Sarajevo

Sarajevo in Mourning

Sarajevo is located high up in the mountains of Bosnia Herzegovina and was the host of the 1984 Winter Olympics. 

Sarajevo is not a stranger to tragedy. The first occurred June 28, 1914 when the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia of the Hapsburg Empire were assassinated by a Bosnian nationalist, and this started WW1. The tragedy that surrounded the Balkan war started when Marshal Tito died in 1980. Until that time he had held the Union of Slavic Countries (Yugoslavia) together with his brand of politics but after that others had Nationalistic ideas and by 1991 the countries were unraveling.

First a picture of the Latin bridge where the assassination took place, and the plaque  of remembrance.

Latin Bridge

The Siege of Sarajevo became the longest in modern warfare lasting from April 1992 to February 1996 when 13000 Bosnian Serb soldiers surrounded the city and reduced its people into medieval practices where the water source from the brewery (PIVO) was the only source of drinking water.

WW I plaque

Excellent Beer here

Click on image to enlarge

Here you will see a map that depicts the area under siege (remember you can click on any image to enlarge it) and the window (a tunnel) to freedom, dug in 1993 under the airport runway. The UN forces (loosely speaking) maintained the airport runway as a common area between the occupying Serb’s and the Bosnian’s. Unfortunately they lit the airport at night so there was no way Bosnians could flee to safety, therefore the tunnel became a necessity.

Entrance

Remember there was no water, electricity or heat in the city for over 4 years. The guide who spent time with us at the museum was born in 1992, is Muslim, and still gets very choked up with every explanation she provides. There was no currency during this period of time, save packages of cigarettes.  Anyone could use the tunnel but they had to get permission first which could take up to a month and when they returned they wore packs of food stuffs that could weigh close to 150lbs in total. No alcohol, fuel or other things that could influence a black market were permitted.

Mother of Sarajevo Freedom

This lady provided her home as the terminus for the tunnel and provided every person who crawled through a glass of water. She is 86 and still alive today. Her name is not provided.

Today the city is still recovering with many burned out buildings still hoarded off, many occupied structures still bullet riddled and pock marked from the artillery of that war. It can be a daily reminder to many of what transpired only 20 years ago.

Inside Markale Mkt.

The Markale square massacre of late 1995 caused President Clinton to intercede and send bombing missions in to break the siege. These war crime trials bear a striking resemblance to the WWII trials. We walked through the Markale and there is a small commemorative plaque of the people who died that day.

Markale Plaque

During the siege it was unsafe to venture outside most of the time and with so many dead a central city park was converted out of need to a cemetery. 

Straddles Olympic Way

Exterior of Tunnel House

One picture is of the park converted to a cemetery and the other of a cemetery that straddles both sides of the road out to the Olympic Stadium.

Park to Cemetary

WAR, What is it good for? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! (Credit Edwin Starr and Motown Records))

Stari Most at Night

Our travel down the Croatian coast ended with us travelling the short distance from Sibenik to Trogir, a small island city, famous as a Venetian outpost and surviving The Plague due to its isolation. A pretty little place that we had visited in 2006 with Pat and Belinda but Sandra didn’t remember so we returned. Our memory of this place will now be, in addition to the scenery,  the fabulous meal we had at “Kristian’s Pasta’ a trip advisor rated place in the old town that was great. And we were treated very well with a free appetizer and a free liqueur after supper. Just splendid!

Venetian island of Trogir, Croatia

But the theme of this entry is about War isn't it?  

"War" a song by Edwin Starr circa 1970

Back in 2006 when we visited Croatia, we had heard one version of the truth about how the 1991 war started. 

And it was true in the small detail we heard, which was that the Bosnian’s entered Croatia at Plitvice Lakes and occupied it, as a Croatian National park symbolizing the takeover of the country. 

But there was more to the story, and Rick Steve has some good information in his guide book on the break-up of Yugoslavia. His entry link is here. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/understanding-yugoslavia

From the Battle Ground - A true Story

In 2009 when sailing in the Broughton archipelago we met Zorana McDaniel, who was from Bosnia and escaped on the last plane out of Sarajevo, leaving

Bullet holes
evident today
1 block from our Pension

her husband and father behind to face the war. When escaping through a tunnel under the airport she and her toddler son were confronted by an elderly set of grandparents who held an infant child in their arms and pleaded with her to take the child to safety with her on the plane. 

Without knowing them; the child, or who would claim the infant when she got to safety, she undertook that selfless act. 

The sadness in her eyes and face as she told us that story which likely saved that child’s life, showed us that we didn’t know the damn story at all. 

Soon after Sandra and I would both read the book, ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’, an amazingly well written novel by a Canadian author about the experiences during the Balkan war. If you haven’t read it you must. Its viewpoint is through the eyes of a sniper, and an old man, and the Will of a cellist who plays every day at noon in Sarajevo regardless of the consequence. 

Please see our Italian friend Mauro’s video footage on the tunnel in Sarajevo.  It is extremely well done. http://youtu.be/S9lsT3tNWVI

Update Nov. 2025

I must bring to readers attention that a 2025 news story that has credible origins  on what is alleged to have taken place in Sarajevo beyond the  other stories told is how Bosnia/Serb's may have enlisted Italian civilians to control Sarajevo centre. Here's the story from a credible source.  https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/11/13/italy-probes-sarajevo-sniper-safaris-what-were-they-who-was-involved.

MOSTAR

So here we are first in Mostar, whose famous landmark the ‘Stari Most’ bridge was bombed several times and finally destroyed 09.11.1993. Yes another 9/11.

Mostar by Day

Equally tragic for the people here. As we watched the home shot video footage of the bombing of the bridge , see footage here, https://youtu.be/_5tTbXAQ4uA?si=RldCntFNpyR9PnC- we were repulsed by the sheer stupidity of the action, which served nothing more than to demoralize the people of Mostar, a small city 126 kms from Sarajevo. The bridge, a foot bridge in the Old town served no military purpose.

The town is very much like Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, a scenic river winding through the town, rushing fresh water in the mountains and a very ancient background. Beautiful in all aspects. 

I do not want to portray Bosnians as victims here, they aren’t, they perpetrated similar atrocities in Croatia. In 2006 many of the men we saw in Dubrovnik were without limbs, all very sorrowful looking. The mood is improving but it is only 20 years and it will take a generation to lose the feelings but hopefully not the memory of this wasteful effort. 

There was something more lost than a bridge, lives, and a war. The world lost a community of Christians, Muslims, and Jews that lived in harmony, that was fractured along ethic, religious, and political lines for nothing.

Medjugorje, Poticejl and surrounding area

Our second day in the area was to take in Medjugorje, the 2^nd most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world, and another WHS, this time Poticejl, a fort, mosque and artist community on the banks of a river about 17 kms outside Mostar.

French Mass,
everyone is under the shade trees

Mass was being said in Slavic inside the church and in French at the outside mass site, with a beautiful singer. Truly a memorable event.

Poticejl is a fort and mosque built into a turn in the canyon the river runs through. At one time it was strategic for controlling movement up the river.

View from the Castle Tower

Pula and Sibenik (Shebenick)

Couldn't get any better parking?

Not bad having front door parking for the bike in front of one of the great amphitheatres.

1 of the 6 best in the World

It was constructed in 27 BC - 68 AD^[1] and is among the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the World. This should really part of the first entry since it was our last visited place on the Istrian peninsula but we decided to drive on instead of return to the base apartment we had set up for 2 nights. Pula is located 35 kms south of Rovinj and the amphitheatre is it’s main tourist attraction. Sandra remarked that we must have seen all the great amphitheatre’s, Epidavros Greece for it’s sound, Pergama Turkey for the dramatic backdrop, Efes for the story of St Paul and “The Coliseum” in Rome, and Delphi and the Temple of Athena.

From there we continued on through Rijeka to a small town called Senj where we stayed last evening, just tucking in before it started to rain. We found a great, not so little 3 brdm apartment there for 35E, super clean with a great view of the Adriatic Sea, but alas the rain took away the view. This morning we awoke to dark skies, donned our rain gear and rode ½ way to Sibenik in rain, the other in bright sun arriving here to another great place called the Villa Korina. There is something about that part of the Croatian coast that won't let me ride it in the sun.

We had one little fun adventure with the bike today. As we drove out of the mountains to a point where the GPS told me to turn, there were tape marks through the name Sibenik indicating I could only go to Benkovac. We stopped at the gas bar then cafe and they all confirmed we would have to go to Zadar then on. Undaunted I wanted to try it anyway and when we got to Benkovac, sure enough the road was closed. So I followed some others toward the detour to Zadar only to see what looked like some local cars turning left into a church cemetery  I followed and sure enough it led to a gravel lane that cars would pour out of, 1 at a time and less than 1 lane wide. When it was my turn I headed through talked with a woman who kind of confirmed in Croatian that yes I could go that way to Sibenik and in 2 kms we were back on tarmac.Saved us a lot of kilometers of backtracking.

The Villa Korina has a beautiful private deck, kitchen and wonderful access to te water. After another nice late lunch by the water overlooking the island of Kapanj we headed back into town to view another World Heritage Site, the Cathedral of St Jakov (James).

The dome of this cathedral suffered a direct hit in the 1991-95 war

and is only now being repaired. The cathedral dates back to the 14-15^th centuries and is very much a part of Sibenik’s town centre. Beautiful gardens, overlooks to the surrounding islands make this a great destination.

rose trees

Croatian islands

Venice to Rovinj ( think of Raveen for pronunciation)

Venice to Rovinj ( think of Raveen for pronunciation)

Rovinj

From the town centre

Can you say foggy? Our 3 nights in Venice were great having been able to visit with Betty and Mauro and little Dario, and Massimo and Elisa. We again got to see the real Venice away from the crowds of St Mark’s square to where Venetians relax and enjoy themselves. A “Scarpe Rotte” http://www.scarperotte.it/ visit was in order, here there is a clash between government and the people of Italy over selling off treasures. We visited the Fortress Marghera,

Real Life in Venice

a famous fortress built to defend against attacks from land on Venice. We enjoyed a great grilled lunch with wine, lasagna, roast beef, pork and chicken and met more of their extended families. Another day living like real Venetians do! The next day we headed into to Venice to visit the Frari church, visit St Mark’s Sq. ( I think that’s enough) then back to Masimo’s and Elisa’s for an unforgettable lunch of  Baccala, Brushetta, Pasta with shrimp, zucchini and arugula, and then a main course  of raw Tuna with arugula and lemon. This was topped with in season strawberries done to perfection.  

Lunch at Scarpe Rotte
From Left, Betty and Dario, Mauro, Massimo, Sandra and Elisa

We then headed back to Mauro’s where some maintenance I wasn’t able to do at Heiko’s was performed here. It was great because there were a few unexpected turns in the repair that we were able to use Mauro’s tools for. We bid farewell only too soon, hard to believe we came a day early and staying 3 days feels like still a rush. 

We headed out in the fog on Friday morning and made it to Trieste by lunchtime on the backroads. Next we crossed through a small part of Slovenia and entered Croatia at Buzet. The border crossing personnel (yeah they love me, don’t you know it) complimented me declaring me "The first Canadian who had all the right documentation at the border. " Nope no ceremony, I was crushed. They even asked for my international driving permit, the first time I've been asked since getting one.

We got a chance to relax and have a nice dinner on the Quay in Rovinj.

Great view and company for eating

Today we walked back into the centre of Rovinj and toured the Cathedral there, marked with a 12 century bell tower that is a match to the one in St Mark’s square in Venice.

A little bit about Croatia and the Istria Peninsula. It sounds like Iberian which would be the peninsula Spain and Portugal are on, but it isn’t. It was once part of the Hapsburg Empire, is just east of Venice on any Europe map, and was part of Italy from 1918 – 1947 when Mussolini’s war reparations were to lose it back to what became Yugoslavia. It is a hilly and wooded region with beautiful bays and coves and was once inhabited by the Venetians as an extension of their empire. It will become part of the EU July 1, this year after being involved in a bloody war in the mid- 1990’s. Our trip in 2006 documented a lot of this.

Rovinj is very beautiful and we were lucky enough to be here for a typical Saturday Sail race day. Some very nice action was to be had including a maxi sailor that was close to the old 12 Meter yacht standard. With Mylar sails aplenty, there is a lot of money poured into these sailboats.

Start of Race

Next we day tripped to Porec, just 40 kms away home to a 5^th century Basilica of St Euphrasis, a World Heritage Site. As we travelled there along the coast what was evident is this is a camping paradise with coastline camping, including ‘Naturist resorts”, google FKK, to learn more. Yes there might be more googling to follow. Actually that might be Ogling.

Sailboats in race

Scarcophogus of St E.

The Basilica here has some very amazing intact artifacts as pictured here. Next we head to Pula at the southern base of the peninsula and onto southern Croatia next. 

4th century tile work still evident

WHS Info on site

Pat and Belinda, Tour De France and 40th anniversary

Just a Little 40th Anniversary Kiss!

Gran San Bernardo Summit

Aosta Castle

Great Supper

x


As we left Levanto and headed north that mindset of the trip is over and we’re heading home starts to set in. But when we got to Aosta Italy we were excited by the fact Pat and Belinda were going to meet us there. We hadn’t seen them both together since ‘06 and Pat in ‘09.
Our time was going to be short again, only 3 nights but we made the most of it.
After a great tour of one of the Aosta castles, we headed out the next day up the Gran San Bernardo pass to Switzerland. It was spectacular, and when we got to the top we became the centre of attraction for a lot of other riders there since we were from Canada. First we chatted with some Swedish riders then 2 German riders one who had the same make model year and color Vstrom as ours. Lots of video was shot on the way up and down as it is a very scenic ride.

From there we decided to take some back routes to our destination and we definitely found ourselves on some incredibly beautiful goat trails that you would never take a car on. Switzerland mountains are so much more accessible than the Rockies, people live everywhere in them and the views are amazing.
Finally our third day we took a drive to Murten where Pat and Belinda will be housesitting for a week and we met their friends, and then onto the Tour De France. With the side trip to Murten we ended up trying to get to the finish line after some of the access roads closed, so we decided to stay in this one small village and see the race pass by from there. As you can see from the pictures we had a great vantage point to see the racers and the support vehicles.

The Peleton

Yet it all happened so fast that the event was over in 5 mins. where we were. Next time we will try and get to the finish line first thing in the morning.
With road closures and all it took a lot longer to get out of Switzerland  and to our final destination for the night, Mulheim Germany where we celebrated our 40th anniversary with Pat and Belinda who took us out for an incredible meal. Thanks again Pat and Belinda! 

Fab Beer

We each ordered a meal, then we shared it with each other so that everyone could taste the various wild German meats that were offered. Coupled with  great German beer a good time was had by all. It was sad to leave them today as we headed back. We ride similarly, have great travel learnings to share back and forth, so keep in mind that you can check out their blog offerings by clicking on the link to the Horizon’s webpage ( on the right side of the web page).

Tour Support

Cinque Terre 2012

RioMaggorie, gorgeous in every photo

Each year there has been one common element to every trip and that is our visits to the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Harbor Boats

This year has been no exception other than about 6 weeks after we left last year two villages, Monterrosso and Vernazza (The crown jewel), were hit by a flood that devastated their towns. When we caught news of this last year we had emailed our friend Cristian in Levanto where we stay how things were. For 3 weeks we did not get a response to several emails. Finally he replied by saying that for awhile power was out, then while Levanto was OK he was busy helping the other villagers in those two communities dig out from the terrible damage. 

Dredge Crane in Harbor

No doors?
They are 10' down in the mud and debris

As we hiked the 5 villages this year, yep we still did the cross country 15 km hike in 5 ½ hours, we saw first hand the damage that was done as not all of it can be repaired within such a short time. It is amazing though that the small cove that was completely filled in by debris, and the main village street that was 10 feet deep in mud, that they are back operating in most locations again this year. The tourists are back, which says the money will come.
Our hike was different this year since we were confident of our knowledge of the area and provided some helpful tips. Also, the temperature was easily 35C, and very sunny, and while we had applied lots of sunscreen beforehand we likely sweated it all off in an hour. Cris, when we came back and we were talking with him remarked, “you are so black, I live here and I do not have the color that you do“. He’s right.
We never grow tired of this area. Levanto is our second home, the Cinque Terre region is so beautiful and when the weather is great, like we always seem to catch it here, it is remarkable. 

Crystal Blue Waters

It's a Bit hot standing here,
Take the @#$% picture

Each evening we go down to the village centre to get gelatto as our treat. Usually we walk which allows us to rationalize that we walk off the calories associated to the treat. The flavors are amazing. The shop we go to makes the gelatto fresh every day and he constantly tries new flavors. Last evening, we went out for our Mussels appetizer, red wine, and spaghetti with pesto, Genovese pesto being famous in this region (due to Genoa). We decided  that we could have the gelatto as well and we tried his newest flavor “chocolat/orange intense“. Wow, the creaminess, the flavors, it was just exceptional. 

The devastation she felt
is palpable with her expression

As we had our gelato cones we sat back in the village centre, watched the village activities go on, and just immersed ourselves in such a friendly and peaceful culture. The Italian people are such a joy to be around, except on the highway where they turn into potential assassins. 

Vernazza, July 2012, Dredging continues from October

Cruiser, Red #12 Princess Cruises
now don't lose your ticket!

Our biggest watch-out-for here are the cruise/bus tourists that sweep into a village enmass for a few hours, follow a guide with a small wand reading (Red #12) while wearing a FM frequency receiver, trinket shop and disappear to the next village and think they have been to Italy. Some, like the guy pictured here are totally oblivious to their surroundings only taking cues from their wives, “Here’s your ticket, now don’t lose it!”  You can tell them by the tags they have to wear (Red #12, Princess Cruise). 


One guy, not this one, I saw was so intense that he had lost his group (they all had radio transmitters to hear their guide and he was hearing they were leaving) that he nearly ran over us and  the children in the streets of Vernazza looking for his group. Then a couple minutes later he ripped back down the street again frantically looking for them.


 I said to Sandra, 

“Man I missed an opportunity. If I had caught his tag number when he had come up the street, I could have commented back to you when he came back down frantic in earshot of him, 

Well at least tour XYZ has left by boat.”  


I know, you’ll say it’s cruel, but it would have been funny, except for having to administer CPR !