Things I'll Miss About Bosnia: #6

The Mountainous Landscape

Zenica is a city nestled between various hills and
mountains.
(Source: visitmycountry.net)

Mountains.

It's funny how I have become so used to waking up to the sight of this every morning. 

Growing up in several different areas of Victoria back home, it was the total opposite. Simply put; Victoria (and, you could say, Australia in general) is flat. Bosnia and Herzegovina is anything but. And I love this difference!

The mountainous, hilly terrain in this region of the Balkans is a truly magnificent sight. It is hard to explain the real aesthetic beauty of these in words. Sometimes, only photos can do the explaining, or, better yet, actually seeing them with your own eyes.

The amount of towns and cities nestled in between all these mountains is actually quite astonishing - as is the gradient and size on some of the mountains!

It is not far from my apartment to where the mountains begin!

A few months ago, I made the decision to trek up Smetovi, which is the highest mountain in the Zenica region. 

It's fair to say I underestimated how long it would take to reach the top - resulting in a 12-hour journey up and back - but it was a nice experience which provided me with an opportunity to catch awesome views across all of Zenica as I walked up the mountain.

Can you imagine something similar in Melbourne? Lets be honest, I don't think the top of the You Yangs would give you a close-up view of a city like Smetovi does, nor would Mount Dandenong.

So, unlike back in Oz where we have to pack the car and go for a day-trip to see the mountains, here in Bosnia-Herzegovina we kind of live in the mountains!

Very, very cool stuff.

A Saturday joke ..

(Source: personal.psu.edu)

The weekend has finally arrived for us, so lets treat it like one!

Here's a Bosnian joke I heard the other day. It was originally in Bosnian - and probably makes more sense in that language - but, who cares, we'll give it a go in English.

Note: Before reading the joke, you should remember the common phrase used by Bosnians: "Dje si?" (It's pronounced in English as it sounds!)
This translates in English to 'Where are you?', and is commonly said when bumping into somebody you know - kind of like how we back in Australia always say 'What's up?' to our friends.

Anyway, just read the joke already, :-)


A Bosnian man meets an English girl at the train station.

The Bosnian man says to the girl, "What's your name?"

The English girl:  "Jessie."

Bosnian Man: "Well, I'm here, but I'm asking you what's your name!?"


Get it? Yeah, I'll try and do better next time ..

Enjoy your weekend, folks!

Zenica shows its support towards Palestine

People of all ages came out in Zenica tonight to show
their solidarity with the Palestinian population.

More than 200 people took to the streets of Zenica this evening in a strong show of support towards the Palestinian population.

Waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs which called for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, locals organised the demonstration following recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which saw 161 Palestinians - including 71 civilians - killed in the space of eight days.

One of the organisers of the event, Semir Topoljak, told ZenicaBlog that the deaths of innocent Palestinians during Israel's week-long offensive forced him and others to take action.

First major snowfall gifts photographers

Bosanski Novi this morning.
(Source: SRNA)

It may have been expected, but Friday's snowfall across parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina still managed to produce a number of spectacular photographs.

Although most of the nation remained unaffected, up to eight inches of snow was reported to have fallen on the north-western cities of Bihac and Bosanski Novi, providing a wonderful opportunity for local photojournalists to dusts off their lenses and take some snaps for us.

The cold snap signals the beginning of the winter season in BiH, with climatologist Dzenan Zulum telling Klix.ba that residents of central and eastern Bosnia can expect snow to begin falling in their areas as early as Sunday afternoon.

Humanitarian Concert for Amina Halilic (Zenica)

Singing for Amina: An ever-present reminder that the
occasion was all about helping the 15-year-old.

On Wednesday evening, a charity concert was organised to raise money for young Zenica local, Amina Halilic, who suffers from a rare heart condition.

I had the fantastic opportunity to go along to the event staged at Zenica's National Theatre, with the night aimed at helping Halilic's family find the 6,000 BAM ($3,800 AUD) necessary to fly Amina to Turkey for medical examinations, which will determine if her condition is treatable.

With an entry fee of 5 BAM, the arena was packed to not only help out the 15-year-old, but also to catch a glimpse of a number of famous - and, well, not-so-famous - local acts.

Photo of the Day: Sarajevo

Check out this gem of a photo of a rainbow running across Sarajevo's skyline this morning!

Courtesy of Sarajevo resident Armin Dervoz, who sent the photo to news portal Klix:

Click to enlarge!

Bosnia-Herzegovina Quiz!

(Source: infousa.state.gov)

Alright guys, don't you think it's time for a little bit of fun?

Instead of writing up another news-piece this evening, I thought I would mix my content up a bit and provide you with a little bit of a quiz which I have penned myself!

So, come on, you think you know all there is to know about the nation that is Bosnia and Herzegovina?


Here, there is no mucking around. See if you can answer the questions, and then use the points table at the bottom to see how you faired! (One correct answer = 1 point; Bonus question = 2 points.)

Oh, and yeah, good luck!

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