I spent about a week in Sarajevo, the City of Roses. During my time in the city, I fell in love with it. I chased Angelina Jolie for a story, I took numerous walking tours and learned about the dark past and vibrant present of the city, and I explored the juxtaposition of the battle scars from the war in the 90s to today’s positive and upbeat lifestyle.
While I was there, it was Ramadan, and each night a single firework would explode to mark the end of the observance for the day.
D Travels 'Round 
Found out about your blog post via @AbbyTegnelia (Twitter)…it brought back memories! I, too, have been to Bosnia (my dear friend and “niece” live there) and I visited…I think it’s now about 6 years ago. It was a whirlwind 10 days in Bosnia (with a side trip to Croatia). I loved Sarajevo, but I will admit, it was very sad to see bullet-riddled buildings from the war and the grave sites. Sad even to know that the city was once so beautiful as an Olympic venue. I did turn some heads…lots of heads, but I found most people to be warm and friendly. I’m longing to return — but not looking forward to the long flight (I flew from New York to Germany to Austria to Bosnia). P.S. Did you go whitewater rafting? If you didn’t, in a word: Terrific. And in a secondary word: Terrifying.
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Welcome! I felt the same way about Sarajevo — the contrast between love and pain, life and death. And, I love how passionate the people are for their city. I cannot wait to go back. I plan on revisiting in a year or so. I didn’t go whitewater rafting. And now, with that secondary word, yikes! Don’t know if I would!!
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Sarajevo seems an exciting place to visit! How far does English go there?
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I was OK not being able to speak the language. The younger people are all fluent in English. Sarajevo is definitely one of my favorite cities I have visited.
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