Sometimes on a trip you encounter a place that surprises you, changes your perspective and reminds you how fortunate we are as Americans. To me that city was Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia that was ruthlessly shelled and assaulted for more than three years. While I attended high school from 1992-95 worrying about friends, girls, grades and typical teenage stuff the residents of Sarajevo were struggling for their lives.
Sarajevo represents modern paradox. It's incredibly beautiful, blessed with what we would call in the United States a great "quality of life". It has a beautiful skyline, historic architecture, wondrous natural resources and diverse culture. And while it has many attributes working in it's favor it has one of the most painful histories of recent times.
The city's demise i n the mid 90's was due to the differences in religion between the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian (Serb) Orthodox Christians, and the Bosnian (Croat) Catholics. These differences were fulled by Slobodan Milosevic's ultra nationalism and the Serbian controlled military. The fault line between these three religions split through the center of Sarajevo.
T. Sherman (civil war general) once said,"war is hell" and one that visits Sarajevo will undeniably agree that that is an understatement. Imagine being a civilian in Sarajevo and being literally fired upon day and night for over three years! The daily ritual of getting to work, getting food and supplies turned into a constant struggle for survival.
Despite the fairly recent turmoil, Sarajevo is a special city in that you can feel an overwhelming sense of energy. The cafes are full of people enjoying espresso and the streets are bustling with activity. From the central square to the back alleys the vibe was upbeat and positive. Granted the bullet holes and cemeteries, with hundreds of graves all marked with similar dates of death, have left a scar on the city but it seemed from an outsider point of view that many of the locals have moved on and have begun to rebuild their beloved city. It's hard to describe but I am excited and optimistic that a city that suffered tremendously in the 90's will be one of Europe's premier places to visit in the years to come. There is no place in Europe where you can go to an Orthodox church, a Catholic church and Mosque all within 5 minutes of each other.
If you get a chance, come and see Sarajevo before it becomes trendy and mass tourism takes over. I promise you, you will not regret it.
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