Goodbye Sarajevo, Hello (briefly) Banja Luka

Our week in Sarajevo, BiH has come to a close and now we are in Banja Luka, BiH! I would definitely say we lived it up in Sarajevo our last few days there.  Especially since that dreaded paper was finally done we had so much more free time!  Before our last briefing with the US Embassy with went to a picture gallery commemorating Srebrenica.  This was a town that 8,000 people were massacred in just 2 days, so needless to say although this exhibit was small it was definitely powerful and moving.  We then had our briefing with the US Embassy which was one of the coolest things ever!  We were able to talk to a Foreign service officer in the Public Affairs sector aka my dream job which automatically makes this the best briefing ever!!! To finish off this awesome afternoon we went to the tallest building in Sarajevo, the Twist Tower to enjoy a drink at the top. 

Kimberly, Shelby, Zoe and I at the Café in Twist Tower

 

We also got the privilege of going on the Tunnel of Hope tour which took us on a bus tour of the city to the airport, where the tunnel goes under the airport. This tunnel was the last hope many civilians had during the siege of Sarajevo because it was the only way out of the city.  We were able to walk, (more like hunch) through about 25m. of the actual tunnel and see a museum which went into farther detail about the tunnel and the siege. 

Catherine, Me, Shelby outside of the tunnel

 

Thanks to our previous caffeine stop at the Twist Tower we were able to power through into the night where we all went to a British Pub.  This place at first literally looked like a hole in the wall and I was quite skeptic, until I saw the huge back garden to it which overlooked the entire city of Sarajevo.  Inside of this pub was some good ole acoustic karaoke.  Song books were distributed and everyone could yell out a song choice and it was basically decided by popular opinion which one would be sung next.  One of the best parts of the bar was the actual people in it.  We ended up meeting the Ambassador of Norway and many other super cool people, so overall I'd say it was a successful night out! 

                                                                  In the garden

 

 

                                                                       Me and Shelby

                                                                            Karaoke

 

This was  a great last memory of Sarajevo, and I hated having to say goodbye.  I am definitely going to miss the large packs of dogs patrolling the streets and howling next to our window every night as well as the food (never thought I'd say that) and the atmosphere of the city.  But I can already guarantee this will not be the last time I see this city. 

 

The mosque                                                    Catholic Church

 On the Latin Bridge!!!

A pack of dogs (hard to tell but there are 5 pictured here and more around the corner)

The legend of the fountain: If you drink from it you will return to Sarajevo!

BANJA LUKA

 

So once again we all piled into a bus and took another 4 hour road trip to get to Banja Luka where we will be staying two nights.  This city is definitely much smaller than the other cities we have stayed in, but it feels the most like the United States, but this could also be because we decided to eat at an Irish Pub the first night and all got burgers...But anyways tomorrow we will be heading to Mostar and from what I've heard sounds like it will be a very interesting city so I'll definitely let you guys know how that goes!