{"id":5424,"date":"2015-12-18T00:38:51","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T23:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acrushon.com\/?p=5424&lang=en"},"modified":"2015-12-18T00:38:51","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T23:38:51","slug":"kosovo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/kosovo\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosovo is not for tourists. (yet)."},"content":{"rendered":"

Kosovo isn\u2019t certainly the most popular option when we\u2019re talking\u00a0about the touristic choices of the vast majority of people. It wasn\u2019t\u00a0popular for\u00a0me, too. Curiosity grabbed me. The desire woke me up. If I was there…why not? I\u2019ve decided to visit the most recent\u00a0European country this\u00a0year, as it was geographically close to other countries included in\u00a0my trip through the Balkans.<\/p>\n

The detour took 7 hours from Bosnia to Kosovo, passing through\u00a0the innermost of Montenegro. One of the most beautiful\u00a0paths I\u2019ve ever seen. A place of virgin nature, with an intact scenery and diminished human presence. I felt lost and I also found myself.\u00a0Wonderful. If it weren’t for the stinging bees, that would make\u00a0me go to the nearest health center (again, I must emphasize that I\u00a0was in the middle of the rocky nature of Montenegro), I would have\u00a0certainly run through the vast meadows. There are a lot of\u00a0camping parks in this area where peace, tranquility and rest empires.<\/p>\n

The trip was longer than expected and we had to sleep in a little\u00a0Montenegrin village near the border for a night.<\/p>\n

We finally entered Kosovo. The road was winding and the\u00a0mountains were nearly endless. If you drive on the road by car,\u00a0beware of speeding. Any little misstep here might result in a fine.\u00a0We were lucky as our Portuguese sympathy convinced them.<\/p>\n

\"2015-07-16<\/a><\/p>\n

When we arrived\u00a0at Pristina we tried to find\u00a0the old town. We had an idea of\u00a0what we wanted to see but due to the limited time available we\u00a0thought it would be easier\u00a0to ask for directions in the touristic\u00a0information office. We found the\u00a0Grand Hotel Prishtina<\/em>\u00a0and we\u00a0asked where we could know more about what we should see in the\u00a0city. They sent us to the Swiss Diamond Hotel<\/em>, as the touristic\u00a0information office was near. We didn\u2019t see it and we went to the\u00a0hotel to ask where it was. They told us to go to the\u00a0Grand Hotel Prishtina<\/em> . Hmm…we could be doing this all day long.<\/p>\n

Although it is a country that is not fully recognized by all countries in the world, Kosovo wants to show it’s independence. Therefore, it should be better prepared to receive the travelers who wish to visit the country. Of course the population of Kosovo was very hospitable and explained us everything we needed to see and know about their city. The truth is that we didn’t see many tourists maybe because\u00a0Kosovo isn\u2019t\u00a0included in the itinerary of many people, and thus, I believe that who rules the city\u00a0doesn\u2019t feel the need to provide additional resources to improve the\u00a0situation.<\/p>\n

Madre Theresa Avenue (Bulevardi N\u00ebn\u00eb Tereza) includes both the\u00a0hotels mentioned above and is in a very central area. If you park close, it\u2019s a\u00a0good starting point to walk and feel\u00a0the city\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n

\"2015-07-16<\/a><\/p>\n

Wandering through the area, you can easily find the National\u00a0Library of Kosovo. It\u2019s not the most beautiful monument you would\u00a0expect in terms of architecture but it\u2019s one of the most popular sightseeing\u00a0places in the city.<\/p>\n

\"2015-07-16<\/a><\/p>\n

Nearby, there is a cathedral. I did not understand why\u00a0it was not finished in such a central area of Pristina. I realized after some research that the construction began in 1992 and was never completed due to war.<\/p>\n

The \u201cNew Born\u201d monument was inaugurated\u00a0at the 17th of February of\u00a02008 painted in yellow, to symbolize independence from Serbia and\u00a0the birth of a new country. It\u2019s certainly the most iconic attraction in\u00a0the city. It\u2019s mandatory to take a photo in this place\u00a0as there is a strong feeling that the reconstruction takes place every passing year. Every year in\u00a0the 17th of February the monument is painted in a different way.<\/p>\n

One of the things that impressed us most was the fact that the food is very cheap. It is really worth going through the streets and enjoy the deals for food and drinks. In one of the restaurants we had the opportunity to talk to the waiter. He told us the tragedies of war, the story that happened to his family and their concerns. A young man with a degree in economics that\u00a0worked there because there was no\u00a0job in his area of expertise. For him leaving\u00a0his\u00a0country was not an option. “Young people should rebuild and support their country,” he said fervently.<\/p>\n

It was a real shame not having the opportunity to spend a night in\u00a0the city, hearing more stories and experiencing the nightlife of\u00a0Pristina. I read everywhere that the Madre Theresa Avenue bristles\u00a0with life at night, full of people in the cafes, which I believe it clearly\u00a0resembles Portugal. It was a fleeting visit of only a couple of hours that gave me\u00a0a plain\u00a0impression of this new capital. I want, I wish\u00a0and I will certainly come back to find more about Pristina and\u00a0Kosovo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kosovo isn\u2019t certainly the most popular option when we\u2019re talking\u00a0about the touristic choices of the vast majority of people. It wasn\u2019t\u00a0popular for\u00a0me, too. Curiosity grabbed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5424"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5426,"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5424\/revisions\/5426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acrushon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}