I can hardly believe my luck, I was offered a flight over Kosovo out of the blue and of course I accepted. It was a helicopter flight in December and it was a bit cool but the view was incredible. We left from Pristina and I’m pretty sure the direction was north although I didn’t ask. I assume we started out in that direction as we landed in the north for a look at the Kosovo/Serbia border. Kosovo is a beautiful country from above and the landscape is filled with rolling and rugged terrain. We were at a rather low elevation so the cars, cities and villages were quite visible throughout the entire trip. Each of the villages and small cities we flew over appeared quite active with plenty of foot and vehicle traffic. One feature I thought was quite interesting were the number of half built structures and although I heard a few explanations as to why, I’m not sure which was correct. It seemed to be quite common to see a three story structure with only the bottom and perhaps part of the second story finished to a state in which someone could live. The explanation I heard repeatedly was due to taxes of some sort which seemed plausible as it is a new country and possibly grappling with income sources. The other story I heard was that people were working in Western Europe and sending money home to build the structures but the money dried up or jobs were lost which also seemed reasonable. I’m not sure but there sure were quite a number of partially built buildings. Another thing I noticed was the roof structures, rounded or traditional angular as I see in the west. Although I’m not sure, I did hear one explanation, that is was due to religion with the Islamic community having one roof shape and the christian community another. Its possible but again, I’m not sure. The whole thing makes the country interesting when you combine it with location, culture and past events. The divergent cultures which are tied to their specific religions self segregate for various reasons which I can only speculate at. But, I should mention that in my travels this habit seems to be quite common as the old saying goes, “Birds of a Feather Flock Together”. Not that this is a bad thing, people generally seek out others with common interests, cultures, religions for various reasons, safety and familiarity being high on the list. We ended up landing at a site in the north close to the border area and we then stepped off the flight for a brief period and walked to the border. Not to the checkpoint but on an overlook where we could see both countries. Its difficult for me to understand the deep seated suspicion and mistrust the locals must have for each other and it is evident in their efforts to live in areas where everyone has similar religious or cultural beliefs. The area where we landed was hilly, rugged and covered with trees making for difficult movement on foot should one try to cross the border over land. After stopping at a store on the border we hopped on the flight and headed back through what appeared to be a different route. This time we passed over a reservoir, quite large actually and the surrounding area was beautiful. I think I heard mentioned that this was a water supply for the country although I can’t say for sure. I was able to see quite a few little cities along the way as I mentioned earlier and I couldn’t wait to perhaps drive the route up to the north to see the place on the ground. That was to come later but I thoroughly enjoyed the view from above and would do it again if given the chance. This is just one of the many short videos I took while driving around. Watch them all and visit my other Social Media and Travel sites as I develop them. https://wp.me/P3CC9J-6vq Stay tuned for the others. Please take a minute and donate even a small amount to help me make more videos. Wizard of Where

I lived in Pristina, Kosovo for around 10 months and spent every spare minute visiting the country and surrounding area. It’s a fascinating place for a variety of reasons which I will cover in other videos and on my other sites, but include economics, culture, geographic location, politics and history. The war that gripped the country in the 1990s was still evident everywhere and I went on many tours of battle sites on my own and with groups. Depending on who you ask and what interest they may have in the area, Kosovo occupies a unique place. Surrounded and landlocked by divergent cultures, religions and geography it is still gripped by the remnants of war and and processes set in place by Western European forces to set it up as an independent nation. The results of these processes remain to be seen, but during my time in the country I found the people to be generally friendly, accommodating and willing to share and inform you of their country and culture. There is much to see in Kosovo as it has a rich history due to its location and has been controlled, governed or overrun by outside forces for centuries. The breakup of what was Yugoslavia thrust the entire region into economic and political chaos that eventually deteriorated into war. The area eventually broke up into its constituent parts along with their linguisitic and cultural boundaries as best they could as you can see while traveling. But, human nature, greed, politics the general myopic tendencies of humans have create borders that are or will be forever in dispute depending on which side of the cultural line you stand. These issues make the entire region a fascinating place to visit as each area struggles to define itself, safeguard what it sees as its domain and attempts to build an economy. I think I mentioned I lived in Pristina for around 9 months and had quite a good time learning about the country, its people and cultures. What a fascinating place I learned quickly. As a whole it is quite conservative and although friendly I found it a challenge to walk up and start a conversation with a female. Seems that although it is possible depending on where you are, say a public place it is possible it ask questions but quite often there are language barriers as English doesn’t seem to be as prevalent as elsewhere although there are pockets within the population where this is possible. Like I said earlier, the people are generally friendly and accommodating the location and surrounding activity will influence whether or how helpful they area. Nevetheless, I quite enjoyed my attempts to communicate and except for a few exceptions, the people would at least point to someone who could help me. I spent time, from several hours to a day or more in many of the cities within Kosovo like Ivanijica, Ferizaj, Leposavic, Skenkeraj, Mitrovice, Prizren and Peje to name a few of the major ones. Each city was somewhat unique in the level of activity and diversity of cultures (Albanian and Serbian) and I found the whole experience unique and quite interesting. Many of the little villages are suspicious of outsiders but welcoming of Americans or Westerners if you’re in an Albanian area. If you find yourself in a Serbian controlled area they were generally distant and not all that interested in helping although they would sell me things when I was shopping. I saw mosques, churches, museums, cathedrals, wineries and liquor production facilities that seem to be popular I think the drink is called Rakia which is a fruit brandy popular in the Balkans. There was a variety of types made out of everything from honey to prunes or basically whatever was locally available. I visited a few of the battle sites from the events that took place during the 1990s making sure I was sensitive to all the sites and did not disrespect the locals as I felt I should. The entire country still bears the scars of war and I found quite a number of buildings and houses that had been destroyed. As the country continues to develop and loosen the grip of outsiders it will be fascinating to see what transpires and this landlocked country evolves into independence. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and if given the chance I would spend more time touring the area and becoming more acquainted with the people and their cultures. Anyhow, this is one of many videos, watch them all and visit my Travel sites: https://steemit.com/@wizardofwhere, My website:http://www.wizardofwhere.com Instagram and Pinterest @wizardofwhere as I develop them. Stay tuned for the others. Please take a minute and donate even a small amount to help me make more videos. If you can donate some LBRY coin that would be great Wizard of Where