Sarajevo, the city unafraid to show its scars

'Objectively, Paris is the most beautiful city in the world, and nothing in Sarajevo can be compared to Paris, but my heart never trembles in Paris like it does here in Sarajevo, when I wait in line at the post office- Goran Bregović

The ease to travel all over the world means business trips can be taken to our heart's content. Airplanes are packed with people dressed in suits, who type furiously away at their laptops to complete an important presentation or to book escorts for a night on the town (saw that recently; hilarious). They wait impatiently for the time when they can turn off flight mode on their electronic devices and make important business calls to prospective partners or colleagues. It's a strange life, and recently this humble blogger had the chance to become one of them.

The software company where the curator of 'Absolute Shambles' spends his days have their Quality Assurance team based out of the head office in Surrey. It isn't down the road in Guildford (obviously, since you wouldn't fly to Guildford), across the pond in Washington D.C. or on the other side of the world in Australia or China. Nope, the QA team operate out of Sarajevo. Surprising, right? It seems like a strange place to base this important part of the company, but that's all down to mergers and all that. When you realise that the Duty Free in Sarajevo International Airport is about the size of the WHSmith in Heathrow Terminal 2, it makes this whole business trip seem even more bizarre.

Snow just enhanced the beauty of Sarajevo

The capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina is where the product is vigorously tested in order to make sure it is somewhat operational. Due to the company's desire to make sure that employees from both the UK and Bosnia have the chance to visit their colleagues on the other side of the continent, one of the newer team members was shipped out to Sarajevo to not only witness how the QA team operated, but also explore a city still recovering from a brutal siege. For three years, the city was surrounded on all sides by hostile forces camped out in the mountains and hills around Sarajevo.

As part of the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s/ early 2000s, the Bosnian War (1992-1995) was just one of the conflicts that erupted as Yugoslavia began to break apart. With nations like Croatia declaring their independence, Bosnia and Herzegovina followed suit in 1992 and drew the wrath of Serbia, desperate to keep the communist nation alive. Ethnic Bosnian Serbs rose up in defiance of this newly independent nation, yet this became more than a war for freedom. Religion and ethnicity became a primary focus of the war, and what followed was yet another case of genocide.

Trapped in a deadly snare of bombardment

The Balkan region has been controlled by various empires throughout history, such as the powerful Ottomans and the ambitious Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Imperial Russia also set their sights on this part of Eastern Europe, meaning that the Balkans became a mix of Muslims and Christians of both the Catholic and Orthodox faiths. Judaism was also prevalent here as Jews escaped the persecution that pursued them across the continent. When war broke out in 1992, Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims') were targeted in order to achieve the goal of a 'pure Serbia' that the Republika Srpska desired. Bosnian Serbs turned on their fellow countrymen and carried out heinous crimes in places like Srebrenica, where over 8000 Bosniaks lost their lives. Religious sites were destroyed, families were forced out of their homes and thousands fled their homes to escape the tide of hatred.

Standard equipment of the Serb Volunteer Guard 'Tigers'

This dark passage of history is important to understanding Sarajevo, and regular readers know how important history is here at 'Absolute Shambles'. There is a piece of history around every corner, especially if you find yourself at the infamous Latin Bridge. In 1914, the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip and subsequently kicked off the First World War (cutting a long story short here). During the Second World War, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia defied pressure from Nazi Germany and refused to side with them, prompting a mass invasion in 1941. The partisan campaign that sprung from this occupation gave rise to Josip Tito, who would lead the communist nation of Yugoslavia from 1945-1980. Just don't call him a dictator though; it's the wrong way to describe him, apparently. The Eternal flame that burns in the centre of the city commemorates the sacrifice of the Yugoslav nationals who fought against fascism in order to preserve their sovereignty.

Is it bad that I had 'Eternal Flame' stuck in my head?

History and culture always play a part in any capital city, and Sarajevo makes it known that this is one that embraces it. Every neighbourhood and street is a pattern of mosques, churches and synagogues that cater to the needs of the Bosnian faithful. These structures are beautiful and certainly do justice to the idea that Sarajevo is the 'Jerusalem of Europe'. Outside of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, a monument to Pope John Paul II stands in tribute to the former head of the Catholic Church. The Emperor's Mosque, the first to be built when the Ottomans conquered Bosnia, is the largest mosque in the country and is under repair after the damaging conflicts of the 20th century. On the slopes of the Trebević mountain, the Old Jewish Cemetery looks down on Sarajevo and provides visitors with an ambient and peaceful view of the city. Having stumbled upon this by complete accident, this hidden gem quickly became a favourite.

This is the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe

'Meaty' is the perfect way to describe a Bosnian menu, as their diet revolves heavily around the cuttings of our favourite farmyard animals. Vegetables and salads are available (thank God), but their love of meat puts anything green firmly on the other side of the plate. It's not a travesty though, except if you were a vegetarian and had to squint furiously at the menu for something you could actually eat. The sizeable platters of meat will bring joy to the carnivores among us, with the servers happy to comply with any requests for that weird leafy stuff that your dinner had been eating only yesterday. If you're looking for something good, 'Absolute Shambles' would recommend:

• Mala Kuhinja- that walk up the hill is worth it for the selection of meats available
• Restoran Amerikanac- steak is a specialty here, but make sure you're not confusing the McDonald's next door as the 'American restaurant' your co-worker keeps going on about
• Žara iz duvara (The Singing Nettle)- one of the only vegetarian friendly restaurants in the whole city, who are always welcoming to weary travellers desperate for coffee and a large plate of meat and vegetables

Ben the VIP

Capital cities are always a marvellous blend of old and new. Amongst the skyscrapers and office blocks that dominate the London skyline, there is still room for iconic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and St Paul's Cathedral. The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, another city explored thoroughly earlier this year, serves not just as a tribute to France's military victories, but also acts as a roundabout for the manic drivers that populate Paris. Sarajevo, thankfully, is no different to the 'leading' capital cities of the world. The incredible mix of architecture that has been created due to the numerous empires that have laid claim to this nation stands proudly besides the sprouting towers of glass quickly filling the city. What stood out, however, was the amount of buildings left abandoned to nature after the end of the Bosnian War in 1995.

It feels weird to say that a defining moment of experiencing Sarajevo was the number of structures left for nature to reclaim. Bullet holes remain on these deserted dwellings may look to be a sign of being unable to replace/repair these buildings, but it could easily be a more 'natural' memorial to those that died during the siege of Sarajevo. The Memorial to the Murdered Children of Besieged Sarajevo, for example, sits in Veliki Park to commemorate the young Bosnians that didn't see their city lifted from the choking siege. It's a simple but powerful memorial, yet the sight of these buildings dismembered by bullet holes evokes a feeling of reality. To see physical evidence of what transpired here in the city just over 20 years ago was a harsh lesson in the horrors of warfare.

One of many

For the museum lovers out there (we are numerous), Sarajevo does not disappoint. Next to the Latin Bridge, one can find the Museum of Sarajevo 1878-1918 which will be visited on the next trip to the city. Much like the Sarajevo Brewery museum, it is high up on the list of 'The Super Fun Museum Tour of Sarajevo'. Opposite the Murdered Children memorial was a pop up exhibition on the state of the Balkans in the early part of the 20th century, covering the formation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the steady rise of fascism threatening stability. It is, unsurprisingly, the recent war in the 1990s that dominates the museum landscape.

The bridge is worth seeing though; just watch your back...

Next to the Sacred Heart Cathedral is the Museum of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide and an exhibition centred on the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. In the space of 2 hours, the harsh reality of warfare was witnessed. The museum is curated by survivors of the Bosnian War, with testimonies and stories dotted on the walls to blend in with the chilling exhibitions on show. Items from mass graves, possessions of murdered Bosniaks and the methods used to torture captured civilians were all on show. In one room, models of the concentration camps established during the conflict are on display, made from toy soldiers and small cardboard structures. It's simple but effective.

That small shed at the back had one purpose; rape

The Srebrenica exhibition only needed one floor of an apartment block shared with a GP and hotel/casino to drum home this dark chapter in Bosnia's history. As the war began to come to a close in July 1995, over 8000 Bosniaks who lived around the town of Srebrenica were massacred as Bosnian Serbs continued their fight for a 'clean' Serbia. General Ratko Mladić oversaw the massacre and was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 2017; from the pictures on display, you could see why. No pictures were allowed to be taken (whether out of respect for the dead or because this was an independent art exhibition is unclear), but those images of body bags and mass graves won't be forgotten anytime soon. This was all in the 1990s, in a continent seen as stable after a century of strife.

To end this ramble on the Bosnian capital, it would be fitting to talk of the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum. After the work colleagues had begun their journey back to the UK, it seemed logical to head to the site of the tunnel that ran underneath the airport. Built between the neighbourhoods of Butmir and Dobrinja, it was the only lifeline to the trapped Sarajevo citizens, with the tunnel bringing in supplies from Bosnian-held territory just outside of the city. The museum can be found in the house that housed the northern entrance to the tunnel, which is another structure littered with bullet holes. Only 20 metres of tunnel is open to the public, but that's all you need. The cramped conditions, entwined with the knowledge that this was the only lifeline to Sarajevo during the siege, once again made it clear that this was hell.

Lifeline

One would laugh when seeing a fully operational garage placed under a crumbling building that could fall down at any moment, but actually it is a subtle symbol of the attitude of Sarajevo's citizens. In a way, it's similar to the 'make do and mend' mindset of the British public during the Second World War, knuckling down and going about their lives despite horrible circumstances. From a city that had hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984 to the sight of one of the tragedies of the 20th century in just under a decade is terrifying. But Sarajevo will recover, and is certainly underway with that process. The scars of the war are ever present, physically and mentally, but there is no desire to cover them up. They are there for the world to see and remind us all of what Sarajevo is; a city that suffered due to its diverse nature, but remains proud of this blend to this very day. There's a reason it stole my heart, and not just because there seems to be a limitless supply of coffee.

It's the small things in life

Ben G 😁 xo