Kosovo is certainly not the most desired tourist destination, but maybe that is why they really like tourists coming over. We go a special ‘Welcome to Kosovo’ from the border guard and a handshake when we came over to see the Museum of Kosovo in Pristina. We only went to Peja (in Albanian) or Pec (in Serbian) just for few hour stop on the bus journey from Podgorica and to Pristina. Other than both being very lively, bustling town with thousands of small shops, cafes there were not too many exciting sights. Oh, maybe just the peculiar library in Pristina and statute of Bill Clinton (probably the only one in the world).
But we had two lovely meals in our three days in Kosovo in two unrelated Tiffany restaurants. We went to Tiffany’s in Peja, because our plan to have lunch at the local market, apparently trading all kinds of goat cheeses failed as Tuesday was not a market day… Lonely Planet forgot to mention that the markets are only on Wednesday and Saturdays. In Pristina we had to book ourselves for diner at its hidden treasure, Tiffany restaurant with no menu and the chef just cooking local specialities from what he bought in the market. In Pristina’s Tiffany you rub shoulders with the diplomats from EU, UN and all possible NGO present in Kosovo, while in Peja you sit next to a few members of local hunters association sipping their coffees. At Peja’s Tiffany we had one of our cheapest meals of the trip considering the amount of food that was served; in Pristina’s Tiffany we exceeded 40 Euro mark for a single meal i.e. most expensive on our trip so far! The food or the service in Peja did not have Tiffany’s sophistication but it was just plain good food, especially two pieces of deep fried cheese, one Kashkaval and the other with Albanian name starting with ‘G’ (I forgot to make a note of a full name), that we swallowed with a bottle of the local beer ‘Peja’. In Pristina we had a selection of three local specialities, all oven cooked with the addition of cheese, with deeps made of cheese (of course) as a starter. This is the place where we also discovered mixed salad, I mean truly mixed beautifully presented salad: cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, leeks and beetroots and our introduction to Macedonian cooking, ajvar, paprika based dip sometimes mild sometimes spicy. Now, the only thing that we missing in Kosovo is breakfast at Tiffany’s. If I hear that they open Tiffany’s serving breakfast, I will be back. I know I said it is not touristy spot, but hey there are places that live from within, have their own vibe and energy not defined by the visitors. And that’s exactly how Kosovo was!
Macedonia or collection of statutes
Just look at our photos! Macedonia loves statutes and monuments, and not only Alexander the Great, anybody, including Bulgarian cars, Roman emperors, national heroes, artists, writers, filmmakers, religious figures. We were stunned by the amount of various monuments that we discovered in the main square in Skopje. The shock was maybe even greater after arriving from Kosovo and Podgorica that even though it is a capital of the beautiful Montenegro, it is not really worth mentioning. The statues seem to the part of the national pride but I also think that history maybe what defines Macedonia for tourists. They do not have Croatian coast or the stunning mountain of Montenegoro so the appeal is being built around its importance for the world’s and European history. Macedonian government also advertises Macedonia as the food and wine country and rightfully so. We did not have one bad meal and the Macedonian burek proved also to be the best. In-between statutes and eating we managed to squeeze in two beautiful hikes from Skopje; two hour surprisingly strenuous hike up the Vodno Mountain marked with the illuminating cross looking over Skopje and amazing artificial Lake Matka with its deepest and not yet fully explored underwater caves. But to me Macedonia, should not only advertise its history and food but its people. Even though my general assumption is that people are friendly to tourists, Macedonians clearly excel. It does not matter, if they speak good or little English or do not know the difference between am and pm in defining time, they all go out of their way to be helpful. Always curious where you are from and what have you seen and where else should you go. Really very special! The owner of the hostel Atlantik in Skopje deserves a special mention here!
This all is before we arrived, in Ohrid the heart of Macedonia. Lonely Planet says, if you have not seen Ohrid you have not seen Macedonia, so we must be for a real treat next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment