A collage of another busy day

We had an omelette for breakfast - protein at last! - though there’s usually a few cubes of feta with our lunch salads.

Some of us set off for a guided walk in pleasant sunshine around a small central area - an Albanian Centre, closed, a mosque closed to tourists and a derelict church. We assume from 2004 but Tedi is keeping a bit quiet about that.

A few of us trekked up the steep path with him to the fortress. It originated in 6th century and was extended in 15th. It certainly held a commanding position with great view to the city below.

On the way down we met a man with a pony, collecting all the rubbish from the large bins into its huge panniers. Quite a few groups of women in headscarves were heading up - Prizren seems a more traditional town than others in Kosovo though plenty of the men can be seen in the many cafes drinking beer, and smoking is common for both men and women.

At 11.15 we left in the minibus for a drive to the Rahovec wine producing area. First we visited a small village (most houses are owned by weekend visitors) called Hoga e Veter, a Serbian enclave where a lovely man called Milan took us to his cellar to explain his family’s centuries old history of winemaking. Under the floor we could see pipes (a vinoduct?!) built by Emperor Dusan which had carried wine for 13km underground. Sadly we had no wine tasting but Milan did take us to a little church. Although heavily marked by candle smoke over the centuries we could still see the original frescoes.

It was a short drive to Rahovac itself where we visited another wine-producer where we had very tiny tastes of 2 white (SB and Chardonnay) and 2 reds, plus a raki, the local brandy made with quince. We were provided with a small snack of cheese, sausage, olives and bread. I found the whites a bit insipid and the reds rough, demanding more time in the bottle perhaps, to be kind. One cost €15. One couple bought 2 bottles of the €5 red. It was a pleasant hour before we drove the 45 minutes back to Prizren.

We had a wander round the cafe area by the river but they only had coffee, beer or ice cream and we wanted baclava with our coffee. Eventually we found a place and indulged in the delicious cake with a Turkish coffee each. (Well Mr C had 2 cakes). The seats were in the shade so we went back to the river and had another coffee, sitting in the sun watching people crossing the old stone bridge. It’s been a relaxing day before moving in tomorrow to a different area in the Accursed Mountains.