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We decided to slow down our pace a bit for our stop in Sarajevo. It helped that Sarajevo isn’t huge (population 350 000), and that our apartment in the old town was in the centre of the action. It also helped that our apartment was extremely cozy. So, we opted to alternate our exploring with some movie nights, suppers on our garden terrasse, as well as a couple of (well-deserved) naps for me.

I’m not sure exactly what it was about Sarajevo (Henri dirait sûrement que c’était intangible), but we really loved the vibe. The city’s geography is simple, as it stretches out along the Milajcka river and is beautifully nestled by the surrounding hills. The architecture of the old town jumps interestingly from Austro-Hungarian to Ottoman. It was certainly touristy, but somehow managed to remain relaxed. The food was good as well, from the famous ćevapi (worth trying, but a bit heavy for me) and back to some familiar fare that we had in Turkey (baklava, and manti). It all made for a good, tangible vibe.

Sarajevo, of course, has had some rather violent history in its recent past. Just a block or so from our apartment was the very spot where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, setting off the chain of events that led to Word War I. We’ve been taking in a lot of history over our trip, and the topic of wars and violence has certainly come up, but most of these have been in the distant past. But Sarajevo was under siege (92-95) recently enough for me to remember seeing it on the news, and that felt different. Many buildings still have visible scars from the war, and there are also the “Sarajevo roses” around town. These are locations in the pavement where the damage from a mortar has been filled in with red resin to mark the spot where at least 3 people were killed. If you look carefully (or check google maps), it’s easy enough to find these around town, in front of a church, in the fruit market where we bought stuff for supper.

There are a number of museums about the war. After spending a bit of time at The Memorial to the Murdered Children of Besieged Sarajevo (1992-1995) in Veliki Park, which commemorates the over 1600 children who died during the siege, we opted to take in the Childhood War Museum. The museum was really well done, and I think it was the right option for our family. It consisted of a collection of objects from the war, each one belonging to a child who survived, along with text describing the accompanying story. Some of the stories were of happier moments, while others were rather dark… I think the presentation left our kids informed, but not traumatized, which was the goal. But as a parent, it wasn’t easy to read through some of the accounts and imagine my own kids living through that.

On a lighter note, it’s common knowledge that 1984 was a very good year. Among other historic events that year, Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics. We skipped the cable car and hiked from the city up to the top of nearby Trebavić peak. Not only was the view nice, but along the way we got to walk along the Olympic bobsled track. Not beside, but actually on the now graffiti-covered track, which is lined with QR codes linked to stories from the games. The kids loved running along the track, imagining being in the sled. I found walking along thrilling enough. No need for the ice and the high speeds.

(Elsie)

Le 2e jour à Athènes c’était ma fête. Je me suis réveillé avant mes frères puis j’étais impatiente. Quand Henri s’est ENFIN réveillé je lui ai dis de venir jouer aux ballounes (que les parent avait préparer pendant qu’on dormait) avec moi. 

La journée a commencé! Moi je ne savais pas ce qu’on allait faire. Donc je suivais les autres. On est passer devant un musée de l’illusion. Ma mère a stoppé, elle a tourné une roue, on devait la regarder pendant 20 secondes puis après on regardait notre paume de main puis elle tournait. Ma mère a dit “Donc on va rentrer”. On est rentré puis il avait plein de choses partout dans la salle. Ça avait l’air cool et ce l’était. Il y avait plein de différents trucs et la plupart je ne savais pas comment il marchait. Il y en avait un que c’est des miroirs et des trous et deux personnes pouvaient se mettre face à face de chaque côté pour se regarder. On voyait un mélange des deux personnes quand on se regardait. On a adoré cette activité!

Quand on est sortie du musée d’illusion on a marché un petit peu plus. Puis on s’est arrêté pour manger un Souvlaki. Quand on a eu fini de manger on a marché pendant un bon bout de temps. On est arrivé devant un escape room puis on avait une réservation. La personne qui travaille là nous a tout expliqué. Il y avait plusieurs sortes de cadenas avec des chiffres ou des nombres. Le thème était Hansel and Gretel donc on devait s’enfuir avant que la sorcière arrive. Dans la salle il y avait une musique un peu épeurant.   La première salle il y avait plein de truc ➕canne de Nöel 🟰truc. Moi je n’avais toujours pas compris mais Benoît a vite compris et nous avait déjà fait sortir de la première salle. Il y avait une carte avec des motifs qu’il y avait aussi sur un tableau effaçable. Moi j’ai prit le crayon et Henri m’a dit comment relier les symboles. Quand on a fini on a vu que le dessin formait un tabouret.  Puis il y en avait un dans la salle d’à côté mais il y avait des barreaux qui le bloquait. J’ai vu une canne puis on l’a pris pour rapprocher. Après on l’a tourné de bord puis il avait un numero. On a donc sortie de la deuxième salle. La troisième était la plus dur. Quand on est sortie du escape room on a marché jusqu’au métro puis on est rentré à la maison. On a adoré cette activité!

Rendu à la maison on a mangé une délicieuse salade Grèque. Puis j’ai ouvert tous mes cadeaux! Après on m’a chanté bonne fête en amenant un gâteau. 

J’ai vraiment adorer ma fête!!!

The next stop on our Greek Odyssey was the island of Rhodes. Claire and I both wanted to make it there on this trip, but I honestly didn’t know that much about it beyond the fact that there was some sort of medieval history to the place, maybe a castle or something? That, and I liked the sound of the name. But that was enough, so we left Kos on a high-speed ferry that took us along the beautiful Turkish coast and made our way to the island to spend four knights nights there.

As with much of this part of the world, there is a lot of history to discover. But the big draw of the island is the old walled city, fortified by the Knights Hospitaller in the early 1300s, defended by them until 1523 when the city was taken by the Ottomans, and then restored during the post-1912 Italian occupation and in modern times. And boy, was it impressive to walk through the gates, past the massive walls, and stroll the cobblestone roads of old Rhodes (where the knights once rode).

We spent a couple of afternoons exploring the old city. Although it certainly attracts large crowds of tourists (especially when a cruise ship pulls into port!), the majority of these seem to be drawn to the souvenir shops and the terrasses in the squares, content to sit with their pints (or boots) of beer. After perusing the shops ourselves, but foregoing the pints, we found it surprisingly easy to find some quieter corners full of history, such as the Hospice of Saint Catherine, a small museum in which we found ourselves alone to explore (for free!). It’s looking pretty good these days, after having been damaged, and subsequently restored, in the 1480 siege, the 1481 earthquake, and the WWII bombing!

We also splurged and paid the entrance to the big castle in the centre of the city, also known as the Temple of the Grand Master. Restored by the Italians in the 1930s, it was really impressive to see the rooms inside. Although I love history, I have to confess that I’ve never really been into the medieval period, at least not beyond what’s covered in Monty Python’s Holy Grail. So, it was quite fun to learn more about this with the kids, and to try to fit some of the pieces of the historical puzzle together with what we had already seen in places like Istanbul. (On that note, though we loved the historic sites in Turkey, the entrance fees were often rather exorbitant, especially given how much they’ve gone up in a few years and that we had to buy four tickets. The sites in Greece have been more reasonably-priced, and the kids have all been free.)

I don’t want to give you the impression that we spent all of our time learning though, like some family of nerds. We also hit up the beach, which was a short walk from our apartment in the new town, and worked on our tan. We finally had some hot days, and though the water was still quite cool, it was also spectacularly clear. As a bonus, there was a permanent diving platform a short swim out from the beach.

I also managed to get out for some beautiful runs, along the coast, through the moat of the old city, and even up to the ancient Acropolis where I had the pleasure of running alone around a stadium that was built over 2200 years ago.