Franz Ferdinand lives on in Sarajevo. The Dark of the Matinée, a hit
single by the Glaswegian indie band, is playing on the jukebox at Caffé
Miris, while I tuck into tufahija walnut pastries and Turkish-style coffee
so strong it makes my head buzz. OK, I chose the song; how could I resist
when I am two blocks from the spot where the eponymous Austro-Hungarian
Archduke stopped a bullet in 1914?
The assassination that sparked the First World War happened on a corner next
to the rattling River Miljacka where I chance upon Martin Bell — the former
BBC war correspondent whose latest mission is to help entice tourists back
to the city that he once left with his leg full of shrapnel. We were both on
the inaugural British Airways flight at the end of last month — the first
direct service between the UK and the Bosnian capital since the 1992-95
siege of Sarajevo.
So, Sarajevo is now safe and simple to reach, but does it stand up as a
weekend destination? First impressions are of a compact city in a
soul-stirringly beautiful setting. All around are the snow-covered mountains
where alpine skiing events were held during the 1984 Winter Olympics. From
pigeon-fluttered Sebilj Square in the Bascarsija old Turkish quarter, the
views between minarets built by the Ottomans who founded Sarajevo in the
15th century remind me of Switzerland. Building façades are still pocked
with bullet holes.
“Believe me, the pain of war is still very close to the surface,” says Samira
Dzanko, a tour guide who, like most residents, lost friends and family in
the siege. As we weave through the pink-tinged stone alleys I am transported
to Is-tanbul’s Grand Bazaar by the tink of chisels on brass from behind
wooden-fronted shops. Except that here the artisans are fashioning vases and
coffee grinders out of spent mortar shells, and turning snipers’ AK47
cartridges into ball-point pens to sell as souvenirs.
During a morning’s city centre saunter, I spill out of the Turkish quarter
into the imperious squares, elegant mansions, gardens and churches built by
the Austro-Hungarians who ruled from 1887. As Sarajevans proudly repeat,
nowhere else is there a mosque, an Orthodox church, a synagogue and a
Catholic cathedral all cheek by jowl.
This history lesson is on the doorstep for anybody staying in the smattering
of new little hotels in the Bascarsija kernel. There is no top-end
accommodation yet — just simple, perfectly adequate places to stay, plus
cafés, bars and restaurants where the flavours are decidedly oriental.
However, in the evenings a more European mien unfolds in bars and nightclubs
serving locally brewed Sara-jevsko beer. Everything is absurdly cheap; it is
hard to spend more than £7-£8 on a meal.
On my final evening I twist up through the pine woods to Park Princeva
restaurant just above the snow line on precipitous Mount Trebevic. It was
from all around here that Serb forces pounded the city for nearly three
years. I am just close enough to make out tiny figures on the evening stroll
through Bascarsija. The spirit of Sarajevo — Europe with a twist of oriental
— lives on.
Need to know
Getting there: Martin Symington travelled with British Airways (0870
8509850, www.ba.com), which
flies from Gatwick to Sarajevo three times a week from £158.10. Regent
Holidays (0870 4990911, www.regent-holidays.co.uk)
offers three nights for £350pp based on two sharing, including flights and B&B.
Where to stay: Hotel Astra (00 387 33 252100, www.hotel-astra.com.ba):
B&B starts at £83 for two. Hotel Hecco (33 273730, www.hotel-hecco.net)
has B&B starting at £45 for two.
Where to eat: Inat Kuca, Veliki Alifakovac (33 447867). Park Princeva,
Iza Hrida 7 (61 222708, www.parkprinceva.ba).
Further information: www.sarajevo-tourism.com.
