Today we drove south from Albania to Kosovo. This is a “partially recognized” country that unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and has since been recognized as an independent country by 97 countries in the UN, or less than half the UN membership. It is a tiny country with a population of less than 2 Million.
As we wandered the streets of Gjakova in Kosovo, a wedding couple walked down the street towards us. It was not clear if they had just gotten married or doing a photo session, but they looked like models straight out of a fashion shoot. Their flower girl (upper right) was with them also.
On our way to Prizren, we saw a used tractor yard, and stopped for a break and for photographs. These are all used farm equipment, some in fairly good condition, and some ready for the junkyard, but all for sale. As we continued driving, we saw equipment older than this in active use in many of the fields, so this is likely where smaller or poorer farmers come when they need additional farming equipment.
One thing that was interesting was to note the variety of religions that was represented in this small country. While 90% of the people are muslim, many are not strict with practice, and Kosovo does not have an official religion. Here the various religious groups seem to coexist, and even graveyards are multi-denominational.
We walked through the quaint downtown area of Gjakova, and met with several shop owners doing business the way their fathers and grandfathers had done. This included a tailor (lower left) working on a foot pedal sewing machine making traditional costumes. Also, a cabinet maker (upper left) who told us that his grandfather had opened his shop, that his father had run it, and now he does. However, he said his children are no longer interested in the business, and his son is studying computer engineering in college.
There were many other businesses along this area, including the restaurant shown lower-right. However, there were also a surprising number of shuttered and permanently closed businesses, such as upper-right. Our guide said that part of this was due to Covid, but a larger portion was simply Kosovo citizens leaving the country, looking for better opportunities elsewhere.
We always enjoy watching the people in any area that we visit, and Kosovo was no exception. Almost everyone welcomed being photographed, such as the man upper-left, sitting in front of a restaurant, who laughed when our cameras came out.
Our group also tries to often shoot photographs of unusual details, and sometimes a photo of someone taking the photo turns out better than the originally intended photo — such as the lower-right image where Mehmet (our guide from Turfantastic) tried to capture an interesting image of an ancient fountain with the minaret in the background.
