The Hals Family World Adventures: Day 4 - Our Second Helping of Sarajevo

Hannah was awesome today and deserves pretty big props. Today we shifted our itinerary to make sure we caught up with Daniel's cousin (and our fourth travel companion, Tom). Tom's flight from Ohio to Dulles was canceled on Wednesday night, so he missed his flight to Turkey. Thursday he was rebooked on a different flight mid afternoon to DC and then was supposed to try to set up tickets to fly onto Sarajevo once he reached Dulles (Turkish Airlines said he had to do so in person). All flights from Dayton, Ohio to Dulles were cancelled so he rented a car with a guy and drove to DC on Thursday. They got in at 8 pm (flight was at 11:35) only for Tom to discover that the Thursday night flights were sold out. So they reserved a seat for him on Saturday but told him he could not buy the ticket until the ticket counter opened on Saturday. He got to the airport at 10 am to discover that the ticket counter for Turkish airlines didn't open until 7 pm. After a long day in the airport he found out the flight was oversold...but since they had reserved his ticket the night before they were able to get him on the plane. Whew.

Back in Sarajevo we decided to stay an extra night so that we would in fact meet up with Tom, but did decide to go ahead and get the rental car so we would have some flexibility with our dy. We managed to get to stay in our room an additional night (yay! no packing) and Daniel and Meredith spent the morning picking up the rental car and visiting the Tunnel Museum (whch is out by the airport and I have visited before)

I am feeling more and more like myself as I head further and further way from Hannah's birthday, but I am still having trouble with the pubic symphysis spot that plauged me the last few weeks of my pregnancy - and anytime I walk extensive distances it triggers another flare up. Sadly, our first full day in Sarajevo was no exception. I had walked five miles in a day a few days prior to our trip and had minimal soreness, so my hopes were high that I was finally rounding the corner on this issue and wouldn't have trouble on the trip, but sure enough...it's still an issue. So I decided to take it easy and pick and choose my activities carefully. I figured Hannah and I would just hang out at the hotel a little extra.

When they got back from the Tunnel Museum (which Meredith said was really cool), we headed to the History Museum - the second thing that I really wanted to do while in Sarajevo. This museum is an eclectic collection of artifacts explaining some of what happened to Sarajevo during the extensive seige it endured during the Bosnian War for Independence. There were compelling photographs, excellent paragraph explanations, some exhibits meant to help you understand how the siege affected daily life - a siege era kitchen, a diary account from an elementary age child, etc. It was all really interesting. On the main floor I also found a gallery that was pictures of before and after. They were photos taken in 1996 and then again from the exact same vantage point in 2011 - it was really fun to see the transformations that have occurred.

Tunel Museum

The tunnel was not very high...most passing through had to hunch over

The tunnel ran from the sieged city to the mountains and was a lifeline for thousands

Yep, there's still some of these

The History Museum...yeah, it looks a little shabby, but we enjoyed it

We realized we had "babyfied" Merdith a bit when she had Jacques strapped to her belt in the museum

Yes we changed her diaper in the museum. To be fair...there was only one other person in the museum at the time and he was on the other side of the museum and I had not seen a restroom sign anywhere in the lobby...

Interior of the history museum

Hannah actually found it to be pretty interesting and enjoyed having the captions read to her

Siege era kitchen

Before and after picture, 1996 and 2011

After the museum we grabbed lunch at the Sarajevo brewery - something Daniel and I had tried to do six years prior (only to find out it was closed) and really enjoyed ourselves. Our waiter was incredibly nice and a huge Hannah fan, saying "ciao, baby!" everytime he walked by or came to our table and referred to her as the "little princess". When she was fussy because she needed to be changed, Daniel stood up and was going to head down two levels to the restroom to change her diaper and he actually said "no, no! come here! Little Princess VIP room!" and took Daniel into the VIP lounge (that no one was currently using) and told him to change her on the coffee table. Yep. People here love babies!

In the Sarajevo Brewery for a delicious lunch

Hannah loves her candles!

Our sweet little girl having a happy lunch

VIP lounge...aka "little princess' changing room"

Hannah loves the lazy leopard

The Hannahs very asleep and drooling haha

It's also been raining on and off since we arrived - and when we pulled up and parked our car, the owner of the hotel rushed out with an umbrella - Meredith was getting out of the car and said "for me?" and the woman shook her head and said "no! for Hannah!" :)

After those outings, Hannah nursed and then we took a little nap together while Daniel and Meredith drove to a fort they had seen up on the hill. It was completely abandoned and unregulated and was an old medieval looking kind of fort - all stones. They said it was a lot of fun - lots of climbing and exploring, a true adult jungle gym with a great view of the city.

One of the cemeteries tucked into the city

A fort at the top of the hill overlooking Sarajevo

Enjoying the view

Pondering the meaning of life

And after that it was time to head to the airport to pick up Tom! He made it! We headed out on foot to show him Sarajevo and have a light dinner and even ended the evening with a beer amongst the crowds watching the World Cup matches.