London Buses in Sarajevo

Sarajevo

In the mid-1960s Yugoslavia exhibited an intriguing mixture of tradition and modernism, as it slowly recovered from its collapse following the Second World War. This is a description of Sarajevo from the 1966 Fodor's guide to Yugoslavia:

Sarajevo, a city of some 200,000 people, is known to the whole world as the setting for the outbreak of World War l. Today the impression it creates is one of amazement at the sight of numerous double-decker London buses and Green Line Coaches careering round in the inappropriate setting of mosques and minarets. The impression is trivial and soon passes, but we defy any Londoner not to gape at the sight of a Mohammedan, complete with fez, riding along beneath a poster boasting of the latest Washday Whiteness Miracle!

The explanation lies in the fact that the situation of the town allows for expansion only along the bank of the river-a ribbon development far beyond its transport facilities, but for the large scale importation of these second-hand veterans from London.

Fodor's Modern Guides: Yugoslavia. Fodor. 1966.
[ / MacGibbon & Kee]