Pristina, new destination for travel fans

It is home to two of the most famous singers in recent times -- I want Lipa and Rita Ora, the capital of the newest state in Europe -- and hides one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the Balkans, according to the New York Times. Here is Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, a new town to visit now, before everyone notices it.

So writes Italian journalist Francesca Masotti in an article published in Vanity Fair Italy, dedicated to Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

That Kosovo has changed, it is noticed immediately as it sets foot in Pristina.

The vibrant capital, with 200 thousand inhabitants, is Kosovo's most important cultural, economic and artistic centre.

A new country, rather very young (the average age of Kosovars is 25, that is, 20 compared to Italy), with an important story on its shoulders and an uncertain future.

But how is Pristina today almost 20 years after the end of the war and the previous ethnic cleansing by then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic against the Albanian population, still awaiting justice and respect?

Most are still there, buildings, vivid memories of people's minds, but so many have been added in the city, such as the Newborn monument, erected on February 17th 2008 (the day of the unilateral declaration of independence by Serbia) the impressive cathedral dedicated to Mother Teresa (born in Skopje by an Albanian family from Kosovo) sanctified in September last year.

Pristina is a destination that is slowly entering the radar of the most bizarre travel fans who, tired of ordinary destinations, decide to undertake one of the most beautiful and less-known Balkan tours. It is the capital that must now be discovered before everyone is aware of it, a town easily visited on the weekend. All based on art, culture and nightlife.

The heart of Kosovo capital Boulevard “Mother Terezère”, a pedonal promenade around which there is a maze of narrow streets, where they appear as mushrooms, restaurants, nightclubs and modern cafes. Here, in February of this year, Kosovo-born singer Rita Ora held a concert to celebrate the country's ten-year independence.

The first thing you have to do is order a cup of coffee between the Soma Book Station and Diet'e Nat, the two most popular restaurants in Pristina. In both there is a considerable collection of books, a bar cocktail, a kitchen where quality dishes are prepared with products from nearby villages and a clientele of young people, university students and adults living and working in Kosovo's living capital. For those who do not know, coffee, in these parts, is not just a drink but a way of life, a ritual without which it is impossible to endure. It is therefore advisable to take time to enjoy this sacred time.

Don't worry about losing in the maze of alleys, which form the old town of Pristina, because here if you ask for information on the street, there's always someone who wants to accompany you personally to your destination.

It deserves a visit to the Ethnological Museum “Emin Gjiku”, located in a traditional Ottoman house of the XVIII century, which offers an interesting fresco of the country's culture and, above all, years of Ottoman rule.

Two steps further is the magnificent Mehmet Fatih Mosque, decorated inland and on the outside, with a garden where children of all ages play carelessly.

The vision of visible Islam, at least around me, is more relaxed than the one presented by Western media. We often see groups of girls, some in short trousers, others covered up, without judging each other. Unimaginable on our side.

If you ask what else you should see in Pristina, don't forget to visit the Communist Library “Peter Bogdani”, a strange building of Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjaković, the symbol of Yugoslav socialist architecture.

Even the Telegraph put it 18th on the list of the ugliest buildings in the world. The library is a wanted place for socialist architecture lovers, thanks to 99 of its glass domes, all of them of different shapes and facades covered with metal net.

There you can admire collections of books that tell about local history, reading halls, a hall where you can observe domes from another perspective.

Near the library is a large green space and the Serbian Orthodox Church. Under Milosevic's plans it would become the largest church in the country, but because of the outbreak of war it has never been completed. Today Serbs in town are few. After the war, many of them have fled their homes and have returned to Serbia, fearing revenge from Albanians. Against alleged crimes committed by the KLA, the Kosovo Liberation Army, at the expense of Serb civilians, a special court was also established.

In the evening, then, magic descends to Pristina. The exhibition, concerts, operas, festivals (such as PriFest, cinematography events held for ten years in July) attend each other on the city calendar. An empty coffee or drinker cannot be found at any time.

Hard to choose between numerous cultural events in the capital. A crowd of young people has filled the center's bars, a new generation carrying the burden of building the foundations of a new country and apparently leaving behind the tragedies and injustices of that human folly, which in the turbulent years of dealt with a whole population, broadcasts at ease.

Many have lost their loved ones and have not yet received justice and perhaps never will. I cannot help but think of the fate I had when in the same years, when I played with my sister and went to sea with my parents, they were victims of one of the most tragic moments of contemporary European history.