Oh no it's not.... Oh yes it is...!
A pantomime is something quintessentially British! So, when overseas it seems apt to get together a group of internationals and put on a show where women play boys, men play old dames, there is lots of booing at the evil king and someone has dress up as the back end of a cow!
Sarajevo and London Amateur Dramatics Society (S.A.L.A.D.S) was establish two years ago, to bring together the international community through the power of acting, raise some money for local charities and give people something to do in the cold, dark months of October and November! The previous pantomimes have been great successes and this year, I have become involved in show number three.... Jack and the Beanstalk!
Along with around 12 other internationals, we will produce, design, promote and act in a (fingers crossed) fun, colourful performance just before Christmas.
I have no doubt that I will blog more about this over the coming months, as rehearsals get underway!
As per a previous post, we have already been up to Igman, and viewed the disused ski jumps perched on the side of the mountain. To get the full set of Olympic venues, a trip to the disused bobsled run was still outstanding. After a couple of failed attempts (we got totally lost trying to find Trebevic), we eventually made it this weekend.
It was definitely worth the wait as it is a quite a remarkable sight. Now we know where it is, it is quite easy. Follow the signs up to Trebevic (via Grbevica), cross the transit road and the pass a petrol station on your right. Turn left at the T-junction (sign posted Pale/Jahorina) and then stay on this road for about 10km. It is quite a road. Beautiful views, but the road itself is in dreadful condition. At one point, there is only one side of the road with tarmac as the other side seems to be slipping away. Eventually, you will reach a large car park (on both sides of the road) and there is a section of graffiti’d bobsled track. Take a left here, drive through the car park and keep going. After a 1km or so, it will be in front of you... the back and underside of a large piece of track. Drive under the track and you can park in the little car park.
At this location, you can get a great view of a small section of the track, which is now covered in graffiti. It is also possible to get onto the track and walk up and down it - although please be careful! Be warned, do not walk off/around the track, I understand the area is heavily mined; therefore stay only on the tarmac.
We took a short walk up the track, there was a lot further we could go and we will go back at some point as I would love to walk up to the start. I understand that further down the course, the track has been heavily damaged and there are sections missing, therefore if you are faced with a gap do not just jump onto the ground and climb up on the other side, it is recommended you take someone who knows the area and the mine threat.
Another weekend spent in Sarajevo, with yet more glorious weather.
Sunday morning we set off up to Trebevic Mountain (the mountain which overlooks Sarajevo from the South side). We went to meet a number of other volunteers who were giving up their time to litter pick in and around Sarajevo. Organised globally, it was great to see that the Let's Do It campaign had made it to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The aim of the campaign is simple... 'In 2012, from 24th of March until 25th of September, a series of cleanups will sweep over the globe, touching all continents and bringing together millions of people who will be cleaning up their homes.' This weekend it was our turn. I was particularly keen to get involved as litter is a real problem throughout the country. It is one of my real issues with the country as we drive through the beautiful countryside which is marred by tons of litter, stuffed in hedgerows, lying by the side of roads and floating in river. The people do not seem to care. Even more sadly we have been behind a number of cars and watch passengers throw rubbish out of the window. It makes my blood boil.
We were given a car park/layby area off the main road which we tackled with a number of fellow Wombles from the EU delegation. Gloves, bin bags, brooms and shovels were provided, along with water, which was much needed as it was rather warm! An hour or so later, we had done a comprehensive job and place was much cleaner than we found it.
Last weekend, we were faced with a weekend in Sarajevo. This makes quite a change; therefore as the weather was still glorious I was dead-set on making the most of it! We embarked on a couple of little trips, both of which only require an afternoon and are within 35km of Sarajevo.
We heard about an eco-village which is located about 12km from the city, so this was trip one. The drive is beautiful, leaving the city on the Pale road and then following signs to Hresa. It is quite a climb up through some wonderful little villages (I have vowed that we will cycle this route before winter arrives… although it could be something I regret saying)! EcoFutura is signposted all the way and the last 2km are on dirt tracks. The village itself offers basic accommodation, a restaurant which is open until 9pm (and serves alcohol), there is also a small Go-Ape style tree top rope experience and children’s tree house play area and a small football pitch, basketball and volleyball courts. There are also some small walking trails and apparently mountain biking trails will be open next year. We opted for some lunch, the restaurant is run by Vegehana (a vegetarian restaurant located in the centre of Sarajevo) and I am a big fan. The falafel and ginger drink comes with a very big recommendation. There is plenty of outside seating, which is very informal, seats are hay bales and the area is shaded. Inside the main building there is more restaurant seating, a large children’s playroom and a lounge area with a pool table. After we had eaten we took a walk around the grounds, it is small, perfect for kids, but the main attraction for adults is probably the restaurant, although we did have a go on the seesaw and swings! Being a Saturday afternoon it was busy which is great to see and the majority of visitors were locals, which is even nicer to see. It sits at about 1,200m so it is noticeably cooler than in the city which makes a welcome change in the heat of the summer. I would absolutely recommend it for an informal lunch in the countryside, and if you have kids, then it is an absolute must.
On the way home, down the long mountain road (just before entering the small town of Hresa) we spotted a house selling tomatoes and cucumbers. We decided to stop. We interrupted a family having a long, leisurely Saturday lunch, but they were more than happy to help us. Thinking we would just get a punnet of tomatoes and be gone, I was delighted when I was pointed in the direction of green house and told to pick my own! The vines were bursting full of ripe, juicy tomatoes so we have no problems quickly picking 2kg! It was a wonderful experience, something so simple made me very happy. We have been enjoying a range of tomato salads ever since and they really are delicious!
Trip two took us out of the Sarajevo in the other direction. Following the road past the airport for 10 mins or so, there are signs to the right up to the Olympic Mountains, Bjelašnica and Igman. I have skied up at Bjelašnica on a couple of occasions and we heard that there was a paragliding competition taking place. The road to ski resort is long and windy and there are mine signs lining the route (so don’t leave the tarmac and head off into the bushes for a wee). Despite being a keen skier, I have not actually ever made it to a ski resort in the summer months, we took a trip to Jahorina in June and I was very disappointed, so I did not have high hopes about Bjelašnica. However, I was pleasantly surprised. These mountains are much greener and meadow like which is lovely. The parking was free and as an added bonus the main chair life was running. Costing 10KM for a return trip, we jumped on - which was a bizarre experience being in flip flops and not skis! The view was fantastic, again being much higher, it was a perfect temperature. There isn’t much to do at the top, there are no restaurants/cafes open, so you can either walk or get the chair lift back down. We opted for the latter... which was very lazy. Sadly, we missed the paragliding which was a shame.
Back in the car, we decided to pop along to Igman as neither of us had made it there yet. Igman was the home to the cross country skiing and ski jumping in the 1984 Olympic Games. The road to Igman was littered with people enjoying the sunshine, picnicking and playing football. Igman is located on lower, flatter ground therefore making it much more accessible. Follow the road past where the cross country track was located - it is not sign posted as such, but looks like suitable terrain for this sport and there are also some faint tracks in the grass. There is then a left turn, which is sign posted with a wooden sign which welcomes you to Igman and include the Olympic rings and logo etc... We missed it first time. This little road takes you to a bowl area and into a car park and then you see the two disused ski jumps perched on the hill side. It is actually quite errie - two disused ski jumps just sitting there in the shadow of the hillside. The bowl area, where the skiers would come to a stop is a lovely grass area and people were playing football. There looks like there is a restaurant, although it was closed.
We decided to climb up to the jumps, there are steps on each side. They really are very steep, much more so than I was expecting. The officials building on the side of the run is now abandoned with broken windows and UN signs all over it - sad signs of the troubles here in the past. The view from the top is great, looking out over some nursery ski slopes, the group of lads playing football and pine forests towering on the hillside in the distance.
This weekend, Sarajevo's equivalent of Sky Ride took place with a mass participation bike ride throughout the city. Giro di Sarajevo's objective is to raise awareness of cycling in the city, with the ultimate aim of trying to make it more bike friendly (although this is a long way off at the moment) and encourage more people to use their bikes.
At 5pm on Sunday, over 1,000 cyclists gathered in Dobrinja. There was a wide mix of participants, from the elderly, to very keen cyclists (evident by outfits consisting of excessive amounts of Lycra), families with young kids and young groups of friends.
The 12km route took us through Dobrinje, out onto Bulevar Mesa Selimovoca (the main road from Ilizda to the city centre); onto Zmaja od Bosne, past Skenderija, round the one-way system (up to the old Library and around the top through Bascaraija) onto Marsala Tita, then back to the river onto Vilsonovo Setaliste to Cafe Tito.
The added bonus of this organised event is that the roads were closed to cars which made it a wonderful experience. It only took an hour and a half (there were several bottle neck spots) and it was great fun and a thoroughly great way to end a weekend.
