As my adventures through Albania and Kosovo continued, I explored an amazing livestock market and visited some castle ruins in Novo Brdo, Kosovo! Join me as I continue exploring this amazing Balkan country!
My morning began in Llabjan, a small village outside of Gjilan, Kosovo. My travel buddy Erjan from Travel Media EU and I would be hitting up a livestock market along the side of the road and a famous castle about 20 minutes away!
The livestock market happens every Sunday. There, villagers sell their products, including pottery, honey, fresh produce, and live animals! They have chickens, goats, sheep, cows, and turkeys! The produce included peppers, onions, potatoes, grapes, pumpkins, and more.
Some of the vendors even sold bottled tomato juice and ajvar, which is a paste made from roasted red peppers and eggplant. As we browsed, I could see some men’s clothing, shoes, kitchen and bathroom items, drills, jacks, and jackets. It was super cold out, so I considered getting another jacket!
The market has been around for years, and the villagers have kept it in the same style. As we continued, I met a vendor who sells 18 different types of raki, including some in honey jars! Out in the field was a man who will kill the chickens you buy for 1 Euro!
Further on were some typical village eggs, and finally, the livestock! There were lots of big, beautiful roosters and hens in some cages. There’s only one rooster; the rest were hens! Then, I found a vendor selling some axes and more black-and-white chickens, and some black chickens that had some brown, green, and aqua coloring on them. Next, we saw some colorful ducks, a large white turkey, and a truck full of chickens.
Then, we came across some handmade pottery, including tava plates, ibriks for holding raki, casserole dishes, beautiful water jugs, and bowls. They even had belts. I loved that everything was made there! We found another vendor selling pottery as well. I loved the water jugs and the plates. They were gorgeous!
I got six small dishes for Turtle Farm Albania, two small sugar pots, a large one for my wife, and Erjan bought a large tava dish! I couldn’t wait to buy more stuff from him when Turtle Farm Albania is more developed. In total, we spent 50 Euros there!
Then, we drove about 20 minutes to Novo Brdo Fortress. It was built back in the 13th century. This area of Kosovo was famous for its gold and silver. The castle was built to store the gold and silver in the castle. Unlike other castles I’d visited in Albania and Kosovo, this wasn’t a living castle, so there are no homes or restaurants inside it.
To reach the castle, we had to hike about five minutes up a rocky path. There were some cafés and restaurants around the base of the hill. At the top are the ruins of the castle. It’s huge and beautiful. It’s 14 meters high and has a visual view with two other castles, which helped them protect each other. The other two castles are now in ruin.
The castle is built atop lots of huge boulders. In the distance, I could see the ruins of what looked like a mosque. One side of the castle was being renovated. The corners of the castle were red bricks. Through the main wooden door, you can see the ruins inside.
Down the hill are some ruins, including some wells and the foundations of houses. From there, you get some gorgeous views of the castle in the background! From there, passed lots of farmland before taking a national road to Ferizaj, which is further south. After we hit the national road, we didn’t pass a single car for 15 minutes as we rode past more farms and forests.
Finally, we arrived in Ferizaj, which is 30 minutes from Pristina and 20 minutes from North Macedonia. I only had one day left in Kosovo, so I couldn’t wait to explore it and end my trip with a bang!
I couldn’t have explored the Sunday livestock market and Novo Brdo castle ruins in Kosovo without the help of my friends at Travel Media EU and Rental Car Albania. They’re some of the best in the business, so I highly recommend booking with them when you want to visit Kosovo or Albania!
I hope you liked visiting the livestock market and castle ruins at Novo Brdo, Kosovo with me! If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and leave a comment below. Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell so you don’t miss any of my travel/food adventures around the world!
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