Yeah, that just about says it all. The hostel in Sarajevo had the worst shower, bar none, in any of the hostels I’ve stayed at. The shower alternated between boiling hot and glacier cold water (air in the pipes, methinks) that made the usually relaxing activity of taking a shower an extremely tense one. In fact, to avoid scalding my more critical parts, I just decided to skip the whole showering business in the last few days and really looking forward to that 2p check in at the hostel here in Zagreb, Croatia.

Anyway. Sarajevo.

I showed up in Sarajevo not knowing what to expect at all. I had no guidebook and had done no pre-reading, although I remember hearing about it in the news when I was younger. All I knew was that the city was torn by a relatively recent war.

To this end, I found what I expected to see. Driving around Sarajevo is both refreshing and shocking. Every structure that was built prior to ‘93 and still stands is scarred with the lasting impressions of war. By this I mean buildings and homes that are pock-marked with the impact of bullets. Abandoned structures which are bombed out shells. You look at all the residents and realize that in their recent lives, they have looked in the face of war. This is a part best told by pictures, which will come soon.

Sarajevo is also the spot of some major history. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand (I hope I’m spelling this right) was assasinated on one of the bridges spanning the river that runs through Sarajevo, the event which started World War I.

While Sarajevo is scarred by war, there’s a lot that’s come up in recent years that superceed it. Sarajevo is absolutely beautiful, flanked by green hills on all sides with homes of red tiled roofs that extend up the hillsides (not too high, of course…there are still mines out there). The center of the “old town” is beautiful, walking streets through small shops and tons of cafes. The areas of Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia (which were all have similar roots) have more cafes per square meter than anywhere I’ve ever been. Most of the seating is outside. It’s absolutely fabulous to sit and watch the day go by. Although the site of the ‘84 Olympics and a big tourist destination in it’s hayday is not such a place today. While there are chunks of tourists, most of the tourists head instead to Mostar in the west, so the cafes of Sarajevo’s old town are filled with locals. My favorite. Guys should know that the women in this region of the world have a reputation that preceeds them.

Chess is extremely big in the Balkans. In Sarajevo, there was a spot in the shadow of a building where the ground had a series of alternating tiles that formed a chess board, topped by giant plastic chess pieces. Large groups of old men (sometimes more than 50!) would huddle around and would switch off playing chess all day, oohing and aahing with every move. It was so fun to watch and the players were amazing! Definitely something I need in my future back yard…

About my travel plans…they’re now set in stone. I’m taking a 7000+ mile detour from Paris and heading to Montevideo, Uruguay!

I’m currently in the Mostar, out on a day trip from Sarajevo. After leaving Montenegro on a long and windy bus ride through the hills of Bosnia (I never want to ride on a bus again…) I was rewarded by arriving on my second favorite city after Hong Kong–Sarajevo! The rooted culture of Bosnia is an interesting mix…Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and…Asian? Bosnian coffee is served in what are essentially Chinese tea cups. More on this when I get to Zagreb for the weekend and have some time to sit and write more, but I’ll proudly say I liked the place so much I bought the t-shirt!

From the “Vagabond Gone Crazy” department:

My travel itinerary is soon to out of date. I’ve decided to extend my trip by about three days and stop by an entirely different continent. The very last week of my trip I had planned to spend a week up in Scotland based on the strong recommendations from several people throughout my journey. But when I did the math on how much a week there would cost me and had my figures double-checked by a Brit, I discovered that it would run around $1000! I don’t want to cut my travels off short and I’m not feeling much desire to visit any other parts of Western Europe (I am extremely toasted going to destinations with lots of tourists, particularly Americans) so I’ve decided there’s places I’d rather go that get me more excited than Scotland for the same money or less.

I’ll write back more when it’s set in stone. But I bet some of you can guess already where I’m going.