A walk to the goat bridge

Photos by Lara Nettelfield and Jane Wilson (me, Ann and Lara shown here)

A week of rainy weather is predicted after today 7/20 so we decide to end the weekend with a long walk after the sun starts to go down to the Goat Bridge. This is about three kilometers from the old town to a five centuries old stone bridge across the Miljacka River. Pave paths run all the way out and they are filled with bikers and strollers and people walking their dogs. On the cliffs along the river here the rock climbing club members practice in front of gaping walkers.

There's a novel called the Goat Bridge that I have to get about trying to reconcile to life after the war. This is not the first story the bridge has inspired. Legend has it that the bridge is on the route followed by a shepherd who one day found one of his animals digging a hole. He inspected and found the entrance to a cave that was filled with bags of money. Naturally he built a nice stone bridge in memory of his excellent goats.

The bridge, on the road from Sarajevo to Istanbul, also has inspired a Kozija Cuprija (Goat Bridge) restaurant pictured above. Ann noted that the thing impaled on a spike in the sign -- a goat about to be roasted -- actually looked a bit more like a skinned lizard, which didn't help my appetite. (Click on picture of the sign to zoom in and see for yourself.)