Life in the capital city, especially when that city is in Europe is
grant. Before I had Sarajevo, and now I have Prague. Three weeks ago,
I became a legitimate resident of Prague, capital of the Czech
Republic. Like Bosnia, Czech identifies by its Slavic root. However,
while Bosnia in later time was greatly influenced by the Muslim Turks,
Czech continued with its traditions and idealism brought by its
Germanic neighbors.

Berlin and Vienna, the historical and
modern capitals of Czech’s two Germanic neighbors, Germany and Austria
are only 5 to 6 hours drive and 2-hour fly from Prague. When you
connect Berlin, Prague and Vienna, you will end up with a straight line
with Prague as the midpoint. (See [pix])

I visited Vienna three times but never really “saw” the city since in
all three occasions I ended up wandering about at Sud Banhoff where I
got hit on by an Egyptian masseur and an Austrian station employee who
offered me free massage and beer followed by an “indecent proposal.”

I’ve
never set foot in Berlin but soon I will for I have a strange
fascination by historical Eastern European events and sites. The
collapse of the symbolic Berlin Wall inspired world-famous German rock
band Scorpions to write their classic hit “Winds of Change,” a song I
I used to play non-stop during my childhood.

Traveling among
Vienna, Berlin and Prague are easy. International and domestic buses,
trains and flights are affordable–sometime very cheap. Budget Airlines
covering these three countries are Germanwings, SkyEurope and Air
Berlin. Lufthansa and Austrian airlines are worth a check; they are
major airlines and cost more than smaller air carriers, but if you book
in advance, you might find decent deals.

You can sweat over
many thing but don’t burden yourself with the thought of being a
homeless in these three major capitals. If you book ahead, you can find
a hostel bed for as low as 10 EUR. Visit hotels in Berlin for more detail. Vienna hostels charge about the same prices; however, if you desire the comfort in a 3-star hotels in Vienna, you can get one for as low as 39 EUR.

German versions of this website: hotels in Berlin and hotels in Vienna.

The forum is here

The forum feature was added to this site. The reason for it was I won’t be able to post as much as I like and I don’t have the most up-to-date, useful, and interesting information to add to this website as I don’t live in Sarajevo nor plan to return anytime soon. 

The forum, thus, will be a place for readers to participate, share their wisdom, and recommend tips.

And that’s it for now.

Added: CNN says the darnest thing! As of October 30th, 2006, St. Louis is the most dangerous city in USA. 

St. Louis was the town which marked the beginning of Lewis and Clark’s discovery, an expedition which led to the US’s expansion westward, forever changing American history.

 The same courageous and adventurous  spirit also served as the foundation in two American literature classic favorites: "Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventure of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. 

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Having played in the movie "Runaway Bride" with Julia Roberts, who is the runaway bride, Richard Gere found himself a runaway actor from Sarajevo while filming for the next movie "Spring Break in Bosnia."  The movie is about two reporters trying to catch Radovan Karadzic, former president of Republic of Serbia and a war crime criminal wanted by the UN.

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From now on, new posts will be available only on beyondsarajevo.com. I’ve finally managed to make the new site presentable. It might not look as nice as this site since I don’t have the eyes of a pro web designer.

Please change your bookmark and update your feed (for feed subscribers).

Thanks.