Arriving in Sarajevo

Monday morning we grabbed a bus from Dubrovnik headed to Sarajevo. While the internet said it would be a five-hour bus ride, in reality it was more like eight. Thirty minutes were stupidly tacked on when we stopped at a random restaurant featuring goats on the spit. No ATM, no convenience store, and no Bosnian Marks. We figured our bus driver must have just loved this restaurant and stopped every time he drove from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo.

Mmm goat

We did eventually arrive in the city, but, for some reason, we had lost our directions to the hostel. Guest House SA would pick us up at the train station, but we needed to give them a call. We ran back and forth between the train and bus stations searching for a phone, wifi, or an ATM. We finally found a computer in the information center that we could use for a couple of marks. We ran back to the bus station looking for the ATM and finally sat down at the computers. One problem: they didn’t have microphones. They were old desktops, so I got underneath the desk trying to plug in my microphone and sweating like crazy. We couldn’t get Skype to work, but eventually the guy at information gave our hostel a call.

I thanked him, and tried to hand him fifty marks to pay for our five-mark coffee and juice, but he couldn’t break the bill. I spent the next ten minutes running around the train station looking for change until finally the man told me I could pay in euros: thank God!

We were picked up by our hostel at the train station and arrived at our hostel, which was equipped with, wait for it, air-conditioning! We had been camping for the past six days, so it was heaven to just relax on couches, bask in the air-con, and surf the Internet. 

Nice view

Three hours later, and we are all still using the Internet when we realize it is getting late and need to head out to dinner. Our first meal was at the most traditional restaurant in Sarajevo. It was delicious, but way too meat heavy. When we aren’t in restaurants, we have been living on bread, cheese, and salami. We need more vegetables!

We finished the evening with big beers at the Sarajevo Brewery. Eight dollars for these one-liter beers. Delicious!