This morning I had my 6am return flight from Pristina Airport. I was at the meeting point at 3am not knowing if my taxi was going to show or not but fortunately he was already waiting so all good.
At the airport I had to wait for check in to open at 4am to get my boarding pass which they needed to stamp and would not accept an electronic boarding pass
First leg was to Vienna and I got to sleep for a bit with this extreme early flight but that was the only connection option
I have not visited Vienna since 2004 so do not recall the layout that well but we did see one of the Palaces (Schonbrun?)
At Vienna we had to clear security again for North America passengers. Due to security I had bought a 2 litre drink when I had boarded at Pristina and had barely drunk. They refused to let it thru even though I had cleared security at Pristina and purchased inside the airport.
When I flew from Amsterdam last November they have removed all liquid restrictions and you can bring any size bottle and do not have to take it out of your bag. I asked why the rules were not consistent in the EU. They just shrugged their shoulders and said it was not their job
I refused to buy another overpriced drink at Vienna and fund this ridiculous airport. The security staff were being very aggressive and getting off on their power trip.
We got to see Vienna again on take off but again I don't remember the layout of what to look for
On return to Toronto it was very cloudy and rain so not much to see. I took the Airport bus to Kipling Subway but then the Subway was not running and you had to take shuttle buses across Bloor St. It is always a step backward taking public transit in Toronto and the stations falling apart
For my 6th time in Ex-Yugo and 4th time in Bosnia I will certainly be back. I did not get to goto Tesanj Fortress and Banja Luka in the north so they were pushed back for another trip. Aside from the rain which seems to follow me it was overall a good trip. The character has changed somewhat with the new generation and they do not play Balkan music as much in the bazaars and the tv channels. But it is still a very economical and friendly place to visit, very cheap accommodation, good food, with a wealth of history
See also Vlog of Kosovo [Pristina - Decani - Peja - Gracanica - Gjakove - Prizren] (36 mins) - https://youtu.be/hgjHvoR_7KQ
2025-05-22