Belgrade – Sarajevo

May 17

I booked a minibus transfer from Belgrade to Sarajevo because it seemed like the easiest way to get to Sarajevo and wasn’t terribly expensive. I had told the operator that I wanted to leave between 9 and 10 when they asked my preference but then they told me to be ready at 8 >_< I was able to get up and get ready though and the bus came just a couple minutes past 8. The bus held 8 people and we ended up full. The bus was comfortable so I’m happy with my decision. We stopped about 2.5 hours after they picked me up for a coffee break apparently (the driver never spoke English again after he picked me up- even though 3 of us on the bus didn’t speak Serbian and he could obviously speak English). We were there for about 30 minutes and most of the people got a coffee in the cafe. Then we were back on the road and a few hours later arrived at the Serbia-Bosnia and Herzegovina border. The border crossing was uneventful except that it took me like 7 minutes to find my passport and part of me was freaking out. But I found it and all was good. The drive from the border to Sarajevo is beyond beautiful! There’s all these huge green hills and in the valley is a very blue river.

I was the third dropped off in Sarajevo. The whole journey took almost 8 hours so I was exhausted and starving. I checked into my hostel and rested for a while then went and got food. I couldn’t find the place the hostel recommended at first, so the place I decided on said “pizzeria” on the awning, but apparently they only had ice cream. I had already ordered a drink at this point so I ordered a scoop of ice cream cuz why not? Then I headed out to find actual food. I was able to find the recommended place and it was so good! It’s a tiny little place- 2 or 3 tables inside and 3 outside and the lady’s working is the waitress and cook. I had chicken soup (it ended up being curryish) and chicken in a roasted red pepper sauce. Both were so delicious!!

After dinner I walked around Sarajevo and fell in love! The city is so beautiful and is really a meeting of cultures. The influences of Ottoman and Austrian-Hungarian empires are both easily seen throughout the city. It’s situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful green hills (really great for beauty, really bad for war as you’ll read).

I called it a night early as I wanted to shower and get to bed since I had booked a 9am Sarajevo War tour!