Hotel Tivoli Tetovo

... out into the narrow cobbled streets. In fact Prizren reminded us very much of Turkey -- Turkish signs, food, and tea are everywhere. The other thing that was very noticeable in Prizren is the destruction of homes and buildings up on the hillside. Apparently those were where the Serbs had lived, but their homes were destroyed during the 2004 unrest.

We started our visit in the very pleasant Shadervan Square where USAID had a ...

... and sickles. Do these dozens of people realize that they are just one weed eater and one gas powered edger away from collecting the stamp? I could spend $100 at Home Depot, find a few of our visitors from south of the Rio Grande, and run up the unemployment here instantly. Amazing, isn't it?

Our Mercedes built luxury liner with its cramped seats and dirty windows began winding its way up into the mountains and I noticed a few more ...

... pas chaud car le front froid s,etend maintenant partout... une chose me frappe: pas de gens de couleur dans les balkans... je n,ai vu que 2 chinois depuis le debut... ces gens ne sont pas confrontes a ce type de differences... demain je me rends a skopje, la capitale de la macedoine qui est juste a cote... ici il n,y a pas grand chose a visiter, tout a ete detruit dans la guerre... a bientot et genez-vous pas pour m,ecrire...

... understanding of the heretofore blah phrase "ethnic Albanian". This is not the mere bland historic descriptor it is in other countries: people in the street look quite distinctly ethnically different, the books and souvenirs you buy are about Albanian culture and language, every business precedes its names with its Albanian identity (I particularly liked the odd number of Enver Hoxha XYZ business names, given other Albanians aren't that unhappy he's dead ...

... from accelerating us off a cliff during our journey. At the end of the gorge, we pull into a restaurant for lunch. The conversation is a little strained, but I had to find something I could buy to pay him back for his hospitality, and the food is delicious. Unfortunately for my karma, when the cheque comes, it is clear there's no way he's letting me pay. Well, I can't really complain about free food. We drive back towards the monastery. He wants me to stay the night in Peja with ...

Today, I visited Tetovo, a town about an hour away from Skopje and center of the country's Albanian ethnic minority, which makes up 23% of the population as a whole. Stepping off the bus and walking down the main thoroughfare, the first thing I notice is an utter and total lack of women. I am suddenly self-conscious of my blonde, uncovered hair and pants, as opposed to an ankle-length skirt. there are only men on the ...

Saying farewell to Kosovo, I've come back to Macedonia for one last, short visit. Since Skopje didn't rub me right the first time through, I decided not to bother wasting the day here. Instead I got into town, got some quick lunch and a ticket for the night train to Belgrade, then hightailed it back out of town. The bus from Prishtina arrived at about 1:30 even and I was already on the road again at 1:55. The destination this time: the ...

The ceasefire was renewed after this shooting incident,and the rest of the day was spent trying to ascertain the reason why it had happened,and in finding out about funeral arrangements.In this situation,the burial would be of national significance,and a large contingent of journalists would be present.There was even talk in the Hotel Macedonia of Antony Loyd coming down from Kosovo for it. It would appear that the police had just started checking passing vehicles that ...

I finally got to the dry cleaners.Immediately following the big onslaught,a ceasefire was declared,and with no action on the Wednesday,I tripped back to Skopje at last,and sorted out my smalls.I returned to Tetovo before curfew,and took the bus on the way back,where I was interested to see several army tanks,larger than those used to fire at the hills from the stadium,positioned at key locations along the highway. During the previous night's "lock in",I had ...

When you have waited all your life to see action,you don't let a few hundred miles,forgotten luggage,risk of danger or the lack of accreditation put you off. BOOOOM..... CHAKACHAKACHAKACHAKA.... BOOOOM... CHAKACHAKA...BOOM...BOOOM....CHAKACHAKA CHAKACHAKACHAKA...... BOOOOOOOM ... The rattle of heavy machine gun fire,and the answering call of the mortars,is what will stay with me....the sounds of civil war in this moderate Macedonian town turned out to be more ...