Update

So, I'm aware I have quite the boatload of photos and travel posts I still need to publish. And I would really like to do that but unfortunately my old laptop died on me - with photos and all - and I still haven't been able to salvage them. I think I have some stuff on my hard disk drive but I need to check that as well. The fact that Google Blogs decided to change their layout so drastically and make away with google plus, was also one reason why I stayed away for so long. And most of all, I'm afraid I let real life get in the way, and that's one of the reasons why I stopped posting for about a year and a half. Plus, I did get quite a lot of travelling done during that time - the last Balkan trip that I'm still in the middle of posting, and then after that loads of pictures from my many trips around Ireland, and then in October 2019 I went to Kaliningrad (yes, finally Russia again!) and Lithuania. I got to see Kaunas for the first time, which is quite a picturesque city. As for Vilnius, once was really enough - that city really doesn't offer much. And that was the last trip I was on and will be on for the foreseeable future, because COVID-19 hit the world in 2020 and I don't think it's safe to travel anytime soon. Which is a bit of a shame because I'm finally living in a country where cheap travelling the way I used to love, is possible. But I've changed a lot and I'm not the person I used to be. I don't want the things I used to long for, and the things that used to bring me joy don't delight me the way they used to. In laymen's terms, I think I may have grown out of travelling the way I used to. But maybe that will come back at some point. Though that's a pretty big maybe. In any case, I grew up a lot in the 4 years or so since I first started travelling again every year. And that's okay because people grow and change, and at least this blog will bear testimony to the fact that I was once there, and met these people, and felt these emotions.

Enough talking - off to see what my hard disk drive has.

Kosovo, part IV - Prishtina (iv): Katedralja e së Shën Nënë Tereza në Prishtinë and more Prishtina city

Missing persons in Kosovo from the war

As the title suggests - even though it's in Albanian - the mainstay of this entry is the Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa, who was born to a Kosovar Albanian family in Skopje, and is therefore claimed by the Kosovars as one of their most celebrated alumni, if you will. It was a little strange to me - and actually to the guide on our walking tour, who remarked on it - that Kosovo, a Muslim-majority country, had for its most celebrated heroes and noted figures people who were famous at least partly because of their public services due to their Christian faith - Mother Teresa, and Skanderbeg.

The cathedral was the last destination on our itinerary, after the university library and the Ottoman quarter and walking around the city in the blistering heat, which I all but melted in. If I want scorching weather I'll stay in Asia, thanks. I had no idea it was still going to be this hot in mid October - I was expecting much cooler weather.

Prishtina last day which I enjoyed, and last night, where I stayed up all night chatting to an English guy called Ian and a German girl whose name I've forgotten now, and also some people who came and went, as they do. The next day me and Ian and a Filipino girl called Lila were all set to leave, me and Lila to Prizren, where we had booked the same hostel - it's far more common in this part of the world than you would expect. We decided to go to the bus station together as it was a 40 minute walk that was much more pleasant when you have company, and so that was what we did.

Bus ride to Prizren was hot and boring but made nicer by Lila's company, which I was grateful for, and she felt the same way, as well. After all these years on the road and multiple countries, it's still good to have the companionship of other people at times, especially when you're a solo east Asian woman.

I think we've established Kosovar coffee is the absolute best

Inside Mother Teresa cathedral

Burek from Bosnia of course

The walking tour poster in the hostel

The hostel kitchen. Easily one of my favourite hostels on this trip

A typical Prishtina coffee shop where their youth spend their time. Kosovo, like all other Balkan countries, suffers from a serious "brain drain" and unemployment problem, and most of their people like to while away their time in coffee shops such as these, discussing politics and gossip and other affairs

The exterior of Mother Teresa Cathedral

Kosovo, part III - Prishtina (iii): Walking tour and U of Prishtina library

U of Prishtina library, purportedly the "ugliest building in the world"

Already Prishtina seems lifetimes away, which is a good thing, because that part of my life is done and dusted for the time being. It's not Kosovo per se, just that all this nomadic travelling isn't really what I want from life anymore. I want to put down roots and work on my career.

I'm going to Barcelona, again after nearly 5 years, but this time on business. Well, that's what it's called officially, but in reality it's team building and hanging out with people from our other offices and overall fun. I have a mild hangover, still haven't packed either, and should be at airport in an hour, but I don't think there will be too much of a problem. I'm usually a fast packer. And I needed to celebrate my moving in last night.

I have some stuff I want to say about the walking tour, but I'll leave it for the next entry as a lot of stuff happened over the past few days and my mood isn't what it was when I first wrote this, anymore.

One of the things that puzzled me about Kosovo initially - the joint identity of both Albania and Kosovo