Pristina Audio Tours

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, making Pristina one of the newest capitals in the world, and the city still has the slightly unfinished energy of a place that has not yet decided what it wants to be. Ottoman mosques stand near concrete Yugoslav-era blocks, which stand near glass-and-steel offices built with international development money, which stand near coffee bars -- more coffee bars per capita than almost anywhere in Europe, where Pristina locals seem to conduct most of their public life from plastic chairs on the pavement.

The Newborn monument, a massive block of orange lettering that has been repainted every February 17 since independence, has become the city's accidental symbol -- a piece of political street art that turned into a landmark.

The Imperial Mosque nearby was built in the 15th century under Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, and the old clock tower has survived several different empires. The Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa, named for the Albanian-origin saint, opened in 2017 and already feels permanent.