Day 65 - 66 : Pristina (Wrap Up)

The bus ride from Prizren to Pristina took slightly over 2 hours. It was funny how when 2 police officers got on the bus near the bus station to get to the old town of Prizren that everyone started saying "Mask, mask". There's apparently some strange regulation that requires people to wear a mask in a vehicle (even private car) if there is more than 1 person, but I hardly see anyone wearing a mask in the malls. 

It appears it had snowed in Prizren overnight. 

And as I get into Pristina bus station, it started snowing. 

It was bizarre seeing a Statue of Liberty in the distance as I arrived into the city. 

As the day went by, the snowfall got heavier. 

It was probably not the right thing to do by heading out to explore the city, but I wanted to check out some spots. 

I didn't get too far as the snow started blistering down and made it really hard to walk even with an umbrella. It was also freezing cold. 

I only made it to the National Library and the Bill Clinton Statue. 

The National Library had a unique hive shape structure. But what I found more strange was with the inside. I would had expected more books, and even the area with books, they were in a shady spot. 

There was also a Cathedral nearby which doesn't seem finished. According to Brandon, he shared this was built by the Serbs when they invaded Kosovo, just to prove a point they can build something that reflected their presence in the country, but it's just an empty shell. The government is trying to figure out what to do with this building now. 

The Bill Clinton Statue

They really love Bill Clinton here. 

Ethnic Albanians give Mr Clinton credit for the NATO bombing campaign which brought an end to the Kosovo conflict in 1999. This allowed those who had fled to return to their homes. 

Besides the statue, there's even a Boulevard named after him. 

Just a few steps away there's also a clothing store named Hillary. 

Restaurant Recommendation

The restaurant Renaissance which Clemens had recommended was nearby. It only just passed 4pm and I decided to try my luck and see if I could go in for an early dinner, especially since I hardly ate much since the morning. 

Renaissance was a speakeasy kind of place - There were no signs on the door to indicate it is a restaurant. I walked in and one of the staff looked surprised to see someone there at the hour. His first question was, "Did someone recommended me to come" and I said yes. I asked if they were open, and he said they usually only start at 5pm but he allowed me to come in early. 

There is no menu - decision is made by the chef, starting with a mixed platter of starters that had grilled cheese, a variety of cheeses mixed with different herbs and spices, grilled capsicum, grilled eggplant and beetroot. The portion was big and everything was good, with the exception of the beetroot, but because I don't like them to begin with. 

The main comprised of chicken (honey mustard I think), slow cooked veal, grilled mushroom and avocado. With a side of salad and accompanied by red wine. 

Everything was really good except for the veal - it was soft and tender but I found it too dry for my liking. 

And lastly dessert Sheqerpare - apparently its a Turkish dessert. Soft balls of almond based pastry dipped in thick lemon-flavored sugar syrup. 

The entire meal was €18.

Even after I was done with my meal, it was still blistering down heavily with snow. This is the first time on this trip that I had been impaled by snow. 

Thankfully the snow stopped on the 2nd day, though it got really cold and I had to be extra careful while walking around. 

Xhamia e Çarshisë

Jashar Pasha's Mosque

Xhamia e Madhe

These 3 mosques were located on the same street within a 100m perimeter. 

Ethnographic Musuem 

Comprising of 2 different houses located side by side, the first one being over 300 years old (the oldest building in Pristina) and the 2nd over 200 years old. 

Only the 1st house was admissible and the staff who showed us around was really nice and explained the various rooms including the kitchen/dining area, the room where the kids and mothers would be in, and the guests/entertainment room. 

National Museum 

Spread over 2 floors, the 1st floor contained a number of antiquities and old coins as well as some roman ruins. There weren't much information on the items, and after taking a browse through, I quickly moved to the 2nd floor. 

The 2nd floor contained a number of war time artifects belonging to people whom I have never heard of nor were there any write up about them. 

There was also a room which contains the document that recognises the sovereignty of Kosovo as a country, and I spotted the Singapore flag! 

There was also a room filled with different wind instruments, which seem to commemorate someone called Shaqir Hoti. 

The only thing I was impressed about was this mosaic of Mother Teresa that is made out of staples and had even gotten a Guinness World Record for the largest mosaic made of staples. 

National Gallery of Kosovo

I was told of this Gallery by the staff at the Ethnography Musuem, which is located just behind the Library. 

Although there are 2 floors, it was really small and not much to see other than some striking images taken just before Kosovo became a country. 

Newborn

One of the famous signs in Kosovo as it marks the Independence Day of Kosovo on 17 Feb 2008. 

Every year on this date, the colour / pattern on this sign changes 

Mother Teresa's Cathedral

Inaugurated on 26 Aug 2010 on the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa's birthday. Also one of Pristina's tallest building. 

I was wanting to go up the tower, but the staff dissuaded me saying it is extremely cold up there. 

I went into the church and noticed the frosted glass windows were somewhat different from most other churches. 

Gračanica Monastery

This monastery is located a 20mins bus ride outside the city. 

On the inside were painted frescoes, though not as impressive as those in Desan and Pejë. 

On a good day, Pristina can be easily covered in a few hours. 

Meals wise, I also tried Serai - Red Turnip soup and chicken wrap. 

As well as Shaban Grill House for cheap Qufte, which costs me only €2.30 for this meal!

Accomodation 

Highly recommend Pristine Central Hostel, located right in the city centre next to Mother Teresa Square, though it's a 4 storey climb just to get to the hostel. People are really friendly and there's a very social vibe in the hostel.

I also got a text from Erhan, the host from the hostel in Prizren, that he was in Pristina on the 2nd day of my stay and had a place with a 2 bedroom apartment and welcomed me to be his guest. I thanked him for his gesture and as I already had my hostel paid for, I was going to stay in my hostel. 

Day 63 - 64 : Prizren (Wrap Up)

Prizren is said to be the prettiest city in Kosovo. 

It turned out to be a much smaller town than I expected and everything could be seen within a couple hours, with most of the sights centered around the Old Town eg.

Sinan Pasha Mosque

There's a nice courtyard on the back too. 

St. George Cathedral 

Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour 

Emin Pasha Mosque 

Stone Bridge

Hammam (now used as an exhibition hall) 

Prizren Fortress and Serbian Orthodox Church of Saviour which is enroute - Prizren Fortress is a must do, which gives great views of the city, albeit an extremely steep climb up which can be reached in about 20 mins. 

As I explored the Fortress, I kept thinking this would be a great place for hide and seek! 

There's also Serbian Cathedral Mother of God of Ljeviš which is outside the Old Town, and nothing worth seeing since it is closed and a little run down. 

I also noted there were quite a number of IG friendly cafés around the city. 

Food was really cheap here too. 

As I had 2 days in Prizren, I wasn't sure what I could do on the 2nd day. I was considering heading to the Sharr Mountain National Park either to Brezovicë or Prevella, but there was very little information available on getting there and back for a day trip. 

In a random walk around town I stumbled in an area called Çarshia which had not just 1 huge mall but 2 side by side with a number of other huge branded stores. 

The malls can rival that of those in US. I certainly was not expecting this in Prizren! 

They even had VR game centres, Karaoke, Trampoline Park, Bowling Alley, Games Centre, Kiddyland, Theatres, and lots of different shops. 

So I ended up spending my spare day at the mall and catching not just 1 but 2 movies, and at 2 different cinemas just because the size of these malls decided each of them can have 1 cinema of their own. 

The first show was "Spiderman No Way Home" at Cineplexx, which costs only €4.70. So glad they show movies in their original language with Albanian subtitles. The theatre was really comfortable and clean and there was only 1 other couple in about a 200 seater theatre. 

The 2nd show was Matrix Resurrection at Cinemarine, which was even cheaper than the last theatre as the movie was only €3.50!

I was quite shocked when I entered the theatre, to find they don't clean the halls between screenings, as some people had made a real mess on the seats and floor. 

The theatre had assigned seating but when I walked into the theatre, the staff said I could sit anywhere. 

I managed to find a row that was a lot cleaner with a set of fairly clean seats. The seats were couple seats so I could easily also stretch out in the theatre between show. This theatre was a lot bigger than the one for Spiderman, and there were only 2 other couples in the theatre. Super under utilised. 

The most bizarre thing was that half way through, the lights suddenly came on and there was a sign informing us there will be a 7 mins intermission. What a climax breaker. 

I went to grab dinner after the show at this restaurant which specialises in fish and ordered a trout and a glass of wine. The food took a while to come, but it was worth the wait as the trout was cooked beautifully. It was so good I cleaned the fish really well! This meals costs only €7.30! And at a fancy restaurant! 

Ended off with a gelato dessert treat at a different place before heading back for the night!