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Pristina Kosovo from my balcony! - Click on image
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One of the taller buildings in Pristina. It's the home of Bluelou.
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A couple of pictures of the Pristina cityscape
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Another picture of the Pristina cityscape
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Mother Therese Cathedral
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Located in downtown Pristina, there’s a Cathedral named after Mother Therese. Masses are in Albanian. I go to another church that’s nearby for Sunday Mass in English.
It took a while for me to understand the connection between a Catholic woman and country that's predominantly Muslim, let alone have a cathedral named after a Catholic. Mother Theresa was born in the bordering country of Macedonia. Mother Theresa is Albanian. Kosovars are Albanian first.
It took a while for me to understand the connection between a Catholic woman and country that's predominantly Muslim, let alone have a cathedral named after a Catholic. Mother Theresa was born in the bordering country of Macedonia. Mother Theresa is Albanian. Kosovars are Albanian first.
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Mother Terese Cathedral, Pristina Kosovo
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Mother Terese Cathedral, Pristina Kosovo
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Mother Terese Cathedral, Pristina Kosovo
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Mother Terese Cathedral, Pristina Kosovo
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Mother Terese Cathedral, Pristina Kosovo
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St. Anthony Catholic Church, Pristina Kosovo - This is my Church where they have Masses in multiple languages including English.
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St. Anthony Catholic Church, Pristina Kosovo
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St. Anthony Catholic Church, Pristina Kosovo
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St. Anthony Catholic Church, Pristina Kosovo
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It's flattering to see how well Americans are treated here.
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This was an Independence Day concert celebration held in conjunction to American Thanksgiving as the Kosovars have plenty of thanks to give. Americans from our office were invited to a concert in thanks in helping Kosovo achieve its' freedom and the first country to acknowledge Kosovo as a country. The concert was a suit and tie affair. No, I wasn't invited as I got here after the invitation was issued and my suits are back home. Check out the next slide.
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Same location, about a week later...Like him or not and politics aside, the respect for Americans is pretty cool...
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Vice President Biden's 2016 welcome to Kosovo.
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I took the hour drive to Camp Bondsteel. The road to the camp was lined with American and Kosovo flags showing unity. The road just outside the camp was named after Biden's late son who was stationed in Kosovo while in the military.
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Vice President Biden visited Pristina. Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovo's first Olympic gold medalist, was among the high level diplomats who met him at the airport. I'm told he spent more time speaking with her than the other diplomats.
Biden was here in the ongoing negotiations to get Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations. Serbia believes Kosovo belongs to Serbia. Kosovo believes they're free from their former oppressors. As a condition to join the EU, they must normalize diplomatic relations. From what little I know, that'll take some time. It won't happen in this or the next presidential administration.
Biden was here in the ongoing negotiations to get Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations. Serbia believes Kosovo belongs to Serbia. Kosovo believes they're free from their former oppressors. As a condition to join the EU, they must normalize diplomatic relations. From what little I know, that'll take some time. It won't happen in this or the next presidential administration.
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Senator John McCain's 2017 welcome to Kosovo.
McCain was on a diplomatic mission to encourage friendly relations between the Serbians and the Kosovars. Truth is that he'd come and gone before I saw this.
McCain was on a diplomatic mission to encourage friendly relations between the Serbians and the Kosovars. Truth is that he'd come and gone before I saw this.
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No sign of Monica but the Kosovars bronzed ALL of Slick Willie! I’ll bet Hillary is furious!
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Notice his picture at the top of the image.
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Not to worry. Hillary is within visitual distance of Bill.
Here's an interesting article that covers Kosovo and the love of the Clintons.
Here's an interesting article that covers Kosovo and the love of the Clintons.
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Christmas Eve in Pristina!
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Christmas Eve in Pristina!
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Christmas Eve in Pristina!
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Christmas Eve in Pristina!
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Christmas Eve in Pristina!
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Have you ever seen so many Santas under four feet tall? They're part of a mini-marathon to raise money for a humanity charity.
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After work, I walk to the gym. One evening as I was headed to the gym, I crossed paths with two Santas and two of his helpers. Santa pulled into his sack and offered me a present. The helpers were the translators. Santa wanted me to have a photo. After the photo session, his helper asked for ten Euros for my “present”. I thought about paying the ten Euros for posterity but, without opening the "present", I handed it back to the helper.
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A Selfie...Merry Christmas from the BLT!
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FYI, May 1 is Labor Day everywhere but in the US. I had an extended weekend. Word came late so travel via airplane was not practical. Everything required two flights and that didn’t work. The boss has been encouraging me to play tourist. The weather forecast looked great on the first day but the rest came with rain. A colleague and I headed off to Prizren. Here’s another link. It's just over an hour drive from Pristina and well worth the drive. Pristina seems to have demolished its’ past in favor of development but Prizren has embraced their past exploiting it as a tourist destination. A small river passing through had a couple of stone bridges and several historic shops and cottages. We didn’t have enough time to head to the lookout at the top but it looked pretty cool from down below. I’m told from one who made the climb that there isn’t much to see around the top. Here's a few pictures...
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Prizren, Kosovo
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix! Note the concrete wall at the top. This is a lookout tourists can visit. We skipped this...maybe next time.
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix!
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Prizren Pix!
The words, in many different languages, are saying thank you to the many countries that helped Kosovo achieve independence from the Serbs.
The words, in many different languages, are saying thank you to the many countries that helped Kosovo achieve independence from the Serbs.
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Different city, same message!
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The American School of Kosovo, high school - so popular, there are two class shifts.
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The American School of Kosovo
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The American School of Kosovo - the second one. I believe it's an elementary school.
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Peja - Rugova Valley
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Call me the tourist. A colleague and I have been making short sightseeing trips around Kosovo along with my recent trip to London. Our last trip was to Peja. We weren’t fascinated by the city but the Rugova Gorge was pretty cool. Peja has the brewery with beer available nationwide. I drink it when I do have a beer.
We arrived in Peja at lunch time. My colleague has a selective appetite so I let him pick the restaurant so I don't get the blame. We stopped in a computer store and asked for a recommendation and directions. The proprietor not only had a recommendation, he said it was only a two minute walk (more like seven or eight minutes in reality) and he accompanied us to a restaurant that was surprisingly very nice.
At the time of our visit, the streets were deserted. Albania was playing Sweden in the European Cup (soccer) and all eyes were glued to any available TV.
We arrived in Peja at lunch time. My colleague has a selective appetite so I let him pick the restaurant so I don't get the blame. We stopped in a computer store and asked for a recommendation and directions. The proprietor not only had a recommendation, he said it was only a two minute walk (more like seven or eight minutes in reality) and he accompanied us to a restaurant that was surprisingly very nice.
At the time of our visit, the streets were deserted. Albania was playing Sweden in the European Cup (soccer) and all eyes were glued to any available TV.
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Deputy Delta Dog 4
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This is my friend, Deputy Delta Dog 4. She's the protector(?) of the neighborhood...if I can hoist her from her slumber, she greets me enthusiastically on my way to work. She then goes out and patrols the neighborhood keeping the peace against evil doers.
Deputy Delta Dog 4 went AWOL before the winter temps started to tank. This was confirmed by the building security guard who hadn't seen her either. My guess is that she hitched to the beaches of Greece...four hours by car. She's smarter than all of us combined.
A few months later, there was a Deputy Delta Dog 4 spotting. She found a home with someone who took her in. Word has it she's found a nice family.
Deputy Delta Dog 4 went AWOL before the winter temps started to tank. This was confirmed by the building security guard who hadn't seen her either. My guess is that she hitched to the beaches of Greece...four hours by car. She's smarter than all of us combined.
A few months later, there was a Deputy Delta Dog 4 spotting. She found a home with someone who took her in. Word has it she's found a nice family.
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Deputy Delta Dog 4
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I got fitted for a suit for my nephew's wedding.
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I thought it'd be cheap given that I'm in a country with a depressed economy. Boy was I wrong. I didn't know of a tailor so I asked one of our crew who was born here. He asked his father. This tailor made the suit for Bill Clinton while posing for his statue. In a roundabout way, I believe I paid for Clinton's suit.
This wasn't one stop shopping. I got fitted and then I went shopping at another store for the cloth. The material alone was $110 or 100 Euros. The tailor wanted 85 Euros or $93. The suit I had made in China (right) was $135 with one stop shopping.
The tailor spoke a handful of English words which were considerably more words that I know in Albanian...which is zero. The father spoke no English either. So it was an international experience. As you can see, it worked.
This wasn't one stop shopping. I got fitted and then I went shopping at another store for the cloth. The material alone was $110 or 100 Euros. The tailor wanted 85 Euros or $93. The suit I had made in China (right) was $135 with one stop shopping.
The tailor spoke a handful of English words which were considerably more words that I know in Albanian...which is zero. The father spoke no English either. So it was an international experience. As you can see, it worked.
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Black Friday In A Muslim Country!
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OMG...It's EVERYWHERE!!! Anything for a sale I guess...Both pictures were taken from the same business in Pristina. The first photo was taken in 2018. The second, 2016. It wasn't a one shot deal! At the big shopping mall, it's gridlock!
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I was walking home from the gym on a local holiday. The gym was closed so my only exercise was the walking. I spotted a camera crew with a reporter on my return and wondered if I walked through their recording. I was correct. A local colleague emailed me this picture after seeing on local TV. I'm a star! Wikipedia calls it "videobombing". The show is some sort of comedy show. While I can be amusing, I don't like to be the source of amusement.
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I see this car on my way to work.
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At first, I thought it was a car I saw in Germany, made in East Germany during the communist regime, the Trabant. I kick myself for not taking a photo of it while I was in Berlin. I Googled the name and found it was Yugoslava's lesser known car, the Zastava. I see more Yugos abroad than I do in their home land. The car is the Zastava 750. Though it's a four seat car, it's a Supermini. The pictures do not convey how tiny it truly is. I don't think I could fit in one. I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison to the Mini Cooper.
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This is the popular Pristina attraction. Normally, it reads "New Born". The display is varied from year to year. Previously, the "N" and the "W" were laid down to protest the proposed wall between the US and Mexico - "(N)o (W)alls". The current version is in celebration of Kosovo's tenth independence.
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Damn bear has no clue Bluelou's trying to make him a star...Bluelou heads to the Kosovo Bear Sanctuary.
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Click on each image - While walking to work in the morning after a rain, I always see many snails along the sidewalk. I’ve never seen this phenomenon before. Anyone?
