A couple of days of visiting having crossed into Serbia but not a real walk – some interesting visits so worth a mention.
The 18th May started with crossing into Serbia and visiting Mileseva, a 13th C orthodox monastery, known for its depiction of the white Angel visiting the grave of Christ.
Next we continued on until we reached Sirogojno an open air museum of typical 19th C wooden buildings that would typically be grouped to represent family life. Some are also set aside for accommodation.
Having visited a knitting museum with some wonderful designs we drove to Mokra Gora- wet mountain where we were catching a train. The track once ran from Sarajevo to Belgrade but has for the last twenty years been restructured as a 15 kilometre length of track which travels steeply up the mountain in a figure of eight through 22 tunnels and covering an actual distance of only 3.5 km! On the way back we stopped to take photos.
Our night’s sleep was to be spent at a wooden village constructed by the director Emir Kusturica for the film ‘Life is a Miracle’
The next day 20th we set off for Sarajevo – the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina. We stopped first at Visegrad which is on the Drina River – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – built by the Turks and mention in literature as well as seeing atrocities in the most recent war.
Arriving in Sarajevo we firstly followed a walking tour which took us to important sites. Again an old city that has a real mix of religious beliefs. As the city started there was one mosque for each 40 houses. There are still many to see although we did not go into any. We were taken down the street of the copper workers where we could see examples of coffee pots and other typical Bosnian tableware. We were able to see the City Hall which had been badly damaged during the war in the early 90’s but since repaired. We also visited the Roman Catholic Cathedral and the main Serbian Orthodox Church. Before the Second World War there was also a Jewish Community most of whom had fled originally from Spain and Portugal.
Another special site was the point next to the river where Arch Duke Ferdinand was shot in June 1914, prompting the start of the First World War. We also saw the divide between East and West – the influence of the Ottoman Empire in the oldest part of the city and then the Art Nouveau architecture influenced by the Austro Hungarian Empire. For all these countries an ever changing influence.
The tour finished about 16.30 and some were keen to set off back to the hotel. There was an arrangement to meet by the water fountain at 19.00 so myself and a fellow member of the group, Jackie, decided to go up on the cable car to the mountain which was used for the bob sleigh during the 1984 Winter Olympics. So we retraced our footsteps from the end of the tour and set off, we hoped in the right direction! A long ride up taking about 15 minutes, with ever revealing views over the city. We didn’t explore further than the terrace cafe, a cup of tea and a cookie! When we asked for tea we were presented with a basket of tea bags, of every flavour imaginable and we had to choose, took a while to find black tea! No milk in evidence! On the way down, quite a phenomenon – we could hear bird song through the gondola and crickets!
Meeting some of the others by the water fountain, we set of for a meal, we found somewhere who kindly rearranged tables out on the street for the eight of us present and we were well looked after. A steep climb up to the hotel to end our evening. Of the 9 km covered that day at least 7.5 must have been in Sarajevo.
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 