Photos: Podgorica and Pristina

Picture 1: This was a park in Podgorica. It was just outside of and across the street from the Mall of Montenegro. We sat and enjoyed the view of a school packed with kids and the peacefulness of being off the bus. We also ate some Jaffa brand cookies that tasted a little like the smell of lemon dish soap.

Picture 2: I just had to include this. It is somewhere on the way to Pristina on the night bus. This was the overnight bus that decided people don’t need or want to sleep on a bus that travels all night. The loud music played all night and the lack of any kind of ventilation gets a 7 out of 10 for uncomfortableness. But at the second of two bathroom breaks, the establishment had a little display up. This little guy was in there along with some deer and an enormous bear.

Picture 3: In Pristina, they have the main university for Kosovo and this is their library. It’s pretty much a normal building but the outside has additional metal work that makes for a really cool effect. I imagine it as being a product of a grad students final project in metal art or architecture or both.

Picture 4: Also in Pristina, and one of the primary reasons we stayed so long since we couldn’t find lodging, is a monument to Bill Clinton. Yes, the former president of the US. Not only is there a monument, but there is also a huge billboard with his face and the street is named Bill Clinton Boulevard. It was amazing. He is honored due to his role in the independence of Kosovo.

Busing to and out of Podgorica, Montenegro

We left Kotor in the morning, catching a bus to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. It is a town that is on a plateau/valley in the mountains and I think the only reason anything is there is because they needed something to be there on the way from the coast to somewhere else inland. Podgorica, as of the time of this writing, is unfortunately not a very exciting place. The bus ride there had some final beautiful views of the Adriatic coastline and then a windy path up into the mountains. Once at the bus stop, and seeing that there may not be a whole heck of a lot to see, we began walking with the intention of getting cold medicine (since Rae and Jeff finally got what I got) and a new memory card for Rae's camera. We swung by the apothecary and had fun trying to describe a head cold so we could get medicine. We kept walking wherever our feet and pictures took us since our bus to Kosovo was not for several hours.

The walking eventually led us to what looked like a mall, but which was in fact an unfinished mall. The Mall of Montenegro, while largely incomplete, had a working Target-like store where we procured a new card for the camera and some munchies for the road. There was also a large indoor market/bazzar going on with an entire room devoted to eggs. There will be a picture. We wandered just a bit more outside and then settled at a coffee place for cheap espressos while we waited the next few hours.

Making our way back to the bus station, we took a different turn (since we hate exploring the same way twice) and found that the streets of Podgorica are not very nicely linked. We wound up walking past the bus station one block down, probably half a mile down we get to cross up and past the street the bus station is on, then double back all the way down past the bus station again only this time a block above it. There was no other way to the station then the path we took leaving it the first time. Anywho, who should we spot at the bus station restaurant but the two gents from our Kotor hostel! They were waiting for a 2330 bus to Sarajevo. We chit chatted a bit more while waiting and then hopped on our night bus for Pristina. I was secretly hoping that we'd be able to sleep, but that was not to be. The bus was more packed than I thought it would be, was quite dusty leading to allergy problems, and apparently (after a vote which we didn't understand) we would be listening to music the whole time there. All night long.

The border crossing into Kosovo was amusing. I believe we were the only Americans on the bus and when the passports were being handed back out (since they collect them all for stamping off of the bus) Rachel got hers back near the beginning and Jeff and I were handed ours back last. The guy distributing them was all the way at the front of the bus acting really confused. The guys behind us were laughing at him and making motions towards us probably saying things like "dude, they're right here." We chuckled as well. Several hours and a couple rest stops later and we arrived in Pristina, Kosovo.