I took the train from Mostar to Sarajevo. It is quite a spectacular train ride. Sarajevo is up in the mountains. The 1984 Winter Olympics were held here when Bosnia was part of the former Yugoslavia. By 1992 Sarajevo was under seige.
When I got off the train, a women that had a spare room approached me and asked if I was looking for accommodations. So she took me on the tram to the city center. On the way we passed right by “sniper alley” which she said was a dangerous place back during the war in Bosnia. She told me that her husband had been killed in the war.
Then she took me to a building where the owner rented out rooms to tourists. It turned out the lady herself had no place of her own to rent. She acted as the go between and brought guests to the owners. So I gave her a few convertible marks, the local Bosnian currency. That is how she makes her living. Whatever it takes to survive.
I ended up getting a nice room in somebody’s house. Three British girls shared the room next door. They were very busy that evening getting ready to go out for a night on the town.
Being up in the mountains, Sarajevo is cooler than the Adriatic coast which was a welcome relief from the heat. If you are a meat eater, Sarajevo would be a good place to live. They specialize in meat grilled over coals, i.e. barbeque. Up in the mountains there are restaurants that grill whole lambs over coals four at a time!
