A priest, a minister and a rabbi walk into a bar……..so goes the old joke! But in Sarajevo, it would be more appropriate to say an Eastern Orthodox priest, a rabbi, a nun, and a young lady in a colorful hijab walk into a cevapi house. My little twist on this age old joke basically summarizes Sarajevo in a nutshell, a city full of such a wide variety of religions and cultures that it is known as The Jerusalem of Europe. Often times you will see a girl in a colorful hijab, passing by a nun, followed by the “original men in black” a term often used jokingly amongst those in the Eastern Orthodox Christians to refer to a priest.

When I first arrived in Sarajevo in September of 2021, I really had no idea what to expect…It was not as if I came to this wonderful city without any type of previous knowledge . Quite the opposite! In 1984 when Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics I remember watching with my parents as famous American figure skater Scott Hamilton nailed the gold medal. And I vividly recall the horrible civil war, genocide and the soul crushing 1,425 day siege that Sarajevo suffered at the hands of Serbian nationalists. Even though I had read about it, watched countless hours of documentaries, news, etc….NOTHING COULD PREPARE me for the real thing!!

As soon as I stepped onto the famous pedestrian mall, Ferhadija, the crazy energy of Sarajevo started to reach a fever pitch….The sights, the smells, the feelings, the shock and the sheer POWER and ENERGY of the city all rained down on me like a powerful mid June thunderstorm in the Bosnian capital! I was on maximum sensory overload. Unlike some sensory overloads, this was NOT a bad experience, it was more akin to what I can only describe as a real life hallucinogenic trip. The colors were extreme, the sounds were extreme, the people were extreme, the smells were extreme, the energy was extreme and the sights were extreme….

Having come from Seattle where all the buildings are the same boring cookie cutter mixed use developments and where it seems everyone is either White, Asian or East Indian or homeless, Sarajevo came as a breath of fresh! And after closed borders due to COVID and all the crap surrounding masks and social distancing that make Seattle unbearable, this majestical city was the equivalent of a spa day for the soul …

It felt as if I had gone from black and white grainy film to full color 4K Ultra HD complete with surround sound and smells. Walking down the pedestrian mall, Ferhadija, was like a breath of fresh air! I marveled at the stunning beauty and architecture of the colorful Austro Hungarian buildings that were mixed in with aging gray bullet ridden structures. Approximately one kilometer up the pedestrian mall, the Austro Hungarian buildings suddenly stopped and gave way to an area called Baščaršija, which consists of low rise small shops and mosques in classic ottoman style. The two sides, east and west meet or rather clash at what is known as The Meeting Place of Cultures, where a plaque on the sidewalk clearly delineates the meeting point. In many ways this crossroads is symbolic of Sarajevo, where there is always a tug of war between east and west.

This clash is evident in all parts of Sarajevo daily life especially in the way the women in the city dress. On one end of the spectrum you have full on burqas, then just below that extreme one will see girls dressed in long black robes with a hijab and on the opposite end are girls who in typical Sarajevo style, mix both east and west, dressing in western like clothes but with a hijab. And tmixed into of all of this craziness, you have the ordinary girls who dress just like any other girl would in Europe…..

If the colors were not enough to blow your mind and make your head spin, the sights may just be what totally paralyze all your senses. Within less than 100 meters you can find, four different places of worship…..Occupying the top spot, towering above Ferhadija is the amazing gothic style Catholic Church, Sacred Heart. Across the street, nestled in a rather quiet area of the mall, in amongst trees is the massive 19th century Serbian Orthodox Church, Cathedral Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Sitting only a few meters to the churches right is the classical monument to Ottoman architecture, Ferhadija mosque. And, if 3 places of worship were not enough for to wrap your arms around, just across the river within a 200 meters radius is the very charming Ashkenazi Synagogue, whose interior is decorated in moorish style architecture. Often times during the day, in typical Sarajevo east meets west style, these religions clash in the form of sound!!! The church bells from opposite faiths ring as loudly as they possibly can feverishly competing for air time with the call to prayer from the nearby Ferhadija mosque and all other mosques scattered throughout town…

In case you withstood the previous two sensory overloads, you also will be assaulted with the smells……IF only I could somehow convey smells in words!!! But any attempt to do this would be a great injustice to the “flavor of Sarajevo”. In fact, in Sarajevo, smells are on another plain of existence than say in some ordinary Anytown, USA. You don’t simply “smell” things in Sarajevo, instead………you FEEL THEM!!! In fact, in Russian, my second language, the verb “to smell”, literally translates as: “to feel a smell……” To feel a smell is likely the utmost best way to describe what it is like for your nose to walk through Sarajevo. You feel the smell deeply! You have to feel the unrelenting heat as you pass through Baščaršija, you have to feel the invasive cigarette smoking blowing in your direction at the local coffee house. You have to smell the fruity hookah smoke, the scent of cevapi all mixed in with a hint of Bosnian coffee. Only then can you even begin to feel the smell of Sarajevo.

To say that Sarajevo was love at first site, is just too mild a word…it was more like over the moon at first site…..This instant love was so deep and so quick that as I strolled the streets for the first time, the classic Beatles song, “And I Love Her” stared to play in my mind……I found it a bit odd as I had not listened to or even really heard that song for ages. It’s as if the feeling of Sarajevo was so so deep that it sparked this classic song to pop up from deep inside the musical vaults of my brain…..

As my trip in Sarajevo started to play out, it truly felt in the true philosophical sense that life was imitating art! The second verse of this amazing song, mirrors my feelings perfectly,

She gives my everything

And tenderly

The kiss my lover brings

She brings to me

And I love her

Wow…How could a song nail my feelings any more than this wonderful ballad???

To say Sarajevo gives me everything and tenderly is a gross understatement. The city has given me so much! It has kissed me with its culture, it has given me a perspective on world history, it has given me amazing food. Yet, at the same time just like any relationship, it has been fraught with difficulties. Often times I have experienced great waves of extreme sadness as I see the remnants and reminders of the siege and horrible civil war! This “love of mine” also unwillingly exposes me to cigarette smoke, especially in eating establishments, which are nearly all smoker friendly!! For an American who is not used to cigarette smoke this can pose a real challenge! When you have to choose between either McDonalds or one of the most expensive restaurants in Sarajevo, Klopa, this love can sour a bit. However, just like a couple who has its fights, we always kiss and make up until the next drama.

However, for all its flaws, scars and wounds, I will…….always love it. As the final verse to “And I love Her”, goes:

Bright are the starts that shine

Dark is the sky

I know this love of mine

Will never die

And I love her

And I will always LOVE her, I will always love Sarajevo! Jako volim te drago Sarajevo!! Videmo se….! I love you dear Sarajevo. Till we meet again!