Night skiing at Bjelasnica

Another post about skiing...! Last night, on a boring, wet and generally quite miserable Monday evening we hit the slopes after work. And it was brilliant!

In my 25 or so years of skiing, this was a first for me, and it was great fun. We headed up to Bjelasnica after work and if this was not all great, we pretty much has the mountain to ourselves! The weather was a bit rubbish - snowing heavily, but there was not a breath of wind and everything was very calm - much more so than during the day.

There was one T-bar open, which offered skiing on two runs, one lit and one not.

The two bars at the bottom were open and a quick break half way through for a beer and a plate of ustipci made it the perfect evening.

Night skiing takes place every evening at Bjelasnica from 18:30-21:00. The cost is 20KM for the ski pass. Parking is free. However, there did not seem to be any ski rental shops open.

All in all, another excellent Bosnian experience only 30 minutes from our front door. And what a way to spend a Monday night... I will certainly miss this when I am back in London... crammed on a train trying to get home!

A year in Sarajevo

This weekend has marked our one year anniversary here in Sarajevo. And what a year it has been!

In reflection we have achieved a lot, travelled to a variety of new places and countries, met some wonderful new people, who are now great friends and made this city our home.

My highlights so far:

February: Two (ish) or so metres of snow falling in a few days

March: My 30th birthday, friends and family visiting, great nights out and plenty of skiing

April: First trips to Dubrovnik and Belgrade

May: A road trip to Ljubljana

June: Queen's Birthday Party and Jubillee celebrations, sailing around Hvar

July: The Olympics, and all the celebrations which went with it. Starting a new job. Camping, Bosnian style and Sarajevo Film Festival

August: Amazing weather and endless trips to the coast

September: Montenegro and more birthdays

October: A beautiful autumn, more sailing and a weekend in the rain in Cavtat

November: Istanbul

December: Panto-time, Diplomatic Winter Bazar, Christmas Carols, importing and BBq'ing a turkey on Christmas Day and the start of the ski season

Skiing in Sarajevo

I am sure there will be plenty more blogs over the coming months about skiing, as I am ever so slightly fanatical about throwing myself down a mountain in sub-zero temperatures with two planks of wood strapped to my feet!

Therefore, living in Sarajevo is a dream come true... Sarajevo city centre is approximately 30mins from two Olympic Mountains - Jahorina and Bjelasnica. Therefore, it is completely acceptable to head to the hills for a 3-hours skiing... most mornings!

Jahorina: A prefect day

Last season was amazing, purely due to the amount of snow which fell at the beginning of February (approximately 2 meters), however as we had only just arrived, my ski kit did not get here until the middle of February, which meant I was tortured on a daily basis until I could get up there!

However, this year I am more prepared, especially as we spent Christmas here. We had a good 'dump' in early December, which meant the base could be prepared and by the end of the second week in December, I had already, hit the piste. Subsequently, I have skied as much as possible, mainly at Jahorina, but nipping over to Bjelasnica when I fancy a change.

So, here is a quick guide to what the two resorts offer (in my opinon):

Bjelasnica: Located out past the airport in the Federation. This was the destination for the Men's Olympic activities in the 1984 Winter Olympic Games. It is steeper and in general the infrastructure is not quite as up-to-date as at Jahorina. There is one main chair lift (a three-man) which runs from the bottom and links to a number of T-Bar drag lifts. This chair is quite slow and old. There is one bar at the top of this chair lift (it does not have toilet facilities and only serves instant coffee (!!)). Parking is almost always possible as there is a big car park, which costs 5KM per day. There are also a number of ski rental shacks in the car park, cost to rent skis and boots is approximately 20KM per day (they do not offer half-day rates).

Bjelasnica

 

 

Bjelasnica: top T-Bar drag lift to summit

Jahorina: Located out of Sarajevo in Pale (in the RS), as you get to the outskirts of Pale town (from Sarajevo), there are sign posts on the right, up the mountain to Jahorina. This was the resort for the Women's Olympic activities in 1984. Jahorina is a larger and more developed resort than Bjelasnica with three six-man high-speed chair lifts and a number of button lifts. There is a good variety of restaurants and cafes across the mountain, including the Termag Hotel (which is probably the nicest hotel in the resort). There are also a number of chalets which can be hired for very reasonable rates. Ski and boot hire is available at a number of locations and costs are the same as Bjelasnica. Parking is not quite as organised, so if you get there early, you can get a good spot for free, but it gets busy quickly and by lunchtime it can be hard to find a space.

Jahorina

Jahorina

I am very lucky to have not just one, but two resorts to choose from. If I had to choose which I prefer, I would opt for Jahorina. The lift system is quicker which means less time sitting on chair lifts (and getting cold) and more time skiing. There is plenty to keep an advanced skier occupied for a day at a time and I have my eye on some off piste, which I am hoping to explore when we have a bit more snow, and with someone who knows it. However, Bjelasnica offers some challenging skiing, so it nice to pop up there to ring the changes every now and again.

Jahorina: View from middle 6-man chairlift

My other-half had never stepped foot on snow before we arrived and it has been fantastic that he has been able to learn here and not break the bank. He and a couple of our friends had lessons last season and he is now more than capable to get down the mountain, and has recently bought himself some ski boots! A three hour lesson for three costs approximately 90KM.

The cost is non-comparable to the main European ski resorts, yet it is important to remember that the facilities are not quite up to the standard you'd get in France or Austria. There is some form of mountain rescue, but I would not want to put it to the test!

3-hour ski pass at either Jahorina or Bjelasnica costs 23KM (£10) - not bad really and it would be rude not to ski a lot at that price!

 

Christmas crumpets

Whilst skiing a couple of days ago, I received a text from my other-half (who I had left at home) asking, 'where are the scales'... to which I replied 'why'?! He had decided that he wanted to make crumpets, again one of those lovely wintery tea-time treats which you can’t pick up in the supermarkets here. So, I provided the required answer and did not think anything more of it!

I got home a couple of hours later to find a huge mixing bowl on the side and a strong smell of yeast coming from it! He had actually made crumpets!  

This did come as a slight surprise, but I was delighted. As with my hot-cross bun experience back at Easter, crumpets are the kind of things that you can just get from the shops in the UK and I had never given much thought as to how they are made.  

Anyway it turns out they are cooked by frying them on the hob in a biscuit cutter and then they can be eaten fresh from  the frying pan, or saved until later and heated in the toaster. Even the homemade batter makes the little crumpety holes and the texture was absolutely spot on!  

All in all, they were a triumph and I am going to encourage him to bake more often (especially when I am off skiing)!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/crumpets_93122

Diplomatic Winter Bazar - update

So, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have recently been involved with the organisation of the Diplomatic Winter Bazar, which took place on Saturday 1st December.

Having had some time to recover and more importantly count the cash we managed to raise, it has become evident that the event was an unprecedented success and we have raised more than we could ever have imagined.

Drum roll please... the grand total is 46'411.78KM (approximately 20,000GBP).

This is a huge amount of money anywhere, but especially here and is going to go a long way to help the four identified beneficiaries.

The day itself was slightly fraught, and it was a learning curve for me working on such a huge event as a volunteer (as your approach to everything has be slightly different compared to if people are being paid)! All the usual on-site event stresses came to the fore, the main issue which occurred was that the floor plan we had been given was not correct and there we had huge challenges trying to get all the tables in the space we had available.

The venue we used is the French School, initially we thought it would be big enough, however it soon became evident that this was not the case and with over 100 Embassies, vendors and NGOs it was a squeeze and then add over 1,000 guests... and it was a squash! However this is all a learning, and next year the venue needs to be much bigger (I am holding out for Zetra Stadium)!

However, aside from all of the challenges, everyone had a good time. The Embassies all laid on amazing spreads of food, from paella from the Spanish, fondue and raclette from the Swiss, cheese and wine from the French and Carlsberg from the Danish! The UK table sold a selection of delicious homemade jams and chutneys, along with some mince pies!

The debriefing meeting will take place in the New Year, which gives us all some time to reflect on everything and we can then regroup and identify what we can do to make it an even bigger and better event in 2013!

Check out the Facebook page for more information and some videos and photos of the day itself. www.facebook.com/diplomaticwinterbazar

Panto... Sarajevo style

So, as I mentioned a couple of months ago, myself and my partner have both been involved in a British Panto, which thanks to a number of international and local volunteers we successfully executed last week.

Jack and the Beanstalk was the third offering from Sarajevo and London Mature Dramatics Society (S.A.L.A.D.S) and went down an absolute storm (even if I do say so myself)!

We put the production on in the Dom Policije theatre, which is an impressive state-run building which houses a beautiful theatre. Sadly, the venue itself has not had much TLC over the last few years, so when the curtain jammed shut at the start of the first dress rehearsal we should not really have been surprised!

However, apart from a few inevitable challenges and technical issues (all of which we overcame) the production was a massive success with around 600 people attending over a three night run.

In true panto style, we encouraged plenty of audience participation and ensure that the adults were suitably lubricated with alcohol and the kids with sugar! This ensured that the shouting, booing and hissing was as loud as it needed to be! We had frightful panto dames, who spent much of the show trying to show off their ‘unmentionables’, we had a trio of baddies who have since become included on the most wanted list for the under 5’s throughout Sarajevo. And a formidable performance from the Hen who lays golden eggs… this performance was worthy of any Olivier Award!

Its success hinged on a great group of people, from actors and the production team, through to the volunteers.  It really was a team effort and something I have been so very proud to be a part of! Since the panto has ended, it has been great to catch up on some sleep, but I still seem to be plagued with the words from various songs, which I cannot seem get out of my head, so to share the love, here is a tiny snippet of the opening song:

As a result of the ticket sales and the nightly bucket collections, we have managed to raise over 4,000KM which will be going to Helping Hearts and Hands Foundation, who are an active volunteer group here in Sarajevo within whom I am a trustee.

So, the Christmas season is well and truly underway… oh no it isn’t… oh yes it is….
Until next year ;-)

Winter arrives in Sarajevo

So, yet another post about the weather... After a beautiful, if somewhat short autumn, December arrived and... It snowed!

One of the many things I love about living in Sarajevo is the clearly defined seasons and moving from autumn to winter was certainly this. It was only 6 weeks ago we were enjoy a BBQ on our balcony with temperatures in the high 20’s!

Over the past 12 days, we have had several inches of snow and temperatures have already dropped well into the double minus figures. More importantly, I heard rumors that the ski resorts have started to open (a little earlier than planned), so fingers crossed we should get some good skiing in, over the Christmas break!

So whilst the town itself is not particularly Festive, the thick snow on the ground, the freezing temperatures and a beautiful Christmas tree up in our flat, there is certainly a Festive feeling in our household! I am certainly looking forward to our first Christmas in Sarajevo!