Kosovo - Visoki Dečani Monastery

The border control from Albania to Kosovo is, just like almost every border crossing we've done, worth mentioning...

FloH was still looking for postcards and we thought maybe we could find them at the border, where there are often some tax-free shops. FloH asked in every tiny bar, where the grandson had to be fetched first, who spoke English, but there were no postcards anywhere. People probably haven't encountered tourists who wanted to buy souvenirs from the region yet. The border control was quite unspectacular, even though the border officer processed us in good German and with a smile. When we asked him where he learned German so well, he replied: "No, not German. Bavarian." The car also needed an additional insurance for Kosovo for 15 euros for 2 weeks (less was not possible), as the international green card was not recognized here. After we had taken care of all that, we continued into the country - even if only on official roads, as there are still some areas that have not been completely cleared of mines. Even our Lonely Planet listed some highlights for Kosovo, so we decided to visit the Visoki Dečani Monastery on the way. To visit, we had to pass several (Austrian) military checkpoints and show our passports, or even leave them as deposit. The Austrian army is still stationed in Kosovo, to protect the Serbian minority and to protect the monastery from further graffiti attacks by ISIS (at least that's what our guide said).

The monastery itself is really modernly renovated and the church is decorated so beautifully that it left us speechless during the visit. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos from inside, but the colorful and very elaborate icons and wall decorations are still vivid in our memory.