Off and Running in Tokyo

                                   
(Original posting date 6/12/2017)

On coming to Japan, one of the greatest aspects I was looking forward too was not having to plan everything myself.  Whenever I visit a new place I like to at least have a rough idea sketched out of what I want to see and when before I even get there.  However, once in a foreign country, simple tasks that we often take for granted become significantly more difficult.  Simply getting somewhere becomes a challenge in itself and requires patience, resourcefulness, research, and quite often just looking hopelessly lost and asking a local for help.  It's part of the fun of traveling but it can also be exhausting and after stressing about due dates and deadlines at school, I was ready for a change of pace.  This trip to Japan is exactly that and requires only minimal effort as everything has been planned right down to the minute

Today was our first full day and we became very aware of the precise nature of Japanese society.  After meeting at 9:00 am sharp, our group was wisked away to begin our orientation for the rest of the trip.  At the conference room we were instructed to kill time for ten minutes even though everyone was present and ready.  It was 9:50, but the schedule had us starting at 10:00.  The welcome package we received included every piece of information we could ever hope to need and then some.  It covered everything from Japanese temple etiquette to earthquake preparedness and personal bathing instructions.  It was a lot to take in but the excitement was palpable and everyone seemed to just go along with it.

Following our orientation was a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we had a presentation and discussion with an official from the department's North America branch.  It was a very informative talk covering Japan's history as well as its role in the modern world.  Since the 20 of us are all MA students in international affairs it was obviously specially designed and there was no shortage of interesting points made and questions asked.

Later in the afternoon we took a visit to the Imperial Meiji Shrine with its expansive gardens that are more like an urban forest.  It really is an oasis of calm and nature in the heart of the urban sprawl that is Tokyo.  With over 40 million people living in the metropolitan area I'm sure it can get a little hectic at times, but with green space like this you'd hardly even know you were in a major city.

We also visited the Honda interpretive centre which featured a demonstration of Asimo, the hi-tech robot featuring the ability to talk, walk, run, balance, and even use sign language.  While seeing a piece of technology perform human tasks even better than humans are able to was a little disconcerting, I have to admit that it really was an impressive advancement.

Overall the first day and a bit have been full of surprises.  The food has been amazing, both in terms of its deliciousness as well as its shock value.  The cooked sacks of melted sticky rice with a gum-like consistency stand out in that last category.  Also catching me off guard has been some of the relatively minor cultural differences.  I found out that "air conditioning" doesn't necessarily mean cold air by waking up in the middle of the night in sweltering heat.  It was so hot in the hotel room that the heated electric toilet felt cool and refreshing by comparison.

I've also been surprised by the order that characterizes this city.  Despite its size it is entirely free of traffic jams, garbage, and the usual problems such as homelessness and crime.

After just one day Japan seems to confirm some stereotypes and completely up-end others.  I can't wait to see what else surprises me in the days ahead.


                          

Bridge to Japan

After a brief three year hiatus I felt the urge to dust off the travel blog and continue documenting my adventures and sharing my experiences.  Its not that my recent past has been mundane, in fact, the opposite is true.  In the intervening years since my last post from my exchange in Slovenia I have had the opportunity to jet off to far flung places and carry on in my ambition to see the world.  It was partly because of these not infrequent travels that made the decision to pursue a Masters degree in International Affairs come with mixed emotions.  Of course it was a necessary and exciting step towards my dream job, but it meant that time and money would have to be further diverted from my other aspirations.

So when I learned of an opportunity to travel to Japan and represent my school, on their dime, I did not have to think twice.  There was such lack of oversight in this decision that I didn't even stop to think that the trip coincided with the end of the semester; the most hectic point where even at the best of times I would have been spending countless hours in the library.  But although meeting deadlines has been a greater challenge, twenty years from now I'm not likely to remember anything about those essays I wrote.  A week in Japan on the other hand, well that's a different story.

Tomorrow I set off to Tokyo with a group of 19 others.  Ten of us from Carleton, ten from the University of Ottawa who are all graduate students in international affairs.  The trip is called the Kakehashi Project, meaning "bridge" in Japanese.  The stated goals are to promote mutual trust and understanding between the people of Japan and Canada, and to showcase Japan as a destination for travel, study, and work.  Part of the focus will be to gain an understanding of the current North Korean nuclear crisis from the perspective of Japanese people; a unique viewpoint no doubt.

Needless to say, I am excited to learn about a new place and its people and to get to know my fellow travellers, but i'm also looking forward to good sushi and to living life on the road, even if just for a while.

 My aim is to post regularly over the next ten days or so and I hope you will enjoy following along.
   

(Ex)changed Forever

"Where are you going, Slovakia?"  No, that's a completely different country.

"Sylvania?" No, that's a lightbulb.

 

Piran and the Adriatic Coast

These are some of the conversations I would have when I told people that I was going to live in Slovenia for the school year.  At the time it seemed pretty funny.  I myself didn't really have any knowledge of the little European country and wasn't the least bit surprised that most people had never heard of it.  I would vaguely describe to them how it was away between Italy and Austria and carry on without any further thought.  But now, having lived here, met the people, hiked through knee deep snow in the Alps, swam in the warm waters of the Adriatic, criss-crossed the country several times, and had so many other experiences that couldn’t possibly list them all, I have a feeling that answering these same questions will now come with a bit of a sting.

I still can’t quite comprehend how a place that just months ago was little more than a place on the map can be the setting of so many of my memories and been such a huge part of my life over the last year.  It’s equally hard for me to understand how Slovenia is not world famous.  Almost everyone around the world knows its neighbours well and yet it still seems to get forgotten, lost in the shadows of the Alps perhaps.  It’s centrally located on the continent and more akin to countries of Western Europe and yet it typically gets thrown in as part of Eastern Europe.  But no matter how much or how little people know about Slovenia, it will forever be one of my favourite places. 

The city hall and one of the main square of the Old Town

 While it is way too early to pick out what I will remember most about Ljubljana, I can already tell that some things are just simply unforgettable.  I know I will never forget the city’s stunning view of the snow-capped Alps and the feeling of being repeatedly amazed every time I caught a glimpse of them between buildings or at the end of a street.  The rocky peaks tower above the surrounding hills and seem to occupy the entire northern fringes of Ljubljana.  They are their best at sunset, when the fading evening sun illuminates them as if giant flood lights have been set up to mirror the light shining on the city’s castle.

Restaurants in the Old Town are right on the street

 I know I will never forget the history and how old everything is.  This year is the 2000^th anniversary of the founding of the Roman city of Emona on the same site; remnants of which can still be seen amongst the much newer (but still old) buildings.  Then of course there’s the castle which sits on top of the hill as a testament to the city’s medieval past and watches over the Old Town, tucked away just below it and lining the banks of the slowly ambling Ljubljanica river.  A patchwork of buildings from various centuries and in various styles, this part of the city is a largely pedestrianized area and the narrow alleyways and open squares are an obstacle course of tables and chairs set out by the many cafes, bars, and restaurants.  Wandering through these streets it’s easy to come across a church or some other building which has been there since the 13^th century or even earlier.

The main Preseren Square with a statue of Franc Preseren,
the national poet and the Franciscan Church

I know I will never forget the simple things like how the street signs not only point you in the direction of the city’s different neighbourhoods but also to other countries.   It still seems weird to me that at a traffic light you can just take a right to Croatia or a left to Austria.  I won’t forget Union beer and always arguing with some Lasko drinker about which of Slovenia’s two brews was better.  Also being able to buy them just about anywhere and enjoy them on the lawn in Kongresni Trg or sitting by the river at the “beach” (actually just concrete steps leading down to the water) with a few friends.

 Also, I’m certain I will never forget how the city and the country felt like home.  After arriving late at night at the end of some long road trip and being able to put away the maps because we already know where to go and how to get there.  Knowing which streets are One Ways and which traffic lights were particularly long.  Which streets were only for busses and knowing that you have to shoulder check because there’s more than likely someone on a bicycle beside you.  Not having to look up the bus schedule or find out which number I needed to take and how the language, even though I still don’t understand it, sounded so familiar that it was almost as if I could.  Coming ‘home’ felt particularly nice after a brutal day of hitch hiking in torrential rain from Budapest, and after ten days in the chaos and strangeness of Morocco.  It surprised me every time how this foreign city wasn’t so foreign.

Ljubljana's historic Opera House

Leaving my life in Slovenia behind truly won’t be easy, and on my last Friday the city made it that much harder to leave.  There was the weekly Open Kitchen event where the stalls from the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market are taken over local restaurants, wineries, and breweries who turn some of their specialities into street food;  people all over downtown walk around with a plate of food in one hand and a glass of beer or wine in the other.  On top of this, there were no less than ten different live bands, street theatres, entertainers and musicians playing in every corner of the Old Town, crowds of enthusiastic audiences surrounding each of them.  At six o’clock there was the Germany-France game of the World Cup and so literally every bar with a TV screen was full to capacity with rowdy ‘Football’ fans.  We had to move down our list of preferred places a couple different times before we actually found somewhere with enough room.  To cap things all off it was the end of the Ljubljana Festival which over the course of the last week had organized numerous concerts, operas, movies, and other events on a large stage in one of the main squares. 

The end result of all these events in addition to the perfect weather was that the city had a vibrancy to it the likes of which I have never seen before and I was left with the feeling that I would be perfectly happy to stay here forever.  But that, of course, isn’t realistic and while having a day like this as one of my last may make it harder to leave, it might just be the perfect way to do so.  This is the way I will remember Ljubljana and this will be what I look forward to seeing again when I come back to this city at some point in the future, whenever that may be.                                 

 

Hop Schweiz

Aside from the trains, buses, and low cost flights, another increasingly popular way to get around Europe is by rideshares or carpooling.  There are a number of different websites where people post the details of their planned routes and how much they want and with just a text or a phone call, your transportation is set.  I first heard about this system and the most popular Slovenian website when I hitch hiked to Budapest in the fall as everyone that picked us up informed us that this new system has pretty well put an end to the era of thumbing it.  I had thought about trying it out on various occasions since then but finally got around to it last week and caught a ride to Zurich, Switzerland to take advantage of Patrick's invitation to hang out with him and Marcel for the weekend.

The Zurich river front

When I thought about taking a rideshare the only scenario that I could think of was that I'd end up in the back of a 1970's Volkswagen van with some kind of travelling hippy band but, thankfully, this was not the case.  Instead, I would be going with a very normal middle aged woman on her way to visit her daughter in Bern in addition to her friend who we would drop off in Salzburg and a couple other girls who were also just taking a rideshare.  In the end everything worked out well.  We met very early in the morning and thanks to our detour through Salzburg I got to see a little more than I would have by bus or train, even if only fleetingly.   Of course, travelling in this manner is a little more unpredictable than other ways; I joke that between Salzburg and Zurich we drove Slovenian style, which means we stopped for coffee every hour.  The trip may have taken a little longer than I had anticipated but I was still in Zurich by mid afternoon and had met some interesting people in the process.

By the time I got to Zurich Patrick and Marcel were waiting for me at the train station and we headed out to check out the city.  Patrick lives and works in the nearby city of Baden so he was our host and tour guide for the weekend.  We spent the afternoon walking through the Old Town before stopping to have a beer down by lake, the name of which I still cannot properly pronounce (Zürichsee).  Zurich, and probably most of Switzerland, is a playground for the world's rich and famous.  The lake's marinas are full of expensive boats, high end cars cruise down the waterfront, and the famous Swiss watch companies have stores with prices nothing short of ridiculous.  I was going to buy a souvenir Tag Heuer but I was short by about 10,000 dollars.  But while you do feel under dressed just walking around, as I have found in almost every European city its still not hard to find people lounging in a park, enjoying a coffee at a sidewalk cafe and just generally taking things a little slower.

As the World Cup is in full swing we even took in a "Public Viewing" while in Zurich.  No, not a funeral but rather a broadcast of the games on a large TV screen in the city centre.  We watched the Germany-Ghana game and I got in the World Cup spirit and helped Patrick and Marcel cheer on their national team.  Being in a country that actually cares about soccer during the World Cup is a pretty interesting experience.  The whole city feels alive and the atmosphere is almost as if you're at a live sporting event, and as Switzerland is such an international place there were fans cheering for all sides.

Lucerne's famous bridge.

We also took a day trip to the famous mountain city of Lucerne.  Nestled amongst the snow capped peaks of the Alps and lying at the foot of a glacial lake of the same name, Lucerne is pretty much the Switzerland of everyone's imagination.  The medieval alleyways of the old town are hemmed in by the towers and turrets of the hilltop wall which marks the start of the rolling green hills surrounding the city.  Unfortunately we didn't come across any yodellers in our wanderings but I guess it'd be unrealistic to hit ALL of the stereotypes.  Still, Lucerne's backdrop looked remarkably similar to that Price is Right game.

Lucerne and area

In the end the weekend went by way too fast as has been the case with so much this past year.  It was great to catch up with Marcel and Patrick one last time before we go our separate ways until who knows when.  Patrick will continue his stay in Switzerland, while Marcel heads off to visit our friend Florentia in Mykonos, Greece before leaving to start his internship in Namibia at the end of July.  I of course still have much to look forward to; as always there remains many places to go and much to see.

We also rented a peddle boat and spent most of the time trying to see how fast we could go. 

               

May Mayday

I've recently been struck with the realization that with only one week of classes left, time to do and see the remaining things on my list is quickly running out.  Luckily though over the past few weeks I've been able to check a couple more items off.

Just as we were leaving Venice we crossed the Grand Canal on the
Rialto Bridge and came across this beautiful sunset view

Making the short trip to Venice was a priority right from the beginning and so I'm not quite sure why I didn't make it happen before now.  I guess it was partly because of the weather, I was planning on going in March during the famous Carnival but due to heavy rain the city was pretty much under water as opposed to on top of it.  Also, I just got caught up with going to far flung destinations like Morocco and Tunisia.  Anyway, I finally made it to Venice a few weeks ago along with Kyle and Pierre-Olivier, a couple other Canadians from Toronto and Montreal respectively.  We made it there by the early afternoon and were quickly amid the millions of other tourists wandering around the canals, alleyways, and piazzas.  Despite the huge crowds though it was still easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of being in such a famous and historic city.  It's been a world famous tourist destination for centuries, and rightly so.  What surprised me most, other than maybe how expensive it is, was how big it is.  We spent hours walking around and only saw a fraction of what there is to see.  You could probably spend days there, if only you could afford it.  Yes, it's expensive, yes, there's lots of people, and yes, it's totally worth it.

The weekend after that, I was off to Germany to reunite with Marcel, Julian, and Lukas who I hadn't seen since they left Ljubljana at the end of last semester.  After enduring the frustrating and somewhat embarrassing ordeal of missing my bus, my trip was finally under way although a day later than expected.  I eventually made it to Mannheim though, where Marcel welcomed me at the bus stop with beers in hand.  I spent the next couple of days with Marcel and Julian in their university home which, despite all accounts from almost every German person I've met, really was quite nice.  We also went to nearby Heidelberg which probably looks more like the Germany you imagine, with old cobbled streets and a castle on the hill.  

Patrick, Marcel, Julian, and me in Heidelberg

From there I made the short trip to Frankfurt where I spent the day with Lukas who doubled as an awesome tour guide.  He showed me the sights and the food and drink.  We sat on the banks of the Main river with some Apfelwine (leave it to the Germans to make an alcoholic apple juice), and had what must be the best schnitzel in the world.  I had always imagined Frankfurt to be a very industrial, typical big city but it proved to be a very liveable place with lots of green space and cool bars and pubs on seemingly every corner.

After that Lukas took me to his adopted home of Marburg where he goes to university.  Its a relatively small city with about 80,000 people but has a university with around 25,000 people which makes it feel like the whole city is one big campus.  Everywhere you look there's university age people sitting around drinking beer, lounging around in one of the numerous parks, canoeing down the river, playing drinking games, and just generally taking advantage of being in college.  It seemed awesome to me but I'm sure if you live there and you're not in university it would get old really fast.

The sprawling metropolis that is Frankfurt am Main

The very green city of Marburg with its castle on the hill.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Germany, what small part of the country I did see anyway.  Places like Mannheim and Marburg are ones that I would likely never go to if I didn't know people that were there so I'm glad I had the opportunity.  It was all really nice but mostly it was just cool to meet up with the guys in their own country after sharing in the experience of living in a foreign place.

As for being back in Ljubljana things are going okay, other than the odd panic attack I get when I think about all the things I still want to do before I leave, like actually write about Ljubljana for a change.   Time really has gone by way too fast, but I guess that's a good thing.

                       

Tunisia is Calling

A colourful door in Tunis

Several years ago now, Mom and Dad gave me a  book called "The Road Less Travelled."  In it are featured off the beaten path alternatives to some of the world's most popular sites and destinations, the goal being to show that  in less visited countries there are still amazing things to see and do even if they don't get the same attention as their famous counterparts.  For some reason or another, this particular book has had a great influence on me and has inspired to go to many of the places I have been and continues to help shape where I want to go in the future.  There's something about going to these less known locations that awakens the explorer in me and leaves me wanting to go further.  One of these places featured in the book captivated me a little more than the others.  Somewhere in the deserts of Tunisia in North Africa stood an ancient Roman amphitheatre to rival the Colosseum in Rome, and was perhaps even a little more impressive.  Ever since then, it was almost as if this place that had been mostly forgotten by the rest of the world,  El Jem, was calling me and I knew I had to get there.

Luckily my friend Jory, whom I met in Morocco at Christmas, shares in my sense of discovery and was actually the one who first suggested that we go to Tunisia, although I didn't have to put much thought into it before I agreed to go.  Before we knew it we were in Tunis, the capital city, and were frequently exchanging remarks like, "I can't believe we're here!".  As with many things I've done this year, setting foot on Tunisian soil went from being a lofty ambition to a reality in a scary short period of time.

One of the rooms of the Ottoman palace at the
Bardo Museum

Typically when I go to a new place I like to have at least a rough plan of what to see and do before I get there, but this time the only thing I knew I had to see was El Jem, leaving everything else wide open.  The end result of this, was that I seemed to be continually blown away with what we saw.  One of the first things that Jory and I did was go to the Bardo Museum in Tunis.  I hadn't even so much as heard of it until about a half an hour before we were there but it proved to be one of the most memorable museums I've ever seen.  Built around the former palace complex of the Ottoman governor and renovated with ultra modern extensions, the building itself is a site to behold, let alone its contents. The main attraction though are the immaculate Roman mosaics displayed on just about every inch of wall space with some whole pieces extending the full three stories of the museum.

The feeling of being impressed turned out to be a general theme of the trip as it would turn out.  The next day we headed off in search of Dougga, a ruined ancient Roman city about an hour and a half west of Tunis.  To get there, we took a 'Louage' which is basically a collective taxi van which only heads off to the specified location when its full; a funny concept and very Middle Eastern.  As we would find out later, this is not a mode of transportation taken by many tourists, but as we flew down the highway with nothing but natural AC (windows rolled down), while making frequent stops to check on the cargo of doors which were loosely strapped to the roof with binder twine, I couldn't see why not.  Most importantly though, we made it to Dougga and were left to explore the site virtually on our own.

From the top of the theatre at Dougga

Other than Italy itself, the area of modern day Tunisia was among the first to be taken over by the Romans well over 2000 years ago, and was also part of the empire even after Rome had fallen.  As a result, there are ruins of large, wealthy cities just like Dougga scattered throughout the country.  I had always imagined Tunisia to be completely Sahara-like desert, but as you can see, the to the west of Tunis is surprisingly green.  We had a bit of an issue getting back to Tunis though.  Our plan of taking the bus back fell through when it unexpectedly left half an hour early leaving us, and several locals, stranded.  We eventually found another way but of course it was considerably more expensive and involved us playing an integral role in bribing a police officer.  Not exactly a recommended way to travel, but its not as though I'm writing this from a Tunisian prison.  

Sidi Bou Said

Our trip wasn't all ancient history either.  We took a trip to the Tunis suburb of Sidi Bou Said with its white washed buildings and expansive Mediterranean views, and spent a couple nights in the more resort oriented and touristy Sousse.  This part of Tunisia is a popular holiday destination, particularly with people from Eastern Europe and Russia so it has a very different feel to it than Tunis, where it felt like we were the only foreigners.  I still didn't feel bad going for beers at the Wild West Saloon though.

The core of Sousse is the medina.  One of those old, tightly packed warrens of maze like streets and buildings, at the centre of which is the souk.  Nowadays its mostly souvenirs that are sold there but even just taking a few steps off the main path is like going back in time.  Butcher shops hang skinned goats out front, sacks of colourful spices crowd the walkway, people sit around and drink tea and smoke ALL day.  Its really cool to see and you get the sense that nothing has really changed since, well, ever.

View across the medina of Sousse

And of course, we made the short trek from Sousse to El Jem to see the Roman amphitheatre.  As we walked out of the train station in the small backwater town I wasn't quite sure which direction we needed to go.  I began to climb up the steps of a pedestrian bridge but I didn't have to go that high before I saw it.  Towering above the small single story buildings of the town and the desert that surrounds it, the ancient stadium dominates the skyline in much the same way that it would have almost 2000 years ago.  Its remarkably well preserved due to the hot dry air and so its not hard to imagine it as it used to be; filled to capacity with 35,000 spectators watching gladiators fight and people being fed to lions.  Unlike the Colosseum in Rome, you can walk along the highest level and down below the floor where the slaves and animals were kept in their cells.  It was definitely worth the hype I had attributed to it and what's more, I got to see for my own eyes a place I had imagined for years.

The outside of the amphitheatre

This time last year as I was writing an essay on the Arab Spring, which was sparked by the revolution in Tunisia in 2011, it seemed as though I might never get to Tunisia and I definitely would have never imagined that I would be there just a year later.  Of course, the country is pretty well back to normal now, aside from a light military presence and the odd space blocked off with razor-wire.  But much in the same way that I was surprised to be there, the country itself continually surprised me.  On the one hand, Tunis is probably the dirtiest city I've ever been to; a layer of garbage chokes the streets every night but is magically cleaned up by morning.  Yet still, there was something about it that let me see beyond the trash and still be able to enjoy the city.  Maybe it was the friendly people and their laid back attitude or maybe it was just sheer excitement on my part.  Either way, when you're on the road less travelled you take the good with the bad and just keep exploring.

                                                   

Where the East Actually Meets the West

The term, "East meets West" seems to get thrown around a lot these days.  I hear it everywhere I go.  I heard it when I was in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and I heard it used to describe Budapest, Hungary.  The term was even used as far West as Morocco in describing French architecture in Fes, and its certainly been used to explain Slovenia's location on the fringes of central Europe.  I've heard it used so many times that its tough to discern where the West actually ends and where the East might begin.  But in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital and my most recent destination, not only does East meet West but North meets South, old meets new, and worlds collide.

Our rental car was slightly better than this.

Getting there proved to be a bit of a challenge.  Five of us left Friday afternoon in our rented Opel Corsa and in no time we had driven through most of Slovenia and across Croatia and were waiting in line at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Distance wise, it was the halfway point between Ljubljana and Sarajevo but as it would turn out, only a fraction of the total driving time.  Once we got into Bosnia the network of new, well laid out highways that span across Croatia and Slovenia felt as though they were a world away.  Virtually from here on out it was twisty two lane mountain roads with an average speed limit of 60km/hr with road signs that point you off in one direction only to leave you hanging at the next intersection.  On top of all this, I was following the Google maps directions on my phone which had me driving through increasingly remote villages on ever quieter side roads.  I finally lost all confidence in the directions when they instructed me to make a sharp turn up what looked more like a dry river bed than an actual road.  After consulting an actual printed map we managed to get on the right track, only it wasn't the end of our worries.

Driving through a town about 150km out of Sarajevo I had about a quarter of a tank of gas left which, according to the "Range Calculator" on the dashboard would be good for 250km so I wasn't worried.  But just as we left the city the terrible mountain road finally gave way to a brand new highway complete with a 130km/hr speed limit and since it was almost midnight at this point we had it all to ourselves.  As we made our way through the night the gas gage began to move at an alarming rate and soon the low fuel light came on, then it began to blink, then a warning came on the LCD screen "Refuel Now".  While everyone else in the car was sleeping I was quietly panicking as we went further and further without seeing a gas station and the thought of being stuck on the highway in the middle of the night became an ever more realistic possibility.  Finally, I saw a gas station up ahead but as I pulled in it was obvious that it was closed.  With the gas gage as low as it could possibly go, I began to coast my way down the highway, just waiting for the engine to die at any second.  Thankfully, like a light at the end of the tunnel, the outskirts of Sarajevo came into view and we soon limped into an open gas station, relieved and white knuckled.

Luckily, it didn't take long for Sarajevo to prove it was worth the stress of getting there.  Unlike anywhere else I've ever been and probably unique in the world, the city truly does embody the ubiquitous meeting of East and West.  One minute you're walking past mosques and through Middle Eastern bazaars and the next you're surrounded by European style cafes and buildings which look as though they've been transplanted from Vienna or Paris.  In a narrow valley along the Miljacka river, the city sprawls up the hillsides in all directions, the tightly packed houses broken only by the fields of white headstones.

Cemeteries like this are all over the city.
They are the most visible reminder of Sarajevo's dark history.

The cemeteries can be found all over the city and are the most glaring reminder of Sarajevo's recent history.  Less than 20 years ago the capital was the epicentre of Bosnia's violent civil war and underwent the longest siege in modern history.  From 1992 to 1995 the city was almost entirely cut off from the outside world as opposing forces vied for control of differing neighbourhoods.  In total, upwards of 10,000 people were killed in Sarajevo alone, most of them civilians.  Before any of this, Sarajevo was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  It held the Winter Olympics in 1984, just four years before they'd be in Calgary, and was praised as being a model of religious and ethnic diversity, an example others should follow.  Unfortunately, it was this very diversity which made the war so bitter.   But despite the many buildings that are peppered with bullet holes and the red rose plaques commemorating particularly deadly attacks, the city does have a vibrant feel to it and is well on its way to returning to that former stature, but still doesn't have running water between midnight and six am.

On our last afternoon in the city we climbed through the narrow switch back streets to the top of a hill on the extreme eastern end of the city.  Standing at the vantage point near a ruined Ottoman fortress we could look down nearly the entire length of the valley.  As the last of the sunlight glinted off the river like a streak of gold through the city, the call to prayer rang out from dozens of mosques in every direction.  A unique experience befitting this unique city.