Bill Clinton Monument

Quite revered here in Kosovo.  Funny to note, but immediately after walking away, Jihye mentioned that she was shocked by the 'size' of his pants, particularly the conspicuous amount 'wrinkles' and 'folds' near his crotch.  I gladly admit I never noticed such a thing, but she swears by it, and perhaps the local sculptor was honoring the actions along with the ideals of the man.  Proud to be an American.

U.S. Presidential Streets

Had read about, yet still surprising and amusing to find these streets named after former U.S. Presidents and another important American political leader.  Still, you'd think for something so meaningful and visible they'd take the time to find the correct spelling for Senator Robert 'Doll'.

Cathedral of Blessed Mother Teresa

Unfortunately today is our only full day in Pristina and also a day of voting here in Kosovo.  That means we are unable to gain access to virtually any of the remarkably few sites that we would want to enter.

JFK Quote at University of Prishtina

Our first exposure to the surprisingly strong admiration for American ideals here in Kosovo.

Kosovo

Capital:  Pristina

Population:  1,733,872

Language:  Albanian/Serbian

Government:  Republic

Area:  10,908 sq. km.      (4,212 sq. mi.)

Currency:  1 EUR=$1.37 USD/1,450 KRW

Giant Bonfires in the Stadium Stands

While waiting several hours for our overnight bus to Pristina, Kosovo, we happened to catch this action on the TV screen in the station's cafe.  Not positive which teams were facing off, but the police had put a small but excessively passionate contingent of visiting fans into a certain area of the stands, leaving about 30 meters on either side so no one could even throw things at each other.  Instead, the fans turned to lighting paper, plastic, and their clothes with torches and creating such large fires that the game was paused repeatedly in the second half so fire trucks could aim the hoses and water cannons into the stands to put out the largest of them.  The smoke was also so bad that at times the cameras were barely able to make out the players on the field.  We're guessing a Serbian team was facing off against a Bosnian side…clearly things are just beneath the surface over here.

Bus Tickets to Kosovo

Heading towards a destination neither of us had imagined we would ever find ourselves.  And a unique token used to simply pass through the turnstiles and out into the loading area of the station here.