Adventures in Europe: Prizren, Kosovo

With my flight plans sorted out, I had the full day today in Kosovo. After a lovely breakfast in the hotel, I drove an hour southeast to Kosovo's second city, Prizren.

On my way to the city, especially when I was still on secondary roads, I began noticing that Albanian flags (red with a black eagle) were far more prevalent than the "official" Kosovo flag (blue with white stars and a gold outline of the country). I also saw numerous memorials to members of the UÇK, or Kosovo liberation army (whose flag is very much based on the Albanian flag), the most significant of which was this one.

Ethnically, Kosovo is by far mostly Albanian, and I found out that when while under United Nations administration Kosovo chose its flag it was specifically prohibited to have the flag be too similar to the Albanian (or Serbian) flags. Nonetheless, many Albanian Kosovars prefer to use the Albanian flag, just as the Serbs in Kosovo often fly the Serbian flag (as I saw yesterday in Gračanica). In Prizren, a street seller sold both Albanian and Kosovo flags, but clearly was much better supplied with Albanian flags!

Once in Prizren, I parked outside of the centre as I had in Pristina yesterday and walked in. I was surprised to see that people are heating their homes with wood!

Prizren is almost entirely Muslim now, but historically it had a more significant Christian Serb population as well, and the Mother of God Cathedral is nearly 700 years old (during at least some of its history it was a mosque). Unfortunately, its future looks highly uncertain as it is clearly not being well cared for and subject to vandalism, despite barbed wire surrounding it.

From the church (which obviously I would not be able to enter!) I walked down to the little river.

It is a very picturesque setting, and I found a cafe to sit at and soak in the atmosphere.

After a macchiato I began walking up to the Prizren fortress, which sits on a hill above the city centre. The climb is quite invigorating, and gives ample opportunities for nice views of the city below.

There is also another old Serbian (fenced in) church along the way to the top.

The fortress is fun to clamber around in . . .

. . . but it was the views, both behind the hill and down into the city that I found most compelling. 

Back down from the fortress, I ate lunch, enjoyed another macchiato, snacked on roasted hazelnuts along the river, bought a postcard, and so on, before walking back to the car to leave. On the way back to the car I passed a monument honouring NATO's support for Kosovo during the 1990s.

I really enjoyed Prizren and I am glad I made sure to spend today in Kosovo and delayed going back to Vienna until tomorrow.

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.