Rapallo was never on my list. I never thought there could actually be something about this city. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, just between Cinque Terre and Genoa. As a girl from Croatia, I know it from the history books as the Treaty of Rapallo was signed there, in Villa Pagana, formerly known as Villa Spinola. A treaty…
The five Cinque Terre villages are situated in northern Italy on the Mediterranean Sea, just 3 hours by train from Milan, Pisa and Florence. I have arrived by car and totally enjoyed the national park that spreads across the five villages. La Spezia My journey started in La Spezia. This was the very first stop as I…
Tintine was slowly climbing up the hills of San Marino. Not much pressure should have been put on this car as she had enough of the shocks in the last year or two. The hills around us were rising and soon we found ourselves surrounded by an amazing view. It was San Marino surrounded by…
My Life in Sicily finished after a year spent on this island. It was time to turn on my Tintine (a beautiful red car), hop on a ferry and say goodbye. I was nostalgic as a was driving through Reggio Calabria. But soon I was in Puglia – the region with the best Italian cheeses.…
Ardennes are super fun to visit. They are cold but there is loads of trails to discover. Hence, after so many locations, Rochefort was on the route as well. Its ancient position at the crossroads where the route to Saint-Hubert crossed that from Liège to Bouillon required fortifying: the ruins of the old castle, which gave the place its name and…
Once upon a time, there was a little Ivana in Cuba trying to explain a poor restaurant holder that the pizza ragusa he is having on the menu is not some Italian name for some Italian city, but the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. Stupid girl. Ragusa is a city on the southern side of the…
An Ionian seaside town, Avola is a mix of old and new. The town focuses heavily on the sea, with its history as a tuna fishing port. Today, the remains of the Vecchia Tonnara at the wharf are a stone backdrop to the sandy beaches. Avola dates back to a pre-Greek people called the Sicani.…
Located about 11 kilometres north of Catania, it is the perfect little commune to visit during the ottobrata – the local festivity that occurs every October here in Sicily, celebrating the fruits of the land: frutti di terra. The first encounter went wrong already 🙂 Approaching the booth with fruit, I have noticed quince – one…
If something is worth visiting in life, it is the Aeolian islands. Becasue it makes you think about winter in the south. It makes you think about simplicity of life. And it makes you realise how not to treat the tourists: just some bags of potatoes that need to be shipped from one island to…
I haven’t had a chance to spent a bit more time discovering this city. But just a glimpse and it made me think to re-visit and make it’s due. When the time will come, I promise to update with more photos. But for now, enjoy the story 🙂 Several civilizations settled in Milazzo and left…
I didn’t expect much from this harbour city, to be honest. I knew they have a great beer – Messina cristali di sale: a great Sicilian beer brewed since 1923 and one of the most loved Italian beers. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy.…
Senlis is a city in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. Cute, medieval and charming. It offered us great peek into history: The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. Senlis is situated on the river Nonette. Senlis was known in early Roman imperial times as Augustomagus. During the 3rd century, a seven-meter…
So many times I have been to this country… most recently I have visited Sarajevo as my friends were getting married… This time I will not upload the map of […]
So many times I have been to this country… most recently I have visited Sarajevo as my friends were getting married…
This time I will not upload the map of the country, as Sarajevo is the Olympic city and should be known to many of travellers…
Let me start with the most beautiful thing in Sarajevo: the Baščaršija!
Baščaršija – old bazaar of Sarajevo
Sarajevo’s old bazaar and the historical and cultural center of the city. Baščaršija was built in the 15th century when Isa-Beg Isaković (Ottoman general of Bosnian origin and the first governor of the Ottoman province of Bosnia) founded the town. The word Baščaršija derives from the Turkish language. The word “baş” in Turkish literally means “head“, in some contexts however also “primary“, “main“, “capital” and “çarşı” in Turkish means “bazaar” or “market“.
Macedonian bestie and me strolling the streets of Sarajevo
If you stroll through the puzzled streets of Baščaršija, grab a coffee or shisha and watch buy some trinkets from the cute shops which line the small Old Town lanes. Nearly half of Sarajevans are there to enjoy their time too.
Hidden gems of BaščaršijaTypicall coffee place in Sarajevo: kafa aand rahatlukCoffee and Sisha
Sarajevo City Hall was designed in 19th century by czech architect (Bosnia and Herzegowina was back then part of Habsburg Empire) but criticized by austrian minister cause of the facade style.
It is the largest and most representative building of the Austro-Hungarian period in Sarajevo. GThe building is placed at the banks of the river Miljacka.
City Hall on the banks of river MiljackaCity Hall interiorMauri style of City Hall
Very close by is an Ottoman bridge called Latin ćuprija over the river Miljacka. The northern end of the bridge was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip in 1914, which became casus belli of World War I.
Latin bridge/ ćuprija ocer river Miljacka and the Museum of Assasination of Arcduke Franz Ferdinand and beginning or World War I Latin ćuprijaLatin ćuprija and river MiljackaA memorial plaque to the murder of the Habsburg prince Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip
Being a huge fan of history and politics, we entered the museum. I was fascinated by the failed diplomacy and ultimatums of the then superpowered countries that brought the world into the biggest war known by that time.
Asassination place
Franz Ferdinand and his wife in front of the City Hall
Aressment of Gavrilo Princip
The car in which Franz Ferdinand was murdered
Talking about historical facts, I was fascinated by the Inat Kuća – House of Spite, also very close to City Hall. The story says that during the rule of Austria-Hungary monarchy, the Habsburgs wanted to build City Hall and by that to demolish the very same house, but the owner was against that and house was moved to the other side of the river in its original form. Brick by brick, stone by stone. 🙂
Spite House
Nowadays a restaurant, one can eat local food like čevapčići with kajmak (Bosnia and Herzegowina were under Ottoman rule long time, thereby muslim religion left huge impact, as well on the food and beverage habits) or burek – no pork meal.
Čevapčići with kajmak
Burek with yoghurt
Oe of the fascinating sites in Sarajevo is Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque built in 16th century as the largest historical mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most representative Ottoman structures in the Balkans. Being the central Sarajevan mosque since the days of its construction, today it also serves as the main congregational mosque of the Islamic community of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the Baščaršija neighborhood in the Stari Grad (Old town) municipality and, being one of main architectural monuments in the town, it is regularly visited by tourists.
Entrance to Gazi Husrev-bey MosqueGazi Husrev-bey Mosque
Especially beautiful is the fountain in the courtyard.
The fountain in the courtyard of the mosqueMy friends at fountain taking the Holy Water ❤
Gazi Husrev-bey Mosque was the first mosque in the world to receive electricity and electric illumination in 1898 during the period of Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Another museum that I need to stress out it the Museum of Srebrenica. As my country of Croatia together with Bosnia and Herzegowina were attacked in 1991, on my birthday in 1995 the biggest massacre and genocide after World War II happened over muslim people in Bosnia.
More than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks, mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica were killed during the Bosnian War. The 16 years old boy’s boes were found in 4 different mass graves.
Nowadays, the happenig is discussed at International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), located in the Hague, as a crime under international law.
In 2005, Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations (who failed to protect) described the mass murder as the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War.
Inside the Museum of Srebrenica massacreMirror in the elevator of Museum
Once you get Sarajevo, the city where the Western & Eastern Roman Empire split; where the people of the Roman Catholic west, Eastern Orthodox east and the Ottoman south, met, lived and warred – and nowadays live again together – I suggest you the climb the hills of Sarajevo and visit the fort Bijela Tabija (White Fortress).
Bijela Tabija
It is an old fort overlooking the historic core of Sarajevo and a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The forthress was built in 16th century as eastern natural entrance to Sarajevo.
From there you can visit some of the coffee places and enjoy the view. You may re-think about Sarajevo as an example of historical turbulence and the clash of civilizations, as well as a beacon of hope for peace and tolerance through multi-cultural integration.
It’s an interesting city with a horrific history. We visited Sarajevo last summer on our way from Croatia …we stopped in Mostar and then spent two days in Sarajevo, I especially enjoyed the museums.
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It’s an interesting city with a horrific history. We visited Sarajevo last summer on our way from Croatia …we stopped in Mostar and then spent two days in Sarajevo, I especially enjoyed the museums.
Tadeja
http://www.happynami.com
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Yet again, I love your blog posts. Would love to visit at some stage.
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Your post is so informative and I love all the pictures. I hope I get to visit these places one day.
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This is place is so lovely. I would love to visit one day. It seems like it has great things to see.
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Sarajevo is so beautiful! I could spend hours strolling around and checking out all those shops.
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I would love to visit Sarajevo one day. One of my families at work is from Sarajevo.
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of course like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on quite a
few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues
and I to find it very troublesome to tell the reality on the other hand
I’ll definitely come again again.
LikeLike
I seriously love your blog.. Very nice colors & theme. Did you create this web site yourself? Please reply back as I’m trying to create my very own website and want to learn where you got this from or just what the theme is named. Appreciate it!
LikeLike
May I simply say what a comfort to uncover somebody who really knows what they’re discussing over the internet. You actually realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More and more people have to read this and understand this side of the story. I was surprised that you aren’t more popular given that you definitely have the gift.
LikeLike