I awoke early, opened the curtains and surveyed the city sprawled out below me. One hundred shades of grey from the sky, to the concrete and the mass of tower blocks, houses, and apartments reflected back at me through the glass. A crisp autumn day of around 15 degrees, we wrapped up in our best woolen knitwear and ventured out onto the street.
Located in the centre of Prishtina, our hotel was perfectly placed to explore the city on foot so that’s exactly what we did. I strolled through the back alleys, Dea transfixed by the trees with gold, burgundy and orange leaves, and made my way to the eponymous ‘Newborn’ sign.
The centre of Prishtina is full of fascinating architecture- modern EU or US funded towers full of glass and steel, sitting next to ageing Yugoslavian Communist era blocks that would have once housed ‘the workers’. I passed numerous kebab shops each with aluminium chimneys puffing smoke into the morning air and an abundance of large coffee shops, full of locals drinking the best coffee in the region.
I walked down Rruga Luan Haradinaj and couldn’t help but think how there is still something in the air in this city. I am no expert on what happened here in the late 90’s but to me, this place still felt like its scars have not fully healed. I met one woman on the street who struck up a conversation with me and tells me how much of the area has not changed since those days and that for Kosovars, the ghosts of the past can be very much present in every street, home, and part of the city.
“When you go outside of Prishtina, to places like Gjakova, it is even worse. There are women with no husbands and sons, many more who have family members that disappeared.They have given up ever knowing what happened to them. It is still a sensitive subject,” she tells me.
View this post on InstagramHave you ever been to Prishtina if you don't have a picture of this sign? This monument was unveiled on 17 February 2008, the day that Kosovo formally declared its independence from Serbia. #pristina #pristin #pristin #prishtinacity #prishtinë #prishtin #kosovo🇽🇰 #kosova #kosovo #kosovofan #visitprishtina #visitpristina #visitkosovo #visitkosova #balkans #visitbalkan #visitbalkans #travelblogger #travelbloggers #travelblog
Upon arriving at the Newborn sign I had to wait my turn for a photo as there was an excited gaggle of school children there, posing up a storm for Snapchat or whatever it is that the kids are using these days. The large installation was erected on 17 February 2008 on the same day that Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. At the time it was painted bright yellow, but on the anniversary of independence each year it is painted with new colours and designs.
Another woman I spoke to, in her late 30s ’s who wanted to remain anonymous told me how her sister and aunt were raped by Serbian soldiers- she avoided the same fate as she was a young child at the time. She told me how her uncle has disappeared and the state are doing little to help her family discover what happened to him.
View this post on InstagramCan someone tell me the history of this church? #pristina #pristin #pristin #prishtinacity #prishtinë #prishtin #kosovo🇽🇰 #kosova #kosovo #kosovofan #visitprishtina #visitpristina #visitkosovo #visitkosova #balkans #visitbalkan #visitbalkans #travelblogger #travelbloggers #travelblog #capitalcity #cityexplorer #exploring #urban #balkangirl #journalist #writer #traveller #blogger #city #visitbalkans #albanian
We then continued on our way to the National Library of Kosovo which sits in a park on the edge of the city centre. The steps that lead up to the park were cracked and some of the paving slabs are missing and as I stepped up into the large open space, I felt a twinge of sadness. Right before me lay the ruins of an Orthodox church, abandoned, empty, decomposing, yet right atop the highest dome remained a golden cross, as bright and shining as the day it was put there. I later learned that the church was abandoned at the end of the war once the Serbs left, but that it will not be demolished for “political reasons”. Instead, its carcass will sit here, punctuating the landscape- a fish out of water, decomposing in its grandeur and serving as a reminder to the locals of the suffering they endured.
A pack of dogs chased each other around the park, yapping and growling playfully and groups of people sat talking and smoking cigarettes despite the dark skies and chilly wind. The library sits like an alien spacecraft that has landed on earth by accident- bizarre and awkward on the eye. A red banner hangs on the wall outside the entrance quoting Kim Yong Il (of all people) and the paving stones around the exterior are again, cracked and broken.
View this post on InstagramThe National Library of Kosovo The mission of the library is to collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the documentary and intellectual heritage of Kosovo. It holds exhibitions and holds an archive of national newspapers. The library also provides a number of other services. It is known for its unique history, and the style of the building designed by Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjaković, followed by controversies about the outside appearance of it. #pristina #pristin #pristin #prishtinacity #prishtinë #prishtin #kosovo🇽🇰 #kosova #kosovo #kosovofan #visitprishtina #visitpristina #visitkosovo #visitkosova #balkans #visitbalkan #visitbalkans #travelblogger #travelbloggers #travelblog
Built in 1982 by Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjakovic, it has weathered a number of controversies about its design, which according to the architect is supposed to blend Byzantine and Islamic influences together. Some say that he designed it using influence from the Albanian hat “plisi”- something that caused controversy with Serbian politicians at the time.
The library is home to some 2 million items including old rare books, newspapers, magazines, Albanian manuscripts, Greek, Latin and Arabic graphics, maps, documents, and ‘Historia e vita et
View this post on InstagramSo Dea took Kosovo by storm and became great friends with everyone we met- waiters, hoteliers, other guests at reataurants, cafes, and hotels. When i say friends, i mean she sat there giving big toothless grins to everyone, cackling and reaching out to cuddle and grab them. As a result it was impossible to have a quiet moment due to her incessant socialising. I lost count of the amount of times people remarked how quiet, happy, calm, confident, fearless, clever, smiley, interactive, curious, and remarkably coordinated and determined she is for a five month old. Proud parent moment right here. I'd like to say it's down to great parenting but i think it's just luck that she is awesome. Here she is hanging out with the lads in a coffee shop in Prishtina. @merys.food.coffee
We then made our way into the pedestrianised centre of the city, in search of a macchiato
View this post on InstagramIn Prishtina they like their coffee with a kick. A macchiato madhe is basically a very strong coffee with a dash of milk. Delicious, potent rocket fuel. #pristina #pristin #pristin #prishtinacity #prishtinë #prishtin #kosovo🇽🇰 #kosova #kosovo #kosovofan #visitprishtina #visitpristina #visitkosovo #visitkosova #balkans #visitbalkan #visitbalkans #travelblogger #travelbloggers #travelblog #coffee #coffeelovers #coffeelover
After refuelling, our next stop was the hotel to prepare for the afternoon adventure. As we strolled through the city centre, I couldn’t help but stop to photograph the trees that lined the pavements. Adorned with the most astonishing bright and beautiful leaves, they injected some much-needed colour into the forlorn and grey autumn day.
View this post on InstagramBeautiful trees in Prishtina Ri! #pristina #pristin #pristin #prishtinacity #prishtinë #prishtin #kosovo🇽🇰 #kosova #kosovo #kosovofan #visitprishtina #visitpristina #visitkosovo #visitkosova #balkans #visitbalkan #visitbalkans #travelblogger #travelbloggers #travelblog #capitalcity #cityexplorer #exploring #urban #balkangirl #journalist #writer #traveller #blogger #city #visitbalkans #albanian
View this post on InstagramToday we went to the bear sanctuary
Our next stop was the Bear Sanctuary in the small village of Novo Selo. Run by Four Paws Austria, the sanctuary provides rehabilitation and accommodation for a number of bears that have been rescued from captivity all over the Balkans. Many of these bears had been kept in appalling conditions in restaurants and cafes throughout Albania and Kosovo. Many have been confiscated, but some owners even resorted to slaughtering their bears before the rescue teams arrived.
View this post on InstagramGoodbye Prishtina! #cityexplorer #exploring #urban #journalist #writer #traveller #blogger #bloggerstyle #city #visitbalkans #albanian #photography #pristina #pristin #pristin #prishtinacity #prishtinë #prishtin #kosovo🇽🇰 #kosova #kosovo #kosovofan #visitprishtina #visitpristina #visitkosovo #visitkosova #balkans #visitbalkan #visitbalkans #travelblogger #travelbloggers #travelblog
The drive to Novo Selo took us up on a ridge behind the city where we had the most spectacular view of Prishtina below us. Our route took us amongst a plethora of enormous construction sites where thousands of apartments are being built- most of which will remain empty. Chatting with a local later in the evening, they explained that their purpose is mostly for money laundering, or to cater to members of the diaspora who return for a week or two every year. The purchasing power of these individuals is collectively driving up the price of property in Kosovo, with the average price being around EUR850 per sq/m- a price the average citizen cannot afford.
After a short while, I noticed that the road signs appeared in cyrillic rather than Albanian and I saw that many of the houses had large arches at the entrance, adorned with red and pink ribbons and flowers. I also noticed that every lamp post and shop featured a CCTV camera, surveying the entire neighbourhood. The town is called Gracinica and is one of the few Serbian communities that remain in Kosovo after the war. The CCTV cameras are in place as the community are scared of retaliation and attacks for the horrific crimes against humanity that the Serbian forces inflicted on ethnic Albanian’s during the conflict.
It fascinated me how this enclave of people coexist a stone’s throw away from those who lost family, friends, and loved ones at the hands of their government.
We drove onwards to our destination along a road that hugs the edge of the Liqeni i Badovcit, an artificial reservoir that sits below the Androvac mountains. When full, the lake is 3.5km long with a maximum depth of 30m and a volume of 26 million cubic metres of water. Today, it didn’t look very full and I spotted a number of cars on its banks, accompanied by men and boys fishing at the water’s edge. Above the shoreline, a forest rises up and climbs up the hills that then, in turn develop into mountains. Each tree was covered in an array of gold and rust coloured leaves, desperately hanging on to the last bit of life and sunshine before the snow comes to consume them completely.
It really was quite spectacular.
My adventures at the Bear Sanctuary deserve their own post, so stay tuned for more.
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