Stairs

Living in Sarajevo cause that you need to be sportive. If not, it’s better for you to find an accommodation next to the Miljacka river or… I suggest to take a car.

Sarajevo has lot of hills. The view is amazing; no matter if you’re in the centre and you’re looking at thousands of red roofs, or if you’re on the top of the hill, looking down to the city…

I love this view, especially at night, when I feel surrounded by the all city lights… never ending life...

During winter and really hot summer it’s really not that simple to climb. Little, one way streets where sometimes there isn’t enough space for you and car which pass just next to. And stairs… that’s kind of shortcut. There are thousands of stairs, some of them are very old, not in good condition and really slippery. Some are new and very creative… like this one in the middle of the street… Bravo for imagination! 

Bye Bye Winter !

According to Bulgarians and Romanians, today (oops yesterday) is the day to welcome the coming spring. They believe that Granny March (old lady, who often changes her moods) comes and brings different weather. Days are warm and sunny, when she’s happy. The winter is back when she’s angry. The goal is to make her happy, and let spring come faster.

If you wish to meet spring as soon as possible, you need to decorate your clothes, animals and houses with martenitsa (two small, white and red wool dolls - Pizho and Pendamade) and keep it till the moment you notice the first spring birds and blossomed trees. Then you just need to remove it and tie it to a blossomed fruit tree. 

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to meet spring with joy and new hope.

Bye Bye Winter !

Night in the "castle" - an unforgettable surprise !

Every time, when I drive back home, when I take north border direction, I always notice something very special… something what simply can’t be missed by my camera ! Please don’t be touched and don’t blame me of showing quite ugly things. I don’t look for them, they appear on my way and I simply can’t not to take a shot. 

So, here it is a good advice for all travelers who like to be surprised and don’t check destination place before. Sometimes, you can be really amazed. 

*** Motel Gajić

Mmm… what would you say for spending a night in such castle ? Fortunately (or unfortunately) you don’t need to look for such destinations too much; you can easily find its twin brother after another hill or corner…

A stranger on the Bjelašnica mountain

One day, I will miss Sarajevo. One day I’ll be not used to be farer than 30 km from the Olympic Mountains and 200 km from the sea coast. It’s crazy, but imagine that yesterday in the deep heart of Sarajevo, I could feel a little soft wind, exactly this from the Dalmatian coast… It sounds crazy, I know, but what to say when I’m missing it so much… waiting the moment to feel free again, warm days without counting the passing time… 

Winter is in full swing here. So many things to do and surly you can’t not to go to the mountains. People say that’s the best place to ski, or… learn to ski. Unfortunately my fear is too big. I regret not to learn it when I was a child, now… I simply enjoy to be there, breathe and walk and feel the sun on my face, if I’ve got a chance to meet it ! 

Let’s enjoy last moments of the weekend and let me show you a little stranger, who I met on my way on the Bjelašnica mountain.

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach

Balkans food, strongly influenced by Mediterranean cooking, you can taste in all ex-Yugoslavian countries. In general speaking, you can find the same dishes, sometimes a bit changed in different regions.

Bosnian cooking is closely related to Turkish, Greek, Middle Eastern and Central Europe cuisines. It’s called slow food, because you can’t be in hurry to prepare the dish, which is light, healthy, mostly cooked in lots of water, without any creamy souses. In Sarajevo, it’s quite hard to find a pork (of course, except East-Sarajevo, where Serbian people are living). Mostly, you eat beef and lamb here.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It needs to make you strong for all day long, so mostly you eat bread, eggs, butter, honey, jam. It’s also good to know that you can eat pita or chicken with potatoes in the country side. 

Of course, you can’t forget about strong Bosnian coffee.

Meze is a selection of the small cold dishes, typically home-made bread, kajmak (delicious white cheese), green salad and smoked beef,  served before the diner. Don’t be amazed if you receive rakija as a drink. It’s completely normal and that’s the way of hospitality.

Diner time is a moment of entering to the paradise. The choice is big, between delicious sarma (meat and rice rolled in pickled cabbage leaves), ćevapi (Bosnian kebab, small grilled meat sausages, served with onion), grilled calamari or pljeskavica (a beef steak served with onion, paprika and green salad). You can’t leave Balkans without knowing a taste of dolme (little onions or paprikas stuffed with minced meat) and čobanski lonac (18 different vegetables mixed with 4 different types of meat, picture below, my number one). 

Traditional Bosnian deserts are also something to try. 

The real taste of Bosnia you can also find in the different kinds of bread (lepina, kukuruzara, bosanski pogač) and herbal teas. Local people believe in the powerful benefits of herbal infusions. Bosnian drink them as a medicine. Be careful when you order water,  sometimes you can receive running water.