Published: 14.07.2023
Valbona is so close to the border with Kosovo, why not, we think and drive into a new country: Kosovo. Even the border crossing makes you want to stop here. Upon entry, you have to buy an insurance certificate for the car (15€ for 15 days) because the green insurance card is not recognized here (who knows why), but even that is fun because the people are so nice. We are looking forward to this adventure, we have neither knowledge nor expectations.
We drive to Gjakova, this city was heavily hit during the 1999 war, memorial plaques remind of it. Hard to imagine, yet it happened so recently.
Everywhere we stop, we come into contact with locals and every second person can speak German, lives in Germany or has family there, probably because of war and fleeing.
Really everyone is super open and very very nice, we are even invited for drinks!
We enjoy the day, drink coffee, hike up the hill next to the city, and when a thunderstorm approaches, we sit in a bakery and eat to our heart's content for only 1.90€ 😍 then we go on a little shopping tour, Heidi sits on the floor in the store and it's just funny and beautiful. We spend the evening in a restaurant in one of the oldest houses in the city and eat everything that is recommended to us without understanding a word and the food is fantastic! We pay 26€ for all the specialties that the house had to offer and we are completely satisfied and happy! What an excellent day 😍
We decide that we want to see a little more of Kosovo and continue further north. The next day, we drive to the next city: Peja with a stop at two monasteries. The first one is a monastery of a brotherhood with incredibly well-preserved frescoes up to the ceiling - we are deeply impressed! Again, everyone here is endlessly nice and we are invited to relax on a balcony in the monastery courtyard with a drink. Crazy, but because the monastery is Serbian Orthodox and in the middle of Kosovo, it is still guarded by NATO troops, who apparently actually had to prevent attempted attacks from time to time, such as a few years ago with explosives and a few years before that with a rocket launcher.
Then we visit another monastery, beautifully located in front of a mountain panorama and equally beautiful old frescoes. We treat ourselves to the audio guides, but we have to realize that the information is really too detailed and long, and we only remember that some frescoes come from talented artists and some from artists with rather modest talent (partly also available without an audio guide). 😄
Our stroll through the city is great again! We are even invited to lunch by another local who speaks German, just like that. Really super nice!
Our trip to Kosovo takes us to Prizren, a beautiful city on the river, with a castle and endless shops for wedding dresses and gold jewelry. Wow, there is a lot of glitter!
We are very happy to have seen a bit of Kosovo, it really is an enrichment!