Blogs from Prishtina, Centre, Kosovo, Europe
May 2nd 2012
Well it's a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I'm safely back in my quiet little neck of western Suburbistan near Boston. As it's now a month overdue (I regret nothing), and my only other thing worth doing is a tax return, I think it's time I tidied up the story of our little trip through the Balkans. As a final sidenote, I think my backlog's at like...four entries left, including this one. How soon they're finished depends on a lot of things, mostly since I wrote the last ones under periods of great stress/sometimes drunk I'll probably wait until that happens again (read: after I'm employed). Right, so Kosovo. Welcome to Kosovo! Hope you weren't fond of those kidneys! So I guess it's fair to say landing in Pristina's airport (via steep dive and prop plane) it ... read more
January 5th 2012
. Kosovo - Pristina It took longer than anticipated to get to Pristina, so by the time I got there it was well after nightfall. Back on my own again and completely without my bearings, I opted to take a taxi to get to the hostel/hotel I had found on the internet. I checked in to the hotel, where I talked to the owner for a bit about Kosovo and its politics. He was Albanian/muslim and it was interesting to hear his perspective as I had previously only talked to Serbians about what went on there. Needless to say his perspective was different to the Serbian perspectives I had heard which all differed from one another in themselves and all of the perspectives put together varied from the perspectives that I had been exposed to via ... read more
July 17th 2011
The driver was considerate enough to voluntarily slow down as we drove along the streets and perve at some good looking Kosovan women. Taxi driver perving it’s a fine art of sleaze and in the capital of Pristina the driver took it to a fine art. What the taxi driver also gave me was a quick chance to not only perve myself but sit back and take in the scale of this city which was a lot more modern than I expected. Green hills surround the city with tall buildings and big homes on the outskirts. My bus from Skopje Macedonia was A/C and comfortable and the taxi was a modern Mercedes with A/C as well. This was not the Kosovo I envisaged. I came here ready for carnage. Bombed out buildings, poor people roaming around, ... read more
Pristina, Kosovo - The Newest Country in the World
Published: June 1st 2009Europe » Kosovo » Centre » Prishtina
May 28th 2009
'What the hell are you going to Kosovo for?' was a familiar question Michael and I received after telling people of our plans to visit this controversial country in the Balkans. Michael came up with the best answer to this query. “Because it's there.” Kosovo hit the headlines in the 1990s for all the wrong reasons. Ethnic cleansing, NATO air strikes, Albanian refugees, and cries of war crimes against Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian President at the time, made the news worldwide. The region became synonymous with everything that was wrong in the Balkans. When the conflict ended, the UN installed peacekeepers to keep order but in 2008, Kosovo declared itself an independent nation and in doing so became the newest country in the world. Or did it? Serbia, of course, did not recognise the independence of ... read more
May 9th 2009
I am extremely lazy when it comes to keeping up with my travel blogs. I apologize deeply for another delay. At this point I am basically playing catchup, but it's all good! Ok, after a night of much needed sleep my host and I decided to hang out in Pristina the following day! The weather happened to be very pleasant and sunny. This was already the first sign of a highly enjoyable day to come! Since Pristina is quite small, one full day is sufficient for a good tour of the city. Our walk through the streets remind me of my previous experience back in 2007. It has the same feel to it. A couple of things have changed since my last visit. A huge pedestrian walkway filled with cafe shops has been created. This area ... read more
April 29th 2009
Hello, I apologize for the huge delay. I have, however, been very busy with traveling, running around, unexcepted modifications to my travel plans and so on. Now I actually have some time to sit and type a brief update of my current Balkan tour. Well, I recently spent a couple of days in Nis, Serbia. I figured I would stop over here since It's on the way to Kosovo! I have been to this city a couple of times before and I really enjoy the laid back atmosphere! Moreover, I have a few good friends in Nis and we always have a great time together touring the city and having coffee by day and living it up by night! I never saw another black person at all during my recent visit to Nis. I have NEVER ... read more
March 16th 2009
Note of caution: avoid taking the overnight bus from Belgrade to Pristina, unless you actually plan to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere at 4:00 in the morning with all your luggage but without a clue as to where the hell you are. Trying to find your hostel hours before sunrise with an overly simplistic hand-drawn map on an hour of sleep is nothing to sneeze at, mind you. Fortunately though, a line of taxi drivers were already circling outside the deserted bus stop in Pristina, Kosovo, and readily pounced on the only idiot who chose to arrive at such an ungodly hour. I was immediately whisked away by the driver who spoke the best English, and within the quarter hour, I was dropped off at the doorstep of the Guesthouse Velania. My room. ... read more
October 23rd 2008
Started to freak out a bit once I realized I did not get a stamp out of Macedonia or a stamp in to Kosovo. The bus was already going and cant really do nothing about it anymore. It happens ther is another tourist in the bus, I asked her when we arrived at the bus station in Prishtina if she got a stamp, she doeas not know not even bothering to look, she saw a police officer and talked to her and when she got back she said the police said it should be fine. Hmmm... for 2nd opinion we tried to ask the info desk at the station but was not any help as he does not speak English! A Spaniard overheard me inquiring about bus to Montenegro or Albania, he does not speak English ... read more
June 24th 2008
Well Kosovo is something special let me tell you!! I had left my plans open a bit to check out the small war torn country, now that it has become its own state. I Arrived in Prishtina walked along Bill Clinton Blvd.(which is the main Road) then tried to find something touristy to do.. Well that was my first mistake, there is nothing for tourist to do there other then take photos of UN trucks(so thats what I did). I guess I should have known that before coming and I have to say it was good to see only 2 months after their independents. None-the-less I only spent 2 days there then moved right along. So here are the few photos I have of Kosovo.... read more
February 17th 2008
Howdy Y'all, Here are some pictures from the celebrations I took part in, during the days that Kosovo Declared their independence. It was pretty surreal. I was very far away from any of the reported problems. Ted... read more
