Sunday, May 20^th   We were all up early by 5:30 a.m. and began pulling ourselves and luggage together for our 6 a.m. departure from our home for three nights of very restful sleep.  Unexpectedly, the power went out and we were left with the natural light of a few windows.   However, remembering the pre-trip advice to be like the Who’s in Whoville, the power outage didn’t faze us and we left 5 minutes early, saying goodbye to the lines of drying laundry throughout the city.   

We arrived in Mostar, which was heavily damaged in the war.  A river runs through the town and the Croatian and Bosnian sections of the city are separated by the bridge that crosses the river.   Residents are mainly Muslims and Christians.  There are  markets of crafts persons on both sides of the bridge and quite a few cafes with a variety of drinks including the traditional very strong and black Turkish coffee.  We spent less than two hours in Mostar, but did manage to have coffee cross; to the bridge and back and to see the young man who sits on the railing of the bridge, 28 meters above the water and is willing to dive into the water for a fee.  (We choose not to watch him risk his life and limbs – too nerve racking for any of us.)  (See photos) 

The most compelling sight to me was an old painting on cardboard of a Muslim and Non-Muslim man sharing coffee.  If only we could sit with each other and share coffee and conversation more often…our world might be a much more peaceful place.   

We continued on our way to Sarajevo in hopes of arriving in time to see the Sarajevo Haggadah  in the Sarajevo museum.   (I you enjoy novels and haven’t read The People of the Book, it is a fictional account of the creation of and history of the Sarajevo Haggadah and an excellent read.)  Unfortunately, the Haggadah is only on exhibit twice a year.  We arrived on Sunday and it had been displayed on Saturday!  (The website hadn’t told us that.)  So, we continued on our way to find our hotel.   This was quite a feat, and Guy did some of the best sidewalk parking (allowed in Croatia) in the history of the world.  However, we could not locate the hotel and while in search of directions, Peggy discovered an angel, Ariana, who offered to go with us to the hotel.   (See photos)  On finding the hotel, she discovered and old friend working there and also helped us with directions to two highly recommended places for lunch of cevapci  beef sausage on warm pita bread with chopped onions – a must in Bosnia and fantastic and yogurt drink at Ziljos followed by ice cream at Egipto’s.  The bakery / ice cream shop is reputed to be one of the best in the world. Local lore has it that during the war, when the whole area was destitute, the owner was offered one million dollars for the ice cream recipe and refused the offer.  It is exquisite and has a texture unlike any other ice cream.   So when in Sarajevo, so as the locals do and check out Zlijos and Egipt.   

While at Egipt, we ran into a Bostonian, who recommended a number of great restaurants including Pod Lipom, a place visited by Pres. Clinton in 1998 and still reputed to be among the best restaurants.   We enjoyed dinner there and it was one of the best meals of the trip with undoubtedly the best bread ever!  The waiter suggested we try a sampling of traditional Bosnian food, which we did (See photos) and enjoyed every bite all the way through sopping up the juices with the memorable bread.   

Earlier in the afternoon we visited the Orthodox cathedral, with plans on visiting the other places of worship the next morning.  We also discovered Taslihan (the remnants of a 16^th century caravan stop) next to one of the most modern hotels in Sarajevo. (See photos)

Must confess we also spent a bit of time shopping and searching for gifts for kids back home and ourselves. However, children are not high on the list of souvenir inventories, so our search was in vain. We eventually gave up and simply enjoyed the people and ambiance of Sarajevo. Signs of the war still abound and war damaged buildings sit next to renovated and new structures. There are quite a few brightly colored buildings, perhaps a sign of hope for a brighter and better world. Universally, everyone we talked to said the people did not want the war. The various ethnic and religious groups were friends and got along, but people in power wanted more power and there was war at great cost to hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children. Across Croatia, the signs of war remain in destroyed, damaged, and abandoned buildings (including our grandfather’s home) and the sadness and senselessness of war sinks in and makes us ask why and pray for an end to violence and wars.  

One of the high points of the afternoon was drinking from the spring that flows from the wall of the main mosque. Legend has it that anyone who drinks from the spring will return to Sarajevo….most of us drank the water more than once and would gladly return. (See photos of the day below.)