Sarajevo travel blog - Part 2 ⋆ BLOCAL blog

Shatro Graffiti Shop, Sarajevo

Today has been the day when I discovered how nice, welcoming and really kind Bosnian people are, starting from the waitress at the Shatro graffiti shop (where I stopped to thank them for helping me planning my graffiti hunt in Sarajevo) who gave me as a gift a cd by a friend of them who passed away very young.

Shatro Graffiti Shop, Sarajevo

From the graffiti shop I went to the Ashkenazi Synagogue, which was closed, and I walked through Skenderija heading to the Contemporary Art Museum Ars Aevi, which was closed too, as well as several art galleries nearby that I wanted to visit. Anyway on some doors it was written they will re-open tomorrow, so I’ll try to come back, while unfortunately the Academy of Fine Arts, which I was really looking forward to visit, will re-open on January 6^th: too bad!

Sarajevo

Ashkenazi Synagogue, Sarajevo

Sarajevo | Graffiti

Academy of Fine Arts hidden treasure, Sarajevo

Sarajevo | Graffiti

Sarajevo

And so I went to the Jewish Cemetery in Kovačići, the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe after the one in Prague. It holds the tombstones of Bosnia’s Sephardi Jews (which differ in form and in the motifs they bear from Jewish tombstones in other parts of the world) and a monument to the victims of fascist terror by Jahiel Finci erected in 1952. Opened in 1630, it was closed to further burials in 1966 and now it is supervised by a herd of stray dogs that I found quite intimidating at fist, but it turned out they couldn’t care less about my presence. The walk across the cemetery was very striking, partly thanks to that kind of decaying charm only Jewish cemeteries with their tombstones one upon another can have and partly thanks to the breath-taking view over Sarajevo roofs from the Kovačići hill. There was not a living soul in sight (ahahah!) and in front of me the whole town was slightly covered with a definitely romantic fog.

view from the Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo

Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo

Back downtown, I had a coffee at Imperijal, which is an old, smoky and thus very Bosnian cafeteria on Maršala Tita, and I visited the Serb Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the Balkans.

Sarajevo | Graffiti

Sarajevo

Serb Orthodox Cathedral, Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Bascarsija Mosque, Sarajevo

Sarajevo

For lunch I went at the Buregdzinica Bosna, a place recommended by locals for its tasty pita; I had one with cheese and it was really delicious! By the way, I really love the dishes they use at all restaurants in Baščaršija, I wonder where can I buy them without spending a fortune (‘cause the Turkish bazar is really very touristy, therefore expensive).

Buregdzinica Bosna, Sarajevo

In the afternoon I met with Darijana, a friend from the Couchsurfing website, and we went admiring the sunset from the Žuta Tabija (yellow bastion) in Jekovac, another great panoramic viewpoint to enjoy Sarajevo from above. While we were there, I heard the Ezan and it was even more touching than yesterday, ‘cause from the yellow bastion you can see so many minarets cropping up everywhere (Darijana told me that there are more than 150 mosques in Sarajevo and you won’t see less than 10 mosques from whatever angle you are looking at the town).

Kovaci Muslim Cemetery, Sarajevo

Sarajevo from Žuta Tabija

Going downtown for a beer, we kept chatting about Sarajevo, Rome, Bosnia and Italy and I really enjoyed the conversation, discovering so many interesting things about Sarajevo, but most of all getting to know a very nice and funny girl who was really the hell of a guide and showed me many beautiful corners of its town.

Student Club, Sarajevo

After saying goodbye (at a bus station on a street full of second hand shops where I mean to come back tomorrow!), I stopped for a coffee at the Student Club, a very nice café with many comic books all around the place. There I met a Bosnian couple, we chatted a bit and –as I was getting hungry- I asked if they knew some good traditional restaurant nearby; they didn’t, but the guy was so kind to call his mother to ask. So sweet! They even offered me the coffee and I promised them, once in Rome, I will send them a postcard to add to the many that trick up the walls of this very colourful café.

Back in Baščaršija, I went eat at Nanina Kuhinja, a small restaurant with a Turkish atmosphere. Here I ordered a traditional dish that Darijana recommended me to try: stuffed onions, stuffed peppers and stuffed zucchini with a spicy tomato sauce: it was delicious, the perfect ending of such a beautiful day!