As one of the largest residential and shopping areas in Prishtina, the neighbourhood named Kurrizi, which translates as “The Back,” is not too far walking distance from the city center, and boasts a few must-see spots. For example, the statue of former US President Bill Clinton, erected to honor his crucial role in the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo. Before the war, Kurrizi used to be The Place to hang out for the Albanian youth. Behind Clinton’s statue, Kurrizi stretches like a mythological creature of three tentacles.

The upper level is a boulevard-like space, some 400 meters long, with shops on the side and apartment buildings rising above it. The lower level has one, dark, sparsely aired tunnel for the vehicles right under the belly of the apartment buildings, and a closed shopping gallery that runs parallel with the tunnel. The shopping gallery is an iconic site in Prishtina. After the war, it transformed slowly into a shopping area, where one can basically find anything, from glittery, glossy, and flowing evening gowns, to trendy shoes, accessories, fruit and vegetables, meat, and whatnot. Coffee places dot the length of the shopping area. Glass bricks on the ceiling – or the floor of the boulevard-like space, depending on which level you are – allow the natural sunlight to enter the shopping gallery, embracing it in a soft glow. I love to see the motley crowd bustling there every day of the week.