Our alarm went off at 5:15 am and we rolled out of bed to shower and get dressed. Our plan to beat the heat today was to do the majority of our city-walking and sightseeing early before breakfast. The sun was already coming out as we left the hotel, but there was nobody on the pedestrian thoroughfare – just a lot of pigeons walking around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact the more we walked the more we saw how birds were snacking on dropped food from the night before, bathing and drinking in the fountains, and enjoying life without humans around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our first stop was to check out the \u201cNewborn\u201d monument, a sort of evolving art structure to commemorate the birth of the country. Nearby was a sign for KUSA, an organization dealing with the relationship between Kosovo and the USA. It was fun to say the name – it means \u201cstinky\u201d in Japanese. Also nearby was a statue of Madeline Albright, for her help with the formation of the country during a turbulent time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From there we followed our GPS to another part of town, still seeing absolutely no one. We took a shortcut across some abandoned looking rail tracks, then climbed over a retaining wall to find the Abe Shinzo Park, the first park we\u2019d seen outside Japan that was dedicated to a Japanese prime minister. The park itself was tiny, but we did recognize some of the plants from Japan. Somebody was maintaining the park, but it sure was small and easy to miss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next we walked quite a ways past big office buildings and new apartments being built. This area seemed to be growing fast, and the buildings and streets were more modern than other places. Despite this we had to skirt past a group of barking stray dogs. We were starting to see more pedestrians going to work, and so it felt a little safer and the dogs didn\u2019t seem aggressive towards humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next was a big statue of Bill Clinton, former US president. Above the statue was a big billboard showing a photo of Bill and commemorating his achievements for Kosovo. Under the statue a woman was selling vegetables out of boxes. I could see down the street a Bill Cafe, but there weren\u2019t many other people around. It did really feel weird to have politicians from your own country memorialized in someone else\u2019s country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From there we circled back towards the center of town, heading towards the Mother Theresa cathedral. It was an easy-to-spot landmark, but as we got closer it was a little hard to figure out where to find the entrance. We made a wrong turn into a closed off parking area, but a nice guy gave us directions and got us back on track. There was a lot of construction going on around the cathedral – we weren\u2019t sure if we were supposed to even be in there, but other people were walking through so I guess it was OK? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Past the cathedral we reached the National Library – this was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit Kosovo. The building is really distinctive (some would say \u201cugly\u201d) but I really liked the design of it. Up close it was a little dirty and it could have used a little more maintenance, but it was still impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond the library we could see a cathedral, and at first we started walking directly towards it, but the pathway petered out into grass and weeds, and so we decided to backtrack and walk around another way. The closer we got to the cathedral the more it looked empty and abandoned, with the grounds covered in trees and weeds. However there was still a bright gold cross at the top of the cathedral. Kuniko theorized that it was a Serbian church and later we found out she was correct. It was Christ the Savior Orthodox Cathedral, and it had been abandoned for political reasons, and rumored to just house wild dogs these days. Interesting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had a little time to kill before breakfast was served so we walked across town to visit a different Maxi, this one was Maxi 13 and it was open 24 hours. Unfortunately it wasn\u2019t that impressive, so we headed back to eat breakfast at our hotel. Breakfast was actually served across the street from our hotel at a restaurant called Margo Bar. We sat outside under an arbor, and enjoyed the cool (for now) weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The breakfast was big – at first we thought we were selecting from the menu but it became clear that we were able to have everything if we wanted it. We started with fresh croissants with cherry jam or Nutella, and then coffee, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and I had a mozzarella sandwich with pesto, Kuniko had an omelette with ham. There was an option for dessert on top of that, but we were full. One of the staff asked us if we were tourists (why, yes\u2026 yes we were!) and when we said we had come from Japan he said that it was his dream destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Full of food we decided to go back and rest in our room. Once again we went into siesta mode, and since we had such a big breakfast we decided to skip lunch and stay in under the air conditioning, having TUC crackers and sipping some of the wines that we had purchased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the peak of the heat had passed we went back out. We stopped at a nearby souvenir shop to buy a keychain. The shop staff didn\u2019t have change for the 20 Euro bill I gave her, so she had to run outside and find it somewhere else. We walked down a busy road, away from the pedestrian area. This road had a few mosques, and some interesting towers and statues here and there. We tracked our way via the GPS, and it led us down a narrow backstreet that wasn\u2019t paved – were we on the right track?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were – the dinner restaurant we were aiming for was open, and we went inside to get a table. The restaurant was called Liburnia, and we sat underneath an arbor with a breeze flowing through. It had some pretty rustic decorations, and I could spot a big roasting fire in the back of the place. It felt like a place that was off the beaten path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the menu had English, and the staff spoke English, so we were fine. We ordered some wine and beer – the wine came in a little 250mL carafe. We also had the veal on yogurt, and the Liburnia marinated lamb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The marinated lamb was awesome. It really blew our minds – the sauce almost reminded me of BBQ sauce, and the meat was cooked on the bone, with some mushrooms and other veggies scattered around underneath. This was easily the best dish of the trip. Kuniko said it was worth moving to Kosovo for this dish alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we were gushing about the great food more and more customers were trickling in. Not far from us two guys who had been there before us were still there. They had ordered food and they picked at it while spending most of their time smoking, looking at their smartphones, and holding a full-voiced conversation with someone. Normally I\u2019d be annoyed but here it was just part of the unique atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually it was time for us to go. The place accepted credit cards (good news) and the waiter came with the bill – he made a joke about the total being over 100 Euros, but it was actually quite reasonable. What a great meal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After we walked back towards the area where we were staying. Past the live music stage – it seemed like they\u2019d be doing more music tonight. We went over to \u201cour Maxi\u201d to get some souvenirs for our coworkers and students. I picked up a box of peanut bars that were made in Kosovo – the cashier had to ring them up individually, scanning the same peanut bar 18 times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the hotel desk we ordered a taxi for the next morning – it would cost 20 Euros to get us to the airport. Then we headed to our room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had considered going out with Kuniko to have a glass of wine and people-watch outside, but when we opened the door to our hotel room a big fat fly zoomed into our room. It became a big production to flush it out, and by that time I figured we may as well stay in and take it easy tonight. I was in bed early, while Kuniko was up surfing the web. I remember hearing the faint sounds of music while I was half asleep – most people in Pristina were partying while I was dozing like an old man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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