Take it to the Kulla!

Another great weekend adventure with friends. When the weather is nice one actually forgets they are in 'Kosovo'. A couple weeks back we were invited to join a group of 8 others to spend the night in a restored, traditional Albanian house known as a Kulla. These were essentially fortified stones homes with very little (and few) windows with massive stone walls encasing the property for both protection and warmth. Very few people actually live in them anymore but there are some still around in the villages.

But prior to our arrival in the village, Molly, Pranvera and I went to a neighboring city (Peja) to explore another one of the historical (and well guarded) Serbian monasteries right at the beginning of the Ragova Valley (which I had photographed in an earlier hike). The weather was perfect and we enjoyed a short hike into the grounds after getting our ID's inspected by the Italian KFOR responsible for the safety of the clergy. It is sad to see such a beautiful place surrounded by barbed wire and an entire army. Of course one does not feel any threat but it is all there just to make sure nothing happens. Unlike our earlier attempts at the Decane Monastery this one was actually open and we were able to explore all of the chapels, gardens and ruins that surround the newer buildings. It was so peaceful to just sit listening to the brook, feel the sun on our faces and watch the honey bees do their thing.






Having waited all day for the perfect late lunch Pranvera lead us to the top of the Sky Tower that has an awesome restaurant and views of the entire valley. A large draft beer and local fish platter were the perfect celebration to prepare for the evenings competitive round of Pictionary in the Kulla.




By the time we met up with the other 2 cars, it was getting late which made for an interesting drive to try and locate the tiny village in the dark. After attempting a number of different roads Pranvera saved us all by actually speaking to the locals at an intellegable level. Never fear we arrived at our evening quarters with snacks and plenty plenty of alcohol to basically drink the night away. And so we did, but not without playing one of the crudest, most creative and socially competitive game of pictionary I can recall. The entire experience was a cross between camp and a fraternity party. Since this website cannot be rated I must leave out most of the words but will say a highlight must have been at my own expensive when I had to draw a penis (among) other things and upon my team successfully guessing the object realizing I had accidentally used the one permanent marker we had brought and we were unable to erase it from the Kulla whiteboard (to be used for presentations). As everyone rolled around uncontrollably Molly thoughtfully grabbed the vodka we had brought and proceeded to use it like rubbing alcohol. It eventually came off but certainly elevated the evening to an entirely new level.

Although the evening unfolded into rounds of outside story telling and dancing in the oda (main sitting room), Pranvera and I retired a bit early (don't all couples;-) to wake up nice and early and take a walk through the village. It was great to hear the roosters, smell the fresh morning dung and see the kids staring at us from behind the cracked doors of their family kullas. As we joked about the events of the night a bit later, Pranvera's local friends said that if her Albanian boyfriend had suggested such an activity (ie take an urban girl to a village) she would have dumped him, but since it was I it was a perfectly acceptable experience that we all really enjoyed. Thinking that this was not the case she laughed while admitting there might have been some truth to their theory.