We were straight up at 09:58am this morning to be ready for our host, whose named is pronounced Yaz-Na, to take us on a tour of Sarajevo. Yaz-Na 's husband is a huge sports fan, which meant she had heard of Newcastle. In particular she had heard of Alan Shearer!
Our apartment is located right in the centre of the old town. This handily have us access to everything with two minutes walk.
We were shown round the entire city & were able to find out a lot more history than if we walked it ourselves. Restaurants, cafes, churches, mosques, markets & shops made this a very informative walk. We met with her daughter we spoke very good English & she recommend further places for us to try.
Out first stop by ourselves was the Manhattan bar. Which unlike how it may sound is a traditional Sarajevian bar down a small street. Here we first tasted Sarajevsko the locally produced beer.
When headed back to the apartment to relax & freshen up from our early start & walk. After which we headed for a traditional Bosnian snack known as a cepavi. I had a beef cepavi, that comes wrapped in bread & onions.
The city pub had Ben recommended by the guide book. Stefan & I ha a couple of beers whilst Amanda tried a local red wine. This pub is located close to the university & seemed to cater to alternative thinkers. Directly across the street from the Vienna cafe & hotel Europe it showed the stark contrasts in society here in Sarajevo.
We strolled the the shopping mall which was very western & expensive, grabbing a snack from the food court. After such an American experience we thought it best to try the American bar. This small street bar played a mix of American & British music. The interior was decorated with pictures of the New York skyline and Hollywood actors. We all found it quite strange to see a group of young girls playing cards in the corner of the bar.
Next we grabbed a drink in a local bar that gave Amanda a bizarre giant Cosmo. Time was approaching to watch Montenegro play England so we tried a bar called Cheers that as its sign suggested was a mix of American & English. It didn't seem to have its identity yet. We missed the first twenty minutes whilst Turkey finished their match on the tv.
At half time we headed to a club for the second half. We knew it would not get busy later so now was the way chance to have a look in and see what it was like.
As we had missed dinner the only food retailers open were the Turkish fast food places. The only item left on the menu, Kebab. At least this tasted nicer and cleaner than anything I have had in Newcastle. Still English bars, and Kebabs somewhat defeats the purpose of going on holiday.
In an effort to restore some culture to proceedings we headed to a small Bosnian smokey bar, followed by a wine bar set in a cellar. The wine was excellent, but eventually the Anglo feel to the evening took hold again. This led us to the Irish bar next door. Here we were ushered downstairs, I imagine to not upset the locals.
The remainder of the evening was spent drinking and playing darts. With Stephen and I both registering a bullseye at one point. No one was on hand to offer us Bully's star prize though.