Another bit of fun was an exploratory skirmish with a local shopkeeper in trying to buy the famous Ohrid pearls. There is an abundance of choice so I tried my luck in one such shop. Having little idea of the price for a necklace for my mother, I was initially told 35 euros but that they would offer a 30% discount. It always bewilders me why they start so high. Anyway, the chap then seemed to forget that he had offered 25 euros and quoted 20. Sensing an opportunity, I offered him 15 which was accepted. As it was, I always need to have a mental conference with myself, expressed interest and cleared off. I bought a set - which Mum likes very much - from a small stall outside the castle for 10 euros.
Samuel's Fortress overlooks the city and commands wonderful views over the lake and mountains. For 1 euro,visitors can walk around the walls and enjoy these views.
A walk along the promenade was bracing but sadly the weather had turned sour so I was pleased to find sanctuary in the hotel.
A good meal with wine - Vranec had taken my fancy on the plane and in the city - cost around 7 euros and shopping was good value too. I found, comparatively easily, the bus stop where the following day I went from Ohrid to Pristina via the Macedonian capital, Skopje. Booking the ticket through Classic Company from Ohrid to Skopje had been simple via the Getbybus website but there was no such luck with the Skopje to Pristina coach.
It was a comfortable minibus which took a handful of us to Skopje. As it happened, there was absolutely no bother in booking the 6 euro coach from Skopje to Pristina at the bus station and I was on my way within an hour. The journey was scheduled to take two hours but crossing over the border into Kosovo, whilst quick, and the traffic in Pristina, meant it arrived half-an-hour late.
I ended up having to haggle - and very unsuccessfully - in German for a taxi but no amount of persuasion would make the driver lower his fare to take me to the Hotel Denis. The taxis are admittedly cheap but let's just say that the return to the same place was half the price. One of my - okay, many - bugbears is the vast number of drivers I encounter everywhere who fail to indicate. Pristina turned out to be a pleasant surprise actually and a comparative exception to what I usually see.
The Denis was wonderful. It took a while to rouse someone to check me in but, once in my vast room with a city view, I was made to feel most comfortable. Breakfast was excellent, as was the same restaurant for the evening meal and the staff were most friendly and welcoming. All for around £25 a night. It was a good choice. It did take a while to walk into the city but everything was pleasant and I had thoroughly nice weather on my full day. It made Kosovo, my seventy-second country visited, look a treat.
Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was a remarkable lady, born in Skopje in 1910. I was privileged to have once been on the same flight as her from Delhi to Calcutta (which may give more of a hint as to her more familiar identity). In this part of the world, many places are named after her: a motorway along which I travelled, but more pertinently Pristina's comparatively new cathedral, started in 2005. Most people will know her as Mother Teresa.
Pristina has some interesting sights but the Saint Mother Teresa Cathedral dominates the city centre. Naturally, it looks new and is not only impressive outside but also within with its high ceiling leading down the long nave to the beautiful chancel. It was the first place on the holiday where I had been able to light a candle.
A building in complete contrast is on the other side of the road. With its barred windows, it might be, I suppose, mistaken for a prison but it is actually a library. I was much taken by it. I returned to the cathedral in the evening and enjoyed the city lit up. Pristina has interesting places to encourage tourists to visit.
Kosovans, I found, don't easily budge with prices as my earlier experience with the taxi did not prove a one-off. I fancied a massage to iron out a few tense neck and back muscles but no-one was going to fall for my usual ruses of having the price lowered. I expected to offer 20 euros, smile sweetly and ask for, say, 40 or 45 minutes instead of the usual hour but not one person gave in. Actually, the Denis offered half-hour massages for 20 euros so, when I saw that the masseuse that evening, I went along. The neck felt better afterwards but I felt completely crippled the following morning when I went down in a bit of a heap picking up my suitcase. I suspect that the bottom of my spine was badly knotted and that the masseuse applied more hand pressure than either I thought her capable of or indeed noticed...
Pristina now offers an hourly bus service to the airport (which had delightful mountain views) and the times suited so my wait for the easyJet flight to Berlin's Schoenefeld Airport was not an especially long one. Indeed, the flight took off early and arrived, as they say, ahead of schedule. This was helpful as I managed to take a mixture of U- and S-Bahn trains to the Kurfurstendamm area of the city where I was putting up. I must say that some of the U-Bahn trains were rather quaint.
I stayed in a hostel. I probably had missed the s in the word and expected to stay in a simple hotel but it was not to be. I am not remotely proud, have been through the boarding school ethic in the 1970s and did at least have a single room here but the sight of bunk beds brought back memories. I did most things wrong. When I picked up the towel later during my stay, I hurriedly put it back when I saw that they charged a euro for its use. I then saw the house rules behind the towel and noticed that I should have not been making a hot drink in the room. I kept on noticing an employee when I was usually returning to my room with a kettle in my hand. Actually, the staff were very helpful, the position was terrific but the sight of grown adults waiting their turn in the queue for the bathroom and to cook their food was, well, an eye-opener even for someone who was used to this at school, albeit forty years ago.
I enjoyed seeing the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche, the famous one which was partially destroyed during World War II, alongside its more modern one on the only evening I had in Berlin. The next morning, after breakfast and, yes, a hot drink in my room, I left early to see what I could in the short time available to me. After buying a day ticket for zones A and B which included all modes of transport (8.60 euros), I did well.
Although the weather was dull, I travelled to the Brandenburger Tor where the famous gate is sited. Many of Berlin's famous sites are in this general area and I managed to see not only the gate but the impressive parliament, the Reichstag, which is close by. I saw the vast area dedicated to the murder of countless Jews before going literally around the corner and finding the notice board which is the only reminder of Hitler's bunker.
In having to check out of the hostel by 11 a.m., I was aware of time catching up on me and made a bit of a mess of reaching Checkpoint Charlie on Kochstrasse. I did reach it eventually but only had time for a few quick photos before rushing back to check out.
Although it wasn't ideal traipsing around Berlin with all my luggage (in the absence of any lockers in the stations I used), I did manage the comparatively long trek to Bernauerstrasse where some of the last remaining remnants of the wall exist. I am impressed by Berlin: in many places including the historical sites and U- and S-Bahn stations, a lot of the history of the city, including the more notorious aspects, are depicted. I have been around five times (including the time I caused havoc on the coach and train in around 1970) and find it a most fascinating city, and a place I am always pleased to visit.
I reached Tegel Airport in good time but mercifully the flight was indeed early in arriving and taking off. The time saved was welcome and I was back home earlier than expected after an interesting, if busy, trip.