Mostar (09/03/2025)

We woke up early and headed to the train station to catch the only train heading to Mostar. We departed the train station around 7:15, and the ride was really amazing, considered one of the most beautiful train rides. We went through valleys and down along the Neretva River, taking in the scenic mountain scenery all around us. Eventually, a little over two hours later, we reached the city of Mostar. We got off the train and decided to first stop for a drink at the Fabrika Coffee hosted inside the former courtyard and madrasa of the Roznamedzi Ibrahim Efendi Mosque. This mosque, built around 1620, is believed to be the only mosque that survived the destruction of the bombings of the city during the war between 1992 and 1995. After the drink, we continued our exploration of the city by walking along the main street Braće Fejića. Shortly after, we came across the Karađoz Bey Mosque. This 16th-century mosque features a typical Ottoman round big dome and a tall single minaret. The interior was closed, but we managed to see a little of it through the windows on the portico. A man standing outside then came and started talking to us, telling us about the mosque and showing us the outside with the ablution fountain, cemetery, and general architecture, telling us the mosque was badly damaged both during WWII and during the Bosnian War. He seemed to speak many languages and ended up speaking to us in Italian. I tried telling him we were fine and just wanted to see from the outside, but in the end, he still talked to us and then offered to take us to a nearby spot. After following him, he eventually led us to the backyard of some apartment blocks where a commemorative plaque was put in place to remember the three Italian journalists, Luchetta, Ota, and D'Angelo, who were killed by a grenade there in 1994 while reporting on the war. Heading back to the mosque, the man then asked us to give him some money for the tour. We were trying to grab a few coins, and then he told us we were supposed to give him 15 euros. We laughed and told him that was obviously too much, especially for a non-professional tour which lasted just a few minutes. He then insisted and told us it would be 15 euros each or at least 50 Bosnian marks (the equivalent of 25 euros). Again, we told him that was really too much and in the end gave him 7.5 marks. He wasn't happy, but neither were we. After that weird and unsettling encounter, we continued on our walk through town and reached another mosque, that of Sinan Pasha. Built in the 17th century, this mosque, which was also closed, featured a single minaret but a four-sloped roof typical of the Bosnian architectural style for mosques rather than the round cupola-shaped Ottoman one. We were right next to the Neretva River, so we walked to the riverfront to admire the view from above. Moving onwards, we reached the core of the old town with the main street and typical Ottoman part known as Kujundžiluk, which was once the market, featuring stone houses and low buildings functioning as market stalls. At the beginning of this area, we entered the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque. Built around 1618, this is one of the largest and certainly the most famous in town. In a classic Ottoman style, it features a central domed building, sided by a minaret and with a nice small courtyard featuring the ablution fountain, now surrounded by a couple of souvenir shops. Unfortunately, despite being open, the entrance to the mosque required a fee,10KM, plus some more if one wanted to climb up to the minaret, in total 15KM. Ania just visited the mosque, while I also paid the full price to climb the minaret. We first visited the mosque interior together, with a well-crafted and decorated mihrab and mimbar, and the nice intricate floral patterns of the dome. Ania then went out while I climbed up the minaret to reach the top. The staircase was steep and tight, but once at the top, I was able to admire a beautiful view over the old town of Mostar, with the famous old bridge right in front of me. I stayed there for a little while, admiring the cityscape, the river below, and the surrounding barren mountains. Once back down the minaret, we reached a small terraced area right next to the mosque and right above a cliff overlooking the river, from where we had another splendid view of the old bridge. Once outside, back on the main street, we walked along the main old market area, passing by some nice stone houses, while others were weirdly painted in different bright colors, giving it a terrible sight and a very Disney-esque look. After some walking, we eventually reached the Stari Most, the old brige, Mostar's main attraction. This 16th-century Ottoman bridge was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 and designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the famous architect Mimar Sinan. It was the only crossing of the Neretva River in that area and connected the two sides of Mostar's old town. Featuring a single humpback arch, it is 30 m long and 4 m wide, reaching a height of 24m at its peak point. It is also flanked by two fortified towers, the Halebija tower and the Tara tower, where once the bridge guards stood. The bridge is infamous for having been destroyed during the Croat–Bosniak War on 9 November 1993 by the Croatian Defence Council (HVO). After the war, the bridge was reconstructed thanks to funding, including that of Italy, and was finalized in 2004. Nowadays, the monument is probably the most visited in the country and is also famous for locals using it as a diving spot and asking tourists for money to do so; an annual diving competition is also organized, usually every July. Once we got to it it there weren't many people around, and so we managed to take some nice pictures and admire the view from its top. Once on the other side, we walked down to the riverbank to admire the bridge from below. We took a few pictures and then headed back through the western side of the old town, again characterized by nice stone buildings. On this side, we reached the Kriva Ćuprija, translated as crooked bridge, another old single arched bridge built in 1558, which crossed over the smaller Radobolja river. On this part of town, there were barely any tourists as all of them crowd the area just next to the bridge and along the single main street crossing over it, something we would notice later in the day. A man then approached us as we were standing on this second bridge and asked if we wanted a tour. We told him no, and he continued to insist. We told him not now, maybe later, at which he told us he would leave with a tour group so he wouldn't be in town later. After again telling him we didn't want the tour, he then asked for money. We told him no, and he insisted, telling us how in Mostar, only tourism sustains the city. We told him well, but then we would obviously pay for a service, like a tour, but didn't want one at the moment, and wouldn't just give him money like that for nothing. He then told us to eff off and hurried to join the tour group he was leading, obviously paid, to another destination. Just above the bridge, we then reached the Nezir Agina mosque, a 16th-century building with a 22m high minaret dominating the old town and with a small terraced area in front from which we had a great view. From there, we then left the old town and headed to the nearby Lučki bridge, from where we had a great view of the south of the old town and Stari Most. Once back on the eastern side of the river, we headed back towards the old town. The place was now much more crowded, with the old bridge now basically full of people walking up and down, as many tour buses had arrived from nearby Croatia, dropping off thousands of visitors. Already now in March, I couldn't imagine it in a full summer weekend. We decided to have lunch and opted for Hindin Han, a touristy but nice restaurant right below the Nezir Agina mosque overlooking the Radobolja river.Ania had grilled veggies with cheese, and I had a steak in red sauce and fries. After lunch, we continued visiting the rest of the town, heading over to what was once the Tabhana, the district where leather was processed. Here we saw the old Ottoman hamam, turned into a museum, but which was closed at that time, and in front of it the Hadzi-Kurt mosque, built between the 16th and 17th centuries, and with a small yet nice interior. From there, we then left the old town again and headed northwards to reach the Španjolski trg, or Spanish Square, named so in honor of 22 Spanish soldiers (plus an interpreter) who died serving in the United Nations Protection Force in the Croat-Bosnian War. Facing the square is an apricot-hued building built in 1902 in a neo-Moorish style as known as the Stara Gimnazija, the old high school, obviously rebuilt after the war. From there, we crossed over another bridge, reaching the eastern side again. Heading uphill, we then reached the Muslibegović House, an 18th-century residential house and one of three examples of Ottoman-era private buildings still surviving in the city. The house is now partly used as a tourist accommodation and partly as a museum, which we intended to visit, but found out it was closed and only open during the summer. From there, we continued our climb and reached the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, originally built between 1863 and 1873 but completely destroyed during the war in the 90s. During our visit, the new cathedral was being built and has been under construction since 2011. It was already visible inside, but with no interior fittings or decorations. Behind it, we then visited the old orthodox church, much smaller in size, dating to 1834, and the only one before the construction of the nearby newer one. From here, we could admire the canyon heading up to the nearby mountain just east of the city, and, turning around, had a nice view of the old town below. From the churches we headed down and passed by the Sahat Kula, the clock tower, 15m in height and dating to around 1630. Right in front of it, the Herzegovina museum, also closed outside the summer period. A little further down, we then reached the Nesuh-Aga Vucjakovic mosque, another nice Ottoman-style mosque from the 16th century. A walk further took us back to the core of the old town, where we decided to try some baklava to try from a place called Ottoman, where we even had a really tasty one with blueberries. We then had one last walk through the whole old town once again, this time having to push through larger crowds of people, which were already starting to decrease as the sun was soon setting and people were heading back to their tour buses. Eventually, it was time for us to head back to the train station and catch the next ride back to Sarajevo.

The Roznamedzi Ibrahim Efendi Mosque in Mostar

The courtyard of the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque

Interior of the mosque

View of the old town and bridge from the mosque's minaret

Another view of the old town

The Kujundžiluk area

View of the Stari Most

The Tara tower

View from the bridge

The bridge from below

The old town around the crooked bridge

Another view of the old town

View of the old town and the Neretva river

A street in the old town

Interior of the Hadzi-Kurt mosque

Another street in the old town

The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity

The old orthodox church

The Sahat Kula, or clock tower

View of the area around the Nesuh-Aga Vucjakovic mosque

The Kujundžiluk area

The Halebija tower

View of the Stari Most at sunset

Trebevic (08/02 & 22/02/2025)

As a day hike, we decided to hike up Mount Trebevic, the mountain overlooking the city of Sarajevo from the south. We took the cable car, originally built in 1959, but renewed several times until the latest in 2018, which in a few minutes took us from the city center, at about 600m, to the top of the plateau overlooking the city at about 1170m. Once we got off the cable car, we had a short way downhill to reach an opening where a road runs through, and there is the Hotel Pino. Here was a parking lot which can be reached by car from the city center. Our hike started there, heading constantly uphill. We first had a nice section through a thick pine forest with meandering trails. At one point, though, as we reached about 1400m, we started seeing the occasional patch of snow mixed with ice, and as we continued, the presence of snow became even more prominent. The last section was a bit tricky as the path was fully covered in snow and ice, which made it a bit slippery and uneasy. However, after a bit, we eventually manage to reach the top of Mount Trebevic, set at 1627m. As it is free of trees and faces south, that part, despite a higher altitude, was actually free of snow. We stopped a short while to admire the nice view, looking south east towards the Jahorina mountain, location of the largest ski resort in the country, while to the south and south west, the imposing presence of the Bjelašnica mountain, also featuring a prominent ski resort. As is typical in the region, there was a bit of smog mixed with light clouds covering the valleys and the city below. Right next to the mountain's peak was the 60m tall telecommunications tower built in 1975. Mount Trebevic has had quite a tumultuous recent history. In 1984, when the Sarajevo Olympics took place, the mountain was used for several Olympic events, such as bobsledding. Its history became macabre when the mountain was used by the attackers' Army of Republika Srpska during the 1992-1995 Bosnia War, as it unfortunately provided the besiegers with favorable positions for positioning the artillery that bombarded the city. From the peak we walked a bit along the ridgeline admiring the panorama all around us and then finally started our descent from the northwestern side of the mountain. After a bit of downhill we then reached the Jure Franko mountain hut where both Ania and I had a nice tasty and warming bean soup. After the break we then headed on, continiung our descent, this time back through the pine forest and eventually making it down to the Pino Hotel. We then had one last section uphill to reach the cable car station which we then took to get back down into the city. 

On a separate occasion, we headed back up to Trebevic mountain, this time after a few days of snow but on a sunny crip day. We took once again the cable car but this time decided to walk along the abandoned bobsled track. Many sections of the track are still standing and are fully covered in graffiti. Following the tracks downhill we then reached the end of them and then decided to walk further to reach the Bistrik Kula Observatory located on the hill of the same name at about 1000m. It was built on the site of a former Austro-Hungarian fortress and used to be the only observatory in Bosnia and Herzegovina but was closed due to the serious damage it suffered in the 1990s during the siege of Sarajevo. From there we had a beautiful view over the city so we sat on a rock and enjoyed it for a little while. Heading back the way we came we reached the Pino Hotel where we decided to have lunch, I took a dish of klepe, a local type of filled dough in a yoghurt and slightly spicy tomato sauce. After lunch we headed back to the cable car and took the next ride down into the city.

On the Trebevic gondola looking down on Sarajevo

The Hotel Pino on Trebevic mountain

Trail through the forest

A bit of snow and ice on the trail

Looking towards Jahorina

Trebevic peak

A view towards Sarajevo

The Jure Franko hut

View of Sarajevo and the Trebevic gondola

The abandoned bobsled track

Another view

The Bistrik Kula Observatory

View towards Sarajevo

The Miljacka river and the town hall

Sarajevski Ozren (25/01/2025)

On the nothern outskirts of the city of Sarajevo lie a group of hills and mountains making up the so-called Sarajevski Ozren. We decided to walk directly from the house, leaving a bit late in the morning but at least with the shining sun. As we passed the upper hamlets of the city we reached the northern edge where the frist rocky outcrop of these mountains is set. The Špicasta stijena is a small rocky outcrop reaching 900m in altitude on top of which are a series of masts and from which a great view of the city below can be seen. A memorial was also set up to remember the fallen soldiers of the Bosnian army that fought the Bosnian Serbs to take control of this part of the mountain as it was an excellent position for the enemy to bomb the city and snipe civilizans. From there, after exiting a small pine forest, we walked along a country road through the small village of Barice set on a high altitude and where we had a nice view of the snowcapped peaks in the distance. A little further up the road we eventually rached the Čavljak mountain hut, which, as its reachable by car had a full parking spot and a lot of people sitting on the outside seats enjoying lunch and sun. We stopped for a light lunch as we still had brought some food with us, while enjoying the view and sun as well. After eating we continued on our walk, heading on through the nice hilly landscape in some sections, particularly in the shade, with still some snow remaining. Moving on we passed through a nice small hamlet, Vukotine, a group of makeshift houses many of which with metal sheets as rooftops and walls and only some in wood. There were also some sheep grazing happily in the fields around. The view from there was also nice spacing across the surrounding hills and with the snow capped Jahorina mountain in the distance. Slightly downhill we passed another group of houses, Gornje Biosko, and a little further ahead we reached a point where we could finally spot the city of Sarajevo below. Further downhill we passed by a very large cemetery in the village of Faletici, one of many dotting the area around the city. Finally after some more walking we reached the outskirts of Sarajevo, where we had a nice view at sunset of the city center, eventually making it down through the Vratnik neighborhood with tight and steep streets and reahcin then the old town. A further walk brought us back to our house. 

Up past the Špicasta stijena

A view towards the west

Around the Planinarski dom Čavljak

A trail next to grazing lands

The hamlet of Vukotine

Some sheep in the village

View towards the east with Jahorina in the distance

A farm along the way

Sunset over a cemetery

Sunset view of Sarajevo

Kovači street

Ferrara (04/01/2025)

For a nice day trip, my mother, brother, Ania, and I decided to visit Ferrara, as Ania had never been there. Once there, we found parking close to the city center and then continued on foot. After approaching the old town, we started walking the nice narrow streets and came upon the first monumental building, the Palazzo Bentivoglio, a beautiful 15th-century Renaissance palace. A little further on, we reached the Piazza del Municipio, where the Palazzo Municipale is located. This 13th-century palace, later extended and refurbished during the 15th century, used to be the ducal residence of the Este family until the 16th century, when the court moved to the nearby castle. Nowadays, it hosts the town hall. In front of it stands the imposing, beautiful Romanesque cathedral, with still part of its facade covered in scaffolding. Continuing on our walk, we then reached the aforementioned Castello Estense. It was built starting in 1385 and later expanded and turned into the Este family's main seat, but still connected to the Palazzo Municipale with a covered passageway. It features a central courtyard, four towers at each corner, and is surrounded by a moat. We walked around it and then headed back towards the Cathedral on the square next to it, which had a small Christmas market. We walked around and then strolled through some side streets before looking for a place to have dinner. We first tried a local typical restaurant, but the wait was very long, so we instead opted for the nearby The Lab, where we had some tasty burgers. From the restaurant, we then continued on our walk, taking some side streets lined by old and nice buildings. Then we walked along Via delle Volte, a medieval street, as the name suggests, covered by arches from the 13th and 14th centuries. We then reached the southeastern side of town, where we visited the Monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine. The main part of the church, which can be freely visited, had a nice baroque decoration with a frescoed 17th-century ceiling. The rear church, known as the nuns' choir, can only be visited through a guided tour by one of the monastery's nuns. Once inside, the stern old nun with a faint voice that was very hard to hear showed us the three chapels of the rear church. The left one had the Stories of the Infancy of Jesus and the Life of the Virgin, the one on the right had the Stories of the Passion, both from the 14th century in a style like Giotto's, while the central one had frescoes from different periods and styles. After the visit, we exited the monastery and continued on through town until we reached the next monument, the Palazzo Schifanoia. One of the many so-called Delizie Estensi, a series of palaces and villas used by the Este family as a leisure retreat, it is the only surviving one inside the city walls. It was built in 1385, and its name is thought to originate from the Italian for escaping from boredom. Its simple exterior with a nice marble facade hides its splendid interior. As it's now a museum, we paid the entry fee and started the tour of the palace. We first saw some of the older rooms with part of the old wall frescoes and wooden ceilings still visible. Then the highlight came, the Salone dei Mesi, or Hall of the Months, a room decorated at

the behest of Borso d'Este by the best painters of the Ferrarese school active around 1470. The hall is 24 meters long, 11 meters wide and 7.5 meters high, and the fresco cycle starts from the southern side with each of the months of the year taking a section of the wall, further divided into three horizontal bands: two figured ones of greater height at the top and bottom and a central, narrower one with a blue background, shows the zodiac sign of the month. Some months, from October to February, have been nearly completely lost, while others, from March to September, feature some of the best Renaissance frescoes. Triumphs of Roman gods were frescoes on the upper part, while the lower parts were dedicated to the scenes of the life of Borso d'Este. Due to its artistic merit and references to the neo-Platonic and astrological culture of the era, the cycle of frescoes represents one of the most important moments in Renaissance art linked to the history of the Este family. We stood there gazing in awe at the lifelike frescoes and the overall amazing setting of that room. After visiting the rest of the museum, which was still worth it and featured many old objects and other frescoes rooms we headed outside as it had gotten dark. We walked shortly and reached the church of Santa Maria in Vado, with a beautifully frescoed 16th-century Renaissance interior. Next up was the church of San Francesco, built at the end of the 15th century with a simple but nice Renaissance interior. From there, we then walked to the northern side of the old town where the so-called Erculean Addition is set. This area, celebrated as an example of Renaissance urban planning, was created in 1492 by the enlargement of the walled city limits of Ferrara under the initiative of the duke Ercole d'Este. In this grid-like area of the city were straight roads, low buildings, and lots of inner gardens and green areas. Among the buildings, we stopped to admire the well-known Palazzo dei Diamanti, a Renaissance palace featuring thousands of white marble blocks with pinkish tones carved to represent diamonds, hence its name. At that point, we started heading back towards the core of the city, passing once again the castle and arriving at the cathedral. We visited its interior. Built in a Romanesque style in 1177, despite the scaffolding covering the majority of the facade, we could still partly admire the beautiful loggias, small arcades, and rose windows. The interior was completely remade in the baroque style during the 18th century, with some nice altars. After the visit to the Cathedral, we had one last walk around the area, visiting the Christmas market now during nighttime which was quite nice to see. From there, we eventually got back to the car and drove home.

Palazzo Bentivoglio in Ferrara

Piazza del Municipio

The Cathedral

The Castello Estense

A view of the castle

The Palazzo Municipale

A street in the old town

Another street in the old town

The monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine

Interior of the monastery

The central chapel

The frescoes of the right chapel

Palazzo Schifanoia

The Hall of the Months

Detail of the frescoes

The months of March and April

The church of Santa Maria in Vado

The courtyard of the Palazzo dei Diamanti

The christmas market and christmas tree