The So-Called Divided City Mitrovica

As it was still only like 2 pm, I decided to drive to Mitrovica before checking into my apartment in Pristina. Mitrovica is a city in the Northern part of Kosovo, and I've read that there might be tensions as due to the feud between the Serbians and the Kosovo people. In the North, there live more Serbians and more police are patrolling. I walked around the city centre, on my way to the Iber Bridge. As I've read, this is the "dividing" bridge between the southern and the northern part of Mitrovica. It's only accessible for pedestrians, but there is no problem going from one side to the other. There is no division, it's just a completely normal city with normal people. I did see more police and KFOR patrolling, but they seemed very relaxed themselves. I crossed the bridge to get a good shot of the Miner's Memorial on top of the hill. I quickly weighed my options: Either I could climb up that hill to take a picture of this monument close up and maybe a city overview as well. Or I could go back and sit down in a nearby café and treat myself to some much-needed iced coffee. The decision was made in a heart beat, and I turned back around to search for a café. However, my quest was stalled by a cute little puppy that was lying in front of a coffee shop sign, breathing heavily. I knelt down and gave her some water. She gratefully drank it, and then something rather odd happened. We started to play. I don't even know how it got to that, but we played around for at least 10 min, until I sat down on the ground, in the middle of the pedestrian zone. The people must have thought I'm crazy. But that is the beauty of only being a tourist. I'll never see these people again, I don't have to mind them thinking I'm a lunatic. And the doggo was just the absolute sweetest, crawling on top of me, letting me pet her in every possible position of her on my lap. She was very easy-going with people for a stray dog. "She just knows I'm a total dog person and that I'm awesome," I thought to myself smuggly, until she suddenly stood up, apparently having enough played and cuddled, and walked straight into the open door between two cafés. Wait... wasn't she a street dog? Was she just normally dirty, but belonged to someone? But I've seen her by herself further up the road on my way to the Memorial! Did she fool me in thinking she's a stray? Or did my prejudices betray me? I'll never know. I was still very happy to have had such an intense dog encounter. I was missing Aluna like crazy, and it didn't matter whether the doggo has been a stray or not, I just hoped our encounter made her as happy as it made me.
Walking down the street, I sat down at a café where the people couldn't have seen me being a lunatic. I ordered an iced coffee which was delicious and downed so quickly, I ordered some lemonade and carrot cake afterwards. I cooled down a bit, before finding my way back to the car and then drove to Pristina.
Honestly, the traffic in the main city as well as the streets there are insanely horrible. I hated it and was super glad when I arrived at my flat. Luckily, a SPAR supermarket was just across the street, so that I easily bought myself some dinner. As the apartment had a sandwich maker, I treated myself to some toast with Ajvar (of course), pickles and cheese. Yummy.Okumaya devam et