Spontaneous day trip to Pristina, Kosovo — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00What's a country you thought you'd
2. 0:02probably never visit but somehow ended
3. 0:05up there? For me, one of those places
4. 0:07was definitely Kosovo. I'd never really
5. 0:09planned on going, but when the chance to
6. 0:12do so arrived, I wasn't going to turn
7. 0:14that down and ended up going on a day
8. 0:16trip to Pristina with a taxi from North
9. 0:19Macedonia.
10. 0:21[Music]
11. 0:31Hello everyone, my name is Yanuka and
12. 0:33welcome to this video. We are today
13. 0:37about to embark on a day trip to
14. 0:40Pristina, Kosovo. We are currently in
15. 0:43Scopier and we've already been here for
16. 0:44a few days and we saw that there would
17. 0:47be a possibility to go to Kosovo from
18. 0:49here and I thought to myself, if I don't
19. 0:51go there now, will I ever be visiting?
20. 0:53like this is probably my one and only
21. 0:55chance to ever visit Kosovo. We were
22. 0:58looking at different options on how to
23. 1:00go there. There was quite a few tours
24. 1:02that you can do, but at least when
25. 1:04booking last minute, these tours were
26. 1:06quite expensive. Most of them were like
27. 1:09€120 and upwards. So yesterday we met up
28. 1:13with a taxi driver when we took the taxi
29. 1:15back from Matka Canya to Scopia City and
30. 1:18we started with him talking about going
31. 1:20to Kosovo and he said he would be
32. 1:22prepared to drive us to Pristina, wait
33. 1:25for us and then drive us back and we
34. 1:26would be paying him €100 for this which
35. 1:29I honestly think is quite a good deal
36. 1:31and it's still going to be cheaper than
37. 1:32those tours. Sometimes I like doing
38. 1:34group tours but also when you do a group
39. 1:35tour you're a bit limited in what you're
40. 1:37doing and doing what you're told so to
41. 1:39say. But now instead, we'll have time to
42. 1:40explore the capital of Kosovo by
43. 1:42ourselves, which I think will be also
44. 1:44more interesting. We're just about to go
45. 1:47and meet up with the taxi driver and
46. 1:49then we'll head to Pristina, Kosovo. I'm
47. 1:52super excited.
48. 2:09We are on our way. We've just stopped at
49. 2:12a gas station. They're going to change
50. 2:14some money into euros. I was today years
51. 2:16old when I learned that Kosovo is a part
52. 2:18of EU and that they use euros there. I
53. 2:20did not know that. Maybe that was very
54. 2:22uh bad of me. But yeah, I just saw a
55. 2:25sign that it's 78 kilometers to Kosovo.
56. 2:29And apparently because it is a Monday,
57. 2:31the border crossing shouldn't be too
58. 2:34busy. Apparently on the weekends it can
59. 2:36get really busy and you have to wait in
60. 2:38line for quite some time. But today
61. 2:40hopefully it should be fine.
62. 2:44[Music]
63. 3:32And so we have arrived in Christina
64. 3:36Kosovo. Our first thing we're going to
65. 3:38do is go and check out this cathedral. I
66. 3:40think it was called the Cathedral of
67. 3:42Mother Teresa, something like that.
68. 3:45Looks pretty big and grand. So, let's go
69. 3:48and check it out.
70. 3:49[Music]
71. 4:03Hey,
72. 4:08[Music]
73. 4:16hey, hey.
74. 4:18Our
75. 4:21[Music]
76. 4:27next stop is a very peculiar looking
77. 4:32library. I've never seen one quite like
78. 4:35it before, to be honest. I'm not sure if
79. 4:38I find it very cool looking or very
80. 4:43ugly looking. A bit of both, I would
81. 4:46say.
82. 4:48The National Library with its unique
83. 4:51futuristic design is a real head turner
84. 4:54famous for its brutalist style. It was
85. 4:57designed by a Croatian architect back in
86. 4:591982 when Kosovo was still a part of
87. 5:02Yugoslavia.
88. 5:04[Music]
89. 5:34We've now come to a cafe to use the
90. 5:37bathroom to be honest and have something
91. 5:39to drink and we both are going to also
92. 5:41order something uh sweet to try. So far,
93. 5:44I'm actually quite surprised about how
94. 5:46busy this city is. There was quite bad
95. 5:48traffic when we arrived and everywhere
96. 5:50it's hustling and bustling with people
97. 5:53even though it's like the middle of the
98. 5:54day on a Monday. So that's quite
99. 5:56surprising. But yeah, let's see if we
100. 5:57would be able to order and then we'll
101. 5:59continue exploring this city.
102. 6:02[Music]
103. 6:08[Applause]
104. 6:08[Music]
105. 6:20That is really good.
106. 6:30[Music]
107. 6:48But yeah, now we're going to walk around
108. 6:49a bit. There's a few spots and areas I
109. 6:52want to check out still.
110. 6:55I think we're now arriving to the
111. 6:58boulevard.
112. 7:00[Music]
113. 7:07This is Mother Teresa's Boulevard, the
114. 7:10main pedestrian street with lots of
115. 7:12restaurants and cafes that can be found
116. 7:14alongside it. The boulevard is named
117. 7:16after Mother Teresa because her family
118. 7:19roots trace back to Kosovo. It's in the
119. 7:21city center and a lovely place where to
120. 7:24walk, especially now in the summertime
121. 7:26with all the green trees
122. 7:36in Pristina. You can find a fascinating
123. 7:38mix of Ottoman eras history and
124. 7:41Yugoslavia modernism. Whilst walking,
125. 7:43you can, for example, spot a 15th
126. 7:45century mosque on one block, and then
127. 7:47you turn your head and you'll see a
128. 7:49brutalist building or statue right next
129. 7:52to it.
130. 7:55[Music]
131. 8:14We're now by one of the main mosques
132. 8:17here in Pristina. There was just a call
133. 8:20to prayer, so we can't really visit. I
134. 8:22don't really think we could visit, even
135. 8:24if it wouldn't be. If you didn't know,
136. 8:27actually 95% of the population in Kosova
137. 8:30is Muslim. So, it is an Islamic country.
138. 8:33It's interesting though because when you
139. 8:34walk around you don't necessarily see or
140. 8:37notice that very clearly. There's a
141. 8:39bunch of mosques everywhere. So that
142. 8:41definitely gives it away. But yeah, at
143. 8:44the moment we're kind of just walking
144. 8:46around exploring this place. We don't
145. 8:49have super many things planned. I wanted
146. 8:51to visit a museum but it is closed at
147. 8:54the moment unfortunately. At some point
148. 8:56I would like to try some food here and
149. 8:59stuff like that. But um yeah, let's see
150. 9:01what we can find. Heat. Heat.
151. 9:03[Music]
152. 9:23Heat. Heat.
153. 9:37[Music]
154. 10:09Kosovo may be one of Europe's youngest
155. 10:12countries as They gained independence in
156. 10:142008, but its story stretches back
157. 10:18centuries. From Illyrian tribes to the
158. 10:20Ottomans and beyond, layers of history
159. 10:23has shaped the people and culture that
160. 10:25you see today. When walking its streets,
161. 10:27you can really feel that as it's a place
162. 10:29where ancient traditions meet modern
163. 10:32ambitions. Some more observations from
164. 10:35Kosovo. Doesn't seem like there's a lot
165. 10:37of tourists here. I think I saw like one
166. 10:38group of three people. We were just
167. 10:40walking through that big market that we
168. 10:42accidentally stumbled upon and not one
169. 10:44person tried to sell us something, which
170. 10:46was honestly very nice and a refreshing
171. 10:50change. A lot of places, everyone will
172. 10:52try and sell you absolutely everything,
173. 10:54but that's not the case here. So, as a
174. 10:57Finnish person, I approve.
175. 11:02[Music]
176. 11:15We've now come to a restaurant. Of
177. 11:17course, we have to try some local food.
178. 11:20We came to a place that was very much
179. 11:22recommended all over the internet. It's
180. 11:24a little bit outside of the main city
181. 11:27center, but still like a walk away. It's
182. 11:30called Tiffany's. They have a really
183. 11:31nice little hidden garden. Then it was a
184. 11:34bit hidden to find this place. Uh, and
185. 11:36yeah, apparently the food here is
186. 11:37really, really good. So, let's check it
187. 11:39out. So, this restaurant does seem to be
188. 11:41a little bit more fancy. And they said
189. 11:43that they're a traditional restaurant,
190. 11:45so they do not have any menus. They
191. 11:47suggested that we get a set of just a
192. 11:49bunch of little things to try so that we
193. 11:52can get a full experience. It's the
194. 11:54price will be €35 in total for two
195. 11:57people. So, it's still not too bad. But
196. 11:59when we were walking around like at the
197. 12:01boulevard and stuff, we saw that portion
198. 12:04were around like €5ish.
199. 12:07So compared to that, this is a bit more.
200. 12:09But then again, it's going to be a bit
201. 12:11more of a special experience. So let's
202. 12:15enjoy this. And I hope that the food
203. 12:17will be good. We've started off with
204. 12:19some warm bread, different dips, and
205. 12:22some salad. No idea how much food we're
206. 12:25about to get. I think it's going to be a
207. 12:26lot.
208. 12:31I like the white to dip the most out of
209. 12:32those three. It's a bit spicy though.
210. 12:35>> This lunch we had was one of the best
211. 12:38meals of our entire trip. After the
212. 12:41starters, we were brought three
213. 12:42different dishes. We had some meat and
214. 12:45rice wrapped in vine leaves, meat in
215. 12:47some kind of dough that reminded me a
216. 12:49bit of bor. And the best part was this
217. 12:52meat in a very delicious yogurt sauce.
218. 12:55I'm sorry. I don't actually know the
219. 12:57exact name of these dishes, but believe
220. 13:00me when I tell you that they were
221. 13:02delicious. I do think we're getting the
222. 13:04proper food experience now.
223. 13:10It's a bit like bor.
224. 13:13It's good.
225. 13:15It's like meat and rice.
226. 13:18It fell in my water. I thought I
227. 13:20wouldn't like it, but it's actually
228. 13:21pretty good. Meat in yogurt sauce,
229. 13:23right?
230. 13:42That's super good.
231. 13:50This one seems like it has some kind of
232. 13:52fruit inside.
233. 13:58Wow, it's so sweet. It's good though.
234. 14:03>> Well, that food was definitely
235. 14:05delicious. It was fun to get to try a
236. 14:08little bit of everything cuz I wouldn't
237. 14:10have known what to order to be honest.
238. 14:12That place, I think I already mentioned,
239. 14:13but that place doesn't even have menus.
240. 14:15So, you just need to trust them that
241. 14:17they'll bring you good food because it
242. 14:18was definitely really good. I also think
243. 14:20I mentioned it wasn't like the cheapest
244. 14:21possible place. In total for everything
245. 14:24we paid €40, so like €20 per person, but
246. 14:27it was delicious, so I have no regrets.
247. 14:31Currently, we're walking next to the
248. 14:32stadium here. Wa! I wonder what building
249. 14:35that is.
250. 14:38Looks very interesting.
251. 14:44[Music]
252. 15:14It feels like quite a safe place. I feel
253. 15:16like even if I would be walking here
254. 15:18alone, it would be fine. Like everyone's
255. 15:19really like kind of minding their own
256. 15:21business. Although, of course, I'm not
257. 15:23alone at the moment, so I don't know
258. 15:24what the true experience would be if I
259. 15:26was alone. But just the vibe I get.
260. 15:38[Music]
261. 15:53Kosovo might be small, but its
262. 15:55landscapes are breathtaking. Whilst
263. 15:58driving, we could see mountains, green
264. 16:00valleys, and rivers. Thanks to this, it
265. 16:02also made our car journeys to and from
266. 16:05the country very enjoyable.
267. 16:07[Music]
268. 16:36We have now arrived back to Scopier. We
269. 16:38still went for some drinks here together
270. 16:40with the driver before coming back to
271. 16:42our hotel. It was a short but sweet trip
272. 16:44to Pristina. We unfortunately didn't
273. 16:47have so much time to do a lot. We only
274. 16:49had like a bit less than 4 hours, so we
275. 16:51did as much as we possibly could, but
276. 16:54still I think it was a good chance to
277. 16:55get a bit of an first impression and
278. 16:57overview of the city. Generally, I
279. 17:00thought it was quite nice. It felt safe.
280. 17:02You, as a tourist, were left quite
281. 17:03alone. In general, there didn't seem to
282. 17:05be a lot of tourists there. The food
283. 17:07that we had was really, really good. The
284. 17:09traffic was, however, really bad, and I
285. 17:11was just in general surprised how busy
286. 17:13the city was. Yeah, if I would compare
287. 17:15it for example to Scopia, it felt a bit
288. 17:17more like serious maybe. And also
289. 17:19interestingly, like you were in Kosovo,
290. 17:21but everywhere you saw everything
291. 17:23Albania related, like in the market they
292. 17:26were selling Albania flags and shirts
293. 17:28and hats and magnets. You would see
294. 17:30Albanian flags everywhere. So, that was
295. 17:33quite interesting. It would have been
296. 17:34nice if we would have had more time to
297. 17:36visit also other cities and places, but
298. 17:38I'm afraid this was all that we had time
299. 17:40for now. But to be fair, originally we
300. 17:42weren't planning on visiting at all, so
301. 17:45this was still a great little trip that
302. 17:47we had. Our driver was also super
303. 17:49friendly, and I think the deal we made
304. 17:51with him was fair. Of course, if you
305. 17:53have good haggling skills, you could
306. 17:54probably find a driver for even cheaper.
307. 17:57But also, I feel like if someone drives
308. 17:59you all the way to another country, has
309. 18:00to wait for you there, then drives you
310. 18:02back, €100 for that is I think it's like
311. 18:05welld deserved. If you find yourself in
312. 18:07Scopier and would like to do a similar
313. 18:09trip or just in general need a driver,
314. 18:11feel free to message me on Instagram and
315. 18:14I can share his contact details with
316. 18:16you. Please let me know. Have you ever
317. 18:18been to Kosovo or have you ever even
318. 18:20thought about visiting it? For me
319. 18:21personally, when I was there, I told my
320. 18:23boyfriend like, "Wow, I didn't think I
321. 18:25would ever be here." But sometimes life
322. 18:28can throw you interesting curve balls.
323. 18:30But yeah, if you enjoyed this video,
324. 18:31please give it a thumbs up and remember
325. 18:33to subscribe to my channel. Tomorrow we
326. 18:36are heading to Ohid, which is apparently
327. 18:38a really beautiful city by a beautiful
328. 18:42lake here in North Macedonia, and we're
329. 18:44going to be spending four nights there
330. 18:46before then continuing our journey to
331. 18:49Albania. Lots of adventures still ahead
332. 18:51of us. So yeah, if you didn't already,
333. 18:53do remember to subscribe so that you
334. 18:55don't miss out on it. Thank you so much
335. 18:57for watching and I'll see you guys again
336. 18:58on my next adventure. Bye-bye.
337. 19:03[Music]