Sarajevo and food!

Having escaped Mostar alive, my first meal in Sarajevo was Italian pizza. Proper, stone baked, thin crust, Italian pizza... made by Bosnians. It was amazing! Maybe I was starving at the time, maybe I had talked it down in my mind ("it wont be as amazing as the pizza you had in Sorrento"), but it was really good! So good in fact, I returned to the restaurant a couple days later for another pizza... then a few days after that, I took a friend there for lunch! If you are ever in Sarajevo and have a hankering for some proper pizza, check out "Cheers" just off the main pedestrian street.

Delicious! My (second) veggie pizza baking in the oven.

Veggie pizza number 2. I had to stop myself before I ate the whole thing so I could snap a picture on my phone for y'all. 

Snow covered Sarajevo. Compared to Mostar, this is nothing. 

This made me think of you, Mom. 

History time! As you know (or should know...) the trigger for WWI was the assassination of Archduke  Frans Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on a visit to Sarajevo. Thus, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. It was an interesting series of events: at first a bomb was thrown at the car but exploded far behind the car. The parade was more or less stopped while Frans and his wife insisted on visiting the injured spectators in the hospital. Afterwards, they were on their way back to the castle when their driver took a wrong turn and young Gravrilo Princip (19 years old), shot the couple. The kid tried to shoot himself but the gun was wrestled from his hands before he could. He then tried to ingest cyanide but vomited the expired poison. He was seen as a hero for a long time and a marble stone with his footprints was placed on the spot where he shot the Archduke and his wife... until the Russians took over control of whats now Bosnia and moved the stone (which I think is in the museum now). On the wall of the museum is a commemorative plaque (pictured above) that says "from this place on 28 June 1914 Gravrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie". In the background of the photo, you can see the Latin bridge (which was re-named to Gravrilo Princip for a short time) which Frans and Sophie crossed in their car before being shot and killed. 

Latin bridge with the Museum and place where Gravrilo stood on the corner. 

This building was covered in shards of mirror. 

Burek... a type of "pite" or pie that is famous in this region of the world. Its originally Turkish, made of flaky dough and traditionally filled with cheese. More common fillings also include meat as well as spinach which is what I got.  

"Garage" in Croatian. 

I am amused by simple things... this is a sign that was posted on the bank door. The choice of dog in this picture... compared to the one below...

No beagles and no German shepherds :(

And no guns... just so you know. 

Sarajevo rose. Where a bomb exploded and they filled it in with red coloured paint/concrete as a type of commemorative thing. It was night time right after the gala so the colours are off but you get the idea. They are all over the side walks in Sarajevo but because of the snow, this was the first one I had seen all week. 

The gala... if you squint, you can see me near the front... there is a photographer in the front wearing orange, I am 3 rows behind him. The announcers are introducing Angelina Jolie to the stage at this point. I didn't get to see Brad at all, he was apparently really drunk so hiding back stage all night. 

A terrible dessert we tried. Bosnians LOVE it so we had to try it. I don't know what it is but tastes like sugar mixed with nut flavoring formed into a square. The texture is really odd (main reason why I dont like certain foods is because of the texture... ie cooked mushrooms but in this case that didnt matter much) and it is stomach-churningly sweet. The block we shared was huge and we each took a small taste, the rest went in the trash. 

Vuchko- mascot from the Sarajevo Olympics in 1984

This isn't Sarajevo, this is Zagreb! Its the Canadian embassy. Down the road is the massive Japanese and Brazilian embassies. Our little Canadian one has a bulletin board out front with articles about the Inuit. haha.  

Valentines Day! I totally forgot about this until I was walking back from the gym and saw this guy walking ahead of me. I love Valentines Day (pun intended)!

More hearts in Zagreb! 

I snapped this one this morning in Zagreb, Croatia. Its the first nice weekend since the massive cold snap and snow storms in Eastern Europe so the cafes have been packed all day... I also like this lady's boots but that was an after thought, not the reason why I took this picture. 

One week to the day I will be returning to Canada. I am dreading it for so many reasons but also looking forward to a few things such as friends I haven't seen in ages (my fellow "dessert" loving pal) and getting to visit the Yukon before starting back to work! 

Carnival tonight and playoff hockey game tomorrow in Croatia, yippy!

Kylie