Random Bosnian Thoughts

Sarajevo airport - a nightmare of fog and snow

When the European Union enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, put his initials on the latest EU pre-accession agreement on December 4, two other significant people were still up in the clouds.

Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, and Luis Amado, foreign minister of Portugal, the country holding the presidency of the bloc, missed the ceremony because their aircraft - along with others - was prevented by heavy fog from landing at Sarajevo's international airport.

For the same reason, the German and Spanish defence ministers, along with several dozen journalists, also missed Bosnia-Herzegovina's crossing of its political and economic Rubicon.

Aerodrom Sarajevo had 16 scheduled international and domestic flights due to depart by late afternoon, and 12 scheduled to arrive during one day the same week. Only eight of those made it out, and only five arrived.

Severe winter weather can last from November until March in this Bosnian mountain city set at 1,500ft above sea level.

In those months, Sarajevo is "a bloody nightmare to get in and out of," says a senior British army officer formerly based there.

British Airways operates direct flights to and from London Gatwick, while the other main carriers - Lufthansa, Austrian and Croatian Airlines - predominantly serve the Bosnian diaspora, 200,000 of whom live in Austria.

During the 1992-1995 war, the United Nations C-130 Hercules airlifts in and out of the besieged Bosnian capital were dubbed "Maybe Airlines" by the international press corps. Now, 14 airlines link Sarajevo to 22 destinations, handling between 800,000 and 1m passengers a year. Yet the service during the winter months remains very unreliable.

Sarajevo is surrounded by mountains on three sides, necessitating an intensely steep approach to the 2,600-metre runway. Local meteorological conditions are tricky, with the airport's valley location resulting in frequent occurrences of fog, particularly in December and January.

Landings and take-offs have to be carried out in opposite directions, and visibility remains poor in spite of recent foreign investment in runway lighting and airport-guidance systems.

As one official from an international airline in Sarajevo puts it: "This winter snow can destroy us."

In fairness, the airport coded "SJJ" has come a long way since the devastation of wartime shelling. In 2005, Airports Council International, an industry association, named Sarajevo as the best airport with fewer than 1m passengers in Europe. Nearly 470,000 passengers travelled through the airport last year, compared with 25,000 the year after the war, according to Aerodrom Sarajevo.

In the wake of the Yugoslav break-up, Sarajevo's airspace was controlled variously by neighbouring countries and Nato, with full control being given to Bosnia-Herzegovina only this year.

Now, tourism is on the rise, with 160,000 visitors entering the country from January to September this year, officials say.

Just as importantly, the airport serves substantial "transient" populations, including numerous foreigners working for international organisations and a Bosnian diaspora estimated at about 1m.

Aerodrom Sarajevo, therefore, ought to enjoy a captive market, but for the weather. Such unpredictability has placed pressure on other domestic airports to fill the subsequent gap in the market.

Several other terminals, in both of the country's separately-administered entities, are preparing to expand, partly to make up for Sarajevo's deficiencies and partly to serve different markets.

Milorad Dodik, prime minister of Republika Srpska, has overseen the refurbishment of the airport for Banja Luka, the Serb-dominated entity's administrative centre and largest city. The small international terminal reopened in November as a stopover between Belgrade and Zurich.

On the late November inaugural flight of Jugoslavenski Aerotransport, or JAT, from Banja Luka to Belgrade, the 68-seat flight carried only 10 passengers. But JAT's reactivation of the thrice-weekly service has brought new life to the diminutive airport, which began life as a landing strip for
single-engine crop-dusters in the former Yugoslavia. Mr Dodik also has plans to develop the airport at Zupci, outside Trebinje, at the southern tip of Republika Srpska. Vuk Hamovic, a British-Serb businessman who traces his roots to the Trebinje area, is intent on investing in the new tourism airport.

Trebinje could offer low-cost flight competition for nearby Dubrovnik, funnelling tourists to the famous walled city on the Dalmatian coast.

The new Srpska-based rival airport will be conveniently situated less than 20km to the north-east of the Croatian city. The target is to have it operational in three to four years' time.

Low-cost airlines already operate to Mostar, in Federation-run central Herzegovina, primarily servicing the needs of the Catholic pilgrimage site at Medjugorje.

Sarajevo Film Festival

More than an ex-Yugoslavian showcase, the Sarajevo Film Festival has gone international. In today's Frankfurter Rundschau Bernd Buder reports from the film festival in Sarajevo, which is featuring international films and southeast European cinema: "The festival organisers have never exactly defined the 'region' which is being featured here in Sarajevo. Consequently they need not operate with the pejoratively loaded term 'Balkan', they can avoid diplomatic difficulties and vary the territory from which films selected for competition come. This year Greece, Cyprus and Turkey are also included. Many film critics, who consider the festival a showcase of ex-Yugoslavian cinema, at first regretted the decision. Yet it paid off: from the films in official competition, three were from Turkey."

Back to Sarajevo

For the - most likely - last but one presentation in my Bosnian project. Showing new colleagues the old town - Latinska Cuprija is especially beautiful at night - I came across the city's newest curiosity, and what strange form of serendipity: just at the right time:

Just where Latinska Cuprija leads towards the old town, at the corner of what is now Obala Kulina Bana and Ulica Kundzurdziluk, Gavrilo Princip, am ethnic Serb, assassinated the Austrian crown prince Franz Ferdinand, an event that led to the outbreak of World War One.

He did this exactly 93 years ago, on June 28th, 1914. And just today, at this very place, I came across something that shows a ray of hope:

Gavrilo Princip used to be a big hero in Yugoslavia and had streets named after him all over the place - Latinska Cuprija was called Princip Bridge until 1995 - but being a Serb nationalist he was not too popular in Bosnia after the war and there was hardly any trace left of the momentous event.

The street's names have been changed and after they finished rebuilding the Gavrilo Princip bridge that was destroyed in the recent war the name was changed to Latin Bridge. A little museum at the corner, once dedicated to Princip and his fellow plotters, was closed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war: Princip had to go—Bosnian Muslims and Croats saw him as a Serbian hero. In a city full of painful history it's just one more thing one wanted to forget about.

Lo and behold: Only a few days ago it finally reopened, reborn as the 1878-1918 gallery of the Sarajevo Museum, containing artefacts to do generally with Bosnia's occupation under the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The museum's vicissitudes reflect the city's ambiguous and ever-changing relationship with its own past. In 1917 the Austro-Hungarians erected a giant monument at the assassination site. Nearly two years later it was ripped down by the new Yugoslav authorities—though strangely a large central medallion from the monument, bearing the image of Franz Ferdinand and his wife, survives to this day in the basement of another Sarajevo gallery.

And tonight, walking by, I saw it: nicely done, with multimedia presentations and all the bells and whistles one would like to  see (see vid below). A little step for tourism, a big step for Bosnia.

 

Dorada at Fellini's

How to spend a thoroughly enjoyable evening in Sarajevo?

That's easy: meet some good friends whom you have not seen for quite a while, join them with your nicest colleagues and go to a decent place to have dinner.

To the Restoran Fellini, for example.

Not only do you get the nicest selection of Italian wines outside Italy, but also the best Bosnia-Hercegovina's vineyards have to offer.

And we were even more lucky: just today some fresh Dorade (sea bass) had arrived, excellent Mediterranean fish directly from the Adriatic.

And how to find the place? Well, every cabdriver in Sarajevo worth his (or her) salt should know it. Don't give them the address: Branilaca Sarajevo 5. Because nobody in Sarajevo knows where to find Branilaca Sarajevo.

But everybody knows where the Bosnian Cultural Center, the headquarters of the Sarajevo Film Festival is. Go there. The restaurant is just opposite, on the other side of the street.

Good luck and enjoy!

The famous beer-drinking bear from Usora

When we went to Sarajevo today in the afternoon, we briefly stopped in the region of Usora. There is nothing much to mention about this region, except:

It is the home of Bosnia's famous beer drinking bear (see vid below). The bear came to the family of the proprietors of a small cafe when he was just a cub (his mother - remember Bambi! - killed). The family nursed him, obviously on beer.

And he is fond of beer. Very much so. Especially of Banja Luka's Nektar. Must be a Serbian bear, after all.

 

 

Enjoy life­, Bosnia and Herzegovina

               
 

Above you see this year's tourism spot that until very recently aired on CNN. And although there was some criticism that one simply cannot show Bosnia without cevapi, it was a beautiful and - according to tourism authorities - quite successful one. It was produced with substantial support from USAID, the US Government Support Agency, and it was cancelled last week with support from the Bosnian Government - a substantial lack of funds mysteriously occurred. Well, too bad indeed... But you can still see it on this page and numerous other ones on the web.

Sarajevo - back from the brink

According to an article recently published in the Guardian, a day in Sarajevo can be the most interactive, inadvertent history lesson you'll ever have.

And on it goes: The conspicuous absence of top-end tourist development makes Sarajevo a unique destination for backpackers - culturally and historically as fascinating as Berlin, just without the PR. Beyond the cheap prices, the combination of Ottoman, Austrian, Slavic, Muslim, Orthodox and Bosnian culture in one city makes Sarajevo a good deal.

And of course the Guardian is right. Unfortunately in all points... Still, if you have not ever before been to Sarajevo, read the article. It is a very good introduction.

Bijeljina to build cabbage monument

Finally, it seems, calmer times in this region have appeared:

Authorities in the eastern Bosnian town of Bijeljina, well known for the Semberija Folk Fest, plan to build a giant monument to the cabbage to honor their most important produce.

Cabbage is a favorite winter staple in the Balkans, cooked or pickled in a variety of ways to deliver precious vitamin C through the dark months. "Our region is famous for cabbage. We very much appreciate this vegetable," said Goran Perić, the director of the tourist association in the north-eastern town of Bijeljina.

Perić said the monument to the humble plant would be erected in time for the next Cabbage-Fest, traditionally held in November. "We shall all support this idea," he told Reuters. Bijeljina cabbage used to sell across the former Yugoslav federation but lost its market after Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia declared independence and war broke out.

Dragons and Dervishes

If one travels to Mostar on a beautiful, sunny, amid VERY hot Sunday, one should definitely make a short detour - it is well worth it:

We set off for the largest karst spring in Europe, Izvor Buna at Blagaj. From Mostar you take the Dubrovnik road, and turn off towards Nevesinje. Keep straight on past the airfield towards Blagaj, straight through the village, and park beside the trout farm. The cave is a few meters beyond this.

The village of Blagaj, 15km south of Mostar, made for an easy and enjoyable half-day excursion. The main attraction is the above described source of the River Buna, in a a large cavern at the bottom of a cliff, and meanwhile an officially recognised National Monument. Thousands of birds dart to and fro across the mouth of the cave. Right beside the source a tekke (Dervish monastery) is open to visitors. This is a popular spot for locals and there are several restaurants and cafes along the river. The best one is the "Norwegian Fishery", close to a fish farm set up by - you guessed it! - Norwegians. Devout ones can have pancakes with "smoked Salomon" here, as you can see on the pic' to the right.

There is a legend attached to the cave. A dragon used to live there and each year he came forth to capture and devour a local maiden. One year he chose Milica, daughter of the ruler Herceg Stefan. As he was about to carry her off, a local dervish, Sari Saltuk, who was madly in love with her, leapt to her rescue and killed the dragon. Her father was so grateful he allowed the couple to marry and a Tarka or Turkish House was built on the site. The cave entrance which can be seen higher up and 300m to the right of the spring is the Green Cave where Neolithic and other remains have been found.

It was an afternoon well spent, as you can see in this gallery.

The best Italian in town...

is - what else would one expect in a city like Sarajevo? - neither Italian nor exactly in town.

Still, there are some people we work with in Sarajevo, who we really enjoy - and we hope they enjoy working with us, too.

And one of those, after another 16hrs day, showed us a really precious place:

No, you won't find it yourselves. But yes, we will give you a hint:

Close to the American Embassy, the other Alcatraz (aside from the Holiday Inn), you might find it, if you knew, where it was:

It is the Trattoria Passagio, in Trg Merhemica, and since I am sure you won't find it, I add their phone number: 066 269 725. And if that does not work: 066 276 065.

Be prepared for a rare treat.