Leaving the Rain Behind (Maybe Only Temporarily)

Friday, Sept. 9, 2016--Peja to Prizren

It was raining again this morning in Peja.  It came down very hard as I was having breakfast.  Back in my room, I noticed the rain had slowed some.  I decided it was silly to stay there waiting for the bus at 10:30 when I had time to leave and catch the one at 9:45.  But as I walked to the station, the rain got harder and harder again.  I was quite wet, but I was leaving which gave me a good feeling.

There was a group of 11 British tourists on the bus accompanied by their guide who sat in front of me.  He looks as if he is originally from the Balkans, but he did not speak Albanian which the bus operators were speaking.  (He probably speaks Serbian.)  Anyway, what was most interesting is that even though his physical appearance is like that of a local, he had 3 rings in different places on one ear and another ring on an eyebrow.  One local young man who caught the bus couldn't keep his eyes off this guy.  This is a very conservative area, so I imagine he was wondering how a man could wear rings like that.  Maybe he was even envious.  But as I watched him, he kept glancing sideways to look at the guide who was seated in front of me.

The rain stopped just before we entered Prizren.  I was able to walk to my hotel, Hotel Centrum, with no problem.  Then I decided to immediately go out to see some tourist sights in case the rain was headed this direction.  First, I headed up the steep hill to the Fortress above the city.  It's a steep climb, but many people were making it--with about half of those being teenagers who apparently go there to get away with doing things they cannot do in public elsewhere.  I saw one couple necking in a nook of the fortress, and it was impossible to see what their hands were doing!!  While up there, I saw a photographic exhibit of the Fortress and the city over time.  They have some wonderful photographs from all the way back to 1865.  And views of the city and the mountains around it were great from the tops of the walls of the Fortress.

Back down in town, I explored the central area.  It is much different from Peja--more eastern looking and sounding.  In fact, it is much like being in a Turkish city with all the mosques with their multiple calls to prayers going off at the same times.  The people here look different from those in Peja, too.  Many have the darker look of Turks, but then some of them have brown skin with blondish hair.  They also dress differently with jeans being much more popular here.  Regarding women, even though the city seems more Eastern, it is not common to see burkas.  A few women wear Muslim head coverings, but most women dress in western style.

I bought a pizza for dinner from a place recommended on the Internet.  I got a medium one with dried ham, cheese, oregano, and tomato sauce for only 2 Euros ($2.25 US)!  I brought it back to the room and ate it while watching BBC News.