Sightseeing: Bosnia & Herzegovina Day 1

My first break of the year saw me headed into the former Yugoslavia for a few days in Sarajevo, a country that I'm not aware any of my friends had been to, which is now a good reason to go somewhere. I enjoyed last year's trip to Macedonia and Kosovo and wanted to do more of the same, this ticked all the boxes. 

The outbound journey was fine, with no direct flights meaning I had to transfer briefly in Munich. I'd heard that at this time of year the flight reliability in and out of Sarajevo isn't the best and flights do sometimes get cancelled. Not today though, as I landed there was a heavy sea of fog in the area but not enough to stop the plane landing. 

There are several ways of getting from the airport to the hotel. The taxi, with stories of them overcharging tourists, a short walk to a local bus, and an hour walk on foot. A fourth, new option, and the one I went for was a new bus that runs between the airport and the city centre. Perfect! Just make sure you have the right change (5 marks for a one-way trip). I didn't have the change after the cash machine in the airport gave me a single large note, but quick purchase from the little shop in the airport (which is tiny btw) and an apology in not having any smaller change, gave me the money I needed.

The bus passed my hotel but I chose to take it all the way into the old town in the east of the city and then walk the 4K back to get a feel for it. I was travelling very light so had no suitcase to drag along.

The river that runs through the city is the Miljacka and has countless bridges to cross.

This is the National Library, a stunning building but one that like most of the city took a hit during the troubles, in this case seeing a large number of books being burnt by the invading Serb forces.

A rather cool bridge with an inversion. Spiderman's favourite bridge when he visits.

The pavilion building in the centre of Atmejdan park.

A rather contemporary looking hangout with the first of the decent murals. A lot of the city suffers from poor tagging.

Just some more buildings alongside the river, some more stunning than others.

  

I was liking the quality of the good pieces I passed along the way. Sometimes I'd leave the main river road and explore the side streets when pieces caught my eye. You have to keep them eyes open!

A rather stark looking poster and given I could only understand one word on it I'd guess it's advising the use of sun cream.

Like a lot of countries in this part of the world there's a mixture of cultures with mosques slightly outnumbering the churches, but both looked impressive. 

Whilst there are pockets of the city still looking like a war zone, the city is getting some investment like this mall and futuristic-looking hotel complex. 

These pieces were all in some abandoned barracks complex that I think is affiliated to the university somehow. A good chance to stumble through decrepit buildings looking for the art.

This is my hotel, the Bristol Novotel Hotel, which I recommend a lot.

I'm glad I'm not staying across the street.

Bum was the most prevalent tag I came across today. I had read that Euros were accepted in the country but I had no success outside of the main touristy bits. I had to pop into a bank and change some of my Euros and with a rate of 2 marks to the Euro, the exchange rate is currently good.

So day 1 was quickly over and I spent the evening grabbing a quick dinner and chilling in the hotel.

Event: Royal Rumble 2018 @ Clapham Grand

I love the Royal Rumble and will one day go and see it live but as the next best thing I thought I'd go along to a live show at the Clapham Grand. I've been to the venue before and not liked it, but this was much better. The crowd, mostly smarky marks, were fun and I'd happily go again; I might say hi to some of them next time (I didn't on this occasion).

I've been to a Wrestlemania but I might go to this again in a few months time.

Film #10: The Vanishing

This is the original Dutch film from 1988 and tells the story of a man who's wife goes missing following a brief stop at a motorway service station. The man responsible gets in touch 3-years later with an offer of showing him what happened to her.

It's dark and avoids the standard Hollywood tropes, which is great. Don't make the mistake of seeing the Hollywood remake which is stupid; dig this one out.

Film #9: 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

One of the dead-cert Oscar winners for this year sees this story of a woman's campaign against her local police force following the unsolved murder of her daughter. The dialogue is incredible with a scene where she asks her the local priest to back off being a highlight. Woody Harrelson does well as the Sheriff, but it's Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell who impress most.

Not my usual sort of film, but I did enjoy it.

Film #8: The Commuter

Liam Neeson who's career now relies on him being stereotyped as an old man action hero stars in this film where he's exactly that, only this time he's on a train trying to find a witness for a large cash reward. 

It's a Scooby Doo plot but quite refreshing in that he's not that good at fighting and loses most of his fights. There's also a thing he misses early on that I didn't which made the minor twist not that much of a twist at all. The gasp of exasperation from the woman behind me clearly showed that she'd missed it :)

Event: Lumiere 2018

For a few days in January roads are closed around town and Lumiere kicks off. For those that don't know it's an opportunity for artists into light to bring their installations to London where they're made available to the public as a large art/walking tour exhibit.

The plan was to visit each area after work each day it was on however a work issue meant I had to go to extended shifts removing any chance of getting out on the first two of four nights. When I did get to go out on the Saturday I was not in the right frame of mind, basically exhausted and irritable from the shift I'd just done; definitely the wrong state to have to deal with crowds. This meant I had to cram most of it on the final night, and it rained for a good chunk of it. 

Anyway here are the photos of the pieces I did get around to seeing and I've snuck in some taken along the river because the crappy skies made for some ominous skylines.