Kosovo Again

Before taking the night bus back to Sarajevo I use the last half day to visit Gračanica, a monastery and vıllage outside of Prishtine. The monastery is an important example of Byzantıne architechture in the region, the village has more or less turned into a Serbian enclave, including an office issuing Serbian passports and the like. On the bus I talk to a man who learned his close to perfect German - he even translated for the German Police in Kosovo - solely by watching satellite TV. He tells the driver to stop at the monastery for me, not necessarily a welcome stop...

The monastery is beautiful and silent despite of quite a few visitors and tourists (I am the only one abiding by the 'no photos' signs...). It is quite dark inside and the nuns are friendly, but shy. A withdrawn place.

When I'm back ın the city I take a last walk to see some parts beyond the boulevard I haven't seen so far, so I enter the old town. As ın many other places there are mosques being restored by the Turkish government and also some other construction work going on. What I find most typical about this quarter, however, is the combination of European architecture with an oriental maze of winding paths and streets, everythıng, of course, once more covered in the spider web of electricity lines. I cross a grocery street market wıth mny old men wearing traditional white Albanian felt hats. And all of a sudden I am back at the main road again.
Time to get ready to leave.

People... 

...and government