Gjakova

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When my alarm goes off I dress, use the toilet and leave. It is a beautiful day and a shame to not see the canyon but safety comes before everything else and I’m staying well away from my only offer of a lift there. Instead I walk the bus station looking for somewhere that does coffee and food; as with yesterday most places do either or. I settle for coffee and using the wifi to let Louise and Tara, the two people who knew what was going on, know that I am safe. At 9 I get on the baking hot bus and it leaves at 945. By 11 I am in Gjakova and Petrita has messaged to say to wait here, she is coming to get me so we can go for a coffee. Beats my plan of finding a hotel to store my bags. I wait at the bus station and she wanders in and finds me. She asks about Peja and I tell her everything that happened. She is very angry. We walk to a hotel where her friend works maybe 5 minutes from the bus station. Her friend is off today but will come and meet us to explore with us. We order coffee, water and I get crepes. She gets an omelette. An 8 year old girl joins us, she is the owners daughter Tara and knows Petrita. Her English is impeccable and Petrita says she is also a math genius. She entertains us with recommendations for beaches and hotels in Albania. She believes herself to be a princess and has do much confidence. Every compliment is received with an I know. We talk about the difference in our money and I show her some English coins. We talk about the Queen and the Royal family and when she finds out there is a Prince her age she is determined to go with her Aunt in London so she can meet and marry him. She is a highly entertaining child and keeps us very amused.

We talk about my trip and the beaches I will visit in Albania and I am learning more as I spend time with people how much they identify with Albania in this side of the country. They definitely see themselves as the same as Albania. I ask why they use euro even though they’re not in the EU and Petrita explains that after the war they needed a neutral currency that wasn’t Albanian or Serbian so they picked Euro in the hope it would trade well. She says most of the investment is from Germany and Switzerland who were the biggest supporters of Kosovo having independence. She tells me that they don’t like the name Kosovo as it means black beard in Serbia and was an insult name given by Serbia which stuck. I’m glad I did a little bit of research on this the last two nights so I’m not completely ignorant I’m the conversation.

We are waiting for Petritas friend Dielza to join us but she is seeing to her sick Uncle. I am chill but we are running out if time to see this city. We eventually head off with the hotel storing my big bag for me and as we go over the road to buy a bottle of water Dielza appears. She is younger and very petite and has a bike with her but she has a very positive energy and dogs follow her everywhere. She says her dream is to open a shelter for all the street dogs of Kosovo.

We walk towards town and they point out the war memorial in a new park; red pillars to indicate the blood spilled. We head to a bakery that is supposedly very old and Dielza orders two or three of every type of cake. I am pushed to try them all and oblige but I’m careful to only have small amounts of the ones with cream. I know my stomach will suffer later but I’m in a hotel on my own and it seems rude not to try. There are éclairs, baklava, meringue, some kind of marshmallow cake, a sweet honey dropped roll and a what looks like a Swiss roll with elaborate icing. They’re all amazing but I am conscious not only of my cream allergy but also of the sugar hit and what it might do to my newly discovered diabetes do I refrain from eating everything. I also drink the local drink which is with oats. Caramel and sugar. It’s amazing and has a slightly bitter taste which goes well with the sugar. I take pictures of the tile work on the wall and ceiling and Dielza tells me that literally everything in the city was burned to the ground by Serbia during the war. They have rebuilt everything exactly the same as it was but using all new materials as all the old rood, stone etc was burned.

We pass Petritas flat and Dielza drops off her bike then we head up to the old town. I am absolutely obsessed. Narrow cobble streets with Albanian flag bunting, the buildings are all old style wood and stone and they’re beautiful. Street after street opens up with patios and shops. It is a Sunday so not everything is open but we stop at a traditional wood shop and look through the window then at a leather shop where the smell of leather and the colours are amazing. Dielza points out where the stone and wood is all new and shows me where it was built on old foundations so you can see the difference. I take lots of pictures and street after street is the same. This is by far my favourite city so far. I can see myself working from here; having coffee and beer in one of the many bars. It’s so beautiful and atmospheric. I wish I had more time. Seeing building after building in this beautiful style I love it and it’s hard to believe they are only 15 years old. The stone and wood speaks for itself though and it only highlights how much was destroyed in the war Petrita pushes us on, she has a plan for what she wants to show me and we don’t have a lot of time.

We see a mosque and two churches; the last one being Catholic and Dielza tells me that there are three different religions in the city and they all live next go each other harmoniously. The grounds of the Catholic Church are beautiful so is the inside. We head towards the outskirts of town and the mountains start to become visible. Petrita tells me we can get to Valbone from here which only highlights that I went the long way round to get here. We keep walking for what feels like forever. It is so beautiful though; the flowers, trees, the smells are unlike anything I’ve ever smelt; they are so strong. Even the hay on the friends smells so strongly. Petrita pushes us on and when they see I’m struggling they take a bag of mine each which helps a lot. We pass bar after bar of outdoor beer gardens each with a different theme, different decor, different gardens but all beautiful. I am exhausted but Petrita wants to push on; there is a church at the end with a beautiful view so we head on. She’s not wrong, the church is gorgeous and you can see all the way to Peja, Montenegro and Gjakova it’s absolutely stunning. I take a lot of photos and Dielza befriends another dog. We head back to the closest restaurant. The one they like to go to. It has egg chair swings which are occupied and normal swings with a table that I want to sit at but Petrita wants a normal table so we sit I’m the shade. They both order machiatos and I order a local beer. It is the same Peja beer I had on Friday but feels much more satisfying in the sun in the company of these girls. The weirdness of the Peja situation feels a long way removed now. I am so glad I came to Gjakova if only for a few hours. I’m sure in todays weather the canyon and views would have been amazing but with no other way to see them it wouldn’t have been worth risking my safety for that lift. Peja city was nice enough but Gjakova is special, its really captured a bit of my heart and I can see why the girls love it so much. I pay the bill but it is only 3 euros for a beer and two coffees. Ridiculous. Dielza orders us a taxi which arrives really quickly and we race to get it. It gets us back to the hotel in record time. I collect my bag and Dielza befriends a dog. We are at the bus station 15 minutes early so the girls suggest I get food to save me looking in prizren. It is a good suggestion and I follow their recommendation for a savory bread filler with cheese and served with yoghurt. We head back to the bus station and I give Dielza my Facebook information and tell her to come to Liverpool. She tells me sadly that it is very difficult for Kosovans to get a visa for travel but hopefully it will change if they can join the EU. It makes Petrita really mad that the world considers Kosovans terrorists when they were the ones attacked and only defended themselves; they never attacked anyone but are a lot less respected than Germany who attacked everyone. My bus comes over the road and we race over to get it. We hug and I thank them so much for showing me round. They and their beautiful city have really turned this weekend around for me and I am now firmly in love with Kosovo. We wave bye as my bus leaves and I head for Prizren.

Prizren looks so different in the sun. You can see the mountains scenery all around and its lovely, amazing how much difference good weather can make to a place. My hotel is 14 minutes away and my sore feet are screaming but I’m really loving what I’ve seen of the city so far. A group of guys shout welcome to Prizren from the steps of a mosque which is really sweet. I finally made it to my hotel. The guy is outside smoking but walks me in. It’s very cute, white and lots if flowers. He asks for my passport but when I struggle to locate it under my bags he says no problem we can do it later, I can rest first. He helps me carry my bags up three floors and I am so happy with my room. There are two beds, big shower, hairdryer but the jewel is the balcony with an amazing sunset over the buildings. I have a shower which is super hot then sit and watch the sunset eating my cheese pastry and yogurt which was amazing. I am very content and very tired so after the sunsets I lie in bed until I fall asleep.

18 euro
Crepes with Nutella, pastry with cheese, 1 espresso, 1 machiato, 4 water, 1 beer

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