(This is the third in a series of articles on Sarajevo. Missed the first two? Click here.) 

I meet up with Neno again in the afternoon for his war tour. I know from the one I took in Zagreb, Croatia, that I will learn tragic things, as well as important things. I’m about to have one of my moments…

Neno reminds us of a critical event in the history of the world. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assasinated June 28, 1914. He was next in line to rule Austria-Hungary. This event sparked the first world war. I already knew this. The shooter was part of a movement that wanted freedom from occupation by the Austria-Hungary empire.

We learn the tragic events. The Archduke’s driver made a wrong turn. An attack takes place on the bridge (that we walk across). There are seven guys waiting for him. There’s a bomb and it misses its target. Luckily, the driver stepped on the gas pedal to speed away. The other would-be attackers didn’t act and the Archduke got to city hall where he should have attended a lunch, but instead, said he’d drive to the hospital to check the injured.

Gavrilo Princip was in coffee shop which is now a museum. The Archduke’s driver made a wrong turn, down the street where 19-year-old Princip was in that coffee shop. He seized his unexpected opportunity to shoot the Archduke. 

Princip was arrested and died of tuberculosis in prison at 23. Some will consider Princip a hero who fought against occupation. Others think he was a terrorist. Whatever one may think, this event is also what put Sarajevo on the map, so to speak.

The shooting happened around the corner of a bridge in Sarajevo. We went and stood at the very spot where the assasination happened. This is that moment I mentioned earlier. This is one of those travel experiences where I am in the present and the past at the very same moment. I’m standing on the exact location where history was created. This event used to be some random fact I learned in a history book that had no meaningful connection for me apart from needing to memorize it for a test to pass said class, and will now be ingrained in my memory for the rest of my life. Not just the event, but the details around it, and the sense memory of standing in this spot.

We move forward in time to the reign of Tito, and into the Yugoslavian war. According to Neno, Ethnic Serbs helped. They did a siege in Sarajevo, rather than coming into the city. They shot from the hills, so no one knows who did the shooting. A grenade was thrown and hit the local market we walk through and we see one of the series of scars left open as a wound to remind passerby of the tragedy that happened here.

Neno shows us haunting photos of some of the local office buildings and hotels, as they look today, and as they were during the war…

We move ahead again, and I learn that the film festival I am lucky to see was started in 1995, after the war ended. However, as mentioned previously, Neno told us that peace is simply the absence of war, and it is a fragile peace.

While on the tour, I meet a wonderful Italian man, Stefano. He turns out to be from Bologna, Italy. This is the town where I studied Italian in 1990! We have a wonderful chat about Italy, and after the war tour, I accompany Stefano to the Yellow Bastion, one of the best viewing points in Sarajevo. We stop off to grab some local food as a snack, and hike up behind the center of the Old Town. What awaits us is a beautiful view of Sarajevo, as well as music, and a festive atmosphere with lights and singing, and, of course, some adorable kittens. Stefano will be returning home by boat. I had no idea one can take a boat from here to Italy, and this helpful information will allow me to make upcoming travel plans, eliminating about 50 hours of bus travel! (Thank you, once again, Travel Fairy, for connecting me with wonderful people!)

One other war experience I seek out is the bob sled track. Though I was very young, I vaguely remember the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo. I take the cable car to the top of Trebević mountain. This is a place you can spend half or a full day if you enjoy hiking as there are many trails of varying difficulty. There’s a trail map some ways from the cable car station which will show you how to get to the Olympic track.

As I walk down, cognizant that it’s a steep walk, and the walk up will be harder, I am alone for much of it, and the experience is eerie. There is broken glass at what would have been the start of the track. I can imagine scenes where riders would jump into their sled, and now it’s reduced to a concrete slide. After almost 30 years, the broken glass remains. The track is either covered with nature, or graffiti, and I can’t stop walking because it’s simply unbelievable.

A young couple, each with a child on their shoulders, passes me, heading upwards. It’s hot, they’re sweating, and I decide if they can walk up with kids on their back, I can walk up without complaining about it!

This city has fascinated me. It is rich with varying experiences. I can enjoy the Turkish feeling city center, explore Old Town, discover a Jewish cemetery, learn about war and genocide and peace, see a film festival, and hike or cable car to stunning beauty and eerie memories. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but whatever expectations I had, were vastly exceeded. In my next post, I’ll be talking about something very important, how to choose a Bosnian coffee set!