Pristina, Skopje and Belgrade

Since Richard's grand plan last year, he has been keen on developing a Grand Plan II.  This evolved into a trip to the old Yugoslav countries of Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.  After many discussions on the route and methods of travel it turned into a plane, train and automobile excursion.

First stop was Pristina in Kosovo, the emerging capital of this newest European country.  We flew on our local Slovenian airline - Adria Air, which unlike the joys of the budget airlines, still had the extras like food and beer thrown in.  Pristina airport was even more like a 'shed in a field' than our ubiquitous airport in Ljubljana.  But it was very efficient - lots of people on passport control and we were through and got our luggage in a very short time.  First impressions of Pristina were that it "isn't quite finished yet".  The skyline is a mass of half-built edifices and the roads don't really have edges they just slide into the mud. 

They haven't quite developed the concept of car parks yet, which results in the locals parking any which way, mainly on the pavements.  The city is very polluted and everyone smokes (and takes no notice of the no-smoking signs in the bars!).  This said, I liked it.  There was a rawness and energy about the place.  It feels like it is determined to succeed no matter what anyone says or does.  There are no tourists, which is always nice, and the prices are excellent. We stayed in a superb hotel called Hotel Prima, in a rather dingy backstreet, but the hotel was beautifully kitted out with every extra and we had a wonderful cooked breakfast.  The owner and his wife couldn't do enough for us and I would definitely recommend it.



Renaissance restaurant

We also had an excellent dinner at a restaurant called Renaissance, which looked like a shack in an unmarked alley and with no sign above the door (we had to ask a local to point it out to us!).  It was the best meal I've had since the superb ravioli in Vienna.  For the all in sum of 15 euros, we had wine and water, a huge mezze starter with about 8 different dishes and top-notch bread, followed by a crisp, fresh salad, and then two main dishes made up of the most tender, gorgeous veal and a chicken dish in an exceptional sauce.  There was no menu or choice, as they buy the ingredients fresh each day but I have rarely tasted such an exquisite meal.  This restaurant is a reason to visit Pristina all by it's self.

Pristina hasn't quite got the hang of sights to see, there are a few old mosques that you can take pictures of, a pedestrianised main street which was beautifully lit at night, and a main square that they are in the process of tarting up.  But it is an interesting place to have a wander round, and there are plenty of bars to rest your weary feet.  One interesting fact we noticed was that everywhere was flying the Albanian flag - frequently more often than the Kosovan flag, we usually saw two Albanian flags to every one of the Kosovan flag.

The next day we took the bus to Skopje in Macedonia (train travel is not recommended in these countries - dreadfully slow and the buses are much better, faster and cheaper).  The bus trip was only 2 hours and went very smoothly.   

Skopje, although it suffered a terrible earthquake in 1963, immediately struck us as more finished and better off.  That said, there is a huge amount of building and decorating going on in the city centre itself.  They are reconstructing the huge edifices that were there before the earthquake, they are very beautiful and it will look lovely when it is finished.  However, a thought did occur to me that in a poor country with high unemployment the money might have been spent differently. The reconstructed centre will attract tourists and it is already able to cope with them as there were nice bars along the river front, more sights to see (although the fortress was closed to visitors), and an interesting bazaar which is still similar to how it was in Ottoman times.  They also adhere to the no-smoking in bars and restaurants which made our visit more pleasant! 

Turkish baths in bazaar

We stayed at the Iguana hostel, a short walk from the bus station and only 10-15 mins from the main square.  It was nice, but it wasn't very busy so they hadn't turned the central heating on.  They gave us a little electric heater for our room but it was extremely cold in the bathroom and the corridors.  I would recommend it as a place to stay for the warmer weather - they were very friendly, it was newly decorated and nicely done - but not much fun in February.  We also found another nice restaurant for dinner - the Beerhouse, in a 15th century medieval inn in the old bazaar.  It took a while to find, but the dinner was nearly as good as in Pristina, although with a menu and a very helpful waiter.

Next stop was Belgrade in Serbia.  Again we took the bus - only 6.5 hours compared with 10 hours on the train.  The trip was very good, straight roads with very little traffic, I even managed to read.  We stopped twice for breaks to stretch our legs, and were early into Belgrade.  The weather was snowy and cold and we struggled with the public transport system.  They have introduced a new BusPlus ticket, which you buy at kiosks and can load up to 10 trips at time.  They told us one ticket can be used for two passengers but we never managed to get the little machines on the bus to take for two.  Luckily, no inspectors got on to tell us off.  We had paid for the tickets, just couldn't get the validating machine to work! 

I wasn't very keen on Belgrade, the appalling weather didn't help but there seemed to be an undercurrent to the city that I didn't like.  The women all dress up like Barbies, long hair, overdone make-up, jewellery, size zero, tight jeans and high boots even if they are only driving the trams!  I felt frumpy and fat next to them.  Belgraders all smoke, and smoking is allowed in all the bars and restaurants - they have the 'no smoking' sign everywhere but without the line through it!  The food wasn't great - grilled meat and not very exciting, a disappointment after Pristina and Skopje.  Also, the young men frequently looked like football hooligans and everyone looked a bit miserable.



Richard on the tank



We visited Marshall Tito's grave and the old museum next to it.  Saw the Kalemegdan citadel, where Richard had fun with all the military machinery.  Visited Princess Ljubica's house, where the Ottoman stuff was interesting but the rest wasn't.  We found a nice Irish pub called the Drunken Duck where we spent a good evening getting drunk, and the slice of pizza we ate on the way back was the nicest food we'd had in Serbia.  We got the train back to Bled, 11 hours!  Not a nice trip, but it was a straight-through train so less hassle than changing buses.



Overall, a very interesting trip to three very different cities.  I would definitely recommend Skopje as the best place for a visit at the moment, it has a nice feel to it, good prices, and a lovely city centre (once they finish marbleising every surface!).  Pristina is a bit out of the ordinary, and is up and coming, maybe give it a couple of years.