A word about hostels: Rob has scheduled all types of living conditions for our Grand Tour. This hostel was centrally located, clean, quiet, and the highest-rated hostel in the Balkans. The biggest draw for us is that we have an opportunity to do much needed laundry.
This hostel delivered. We got a private room so that we had a bathroom to ourselves. This was especially good since we were up and down all night blowing our noses. We went through seven rolls of toilet paper during our three day stay!! We used to tease my 90-year old father for going through a box of Kleenex a day. We can now relate.
However, it is hard living. My fitted sheet kept popping off the mattress, mainly in the middle of the night. I would put it back and a little later it would slingshot me in the face.
During the middle of the night gymnastics, I would hear the Muslim call to prayer. I can pray, too, for family, friends, and perhaps selfishly, be able to get a good night’s sleep!!
Rob brought a lot of additional drugs from home. I am afraid that he might overdose, or have some type of drug interaction so I made him list all the meds that he is taking in case he passes out!!!
Our bus to Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo, was a legitimate bus. However, when Rob sat down, the chair reclined to its lowest position. He had to move. The bus is a cross between Point A to Point B and a lot of local stops with people getting off and on.
We grabbed a taxi at the bus station to our Airbnb rental where once again, we can do some laundry.
Rob gets directions to the apartment via WhatsApp and instructions to get a key from a lock box that has a code. Here was our first impression, and the elevator was under construction. However, we have learned that you can’t judge a book by its cover.
It took us a while to find the washer. It was inside a kitchen cabinet. I had never seen one that has a vertical agitator. One puts the clothes in and closes the latch.
All drying is done on a rack. We always plan for a few days to make sure that all our clothes dry before we pack up again.
I was wondering about the Kosovo-Albania connection. They speak the same language and consider themselves brothers. They refer to themselves as One Nation, Two States. Ninety-two percent of Kosovars are ethnic Albanians. However, their history is different. Albania was never part of Yugoslavia, but Kosovo was part of Yugoslavia and then Serbia when Yugoslavia broke up.
In the evening we strolled down Mother Teresa Boulevard. She is everywhere. Even though it is called a boulevard, it is for foot traffic.
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