Day 117 - Last day in Sarajevo - Night Bus to Pristhina, Kosovo
Saturday, October 27, 2018.
Today we did our usual routine but after breakfast, we cleaned up the house and finished packing because we plan to leave today but we were in standby in case Kelsey and Rocco's plane got delayed in London. Everything went fine, they arrived a little earlier than expected when we were finishing lunch at home. The dogs were thrilled to see them. We finished, then left the apartment to do our last stroll in the old town. First, we stopped for a photo session at the park. Then we walked to the old town and again, I had to go to the bathroom. It has become a nuisance. Luckily the old town is full of nice coffee places and we stopped at a very nice one (Cafe Dialog). Our mission was to go buy the bus tickets for tonight but when we made it to the bus line office, it was closed. Those who know me can imagine how I felt. I freaked out. Gregory of course, all calm, told me not to worry, that we could buy the tickets on the bus like they had told us. Luckily for me, we all voted that we preferred to take a taxi to the bus station and get the tickets for the 10:00pm bus, which is the only bus to Prishtina.
It was interesting to find out that we could only buy tickets to Novi Pazar which is in Serbia but we could not get the tickets to Prishtina because Kosovo is not recognized by a lot of countries and apparently this affects some bus service. I was a little nervous because the lady who sold us the tickets told us that we could buy the tickets to Prishtina on the bus. We assumed we had to get off the bus and get into another one. I was just thinking, "great -- in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, where we don't speak the language." Plus, of course, I'm thinking of all the possibilities. I asked, "Can we pay on the bus with Bosnian marks?" The lady didn't know but she said we could pay with euros. Well, I made Gregorio withdraw marks and exchange them for euros so we could buy the tickets. I just get all nervous with situations like this. [Gregory's note: yes, you can pay for the tickets with Bosnian marks. But the extra fee to convert from US$ to BAM to Euro was a small price to pay for Lili's peace of mind.]
We took a taxi back home with our bus tickets and our euros. I still was not feeling calm. Almost four months of traveling, I still get very anxious the day of the travel. Mostly because the countries we are going to are so different in so many ways and not speaking the language doesn't help.
After chatting with Kelsey and Rocco for a while, we went out for dinner to a cute Italian restaurant nearby. I was able to calm down after Gregorio made me drink a glass of white wine. OK, he didn't make me, I happily drank it! We walked back home and it was time to go to the bus station. We said our goodbyes and then Kelsey drove us. It was funny to see that Gregory actually gave directions to Kelsey. He amazes me how fast he learns where he is. Did I mention that he actually started to speak Bosnian? Only a week here and he could ask basic sentences? I was trying but by the time I learn one or two words is time to go to another country where they speak another completely different language!!! [Gregory's note: I didn't really learn Bosnian, but it's almost the same as Serbo-Croatian, which we had been exposed to for the last couple of weeks so I was getting better at the same thing.]
Anyway, we made it to the bus station around 9:30pm with plenty of time. Gregory ran to the post office to drop some postcards. The only reason I mention this is that he lost his second pair of reading glasses while running! Bummer. We got onto the bus and all I can tell you is that it was a very loooooong and stiff ride! We left at 10:00pm. We passed through two border controls, at least half an hour at each. The driver took a half hour break after the Serbian border crossing, then another 20 minutes parked in the middle of nowhere, who knows why. I was praying, of course, then we made it to Novi Pazar at 5:30am. A kind lady informed us that we were going to be at the station for an hour because daylight savings ended during the trip! I ran to the bathroom, which I didn't want to do by myself but I didn't want to leave the kids alone on the bus. After that, I was able to fall asleep.
Today we did our usual routine but after breakfast, we cleaned up the house and finished packing because we plan to leave today but we were in standby in case Kelsey and Rocco's plane got delayed in London. Everything went fine, they arrived a little earlier than expected when we were finishing lunch at home. The dogs were thrilled to see them. We finished, then left the apartment to do our last stroll in the old town. First, we stopped for a photo session at the park. Then we walked to the old town and again, I had to go to the bathroom. It has become a nuisance. Luckily the old town is full of nice coffee places and we stopped at a very nice one (Cafe Dialog). Our mission was to go buy the bus tickets for tonight but when we made it to the bus line office, it was closed. Those who know me can imagine how I felt. I freaked out. Gregory of course, all calm, told me not to worry, that we could buy the tickets on the bus like they had told us. Luckily for me, we all voted that we preferred to take a taxi to the bus station and get the tickets for the 10:00pm bus, which is the only bus to Prishtina.
It was interesting to find out that we could only buy tickets to Novi Pazar which is in Serbia but we could not get the tickets to Prishtina because Kosovo is not recognized by a lot of countries and apparently this affects some bus service. I was a little nervous because the lady who sold us the tickets told us that we could buy the tickets to Prishtina on the bus. We assumed we had to get off the bus and get into another one. I was just thinking, "great -- in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, where we don't speak the language." Plus, of course, I'm thinking of all the possibilities. I asked, "Can we pay on the bus with Bosnian marks?" The lady didn't know but she said we could pay with euros. Well, I made Gregorio withdraw marks and exchange them for euros so we could buy the tickets. I just get all nervous with situations like this. [Gregory's note: yes, you can pay for the tickets with Bosnian marks. But the extra fee to convert from US$ to BAM to Euro was a small price to pay for Lili's peace of mind.]
We took a taxi back home with our bus tickets and our euros. I still was not feeling calm. Almost four months of traveling, I still get very anxious the day of the travel. Mostly because the countries we are going to are so different in so many ways and not speaking the language doesn't help.
After chatting with Kelsey and Rocco for a while, we went out for dinner to a cute Italian restaurant nearby. I was able to calm down after Gregorio made me drink a glass of white wine. OK, he didn't make me, I happily drank it! We walked back home and it was time to go to the bus station. We said our goodbyes and then Kelsey drove us. It was funny to see that Gregory actually gave directions to Kelsey. He amazes me how fast he learns where he is. Did I mention that he actually started to speak Bosnian? Only a week here and he could ask basic sentences? I was trying but by the time I learn one or two words is time to go to another country where they speak another completely different language!!! [Gregory's note: I didn't really learn Bosnian, but it's almost the same as Serbo-Croatian, which we had been exposed to for the last couple of weeks so I was getting better at the same thing.]
Anyway, we made it to the bus station around 9:30pm with plenty of time. Gregory ran to the post office to drop some postcards. The only reason I mention this is that he lost his second pair of reading glasses while running! Bummer. We got onto the bus and all I can tell you is that it was a very loooooong and stiff ride! We left at 10:00pm. We passed through two border controls, at least half an hour at each. The driver took a half hour break after the Serbian border crossing, then another 20 minutes parked in the middle of nowhere, who knows why. I was praying, of course, then we made it to Novi Pazar at 5:30am. A kind lady informed us that we were going to be at the station for an hour because daylight savings ended during the trip! I ran to the bathroom, which I didn't want to do by myself but I didn't want to leave the kids alone on the bus. After that, I was able to fall asleep.
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| Our last walk with the dogs, we are going to miss them! |
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| Our little plaza with the grocery store, cafes, restaurants and shops. |
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| The bridge we crossed every morning to go back home. They are repairing the funicular in front here. |
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| My model |
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| Playing with the light |
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| My sweet girl |
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| With Kelsey, Rocco, Mattie and Moose |
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| Our bus |
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| Gregory talking to his mom. Getting ready for a long ride on an old bus. |
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