Once you have a coffee, a homemade cookie or snack at Gambini, you can then claim you’ve found a well-kept secret of the truly local. It is one of the cutest and warmest coffee places in Prishtina, a meeting point of neighbors, friends, and family. The feeling hits you at once by how everyone greets one another, how they make a stop before going up the stairs to their apartments, how the owner and staff welcome you with smiles larger than life.

The place is nestled between low apartment buildings that populate the most beautiful residential area in Prishtina. The neighborhood is called “Bregu i Diellit”, which translates to “Sunny Hill” (hence the name of the festival by world famed Dua Lipa, a native of this side of Prishtina).

How to locate Gambini? Second star to the right, and straight on till morning… Kind of. Even the address sounds like it is straight out of Peter Pan. True, Bregu i Diellit – Zona e Perëndimit may translate as Sunny Hill – West Side, but to me, the magic of friendship and the air filled with vanilla, blueberry, coffee, and laughter, deserves Sunny Hill – Sunset Side. You see, the word “Perëndimi” in Albanian can mean both West and Sunset. On warm days, people sit outside. My favorite time to visit is around the end of the year, when the perennial charm of the place sparkles up with fairy lights and New Year’s decorations.