Pristina

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I am up by 8. It is another sunken bed so my back is really starting to hurt. I have been attacked in the night by something bitey so I have a shower which is really hot and helps the bites. I am out and heading into town by 9. It is around a 20 minute walk into the centre of the city and it is already really hot. I find the newborn monument which is the letters NEWBORN, built to commemorate Kosovo's independence as Europe's newest country. Except they are in the wrong order, they now spell NONEWBR and the B and R have Broken Republic on them. I have to google and it seems that as a political statement in the 15th year of Independence and with pressure growing to form a new alliance with Serbian minorities they have changed the wording to be NO NEW BROKEN REPUBLICS. It is also coloured yellow and blue in solidarity with Ukraine which had the same relationship with Russia as Kosovo does with Serbia. I take a few pictures then head to a cute little cafe behind where I can plug in my laptop and get an espresso.

I go to order food but their kitchen isn't working so I end up sitting working for around 4 hours with only coffee and a juice. At lunchtime I log off and go for a wander. I walk down the main tourist street Mother Teresa Boulevard and take pictures of the monuments and statues.It is a bigger, gritter city than Prizren. There is a lot more street art and much more soviet style buildings. I read that when Yugoslavia first came into being they wanted to protect Pristina as the main gateway from Serbia or Macedonia into the country so they destroyed almost all traces of the Ottoman era from mosques to buildings, including the Bazaar. It makes sense then that the communist style buildings occupy most of the city and that street art, statues and moments are everywhere. There are three mosques beside each other and the call to prayer sounds at the same time but a different pace from each, it is interesting to hear them all competing with each other.

I find somewhere for lunch but the guy talks me into way too much food. Mixed meat, pita and a salad. I am stuffed and after paying 12 euro it doesn't feel like somewhere I can sit and chill for the afternoon. Instead I find a street which looks like a bit of a social hub and settle into a booth with a plug for my laptop. I order coffee and two cokes and do back to back work calls with no issues. At 6 I log off and head to the Catholic church which dominates the skyline and I'm told has a view tower. There is a service going on so I only peek inside before finding the tower down the side. I pay 1 euro 50 to ride an elevator to the top. The viewing platform feels very unsafe, bar railings separate you from near death, its very different to other viewing towers I have done at home and my stomach goes a bit, even as someone unafraid of heights. Still the views are spectacular and I am alone so take lots of pictures. I spot the library which is a weird architecture and so I decide to go there next. I head down the elevator just as someone else comes up, good timing. At the bottom I walk through a park I saw from the air and am amazed at how empty it is given how nice it is. I head to the library which is as weird as promised. Its like twisted metal over the front of a building and I have no idea if I like it or not. I head inside, past the Amercian rooms and into an empty looking theatre with a grand piano centre position. It is beautiful but eerily empty. It is nice and cool so I take a few pictures before heading out. I see another rundown mosque that looks slightly different but it is a ruin so I take pictures from a distance. There is some weird art instillation of satellite dishes in the middle of the park. It is all very alternative. I head back to the hostel along Bill Clinton Avenue stropping briefly at the statue and picture of him. I heard he's reverred here as the US were the main country to support Kosovo's independence. Apparently they also love Tony Blair but he doesn't get a statue.

I head back in the same way I came through a kids park that looks chaotic. I stop for a beer at the friends cafe near my hostel which is nice and buy a bag of crisps from my local store. At the hostel the owner is there cleaning so I am able to pay and he offers me free tea and coffee. I lie on the bed for a bit but it is no good, my back is too sore. For the first time on this trip I make up a bed on the floor out of two duvets and settle there for the night.

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