Monocle - Hotel Gracanica Kosovo

Gotta admit, when I first got the e-mail for this assignment, I read it twice to make sure. “A boutique hotel in Kosovo?” The last memories I had were from the 90’s and visuals of Bill Clinton on CNN. Anyway, I agreed to take it, but getting there was going to be a pain in the ass. No direct flights from Athens so I flew to Sofia, Bulgaria, rented a car, and drove 5 hours through Macedonia and entered the border from there. I had planned to arrive there by early afternoon, but a few hassles at the border had me quite delayed, forcing me to fly past the speed limit to make up for lost time. I arrived (albeit a few hours late) and did my thing. The hotel was a little oasis about 45 minutes from Pristina, the capital. Very well designed and felt like it could be a chic hotel on a farm in New Zealand. The next day I calmly drove back to Sofia and was able to take in the beautiful countryside in peace. I wish I had an opinion of Kosovo, but my time was too short.