Yesterday, we went for a walk along Ambassadors Alley. Ambassadors from many different countries have ceremoniously planted linden trees along this trail that follows the Miljacka River. The trail was pretty quiet. I poured some dry food for the cat Kenric spotted. What a nice surprise it was to realize we were standing under the tree planted by Ambasador Zakaria Sulong from Malezija in 2002. Of course, I had to live up to the Malaysian hospitality and pour kitty more food!

The paved trail used to be a train track during the Austro-Hungarian time. The fall colors were beautiful. Most of the locals smiled or nodded except for the young couples who had their lips planted on their lovers’. There is a famous climbing rock called Dariva where we saw two climbers wrapping up their equipment. Our goal was to turn around at Kozija Cuprija (Goat’s Bridge) which, by the way, had no goats.

On our way back, we saw a man carefully slicing off one side of a milk carton giving it an open top. It looked like it was a new carton of milk. A couple who chatted with Milkman saw that we were curious. When they caught up to us later, the husband told us the milk was for a dog and her five puppies, and that Milkman has been bringing them milk daily. We turned around hoping to see puppies. Milkman and his cyclist friend were whistling and calling for the dogs. We couldn’t see the dogs, but we saw Milkman gently set down the box of milk.

Closer to Old Town, we walked by Mali Muzej BiH again, which we had passed by earlier. I understood Muzej BiH to be Museum of Bosna i Hercegovina, and Kenric was pretty sure “mali” means small. I convinced him to enter. A man immediately stood up to greet us. It was a huge place but it was more like a restaurant and bar. In fact, the man was drinking. I asked, “Ticket?” He shook his head while saying “No English” and continued speaking in Bosnian.

I’ll refer to this man as the curator. He brought us to a huge family tree and enthusiastically described it in Bosnian. It shows the kings and queens of the Kingdom of Bosnia which flourished during the 13th and 14th centuries, after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire. Google says the Kingdom of Bosnia fell into the hands of the Ottomans in 1463. The Queen Dowager, Kraljica Katarina (Queen Catherine), escaped to Rome where she spent her remaining days.

Kenric looked inside a room and said, “That’s our apartment.” Huh? Yes, the room was decorated just like the Turkish rooms in museums. It’s not too big an exaggeration to say our apartment looks like that. A male mannequin was seated on a chair with his legs crossed. A female mannequin stood near the door, her head missing.

Back on the ground floor, I took a picture of a model of the Miljacka River. The curator, who has been chain smoking while we looked around, motioned for me to wait, and ran back behind the bar to turn on a switch. I heard water. He had turned on a pump and water started flowing over rocks and pebbles down a Miljacka River! What is this place?! He pointed at a picture. The people in the picture had their wedding here in full medieval costume. The Little Museum of BiH is also an event space.

While Kenric was defending his kingdom from no one, the curator went to the cupboard and brought a sword and a dagger to show me. They were really cool. Holding the beautiful dagger, he said, among other words, “Ottoman” and “original”. The sword was also original but Kenric’s sword from the wall was “replika”. He gave me the “original” sword and put a smaller crown on my head. He asked for my camera and took photos. Kenric tried to leave a tip, but he refused. “No, no.” He walked us out and shook our hands. I hope he’s happy with the token of appreciation Kenric sneakily left next to his cigarettes. Little Museum, big adventure!

P.S. When we were at Arna’s apartment tonight to pick up the cheese pie her Mom made for us (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), we told them about the museum. They were very amused especially with the coronation photo. They said the curator had been featured on the local news; the curator said he established the museum because it’s important to showcase the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina from a different period. Online, I found out that his name is Džemal Šurković. I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Šurković. I find myself thinking only about how World War I was started here, and the Bosnian War, especially the Siege of Sarajevo, when I think of the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There’s so much more history in this ancient and beautiful land.

Map of Places Visited