Adventures in Europe: Gračanica, Kosovo

From Pristina, I drove to the suburb of Gračanica, which is one of Kosovo's minority Serbian municipalities. Here, Serbian flags were flying along the streets. I came here to see the Gračanica monastery which is over 700 years old and now an (endangered) UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From Gračanica it was another thirty minute drive southwest to my hotel which is in the little village of Lipjan. I reached it before sunset.

It is a brand new hotel, with very few guests and almost-too-good-to-be-true prices, and a peaceful view.

As I was relaxing in my room after dinner, I was shocked to see an email reminding me of my flight back to Vienna tomorrow! I was supposed to have two nights in Kosovo, so my flight was on February 2, I was sure. Well, it turned out that I had booked for February 2, but that those emails over the last few weeks I had been largely ignoring from Wizz Air telling me my flight time had changed were trying to tell me the date had changed, not just the time! So, my original fight was now leaving on February 1. I was not ready to go back to Vienna tomorrow, so I decided to buy a new flight for February 2 on Austrian airlines to get back that way. It was annoying because my Wizz deal had seemed so good and now I was stuck forking out a couple hundred more dollars, but it was better than missing out on a day in Kosovo, plus I had already paid for the rental car for two days, and the hotel was so much cheaper than I would pay in Vienna that ultimately it did seem the good sense thing to do.

Adventures in Europe: Pristina, Kosovo

From Budapest I travelled by train to Vienna yesterday late afternoon. I am now taking a short break from my multi-day train trip to visit Kosovo. I flew down to Pristina very early this morning.

I rented a little (stick shift) Kia Picanto at the airport and headed into the city. 

My first priority was actually laundry, so I found a laundromat and threw my load in. Then I dropped in at a nearby cafe for a coffee and a big piece of burek.

Once my laundry was done, it was time to explore. I drove into downtown Pristina, but parking was going to be difficult for this not-used-to-European-urban-parking, not-used-to-driving-stick-shift driver, so I parked a little ways out by Taukbashqe Park and jumped on a bus back into the centre. 

Kosovo must be the most American-loving country in Europe (which stems from American support for their independence in the 1990s), and it is interesting to see the monuments, flags, street names, etc. that speak to this. For example, on Bob Dole Street, there is a bust of the former American Senator.

And, along Bill Clinton Boulevard, there is a huge poster of the former American President.

Nearby is a women's clothing boutique--Hillary!

Once I started settling into Pristina, I really enjoyed the city. Kosovo is Europe's youngest country, and it was easy to believe as I walked along the streets as clearly one of the oldest people around! 

I wanted to visit the Mother Theresa Cathedral (more specifically, I wanted to climb the tower!), but it was closed for lunch . . .

. . . so I headed to the national library nearby, which is famous for being architecturally . . . interesting. People seem divided a to whether it looks good or awful, and honestly I am not sure what I think, either.

I went inside, but it was a ghost town, presumably because it was lunch time.

Next door to the library is the Christ the Saviour Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, which remains unfinished more than 25 years after its construction was interrupted by the Kosovo War.

While there are many Serbian Christians in Kosovo, it is a majority Albanian Muslim country, and ethnic tensions remain hot. 

Another famous (well, famous by Kosovo standards) spot in Pristina is the Newborn Monument, which was unveiled in 2008 when Kosovo declared its independence and so was a newborn state. Over the years the letter have occasionally been moved around, and so today it says No New B(roken) R(epublic) which refers to the challenges Kosovo is facing surviving independently.

Across the street from the Newborn monument is the Heroines memorial, which commemorates 20,000 female victims of rape during the Kosovo War. 

I was hungry again, so I bought myself a donair and ayran for 5 euro.

After lunch it was time for another coffee. Similar to in Belgrade, cafe culture is thriving in Pristina, although I understand this is partly because unemployment is so high so hanging out at cafes is a way to spend the day. Newborn Brew was very full, but I found a table and enjoyed a macchiato, which seems to be the most popular way to drink coffee here.

After lunch and coffee I figured the cathedral would be open again, so I walked back.

The cathedral was open, and I was able tour the sanctuary, but they were having technical (plumbing?) issues in the tower and I could not go up. 

From Mother Theresa Cathedral I walked toward Mother Theresa Square, past the Grand Hotel Prishtina, which at one time was the premier (five star) hotel here. Over time it began losing stars and therefore removing them from its rooftop signage such that there were literally stars on the roof. Eventually artists have intervened to make the "do ta" up there now along with the floating stars. You can read more about this here: https://momus.ca/the-non-places-are-the-places-manifesta-14s-uneasy-presence-in-kosovo/. 

For my final macchiato of the day, I visited Soma Book Station, another cool place with lots of young people hanging out.

After my coffee, I walked into the bazaar to browse and enjoy that atmosphere, before heading back to my car.

Adventures in Europe: Budapest, Hungary

I arrived at Budapest's Nyugati train station late yesterday evening. 

I am heading onward to Vienna this afternoon, but I was able to enjoy the city in the morning. I began by crossing the Danube by tram and taking a long walk along the river and over the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, which had been closed when I was in Budapest in 2021.

I looped back north towards the remarkable Parliament building . . .

. . . and the very potent Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial, which commemorates the Jewish victims who were massacred here during World War 2.

My train to Vienna leaves from Budapest-Keleti, and I headed over there early this afternoon.

Adventures in Europe: Subotica, Serbia

As I continue by train through Serbia, I ended up with an afternoon layover in Subotica, just south of the border with Hungary.

I left Belgrade early this morning on the train north to Novi Sad. About an hour later, I got off in Novi Sad, where track work (by mostly Chinese workers, I could see) is interrupting the historic "Orient express" route. At Novi Sad I had to catch a bus, which took me to a different Novi Sad train station, then catch a local train almost as far as the Croatian border, before it arrived in Sombor, where I changed again to the train which brought me here, to Subotica. I arrived around 13:30 and have until 16:30 when my trip will carry on into Hungary.

A significant portion (maybe a plurality) of the residents of Subotica are Hungarian, not Serbian, and Hungarian is spoken widely. I have made no attempt and therefore cannot tell the difference in terms of what I am hearing, but of course I can tell the difference between the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets and so it clear when I am reading Hungarian versus Serbian, such as in the posters and sign below.

The centre of Subotica is very walkable, and many of the buildings are old and picturesque . . .

. . . especially the city hall. 

The synagogue here is magnificent and interesting to me, because I would have assumed it was a church when I looked at it casually.

I also took the opportunity to take a picture of the iconic Zastava "Yugo," which you do in fact see quite a few of on the streets. Zastava is no longer in business, so I assume eventually the icons will disappear or end up in museums. 

Adventures in Europe: Belgrade, Serbia

Yesterday morning, Diana flew from Sofia to Amsterdam and onward to Edmonton. But I continued  overland, first by bus from Sofia across the border into Serbia and to Nis, Serbia's major southern city, and then by train to Belgrade. I arrived in the evening in Belgrade's brand new central station, which is on the southern outskirts of the city centre.

I caught a bus into the city centre, and then walked a couple of blocks to my hotel, the surprisingly affordable Hotel Balkan. 

My room is small, but perfect for me, and I am staying here two nights.

The main floor cafe is one of the real highlights of this hotel!

I enjoyed a glass of slivovitz there this evening.

My hotel is just across the street from Belgrade's famous (and much more expensive) Hotel Moskva.

But, those photos were all taken today. Last night, after checking in, I went out for a walk and to get some dinner.

Some of the graffiti regarding Serbia's relationship to Kosovo caught my eye.

This one apparently translates "when the army returns to Kosovo." Yikes! The graffiti has been there since summer, I read, so evidently city authorities do not consider it an issue.

Today is Sunday and the city was sleepy when I headed out. I needed to do laundry, and found a laundromat down the street. After throwing in my wash, I went for a walk, past the National Assembly . . 

. . . St. Mark's church, which is Serbian Orthodox . . .

. . . Holy Trinity church, which is Russian Orthodox . . .

. . . and to what I was particularly interested in seeing, the former Radio Television Serbia (RTS) headquarters, which NATO targeted with a missile strike in 1999. Twenty-five years later, Belgrade has left this as is. The hit remains very controversial, both in terms of the legitimacy of the building as a target of a military strike, and internally to Serbia, where there is evidence senior people knew the strike was coming but failed to evacuate the building where junior staff were working that night (some of whom died).

RTS is now headquartered next door, by the way.

On my way back to the laundromat I walked a different route past the Post Office (how impressive is that!) . . .

. . . the presidential palace . . .

. . . Belgrade's city hall . . .

. . . and the Monument to Tsar Nicholas II Romanov.

I changed the laundry over to the dryer and went back out, this time down to the old train station . . .

. . . where there is a massive statue of Stefan Nemanja, a man who lived almost 900 years ago and is remembered as the founder of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Across the street from the laundromat is this kafana. The kafanas are one of the coolest things about Belgrade, and last night I enjoyed seeing the diversity in size, decor, and vibe of the kafanas I walked by. The painting on this one gives you a sense of the playful and welcoming atmopshere they all seem to exude.

Clean laundry loaded into my backpack, I went back to the hotel to drop it off. The city seemed to be waking up (and warming up) now as it was 10:30. I wanted to go to the New Belgrade train station (not to be confused with the new Central Station) across the Sava River in New Belgrade to plan my onward journey for tomorrow. So, I caught a bus across the river and through New Belgrade to the station, where I was able to buy my train ticket and figure out where I would need to be tomorrow morning.

I caught the bus back over the Sava River, but I got off at the first stop once we crossed the bridge.

From here I walked up the hill into the old city.

I went past the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael the Archangel . . .

. . . and then walked into Kalemegdan Park . . .

. . . which is where Kalemegdan Fortress sits on top of the hill . . .

. . . overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers.

After visiting the park, and then walking back to the hotel down the Kneza Mihaila pedestrian street, I jumped on a bus to go to a traditional Serbian restaurant I found online to get a nice warm lunch.

By the way, I have loved Belgrade's transit system. You buy your fare on an app and so there is no paying on the bus or tapping in and out or anything. Moreover, even on a Sunday the buses are frequent and routes seem intuitive. 

After lunch I walked just a few blocks away to the massive Church of Saint Sava. Construction began on this church in 1935, when Belgarde was the capital of a very different country. During World War 2 the incomplete building was used by both the German army and Tito's partisans, and then it sat until 1984, when the Orthodox Church was finally given permission to resume construction. Twenty years later, in 2004, it was consecrated, and only the in last few years is it considered to be actually completed. It is the largest church in Serbia and one of the largest churches in the world, although smaller than Istanbul's Aya Sofya, which it is modeled after. 

The mosaics inside are quite remarkable, and interestingly were heavily financed by Russia.

There are prayers on the outer doors in a variety of different languages, including English and Hebrew and Arabic. 

As I walked away from the church an accordion busker was playing, and I found the atmosphere idyllic.