Some Weekends Away, 2008-2010

Kosovo, Cape Verde, Sardinia and Ghent

When Kosovo declared independence in February 2008 we had to go there, of course, so we went the following October. The capital, Pristina, is not so interesting so we stayed in Prizren, a nice town with friendly people, characterful buildings and bridges, cafés round the square and a castle on a hill, as well as occasional UN gun emplacements, razor wire and helicopter patrols.

Cape Verde islands sit out in the Atlantic roughly level with Senegal in Africa. The main international airport is on Sal island but there is nothing else there except some resorts, so in March 2009 we flew there and got a local flight to Mindelo, a characterful town on Sao Vicente island. The town is an interesting mixture of Portuguese and African cultures, with a nice harbour, a pink presidential palace and a 'Belem Tower' just like in Lisbon.

In May 2010 we went to Sardinia for a bit of Mediterranean sunshine and Italian culture.

We flew to Cagliari ....
.... and after a day or so there, hired a car and visited the lovely old towns of Bosa ....
.... and Alghero.

On a working visit to Ghent in November 2010, we took an extra couple of days to explore the attractive medieval town.