This post sees us drive from Pristina to Peje in Kosovo via Grembeer Brewery in Gremik, The Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate of Pec & Rugova Canyon.
What a day ! My 7am run through Pristina was at 25C and by the time we left the capital the thermometer had already hit 30C. The drive from Pristina to Peje was very flat and uneventful. Very industrial. Companies selling construction materials, large shopping malls surrounded by farmland. A strange incongruous landscape.
The highlight of the day was the Grembeer Brewery in the town of Gremik run by an Albanian Kosovo family. It is a craft brewery only 8 years old making a lager beer that 100% natural – no preservatives and no filtration. They have hit 3,500 litres per month and doing well despite COVID. The CEO Artur called in his 16-year-old daughter Leone to translate for us. She was excellent. We toured the stainless steel fermentation tanks and adjourned to a beautiful beer garden and tavern to sample the brew. Excellent. Easy to drink. No bitterness. Great head. Had a great chat on Kosovo and tourism. Gave them heaps of tips on listing with the most popular internet sites and ended up sending them a boatload of photos after this post to include in their website.
The stark contrast was the next visit to the Serbian Patriarchate and Female Monastery of Pec (Serbian for Peje). This monastery is heavily guarded by Serbian Police since it is the Spiritual and historical capital and home base of the Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches since the 12th Century and now surrounded by the Muslim Albanian emerging nation of Kosovo. This place continues to be the headquarters of the Autocephalous Macedonian Orthodox Church but the Serbian Orthodox Church is now administered from Belgrade. I showed the police my Ozzie license with the icon of St George on the back and we were immediately invited in. This place is so peaceful that all you can hear are the summer sounds of cicadas and several birds. The centrepiece is the bright red rooved Church of St Dimitrios built by Archbishop Nikodim in 1324 after 8 years of hand-building. Inside are another 3 chapels dedicated to the builder, Virgin Mary and St Nicholas. The Iconography covers all the walls and cielings with amazing colour remaining. The stand-out wall-icon is that of Jesus Christ with white hair and beard – yes – you read right – the “white” in this icon makes Christ look old and symbolises the “Christ before Creation” – given creation is old then so is He – an amazing explanation given to us by the Abottess of the Monsatery which came out to meet us when the gate police informed her we were Greek Orthodox from Australia – she had never met such a visitor. Amazing. I asked to inetrvoew her but she said she needed permission from the Archbishop. It is hard to believe the Milosevic used this place as his grand excuse to justrify the Kosovo War to keep the Serbian Orthodox Faith “safe” from Muslim hands – this is obviously a front for a man who detested the Albanian Muslims. So sad that religion becomes a weapon of politics.
Our final drive through the Rugova Canyon was spectacular. The best canyon so far at the base of the huge mountain range that we would cross tomorrow back into Montenegro – indeed Monte = Mountain and Negro = Black or Dark !!!
Enjoy the surprise sites of Kosovo…
FOOD:
I thought Croatia loved grilled meats - Kosovan's love it more. There are "Grill Houses" on every corner with no menus. You just rock up to a huge counter of raw meats that looks like a butcher - pick your cuts and they get cooked. Sausages, beef paddles, chicken, pork, lamb, beef with cabbage and potato washed down by local Peja Lager. We had all the food and drink below for 35EUR or 52AUD. Not only amazing value but delicious having been cooked over hot coals. On our way back we noticed the Kosavan verison of Maccas - enjoy the laugh !!!
FAREWELL KOSOVO:
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