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Hotels Restaurants Cafés Nightlife Sightseeing Events Maps PRISTINA ““InIn YourYour PPocket:ocket: A cheeky,cheeky, wwell-ell- wwrittenritten sserieseries ooff gguidebooks.”uidebooks.” TThehe NNewew YYorkork TimesTimes AAutumnutumn - WWinterinter 22009-2010009-2010 Rural tourism Novo Brdo‘s food, hikes, bikes and castle Fresco heaven Gracanica monastery N°3 - €4 pristina.inyourpocket.com CONTENTS 3 Mbërrita! MOBILE Allo? TELEPHONY ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES Mbërrita! Urdhëroni? Hola! Contents Pronto? Arriving 7 Basics 8 Hello! Visas, streets, money and electricity Mbërrita! History 10 Hola! The one thing that Kosovo has too much of Culture & Events 12 Hello! Urdhëroni? Cinemas, theatres, concerts Where to stay 13 From business hotels to backpacker beds Restaurants 17 Greasy burek to gourmet dining Nightlife 23 Bars, pubs and clubs Sightseeing 27 Away from home? Keep in touch. Mosques, museums and a map Gracanica 32 Choose Mobitel/IPKO as your roaming network for more convenient The medieval monastery prices in Kosova. Novo Brdo 33 IPKO roaming services are activated immediately, with no activation needed and Food, hikes, bikes and a castle no additional payment. Getting around 34 With IPKO roaming you can: Planes, taxis and trains dial and receive calls Mail & Phones 38 send SMS and MMS, and use GPRS. Shopping 40 Directory 42 For IPKO mobile phone users, while away from home, can even use services as: Credit transfer and Call me message. Maps & Index City map 46-47 Street index 48 Country map 49 Index 50 Pristina, Prizren, Peja online kosovo.inyourpocket.com pristina.inyourpocket.com Autumn - Winter 2009-2010 4 FOREWORD As the dusty summer makes way for cooler days, it’s high time for a newly updated edition of Pristina In Your Pocket, About this guide and this issue is packed with details of bars, restaurants, The Pristina In Your Pocket city guide is the only dedi- sights and practical information. cated English-language guidebook to Kosovo’s capital, Autumn kicks off with an exciting and brand new film and is part of a Europe-wide series of acclaimed city festival, PriFilmFest, held from 22-30 September. Catch a guides. In Your Pocket guides are written for foreign slew of quality international films (and maybe a tantalising travellers and residents, to provide honest, critical infor- glimpse of Vanessa Redgrave) at the Kino ABC. Music mation that makes visiting the city easier for newcomers. lovers can look forward to Pristina’s famed Jazz festival, As a private and commercial initiative, Pristina In Your Pocket has been written and researched by a team of taking place this November at the ODA theatre. See page local and foreign travel guide experts. The opinions in the 12 for details on all main events. guide are those of the writers, and are not in any way Newcomers to the city should check out the gleaming meant to glorify or denigrate the city, merely to point marble Indendence Museum beside Tiffany’s restaurant. out the merits and shortcomings that we think foreign It’s the only place in town where you can see a handful of travellers should know about. Although we realise the photos of the 1999 Kosovo conflict on display, together with local name for the city is spelled Prishtina, in this guide we use the official English spelling for the city name, various items and documents belonging to the main political Pristina, as described in article 13 of the Constitution of players at the time - and of course Ibrahim Rugova’s Kosovo. Every guidebook has its faults, so we appreciate desk. It’s best to take a local along to fully understand the any information that would lead to improving the next context. Opening this autumn is the new Ancient Prishtina issue. Emails can be sent to [email protected]. Archaeological Park, which aims to bring ancient tombs and structures to the attention of a wide audience. It’s certainly a welcome addition to Pristina’s short list of sights. Lidhur me këtë udhëzues Pristina In Your Pocket could do with your help to keep track of the rapid changes in Kosovo. Let us know your Udhëzuesi i qytetit Pristina In Your Pocket (‘Prishtina në additions, comments and suggestions by writing to xhepin tuaj’) është udhëzuesi i vetëm në gjuhën angleze që i dedikohet kryeqytetit të Kosovës, dhe është pjesë e një sërë [email protected] or by adding your personal udhëzuesve të njohur të qyteteve në mbarë Evropën. Udhë- comments on specific venues to our website, zuesit in your pocket janë dizajnuar për udhëtarët e huaj dhe http://pristina.inyourpocket.com. banorët, por thjeshtë që të sigurojnë informata të sinqerta kri- Enjoy autumn and enjoy Pristina. tike që e bëjnë vizitën në qytet më të lehtë për të sapoardhurit. Si një iniciative private komerciale, Pristina In Your Pocket është shkruar dhe hulumtuar nga një ekip i ekspertëve vendor Cover story dhe të huaj të udhëzuesve të udhëtimit. Mendimet në udhë- zues vijnë nga shkrimtarët, dhe në asnjë mënyrë nuk kanë për The 6000 year old Hynesha në Fron qëllim që të lavdërojnë apo denigrojnë qytetin, por thjeshtë (Goddess on a throne) statue is që të tregojnë meritat dhe mangësitë të cilat ne mendojmë Kosovo's trademark archaeological se udhëtarët e huaj duhet t’i dinë. Ndonëse e kemi vërejtur find and mascot. It was uncovered që emri i qytetit është shkruar Prishtina, në këtë udhëzues at Tjerrtorja near Pristina in 1956, ne kemi përdorur anglishten zyrtare për emrin e qytetit went on a short involuntary holiday Pristina, siç është paraparë në nenin 13 të Kushtetutës së to Belgrade during the Kosovo Kosovës. Çdo udhëzues i ka të metat e veta, prandaj ne do conflict and returned to Pristina in të çmonim çdo informatë që do të çonte në përmirësimin 2002. It can be seen in the Kosovo e botimit të ardhshëm. E-mailet mund të dërgohen në Museum. [email protected]. Editorial Copyright notice Editorial management Text and photos copyright Pristina In ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES Rentapocket.com: Jeroen van Marle, Sco Your Pocket 2006-2010. Maps copyright Research Armend Morina, Nora Fazliu cartographer. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced Pristina In Your Pocket Fact-checking Donika Ahmeti, Kaltrina Hoxha in any form, except brief extracts for © Albania Experience Sh.P.K the purpose of review, without written c/o Tirana In Your Pocket Layout & Design Tomáš Haman permission from the publisher and Rr. Papa Gjon Pali II, Pall 11/1, Photos Rentapocket copyright owner. The brand name In Your kati 5, Cover photo Hynesha në Fron statue, Pocket is used under license from UAB Tirana, Albania JvM In Your Pocket (Vokieciu 10-15, Vilnius, Tel +355 4 225 56 55 Maps Trimaks Kartografia, Skopje Lithuania tel. (+370-5) 212 29 76). Fax +355 4 227 19 60 The editors would like to thank Fiona [email protected] Kelmendi of IKS, iksweb.org, and Editor’s note www.inyourpocket.com Shannon of mtcowgirl.us. The editorial content of In Your Pocket Sales & Distribution guides is independent from paid-for ISSN 1819-2890 advertising. We welcome all readers‘ Manager Vullnet Malazogu comments and suggestions. We have Printing Evropa 92, Kocani [email protected], Published 10,000 copies, made every effort to ensure the accuracy tel. +386 49 17 34 47 of the information at the time of going to twice a year Assistant Alban Rafuna press and assume no responsibility for Publishers Gazmend Haxhia, changes and errors. Jeroen van Marle, Sco Pristina In Your Pocket pristina.inyourpocket.com ARRIVING 7 By plane Public holidays Pristina's modern international airport (PRN, www.airport- pristina.com) is 15km west of the city centre. The arrivals When Kosovo grinds to a complete halt. hall is separate from the other buildings and not a happy 1-2 Jan New Year place, but the departures building has ATMs and other 7 Jan Orthodox Christmas services (see Transport). A taxi ride to the centre will cost 17 Feb Independence Day about €25 and takes about 20 minutes. The airport bus 4 Apr 2010 Catholic and Othodox Easter from right outside the arrivals terminal to the Grand Hotel in 9 Apr Constitution Day the city centre theoretically departs daily at 09:00, 11:00, 1 May Labour Day 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 18:00; a ticket costs €3 and can 9 May Europe Day be purchased on the bus. 20 Sept 2009 Eid Al-Fitr (Ramadan) 27 Nov 2009 Eid Al-Addha By train 25 Dec Catholic Christmas Trains from Skopje and within Kosovo all pass through Fushë Kosovë train station, which is Kosovo's main railway hub, seven kilometres west of central Pristina. Street smarts Hop onto a N°1 kombi minibus outside, which goes to the eastern end of Bul. Bill Clinton every 5-10 minutes Street Rruga Highway Autostrada for €0.40. Using a taxi will cost around €9. Some trains, Square Sheshi Bridge Ura including the one from Skopje, continue to Pristina Boulevard Bulevardi train station, which is a short walk to the centre along Rruga Garibaldi. Don't count on any taxis awaiting ar- rivals here. Europe In Your Pocket By bus Penny-pinchers who choose to get to Pristina by bus will be justly rewarded with a dilapidated bus station with nothing in the way of facilities beyond a couple of grotty cafés and kiosks. There's not even a city bus linking it to the city centre, two kilometres away. Taxis are parked outside the main exit and a ride into the centre will cost less than €2. Alternatively, it's a 20-30 minute walk: go directly north until you get to Bul.