Today we got out of the apartment after a pretty glunky, rainy and cool day yesterday. We took a taxi to the nicest and biggest hardware Home Depot-like store we have ever seen. The name of the store is Penny plus. The size and selection was unreal. It's easy to fall into the stereotypes of thinking this is a backward country and won't have nice stores, but once again, our ethnocentricities proved us wrong! I needed a few trinkets to better secure the motorcycle side cases, plus it was a good excuse to check out a hardware store - and we're glad we did. Right next door was a massive grocery store also that Susie enjoyed walking around in.
We grabbed a coffee in the touristy market area called Baščaršija. We visited here during our trip in 2018 and it seemed more crowded with more vendors. We walked around, dodging rain, and had lunch.
We then walked to the War Childhood Museum. It was pretty sobering and impressive. It was designed with over 40 objects and related written descriptions by people who were children during the war. The written pieces were very personal describing what it was like being a kid during the war and the meaning of the item they chose to display in the museum. The next stop was the Siege of Sarajevo Museum. It contained displays of very specific items like desks, weapons, clothes and posters related to the war. I started getting overloaded plus the written descriptions were in English, which was nice, but they were too long and difficult to fully grasp.
Later, we grabbed another coffee in a very high-scale outdoor mall and people-watched. After the coffee, and probably due to the caffeine, we decided to walk the nearly 1.5 miles back to our apartment. Before heading up to our flat, we stopped at the corner bakery and picked up a few dessert items. I installed the hardware I bought earlier to secure the side cases and then collapsed in our apartment.
One thing we have observed on this trip, compared with our trip here in 2018, is that the language seems to be more of a barrier. I think this might partly be due to where we are staying. In 2018 we stayed in a hotel which tends to attract people who speak English plus the staff in the hotels generally speak English. During this trip, we are staying in an Airbnb located in a working class neighborhood. All of the people we run into around here, including in the stores, don't speak English, which makes sense. This tends to make everything take longer and be more frustrating at times. I am constantly reminding myself that I am a visitor in their country and I should not expect anyone to speak English, if anything, I should speak Bosnian, which I'm afraid is not going to happen.
Susie checking out the Penny plus hardware store.
One of the many shops in the market
I bought a variety package of these Bosnian sweets. The chocolate ones are my favorite.
Trying to get fancy and take a self-portrait in a mirror while Susie checks out the beautiful fabrics and clothes
Our ticket to enter the War Childhood Museum.
It's kind of hard to tell, but this map shows the location of the Serbs in the hills surrounding the mostly Muslim residents of Sarajevo during the war
This is a typical display in the War Childhood Museum with a personal item displayed in front of a personal story written by the person, then child, who contributed the item.
One of the personal stories. Some of them were heart-wrenching.
A display of food distributed during the war by Western countries, including the infamous Canned Beef.
A very upscale part of town near where Susie and I grabbed a coffee.
Susie tying her shoe on the banks of the fast flowing Miljacka River at high stage due to the rains.
Baklava!!
ReplyDeleteYeah Terry speak Bosnian,
What's the Matta with you
Hvala.
Delete