There's a Cave in Kosovo

And what a fun it was. Located about a half-hour south of Pristina in Gllogoc, Pranvera and I ventured there with 3 of her nieces/nephew for an afternoon of fun. A nice sunny day out proved to provide for an even warmer cave inside. To be honest my expectations were quite low but I was very impressed at the organization, upkeep and humorous guide who took us through the attraction. We were charged a moderate entrance fee for Kosovo standards which is apparently the only money used to keep the lights on and basic maintanence of the place. No other donations which was surprising consider the amount of NGO's and donor assistance here. The sign greeting our entry stated 'No photographs' but our guide joked and said that if those at the top don't respect the laws, why should we at the bottom (loosely translated by Pranvera).

The cave actually goes into a hill so you don't really descend too far. But I was certain it would be a one way 5 minute walk in and then straight back out. As it turned out it was a maze of paved sidewalks, lights randomly scattered throughout and a good story to tell behind many of the formations. Apparently there is an entire other level that they have not opened due to lack of funds. But we were still allowed to wander all about enjoying the alien looking formations, playing in some of the mud, dropping our coins into a wishing well and trying to scare one another.

Emerging on the opposite side, we decided to rid ourselves of the sub-terrainian glow by climbing the sunny hill we were just in. Once on top the wind was quite forceful but the views of the landscape and the villages beautiful. It was wonderful to frolic like kids and it was quite funny how both the locals and other internationals (that were in the cave with us) clearly thought we were the parents on these three kids. Felt like 'playing house'. And I liked it:-)

Birthday Celebrations in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia

Of all the days that Kosovo decides to postpone its declaration of Independence, it had to of course fall over a three day holiday weekend where Pranvera and I had made special plans to celebrate my birthday in the (quiet) resort town of Ohrid. Plus, for the first time since leaving the US, I was able to meet up with one of my dear friends Kat from the US who works for the same company as I and just moved to Tirana, Albania with her husband Tim and one year old Sam. We couldn't have had a more perfect weekend (except missing Independence) with a perfect, penthouse apartment, wonderfully sunny (yet cold) weather, great food, plenty of drink and just a lot of R&R.

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Since Pranvera and I had taken one of our earlier trips to the Lake already, we served as tour guides for our friends but had no agenda otherwise. It was very nice to catch the town off-season since before it was just packed with lines for the cafes, restaurants, walking down the shopping plaza, driving the route from Pristina-Ohrid (5 hours on-season/ 3.5 off), and waiting to get into an overbooked hotel. Not to mention the prices at this time of year are substantially reduced.

So let's start with the drive where we went totally 'native' by renting a ubiquitous VW Golf with the low spoilers, air-damn and tape deck. At least it had a good engine and could handle all the passing. Pranvera's iPod provided the needed tunes through the speaker system I bought her for Christmas. Driving over a snow-dusted mountain pass we made excellent timing and arrived just as nightfall took over the little town. We stocked up on snacks and breakfast ingredients before checking into our apartment situated in the center of old town. As you can tell from the photos we hit the jackpot. I would argue that this is the nicest place in all of Ohrid, not to mention the wonderful landlord who is a friend of one of my Pristina colleagues. Our friends had the apartment below us but we used our common space for the meals, TV watching and hanging out/drinking time. By the way there are in fact 31 windows whose blinds took 5 minutes to close (Pranvera was slightly challenged by this activity;-)

Our first night was without our friends as my lovely date and I headed less than 5 minutes down the hill to a very nice local restaurant with lively loud music and some local fisherman to laugh at. Since it was in fact off season many places are closed or empty so this was a nice find with fantastic wine and fresh fish! Before I almost fell asleep at the table from the drive, heat and wine, we escaped to wander down to the bar district and popped into one with some lively dance music and nice decor. I guess due to my obvious new age difference (or my hot date) verses the rest of the local 18 year old patrons, we were escorted to a reserved table in the front of the bar where we kicked back several Bailey's and then created our own dance floor. Most the other youth were doing the traditional Balkan solo wiggle but we decided to not act our age and danced until Pranvera's feet (and knee) indicated it was time to head home. At least the short walk straight uphill kept us warm before crashing for a nice long slumber.

The next morning couldn't have been a more perfect way to begin the first day of my 37th year. Coffee/tea in bed looking out over the lake, snow-capped mountains, and castle with my sweetheart by my side. Taking our very slow time to get going (hoping to wait out the arrival of my friends) we got antcy and decided to enjoy the sunny day by walking through the shopping district looking at both art and jewelry (much less to see off-season) and appreciating the sounds, fresh smells and picture perfect birds enjoying the placid, glistening lake. Finally we got word that our friends had arrived after a several hour delay at the border. Having to balance out a one year old in dire need of a nap and two very hungry parents we opted to gather delicious take-out pizza and beer so we might all catch up in the apartment.

This was topped off by the traditional birthday song and indulging in a huge cake and campaign that the landlord generously provided for me. Kat and Tim also brought a cake which was shared with Pristina friends later. It was absolutely wonderful to catch up on old times (living next to one another in DC) and old friends (went to grad school together). Best of all they were the first of my old friends (non-Kosovo) to meet Pranvera. All got along smashingly and Pranvera immediately befriended Sam teaching him (and me) some Albanian and how to walk (not me). But I guess my old age is catching up since I hit the bed by 9:30 to read and was out within 5 minutes:-(

Sunday we all finally hit the town to tour the sites. Sam in his backpack and all of us bundled up for cold with sun. Virtually no other tourists which made it even more of a pleasant day. Just when we had had enough walking we ducked into one of the clubs that Pranvera and I danced in during our first visit which doubles as a cafe and is right on the water. Sun blazing in through the glass doors Sam entertained us all as we enjoyed our whip cream topped Cappuccino’s. Fully caffeinated we continued on through the shops and went to the green market to pick up fresh fish, vegetables and wine for the evening's home-cooked feast. By this time our stomachs were grumbling so I took the Schad's to a wonderful traditional meat restaurant and Pranvera returned to the flat to begin watching the TV coverage of Independence while texting with her friends and family. The meal was perfect and Sam was once again the only blonde blue eyed entertainer for the dinners. Then it was nap time for us all and we returned up the hill.

Pranvera and I watched the 7 hours of live, uninterrupted CNN, Kosovo and Albanian coverage of the Parliament session, the signing of the document, the official press conference, the streets going mad and the massive fireworks show (from the warm comfort of our lake-side treehouse). This was accompanied eventually by our group effort dinner that lasted long into the night for all! Independence for Pranvera's home had finally become a reality. It was hard to really believe.

For the final day we packed up and bid farewell to our wonderful vacation spot and headed to the Albanian town of Struga, next door to Ohrid. Flags flying all over and the excited buzz of Pristina reaching this community was obvious. We took a nice long walk along the lake and then river shores just enjoying the people, shops and clean air. We were drawn to a very nice looking pub advertising for Guinness on draft where we each received our morning shot of caffeine before departing with hugs and plans to rendezvous again in Montenegro in the Spring. The drive back for us was fast and beautiful with no traffic and wonderful rolling hills and small villages (we did not see anything coming down in the dark). We made our obligatory stop in Skopje to do some basic food and clothing shopping before heading up to cross the border into the new Republic of Kosovo. A historic and memorable weekend for all.