Checkmate Prishtina – A neighborhood nook

Λast century was not such a long time ago; just over twenty years into the past. For many, certain daily habits of that time are now gone. For many others though, the thought of those habits offers warm memories. Neighbours, family, and friends, hang together on lazy afternoons around the common spaces between rows of houses or building blocks. Children running merrily around, grandmothers chasing after them, young people in groups, women chit-chatting, elderly men playing cards or chess.

A description perhaps fit for scenes in older, white-and-black movies or in stories that grandparents tell when they reminisce about good old days. Not all is gone and faded away though. Just a 10-minute walking distance from the center of Prishtina, there is an urban residential area called “Qafa” – “The Neck”. Several tall apartment buildings rise behind the rows of trendy clubs and restaurants. There, a neighborhood space brings together everyone at all hours of day and night. Several concrete tables and seats have been installed to offer a place of rest for the weary of walking, a place for the beer lovers to sit outside in the evenings with friends, a hanging place with its own pace. The concrete table tops are covered with a chessboard pattern, there for everyone to use and enjoy the time.