Day 120- Walking tour in Pristina, Kosovo

Tuesday, October 30th, 2018.

Today we took the free walking tour with Astrit. He was really nice and gave us good historical information about the city. He is the first person who did not speak well of Tito. He didn't speak badly of him either but didn't admire Tito like the other countries did.

National Theater of Pristina, meeting point of the tour.

Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu was an Albanian nobleman and military commander, who served the Ottoman Empire in 1423–43, the Republic of Venice in 1443–47, and lastly the Kingdom of Naples until his death. After leaving Ottoman service, he led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania and Macedonia. Skanderbeg always signed himself in Latin: Dominus Albaniae ("Lord of Albania"), and claimed no other titles but that in documents.

Astrit, our tour guide. He explained that even if Skenderbeg was Albanian, he is a hero to the people of Kosovo because it fought against the Ottoman Empire.

The Carshi Mosque, also known as the Bazaar Mosque and the Taş Mosque (literally, the Stone Mosque) is the oldest building in Pristina and it marks the beginning of the old town. The basement of this mosque was laid out in 1389 during the rule of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and its construction was continued during the reign of Sultan Murad II in the 15th century. The Carshi Mosque was built to celebrate the Ottoman victory of 1389 in the Battle of Kosovo. Over the years, the mosque has undergone through several restorations. However, its stone-topped minaret has survived for over six centuries (hence, it is often referred to as the Taş Mosque or the Stone Mosque).

The ottoman fountain outside the mosque

The inside of the Mosque

Here is where the Imam gives the sermon

The ceiling

Original decorations and colors

Most of the population in Kosovo are Muslims. Here Astrit was explaining what is a mihrab (niche indicating the direction of the Mecca), minaret (tower), dome and a fountain or place to watch before prayers.

The government is working on remodeling the mosque

Museum of Kosovo, free entrance and we didn't go.

Another mosque

Outside the mosque, just across there was a hammam (Turkish bath) building.

The clock tower

 Sultan Mehmet Fatih Mosque

I love taking pictures of locals.

The old bazaar

Entrance to the Ethnological Museum "Emin Gjiku", donations welcome!

Outside of one of the oldest Turkish home,

We got a private guide for the museum who explained to us what was each room of the house.

The fountain where they had to come outside to get

They collected utensil all over Kosovo and brought them to this museum. This was the kitchen and only the fancy homes had the chairs and the table to eat.

Women bedroom with cribs

The gathering room for guests

The market had fresh fruit and vegetables. My favorite spot of the city because it is so colorful and alive!

Walking through the market where you can see people selling and buying despite the rain!

The kids noticed the different kind of pumpkins they had here. We almost buy one for Halloween.

Monument of Brotherhood and Unity

Singing in the rain!

Monument to mother Theresa, another hero and not from Kosovo.

New Born monument built to commemorate Kosovo independence in February 2008.

Monument to commemorate all the women victims during the war of 1999.

Detail of what the monument is made of.

Serbian Orthodox church abandoned but cannot be torn down because it belongs to the Serbian territory and they claim is holly because it has a cross but the government of Kosovo needs the space because it is next to the university library.

University Library 

The National Library architecture is considered by many people, one of the ugliest buildings in the world. Gregory and I liked it. The architect was Croatian Andrija Mutnjaković.

Cathedral of Moher Theresa  was inaugurated on 26 August 2010, the hundredth anniversary of her birthday, before construction was completed.Its construction, begun in 2011, sparked controversy in Muslim circles where it was seen as outsized considering the small number of Catholics in the area.

And here is we finished the tour!

Mother Theresa and Jean Paul

A curious detail that our guide told us was that normally the Catholic churches don't make glasses with popes that are still alive. Here you can see Pope Francis with Pope Benedict

We had a delicious and cheap lunch at Delikatise. All the staff were super friendly and went out of their way to serve us and explained what the dishes were. Gregory gave a tip and the waiter was extremely grateful and happy. The best part of the city has been the friendly people.

There is a Bill Clinton statue because he helped to promote the independence of Kosovo!

Traditional selfie by Sunshine.

Sunshine's picture. She is taking Photo as an elective class.

Of course, we stopped for a coffee

Soma Book Station Cafe, we loved this coffee place with many books in English. We found Humberto Ecco and other intersting books about Bosnia and Kosovo.

The bar.

Finally, we made it home to prepare the dough for Halloween cookies. We did not have an electric mixer and the kids had to crush the sugar because we only found cubes of sugar.

We had a healthy greek salad for dinner!