Globalista

Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia & Herzegovina, might seem an unlikely choice for a short break. After all, mention the name and it's likely that one of only a few words - war, siege, atrocity - will spring to mind. There's certainly no denying that the city suffered horribly in the early 1990s as 5,000 shells a day were dropped on it from the Serb forces positioned in the surrounding hills, resulting in over 11,000 civilian deaths. However, that conflict finished well over a decade ago and today's Sarajevo buzzes with a renewed vitality, in part prompted by a resurgence in tourism. Most of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian buildings have been restored to their former glory. Cafés and bars in the old town are packed with guys who look surprisingly like they've stepped out of a menswear commercial, while women with legs up to their ears saunter by with a look of world-weary ennui that only the extraordinarily beautiful can get away with. The sound of the call to prayer wafts on an evening breeze from a dozen minarets, complemented by, not competing with, bells from the catholic and orthodox churches. To say that Sarajevo is a place in Europe where east meets west does sound like a cliché, but it's true. Just discover it before the crowds get there, for they surely will.

Globalista's Pick of the Press

22 March 2009 - The Independent - Welcome back to Sarajevo

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