bruecken_schlag_worte

Brückenschläge und Schlagworte

Schlagwort: conflict

Motorway Bridges in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina

How is it that mist can be so sad and depressing when it’s outside my Berlin window, but so beautiful when it is covering the forests stretching over a Bosnian mountain?

Sarajevo, Bosnia & HercegovinaWhen I was in Sarajevo, my couchsurfing host took me around town in his car. I am not even sure from where I took this picture, I am just fairly sure that somewhere in it there is the border between the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska (Serb Republic) – the two entities that make up the country we know as Bosnia and Hercegovina.

The motorway in the picture goes East from the capital toward Serbia. They must have had a lot of fun building it, with its strange bridge constructions passing over the valleys. Take into account that after the war in the 90s a lot of Bosnian mountains are still mined until today and you have to be quite careful to trod off the beaten path, and then look at this elaborate system of bridges and tunnels – quite a masterpiece.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Bridge in Peja (Peć), Kosovo

Today’s bridge is nameless and broken.

Peja, Kosovo

Peja is one of the larger cities in Kosovo, located in the West of the country close to Albania and Montenegro, in close proximity to the Prokletije mountain range. You can see it in the background of my picture, and I think the mist that covers the mountain tops adds to the idea that is in their name – Prokletije means the „cursed“ mountains. I wish I had been able to see more of the beautiful nature around, and the monasteries that are part of the UNESCO world heritage. I have written more about Kosovo in general in this post.

While I found Kosovo to be fascinating, rich in culture, full of beauty and culinary delights (I have forgotten the names of all the dishes, but I absolutely LOVED Albanian and Kosovar cuisine!!), there was no denying its burdensome recent history. Bullet holes in walls and houses in ruins were to be seen everywhere. What I found interesting was that while usually media show the supression of Kosovar Albanians, I here came across the bombed out Serbian neighborhoods and came to understand a little better that victims and perpetrators are not necesarily easily identified. This destroyed bridge was one of the sights that made me painfully aware of Kosovo’s past.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Ura e gurit in Prizren, Kosovo

This week’s Bridge on Bridges on Sundays comes to you from a county that is often forgotten on the European map – partly because it isn’t recognized officially by every other country.

Brücke, Prizren, Kosovo

I am talking, of course, about the Republic of Kosovo. When I went to the Balkans with nothing but a list of countries in my head for an itinerary, my mom asked me: „But can’t you skip Kosovo, maybe?“ My answer was: „I am not gonna go down there and see everything but one country!!“ And going there was the best possible choice indeed. Kosovo is an interesting, rapidly evolving country full of energy and potential – and full of expats, for that matter.

This bridge crosses a tiny river that has different names – Lumbardh in Albanian, Prizrenska Bistrica in Serbian. The Bridge itself also has two different names: the Albanian which I used in this post’s title, Ura e gurit, and the Serbian Stari Kameni Most. Albanian is one of the languages that I have not the slightest understanding of, but the Serbian means Old Stone Bridge, and I am guessing that the Albanian might mean the same. At least the city where I took this picture, Prizren, seems to be called the same in both languages. When researching information on Prizren online, you will find bits that only use the Serbian names and bits that only use Albanian. I only just noticed that even when you google „Kosovo“, wikipedia will lead you to an article about the „region“, not to the article about the country. I haven’t grasped the conflict entirely and am sure to dedicate more posts to it. Surely though, Kosovo is a place where bridges have to be built and kept more urgently than elsewhere.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!