Last week I've been to Sarajevo, a city I've never visited before, thanks to an invitation of Bernard-Henri Levy, a close friend of mine, a French writer and philosopher, very eclectic and famous for his social and political commitments.
We went for the opening of "Hôtel Europe", a monologue with the amazing actor Jacques Weber.
With that event as an excuse, we decided to spend the entire weekend, together with a charming group of friends and journalists that travelled with us from Paris.
In addition, Saturday 28th was the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, a murder that would later lead to World War I. The city was hectic with the arrival of many presidents, such as Croatia's and Austria's, among others.
Sarajevo suffered a cruel war between 1992 and 1995, sieged and bombarded, with more than 10.000 victims.
Today, trails of that conflict can still be seen everywhere: the walls of many buildings show the impacts of bullets on their facades, as I've seen also in Beirut. But much has been re-built and the city has an undeniable charm.
A bit of modernity, a bit of Mitteleuropa, lots of green.
Bosnia's people want to become part of the European Union and are raising one million signatures for the petition.
I truly loved the city and the friendly disposition of its people. We went to see the Brazil vs Chile soccer match in a bar downtown (we skipped Vienna's Philharmonic Concert to do so). There were no language barriers: only football as common love.
I don't know if I'll be back one day, but I definitely loved the trip and the entire experience...
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