April in Travnik

I arrived in Travnik on Friday night at the motel "ABA": a combo “hotel + pekara (bakery),” which guaranties that breakfast at the hotel will be good! The bus ride from Tuzla was fairly long, so I make it an early night. On Saturday morning, with camera in my pocket, I go explore the town. I first go to Plava Voda, right next to the hotel; one of the tourist spots in Travnik mentioned in all the guides. It is indeed beautiful. There is the impressive mountain creek making a ruckus with man-made pools that have been created to keep trout. I then move on to the old town and make it straight to the “Rodna Kuca Ive Andrica” (Ivo Andric House), the house where the writer Ivo Andric was born and which I have read has a small museum and a restaurant on the ground floor. After all, Ivo Andric’s novel “Bosnian Chronicle,” which I have read (in French) twice and is one of my all-time favorite books, is the main reason why I have come to Travnik for the weekend, so it is only natural I should quickly pay a visit to the house where the master was born. The restaurant is only supposed to open at 11 and there is no sign of activity upstairs so I decide to come back later. When I come back at noon, the museum has been invaded by a boisterous group of teenagers from Slovenia. I hang out by the entrance where I strike a conversation with Adi who is hosting their visit. Adi is an interesting guy: he is the president of an NGO which promotes the development of new political parties in Bosnia. He also works as a volunteer for an organization whose goal is to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS cases in Bosnia (Bosnia currently has relatively few cases of HIV/AIDS but Adi believes that with more young people travelling abroad these days, this could change for the worse if nothing is done). Adi is from Travnik. He recommends that I do not forget to visit the Kastel (Stari Grad) during my stay. We exchange email addresses and promise to stay in touch. After the Slovenian kids leave, I spend an hour in the museum looking at the various copies of the Bosnian Chronicle translated into many different languages. In another room, there is a display showing Andric receiving his Nobel prize for literature (the only writer from the former Yougoslavia to receive this honor). In a glass case, there are reproductions of letters written in French by the French consul in Travnik in the early years of the 19^th century, whom the book is based on. I am like a kid in the proverbial candy store. When I am finally ready to leave, realizing that I am “vrlo gladan” (very hungry) I go downstairs for lunch (one of the best meals I’ve had in Travnik).