From Skopje Bridget and I were picked up at 09:00 by our driver Robert who sped us in his comfy car towards the Macedonian border with Kosovo, about 30 minutes away. Here we had border formalities where we had to exit North Macedonia and then get stamped into Kosovo.
Once in Kosovo we continued along impressive and well maintained highways which had been built on huge concrete stilts through the mountains towards Pristina our first stop.
When we arrived in Pristina, we met our friendly guide Suat who took us on a walking tour of the city centre.
Pristina is the capital of Kosovo and having gained self-declared independence from Serbia in 2008 Kosovo is Europe’s youngest country. There are some issues with this as many countries including Serbia and Russia, don’t recognise Kosovo’s independence.
Across the road from the ‘Newborn’ sign is the Heroines Memorial. This was built with 20,145 medals to honour the sacrifice of every Albanian woman during the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo. The memorial reflects values of dignity, dedication, education, care, courage and endurance.
Suat explained that even 20 years ago, women were hardly allowed out of their homes. A huge transformation has taken place since and this is why there are now so many women who enjoy meeting in coffee shops to socialise with their friends.
Madeleine Albright was the US Secretary of State from 1997 – 2001. Madeleine was born in Prague in 1937 and moved to the US when she was 11 years old. During her long political career she went to Pristina and stated “Let there be no mistake. For as long as you wish, Kosovo will be your home”. As a powerful US voice, Albright became a hero for Albanian Kosovo citizens who referred to her as “Nona” meaning mother or grandmother.
We found a huge mural of singer/songwrite Dua Lipa in the centre of Pristina. While born in London, Dua’s parents are Kosovo Albanians. Dua Lipa is one of the wealthiest young people in the UK with an estimated net worth of £90 million.
Mother Teresa was born in Skopje (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and with an Albanian nationality had strong links with Kosovo and Pristina. She moved to Ireland at the age of 18 before moving to Calcutta where she spent most of her life.
The city centre has a wide pedestrian street lined with outside bars and restaurants.
Located at the beginning of the Old Town, the Carshia Mosque is the oldest building in Pristina having been constructed in 1389. It was built to celebrate the Ottoman victory of 1389 in the Battle of Kosovo.
The Mother Teresa Cathedral is dedicated to the famous nun and construction of its second tower has yet to be completed.
The National Library of Kosovo was designed by Andrija Mutnjakovic, a Croatian architect and opened in 1982. It was designed with the influence of byzantine and ottoman traditions and the metal grid covering the building was used as a protector from sunlight. It has been described in many ways including as a “motley cluster of cubes”; “futuristic and brutalist”; and “prison-like”. The building contains rare books, maps and photographs and in the late 1990’s was used by the Serbian Army as a command centre.
We left Pristina during late morning and Serbian Orthodox Monastery Gracanica was our next stop. The surrounding village is mainly populated by Serbians and this monastery was built in 1321 by Serbian king Stefan Milutin. It was placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2006.
We paid 3 euros each and Suat took us on a tour of the interior of the Monastery Gracanica where he explained the meanings of the incredible and colourful frescoes which cover the walls and ceilings. We were not permitted to take any photos of the exceptional works of art which was unfortunate as they are some of the clearest and best preserved I’ve ever seen.
(Just to mention the currency of Kosovo is the euro which made things easy for the day).
The second wow factor of the day was the moment we arrived in Prezren! Sat in the foothills of the Sar Mountains, this a pretty and delightful city looked even better as the sun was shining.
I say the sun was shining… it was still cloudy in places with the looming possibility of torrential rain or even a thunderstorm… with this in mind, Suat led Bridget and I on a short walking tour of the old part of the city which we did first, before lunch.
We walked through the grounds of the Church of Saint George Runovic which was built in the 15th or 16th century. This was set on fire in 2004 during times of violent un-rest and some major damage was caused.
The sky had grown darker and before long heavy rain started to fall. This was the opportunity to have a look inside the Ottoman Sinan Pasha Mosque, which was built in 1615. Suat explained some of the muslim practices and beliefs to us.
Next up was lunch! It was still raining but thankfully Suat showed us to a restaurant which was across the pedestrian street from the mosque. He recommended a couple of dishes for us to try. There wasn’t really any vegetarian options so on this occasion I tried a local dish of ‘Tave Prizreni’ which was vegetables mixed with veal and cooked in the oven. And it tasted delicious especially with the salad covered in local grated cheese and the warm local bread.
Of course… yes I had to try some of the local wine called ‘Stone Castle’ which was cold and refreshing and tasted wonderful.
At the end of the meal Suat and our driver Robert came to meet us armed with a couple of umbrellas! The rain had just about stopped so we had one last look at the view across the river before saying goodbye to Suat and being driven back past Pristina, across the border to North Macedonia and back to our hotel in Skopje.
Summary
There was several hours of driving involved but we had a fabulous day having an overview of Kosovo. Our driver Macedonian Robert and our Kosovo guide Suat kept us entertained with their hilarious ongoing banter. Prizren was particularly picturesque and would be a good base for a longer stay.
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