London w/o Kids

A bit delayed on this post but still worth sharing, especially thanking our great hosts Carol and Jim (and Sammy and Lucy) and John/Tanya and Kian. 4 nights of a 4 hour adult dinner, little English pubs, The Book of Mormon play, and sushi reminded us how much fun date night can be. On our first day in the city we walked over 20km seeing all the parks, museums and general tourist attractions ducking inside a Starbucks to avoid the afternoon shower. Most importantly was late night conversations and day outings with our close friends living there which also included dear friends Vica and new husband Simon from Pranvera's Harvard days. Plus visiting with several of her cousins who actually live in the UK. Perfect weather and the extremely cheap discount airline flying into Luton from Skopje which just required an extra 2 hours of driving from Pristina.

Dad Visits Kosovo


For the first time. Having heard the stories of the country and culture for over 8 years, now it is great for us to finally be able to let my father see, taste, smell and experience Pristina and surrounding areas first-hand. Having arrived on his birthday, we kicked off his visit with a night out and cake with the kids back at the house. In between all our outings Dad is on the floor either building Legos or coloring books with the kids. A wonderful 'break' for Pranvera and I and a great pleasure for Adi and Rea.

Lucky for us the winter is holding off and we had a wonderfully warm weekend to hike to the Mirusha Waterfalls one day followed by a fantastic fresh fish afternoon super (complete with full playground) and another day of visiting the new Bear Sanctuary and fishing in the water reserve nearby. Grandpa brought Adi his first fishing rod and helped trying to instruct him on proper casting. Of course for a 5 year old, patience in the process not included.

We plan on many more adventures over the next several week stay and only pray the weather supports our action filled schedule.

Not Your Average Family BBQ

Now that we are finally settled in our new house and the weather is turning quickly to the Fall (first one we have experienced in 4 years) we decided to have all of Pranvera's immediate family and closer cousins over for a Sunday BBQ, Kosovo style.

The days event began with me heading out to a farm with my brother in law to hand-pick the 22kg lamb that was then slaughtered and cleaned in front of us. Which was then transported to a local bakery to spend the day in a proper marinade roasting in a brick oven. We then fit the enormous baking tray into the car to return to the house with all the family arriving and the many many side dished that Pranvera and our relatives prepared added to the feast.

Adi and Rea absolutely loved having so many family around at once (a rare event) and it was so nice to have so much space to play and socialize. Not to mention all our nieces to help clean up afterward and get the kids down so we could collapse into bed. Another subtle reminder of the benefits of us moving back 'home'.

Final Beach Weekend and the End of Summer

I am sure many parents are saying the same thing of where the @#^# did it go??? As excited as we are to return to a routine and have Adi begin Kindergarden and Rea continue with her full-time daycare, we will miss the time with the kids. We can't believe we only got away to Greece for one week and poof, it is over.

So with the summer quickly coming to a close we decided to head off for a 24 hour  getaway to the closest Albanian beach town from Pristina (3 hours). Even though the 'summer season' is technically over you would have never known as the good weather had the hotels and beach still packed. And as you can see, it certainly isn't like our deserted white sand, aqua blue ocean of Mozambique.  But the kids loved playing in the water and the sand we enjoyed the company of Pranvera's brother and sister in-law.

Summer Holiday to Lefkada Island, Greece with Aunt Stacey

Sorry for the delayed update from our side but all is well with the Kirkbride's in Kosovo. Summer break has kept our hands full but Rea is in a new daycare 1 minute walking from our house and Adi has also joined the full day program for several months of the summer to get better with his Albanian and let mom and dad have some time to work. We are both busy juggling several consulting assignments each but allowing us to be local for the most part since mid-June for me. We have moved into a new house about 10 minute walk from the in-laws and just outside the city in the wonderfully breezy hills surrounding Pristina. We can mountain bike and walk directly to the city park and do a 2.5 hour mountainous loop around the park followed by a nice lunch or machiatto at the park restaurant.

A highlight was Stacey's visit with us for about a month. And one week we drove 9 hours south to the wonderfully 'pimpled' (pebbled) beaches with great seafood, low key fishing villages, clear sky's and an economy that is just holding on (paid cash for everything). We found the perfect seaside condo run by a wonderfully hospitable Greek family. Otherwise we have been enjoying the local sites for day trips, visiting pools, spending time with friends and family and enjoying the warm weather.

Day out at the local 'California' pool outside Pristina.