Sunday, August 27, 2006

Jana and the landmines

Located about 3 hours south-west from Sarajevo. The city was badly damaged during the war including the famous bridge that connects the muslim part of town with the christian.
I arrive at 8pm from Dubrovnik, drop my bags of and decide to go out. Narrow cobblestone streets, little cafes and restaurants, kiosks with souvenirs open till late. I reach the centre, there is a group playing outside, life band with a female singer - bleached blond hair and lots of make up in Eastern European style. I order a glass of wine and politely refuse the ice the waiter offers to put in my wine only 1 minute lately regretting in deeply, not only that the wine is foul it's also warm enough to make a cup of tea. I join the crowd standing outside the bar, listening to the singer who is loud and can not sing to save her soul. 20 mins later : I had not eaten since the early morning so the wine hits my head with the speed of light. It no longer seems so foul, neither does the singer seems so awful. I order another wine, this time with ice. i repeat the procedure again. By this time my head is dizzy, my vision is blurred so as a good citizen i decide to walk back. The pavement is moving under my feet and as somebody lits a bin a few metres away i start getting paranoid. The street on which i walk back is deserted and suddenly i remember what "The Bible" (lonely planet guide) says "AS there are still unexploded landmines do not walk where there are no locals". I pass the half destroyed buildings with bullet holes and pavements with concrete sticking out and still don't see a soul. I panick, " oh my god, don't let me tredd on a landmine". I spot a group of Bosnian men and i start following them. They are locals.Right? So it's safe to walk behind them. They see me and slow down, i slow down too, they speed up, i speed up too. They scoul at me, i smile and pretend i am enjoying the evening walk on my own. By this time they must think i have lost my marbles. As the cheap bosnian wine russhes through my veins and i look at all the deserted buildings, on the point of collapsing no wonder i get paranoid about landmines. I made it home safely, woke up in the morning with a headache and had to laugh at my stupidity. There are no landmines in the pavements!
the moral of the story: Do not drink cheap Bosnian wine and walk home at 2am in the morning on your own through the ruined buildings. Not a good combination.

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