"Legacy of War, Legacy of Peace: Kosovo" by Romanian_Bat

Going to Kosovo in the 21st century felt strange or, to put it better, overwhelming. There were many things, many questions bumping in one's head, as well as a thick layer of subjectiveness, as much as one tried to avoid it. I do not know the correct calling: Pec or Peja? I do not know whether the one violently attacking the other or the one violently defending is more guilty, as they both produce victims. Maybe they were both just as guilty. I don't think that a crusade was more righteous than an Ottoman invasion; no faith, habit, lifestyle, rule in this world has the right to kill in order to promote itself, whatever God or Allah-given reason it uses as a pretext. And, more than anything else, nobody has the right to trash history and to deny it in his / her own interest. But, even in the 21st century, life still seems to be a matter of kill or get killed, just as it was in the times of Vlad the Impaler we all conveniently but nevertheless pathetically mock at nowadays.

A monastery where one has to call in advance in order to be allowed to visit, because, being Serbian, it is an enclave and it is defended by an Italian KFOR military unit. Passports checked, tourists are loaded on a military truck and "transferred" on "site". Large concrete fences covered in barbed wire, a barrier, a KFOR kiosk and a handful of otherwise friendly Italian soldiers, this is how the entrance to a monastery looks in Kosovo. It felt, in a unique and nevertheless strange way, similar to the monasteries in Southern Bukovina, which stood for fortresses at wartime and for religious settlements at peacetime. One has the feeling that the KFOR troops outside stand for the mere security system needed to protect a precious jewel in a fine museum of some cosmopolitan capital city of the same Europe Kosovo is in. It is very interesting to find out that in the 21st century a monastery can be attacked with grenades, as Decani Monastery was attacked in March 2004. However, in a strange and synister way, one could not but realize that this is only a continuation of a history full of attacks, defeats, assaults, fights, developments, ethnic changes, people movement and uprisings Kosovo still is about. This place provides the best answer to many questions that occur in areas like Kosovo: it is not merely beautiful, it is simply overwhelming, showing in a best way the ephemeral nature of the mortal.

Just in the middle of the bazaar in Pec / Peja there is a recently refurbished mosque with fine decorations by the entrance. In the old area of Pristina / Prishtine there is a mosque the minaret of which is broken in score pieces while it is reflected by a glass-covered building nearby. The mosques in these cities moved me more than the much larger and definitely more impressive ones in Esfahan, Iran or Istanbul, Turkey. Maybe because they are much smaller and the more modest decorations are more human-related. Maybe because of their being simpler and therefore more straight-forward. Maybe simply because of the environment they lie in...

The military presence was not so visible in the streets of Prizren / Prizreni. In front of the OSCE mission, hosted by a large building, there were a few large off-road vechicles, all in the parking lot and all with the engines and lights turned on, even though 1. it was daylight and 2. nobody was in or around them. About three hours later, when returning towards the bus station, we were to find them in the same position and in the same state. We stood there for a few seconds wondering who was paying for the fuel and looked one at the other one, smiling like in some cheap movie. Intruders never care, whatever the reason for their being somewhere.

The traffic was chaotic in Pristina / Prishtine, cars were parked everywhere there was a tiny spot, there were people selling clothes, pirate CDs, fruits, pastry, second hand mobile phones, Christmas decorations, greeting cards, detergent, petards and so on, filling the sidewalk, while pedestrians were sneaking around them, around cars, monuments, fences, buildings and, seemingly, around the city itself. This atmosphere was very intense, very vivid, it moved one in a better way than any fine building or impressive mountain.

A piece of land caught between the fascinating history (fascinating if looking from a safe distance) and the superb scenery, people with fine traditions and a warm, honest attitude towards the tourist. Something which goes beyond the war or any territorial or ethnic dispute. There is no Kosovo and no Kosova, there are only the people living there, as subjective as I or any other travelers definitely are.

The full story of my trip to Kosovo lies here http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/5dd07/#TL