After our Saturday adventure in the Rugova Mountains, E and I didn’t slow down. Within fifteen minutes of our arrival home we had taken the dog out, showered, and made decent attempts at looking presentable so we could join Stephen and Nagham for a celebration of Nagham’s promotion and her mom’s good health. A great celebratory meal at Pinocchio’s (including a fantastic Argentinian Malbec) was followed by a coma-like sleep.
The next morning we were awakened as usual by Ramoosh the dog. Since we would be gone for a large part of the day, we got up to take him for a long walk. We set out at 8am, or so we thought. As we were approaching home at “9:15am” we stopped in a cafe to get some coffees-to-go. Alas, the woman told me “no till 9am.” Hmm, I didn’t question her but as I walked back out to the sidewalk, E and I realized at the same moment that we had forgotten about daylight savings time! It was only 8:15am.
Anyway, at the true 10am that morning we set out in the car with Stephen and Nagham for the drive south to a Serbian area of Kosovo – Brezovica. This area is best known for the ski resort located there. It took us about a twisting and winding 90 minutes to get there – including the passage through the checkpoint that indicates you’ve left Albanian Kosovo and entered the Serb area.
It was a miserable morning. The rain was steady and the world was grey. There was no deterring Stephen though. He drove us straight up the mountain to the resort and showed us all of his old haunts. We drove even further up on what is actually part of the piste in the winter. From there we had a great view of Macedonia.
After venturing back down the mountain, we had a leisurely and MASSIVE serb-style lunch at a restaurant with a lovely fire crackling in the fireplace. We had mulled wine, fried cheese, pickled vegetables, Greek salad, white cheese, soda bread… and that was just to start! Stephen, Nagham and E all ordered some large tomato-based stew-like dish with lamb and some kind of long narrow sausage. The portions were intimidatingly large!
Comatose after that meal, we should have just gone straight into winter hibernation, but instead Stephen convinced us that a drive to Prizren was in order. Thankfully the sun had come out by now, and Stephen’s idea proved to be a wonderful one. The drive was incredibly scenic. From laconic sheep and shar dogs to vistas that seemed to stretch beyond the sun, it was spectacular.
While we only spent a little while in Prizren, it is definitely a city we will return to… it is very old and has lots of clear Ottoman influence. I loved the stone bridge in the center of town.
Check out the photos I’ve posted to the right. Thanks, as always, to our travelling buddies for yet another excellent adventure.
