Time for some tourist activities

Our roommates have returned to their own apartment.  The chimney sweep (they don't have a chimney but no one knew what else to call him) came, also the local gas company.  They corrected whatever was happening in the heating unit, helped the Elders relocate the alarms in a better place and said all was okay.  We worried a little the first night but they're still with us so all is well.  Dobro je, dobro je as we sing here!

We decided to get out and do a little sight seeing one day each week.  Winter returned this week so we didn't go far from home.  We walk past the Eternal Flame frequently.  It is in the center of the city, near the chapel and at the beginning of Old Town shopping area.

Sarajevo Eternal Flame

The Eternal Flame is a memorial to the military and civilian victims of WWII in Sarajevo.  It was dedicated April 6, 1946 on the first anniversary of the liberation of Sarajevo from the 4-year long occupation by Nazi Germany and the Fascist independent state of Croatia.  Here's what the inscription says:

With Courage and the Jointly Spilled

Blood of the Fighters of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian,

Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian Brigades

of the Glorious Yugoslav National Army; with

the Joint Efforts and Sacrifices of Sarajevan Patriots

Serbs, Muslims and Croats on the 6th of April 1945

Sarajevo, the Capital City of the People's Republic

of Bosnia and Herzegovina was liberated.

Eternal Glory and Gratitude to the Fallen Heroes

of the liberation of Sarajevo and our Homeland,

On the First Anniversary of its Liberation-

a Grateful Sarajevo

All those groups were united then and seemed to live peaceably for nearly 50 years after the liberation.  Too bad that didn't continue and they had to endure the terrible war in the 90's.

We took pictures of the Latin Bridge, named during Ottoman times since so many Catholics populated the area.  This is where the "shot heard round the world" occurred and started WWI with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.  After WWI the bridge was renamed Principov Most after the assassin who had asserted Bosnian Serb nationalism by killing the Habsburg Archduke.  I read a book about the Habsburg empire before we came here and it was quite interesting.

Latin Bridge spans the Miljacka River in Sarajevo

After the 1992-1996 siege, Sarajevans couldn't stand calling the bridge after a Bosnian Serb and went back to the old name.  We had walked across the bridge several times but didn't realize it was "the" bridge until we pulled out the tourist books.

View of Latin Bridge from opposite side of the river

Love locks on the Latin Bridge

The Sarajevo 1878-1918 Museum is across the street from the Latin Bridge.  The museum is only one room.  It outlines the brief four decades of the Habsburg rule here and how Gavrilo Princip's assassination of the Archduke took place and set off the chain of events that lead to WWI.

Sarajevo Museum 1878-1918

We walked back across the bridge and through a parking lot to a nondescript mosque to the Tomb of the Seven Brothers.  This is a favorite spot for Sarajevo superstition.  Along the outer wall of the mosque are a door and seven windows marking the tombs of (according to legend) innocent people who were unjustly sentenced to death.

The Tomb of the Seven Brothers

It's believed that if you put a coin of the same value in each of these eight slots, you can make a wish or request.  Then you are supposed to walk around the top of the mosque, turn left and walk down a little lane.  The first words you hear along this street will help you divine the answer you seek.  We did everything but place the coins so we were not enlightened.

We have had snow all week - a lot of snow!  We guesstimate about a foot, I say it was more but John says not.  Our front steps are marble or granite, of all the slippery things to put outdoors!  I fell up the stairs with my hands full of grocery bags.  My elbow took most of the brunt; fell on a hip and hit my head on the side of the stucco house.  I'm sure it was a pretty sight.  No real damage done, just a nice bruise on the elbow and some achy muscles.

First day of spring in Sarajevo - April 21, 2018

We were happy to learn that our friend Fadil died of natural causes.  The police made no effort to locate his family members.  The cemetery was calling for instructions so we went there on Friday morning with some legal paper work the Church attorney had done for him.  They agreed to turn it over to Social Services for them to find his family.  We feel strongly that his family should know, even if they don't care or choose not to take responsibility.  We are waiting to do anything until we know what the family will do.

On our walk Saturday we stopped at an apoteka (pharmacy) for rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide.  The pharmacist keeps it locked up with the drugs.  We practically give the stuff away in the U.S.  I set them next to a 8.4 ounce lotion to compare the size.

Hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol from the apoteka

The peroxide is in the middle; about 3.3 ounces for $2.25.  The rubbing alcohol is slightly over 6 ounces for $3.79.  The pharmacist also told us in his broken English "not for drinking."  Okay.

We switched to Daylight Savings Time this morning.  We are predicting that no one other than the Americans will be at church this morning.  We are so looking forward to General Conference next weekend.  It will be different here than being at home on the couch in our PJ's.  We are excited to hear our new prophet and find out who the new apostles will be.  The gospel is true, all of it!