1st day in Sarajevo, Bosnia

ruins from 1500s marketplace in downtown Sarajevo

I learned some Bosnian phrases from the woman who prepared our breakfast that will come in handy... Planning to practice on new friends today.  Many locals speak German and English but I'll try a little Bosnian on them.
Dobrar dan... Common greeting - like good day.
Malim - please
Fallah - thank you

view from the mountain hike

 

We met our guide this morning to walk around the city and hike up into the hills. Perfect weather - sunny and 80 degrees.  The city is very walkable with many historic buildings, tons of open air restaurants and cafes, and markets. Houses dot all the surrounding mountains. Interesting and lively city of half a million people.  We saw bullet holes in so many of the concrete buildings in the city.   Also saw many plaques with names of people killed during the 3 year siege of the city and they uncover mass graves at least every year from the fighting in the 90s.  It is hard to imagine that now.

 

Tomorrow we go to Mostar in Bosnia to see the city and the historic bridge that was rebuilt after the 90s wars.  So far we have met many friendly and interesting people.  We ate dinner both nights at Topić, owned by Bianca who left Bosnia in 1994, lived in the U.S. for 15 years, then returned to Bosnia.  Her kids are American citizens who still live in the U.S., as do her grandkids.