Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
vendors—scandalizedbythenotionofamultinationalconglomeratechallengingtheloyalty
of Bosnian palates—did whatever they could to block it. For weeks after it opened, there
werelonglinesdownthestreetofSarajevanscurioustotrytheAmericanburgers.Butwith-
in a few weeks, the furor died down, the crowds dispersed, and the
ć
evapi
sellers were sat-
isfied that Bosnians wouldn't abandon the grilled meats they've enjoyed for centuries.
Two blocks later, the street opens up. On the left is the slick, new BBI Centar shopping
mall. On the right is a fine park with one of the most emotionally devastating memorials
in this tragedy-laden city: the
Memorial to the Children of Sarajevo.
Look closely at the
symbolism-packed fountain. The glass sculpture in the middle represents a sandcastle, but
one that is not—and never will be—finished...the innocent play of a child cut short by an
untimely death. The footprints embedded in the concrete basin belong to the young siblings
ofchildrenwhowerekilledinthewar.Thesilverpillarstotheleftcanbespuntoseenames
of young victims of the fighting. Nearly 1,600 children were among those killed during the
siege.
Scattered in the hillsides of the
park
beyond the fountain, notice a few Ottoman-style
gravestones, shaped like turbans—the earliest dating from the early 17th century. In the
pavement at the far end of this park—about 30 yards before the crosswalk—look for a Sa-
rajevo rose.
