Cevapcici wins hands-down. 🙂

Every day they play

They also debate every move in loud voices while playing, the onlookers shout advice to the opponents.

Chess in Sarayevo

I think I have got you now.

Orthodox Church

By now you can probably see there are many photo opportunities in Sarajevo.

Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Capital, Taslihan

Taslihan was built in 1543 as the Ghazi Husrev-Bey’s waqf. It had a fountain, mosque, yard, shops and storage rooms.It was severely damaged in several fires that struck Sarajevo.

Favorite pastime is drinking coffee

No different to most other European cities, drinking coffee on the side-walk while being bought up to date with the latest gossip.

Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque

During the Siege of Sarajevo, Serbian forces purposely targeted many centers of the city’s culture, having suffered a significant amount of destruction, the reconstruction of the Mosque started with foreign help in 1996, right after the war.

Bascarsija Sarajevo

Baščaršija was built in 1462 when Isa-Beg Isaković built the Ishaković han, in addition to its many shops. At that time, most of the inhabitants of Sarajevo lived in the vicinity of the Emperor’s Mosque. Therefore, Isa-Beg Isaković built a bridge across the Miljacka to focus the main Sarajevo suburb and a new economic center of the city, Baščaršija.

Sarajevo tram

The trams are not too flash, they can also be expensive if you don’t validate your ticket on board. I was lazy and paid a $20 fine when two Bosnian thugs checked my 50 cent ticket and found I had not validated it, c’est la vie. 🙂

Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Capital Dveri restaurant in

I had dinner at this highly rated restaurant two nights in a row, it was very close to my hotel and quite unique. The veal soup was sensational, I returned the 2nd night just to have it again.

Dveri veal soup

Tripadvisor rate Dveri 9th out of 339 restaurants in Sarayevo.

Dveri is quite unique

Many thanks to TripAdvisor once again for helping me find another terrific restaurant.

Farewell from Sarajevo

Thanks for visiting my Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Capital photo blog, I’m heading back to Zagreb for one night before taking a train to Budapest.

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Mostar in Herzegovina was a real surprise packet.

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After Sarajevo I went back to Zagreb.

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Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina

March 16, 2015 by David Herd

Mostar was a great surprise

Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina

Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina turned out to be a real surprise package, my hotel by the river is only $35 and the nice couple Arnela & Adis running the place booked me a car to do a 3 hour tour of the area for $70 aud. The funny thing was they said “we are not busy today can we come with you?” So as it turned out I had 3 personal translators and tour guides including Admir the driver. Consequently I was able to see a lot of the surrounding country , we visited a town that has become famous because some children claim to have seen a vision in 1981, now thousands of believers (mainly Italian) flock here every year which has turned the village into a boom-town called Medjugorje.

Adis, Arnela & Admir

This is Adis, Arnela & Admir who were my translators and tour guides, we drove to Medjugorje, Kravice Waterfalls, Pocitelj and Blagaj. Anela & Adis work at the Vila park hotel which is a terrific place to stay, close to the Old Town and the bus station. Anelia helped me so much organizing taxis and even taking me to the phone shop to have a data package put on my phone. The Vila park only costs about $35 per night if you book through Agoda.

Admir is a great taxi driver who will charge you the correct price, he speaks German & the local language but only a little English. You can phone him on +387 62 600 260, or if you are local 062 600 260.

Kravice Waterfall

The noise of the water was quite loud.

Here is a short video of the falls

Kravice Waterfall Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Watch this video on YouTube

Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina, Belagaj

This was a delightful spot, I never would have found it without my guides. 🙂

Pocitelj Castle

Počitelj is a town in the Čapljina municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The historic site of Počitelj is located on the left bank of the river Neretva, on the main Mostar to Metković road, and it is to the south of Mostar. During the Middle Ages, Počitelj was considered the administrative centre and centre of governance of Dubrava župa (county), while its westernmost point gave it major strategic importance. It is believed that the fortified town along with its attendant settlements were built by Bosnia’s King Stjepan Tvrtko I in 1383. The walled town of Počitelj evolved in the period from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

The Mosque at Pocitelj

The Mosque was destroyed in the war in 1993 as you can see in the following photo, it was rebuilt in 2005.

History of the mosque.

This photo telling the story was on the wall of the mosque.

Parts of the Mosque when it was destroyed.

A collection of part of the wreckage in Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina.

Medjugorje

Here is where all the believers flock to and listen to the stories about the sighting of Maria.

Behind the church

Seating here for thousands of pilgrims.

Statue of Maria

Quite a lovely statue of Maria.

The Old Bridge is the star of the show.

Stari Most is a reconstruction of a 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the river Neretva and connects two parts of the city.

Stari Most

The bridge is a magic sight, just this one attraction makes a visit to Mostar worthwhile.

View from Bella Vista restaurant

Bella Vista is a nice place to have lunch with a great view of the bridge.

A cold beer at Bella Vista

The local beer was very good indeed in Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina.

Cevapcici at Bella Vista

The Cevapcici was as good as I have ever tasted.

My new friend at Bella Vista

A friendly local at Bella Vista.

Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina view from Bella Vista hotel

This reminds me of a mini version of Table Mountain in Cape Town. Funnily enough it was exactly one year ago when I was in Capetown on my Seven Super Cities tour.

Bella Vista restaurant from the Old Bridge

The restaurant opposite is where I had my Cevapcici.

View from the Old Bridge Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina

Such a fascinating place, and to think it was never in my original plans.

Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina

I have really never seen a more attractive old bridge anywhere in the world.

From my hotel room in Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina

The Vila Park hotel is great value and in a perfect location, book your room through Agoda for a great deal.

Finally a birds eye view of the Old Bridge.

Thanks for visiting my Old Bridge Mostar Bosnia Herzegovina photo blog.

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