A music legend, Sting, is a world popular musician, writer and singer from Newcastle, Great Britain. His work was firstly noticed as the vocalist and member of famous rock music group in England, ‘The Police’. He was not only passioned in creating rock music songs, but jazz and, most recognised as a solo career musician, of pop music genre.
Globally, many generations were growing up with his music hits, as ‘Englishman in New York’, ‘Desert Rose’, ‘Fragile’, ‘Every Breath You Take’, ‘Message in a Bottle’, ‘If it’s love’..
Today, Sting continues to entertain the crowd with his concerts all around the globe, and ,besides music, very much involved in human activism, projects for nature saving, charitable donations for justice, healthcare and educational programs.
In 2022., he had a concert in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. More precisely on his birthday, 2nd of October. In his 3-days visit, he was wishing for a local tour guide of Sarajevo, from which he would approach and develope his knowledge about the siege of Sarajevo, 1984. Olympic Games spirit and a strong multi-cultural concept of the ex. Yugoslavian community.
TOUR WITH STING
The singer flew from Romania to Sarajevo in a private jet with his wife, Trudie Styler and his bend, where he previously had a concert.
As a big fan of Sting and local tour guide of ‘Art and Tours Sarajevo’, I was chosen to guide a music legend, on a 2-days tour of Sarajevo. Surely, my dream was coming true. It was the most beautiful reward for ‘Art and Tours Sarajevo’ professional and dedicated work. A symbolic gift for both, our city Sarajevo and our country Bosnia and Herzegovina.
First Day tour
I will never forget our first meeting in the hotel and his will to learn about our history and current situation. Together, we visited many attractions and sights, as the Tunnel of Hope Museum, City Hall, Coppersmith street, Old Town ‘Baščaršija’, Sebilj Fountain, Trebević Olympic mountain, the 1984 Bob-sleigh track, but also tried some Baklava and Balkan drinks, ‘Rakija’.
The start of our journey was in the Old Town of Sarajevo by visiting the City Hall. After presenting its turbulent history and main galleries, his will was to meet a local. The first idea that came to my mind was to meet him with my local friend, a coppersmith artist, in his shop near the City Hall. For Sting, it was a brilliant idea, which he generously accepted. There, he was introduced with our oldest art tradition, the production of copper souvenirs and got an unique copper handmade picture.
After being impressed by my copper friend and his work, I suggested him to go for a handmade ‘Baklava’ sweet, so he can approach how small things can make our society happy, but also understand our food culture. On the way to the Baklava shop called ‘Baklava Dućan’, we stopped at the main square of Old Town, where ‘Sebilj Fountain is located’. The main reason to stop was to represent him how the history started and from where. Sting was very pleased with our commitment and taste of traditionally prepared baklava. Our recommendation is to try a special baklava, the ‘Žandar’ baklava, a rolled baklava. It is derived from a family recipe of ‘Baklava Dućan’, more than 200 years old.
As a Brit, Sting was eager to try a domestic Balkan alcoholic drink, the ‘Rakija’. We entered the ‘La Cava’ winery in the old town, where he tried a pear rakija. His was very surprised with the strong and unique taste, but preferred to continue with tasting a Herzegovinian homemade wine. At the pub, we talked a lot and he was pleased with the hospitality of the city. Our first day ended by driving back from La Cava to the hotel.
Second Day tour
Next day, our morning journey continued to the panoramic view of Sarajevo on the Olympic mountain Trebević. It was the time for the best pictures and memories from Sarajevo.
After a short period of time, we recommended a very symbolic monument near to panoramic spot. A 15 minutes walk on the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic Bob-sleigh track down the hill, which Sting immediately accepted. During the easy walk on the track, I approached him our 12 golden days of the town, the time of XIV Winter Olympic games in 1984., held in Sarajevo. Again, he understood how Sarajevo is an open place for all visitors, but as well a great city for winter tourism.
At the end of our walk, we decided to have a stop for breakfast in the hotel Pino Nature on the Trebević mountain. Sting was welcomed by the hotel staff and got a domestic Bosnian breakfast combined with baklava sweets and fresh homemade mountain juices.
The most touchy part of our 2-days tour was after breakfast, more precisely during our visit of the ‘Tunnel of Hope 1992/1995’ museum. The tunnel was the only way out for survival of Sarajevo citizens during the siege. It was constructed by 171 Sarajevo citizens in 1993. The tunnel is located below the Sarajevo airport, a UN controlled safe zone during the war in Bosnia, which exit is in the suburb of Sarajevo, behind the Kolar family house. Today, it is known as the most symbolic monument in our city. By listening to my and Kolar family presentation and being a great humanitarian person, Sting was touched and surprised how people were struggling for survival. Even being late for his musical rehearsal, Sting did not want to exit the facility until he visited and understood each corner of it. At the very end, it was time to say goodbye, when Sting thanked our organization and time. It was time for his rehearsal at the ‘Zetra Olympic Hall’, where the concert was held at night.
In spite to this, on his concert, before his last song, Sting sat on a chair and said: ‘I was exploring your beautiful city for two days and understood the importance of visiting the Tunnel of Hope Museum. I hope that no one will face what you did during the siege. Now, this song will be dedicated to your and Ukrainian victims’. He sang his song ‘Fragile’. It was the best way to say ‘Thank you, Sarajevo’.