Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

Last summer, I was backpacking through The Balkans, & I visited places like Chernobyl, Kosovo, Istanbul, Belgrade, and finally Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. As I walked along the streets (most of them rebuilt since the '92-'96 siege, but some still crumbling), I noticed along the pavement there were many spots that had massive red circles in the middle of the concrete. Confused at first, I asked a local to explain them to me. She explained that after the war ended in 1996, Sarajevans filled in the craters with red resin left by Serb mortars attacks to mark the spot where a Sarajevan died... They call them Sarajevo Roses. And I suddenly noticed the Sarajevo Roses were everywhere. This particular rose marks where 22 Sarajevans died while lining up for bread. To me, this photo represents the resilience of the human spirit and the peace found on the other side of war.