We went to Kosovo on August 4 2008, not six months after the country declared itself independent (on February 18). It's a baby country, and like inexperienced tots, life with such can be a bit chaotic. Dust everywhere, endless construction, dirt roads or horrid asphalt, and blackouts at any given time, for any numbers of hour. Then the generators would go on, and the whole city would be abuzz: drdrdrdrdrdrdrdr.

But the people - the kindest, most helpful, guileless. Is there hope? we asked one man we met one afternoon. Yes, he said, with a distant, pained look in his eyes, there's hope, otherwise we'd be hanging ourselves in those trees across the way.

This was one of the first things we saw when entering Kosovo, after the delightfully kind border guard told us that we'd never be able to enter Serbia if we got our passports stamped with Kosovo entry stamps. Much later, we came to understand that it was only for that trip, and that we'd still be able to go to Serbia in the future (we think...). UNMIK is the common way of referring to United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, the ruling body that told - and still tells - Kosovo how to run a country.

In Pristina, we stayed at Guest House Bujtine Velania, the only (so it's said) not expensive-hotel accommodation in the city. The 60-something-year-old proprietor kept on telling us what a good deal it was, at eight euro per person a night. True, but 70 per cent of the time, it took us 15 minutes to work open the door - and that was in the new part of the house. Still, it was a pleasant, clean stay. Soon, our room was to have a balcony. While, of course, you wouldn't fall off unless you really tried, a rail-less cement slab sticking out of the side of the building is not the most sure place to drink beers at night...

There are technically three working languages in Kosovo - Albanian, English and Serbian, but the only Serbian we saw in our three days there was on official signage. Nor did anyone speak it. 

I think that this is clear enough. EUMIK is the European Union Mission in Kosovo, present in the country since 2006, when it was said to displace UNMIK, which had been there itself since June 12 1999. EULEX is the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, the "largest civilian mission ever launched under the European Security and Defence Policy", according to its website www.eulex-kosovo.eu. 

The omnipresent trio - we bow to the beatitude of the European Union, the United States and Albania. 

Somehow, we heard about a swimming pool the size of a lake in Kosovo's national park Gërmia. So, taking bus number 4 from just outside the centre, we went one afternoon. It really was huge, and it was clean, too. The water was cool, a surprise, given the heat of the season. Snack shacks provide munchies and drinks, though you can also bring your own. We basically spent the afternoon reading, and feeling like on holiday. Entry: 3 leva for the day. Can't beat that. 

They were just so cute, like something from the 1950s.

We also went to Macedonia. Exploring Skopje, I saw this sticker on the Saint Kilment Ohridski Church. It says: "Everyone should have 3 children." No comment.

If Skopje can have smooth streets and safe, new, usable bike lanes, then so can Sofia, Bulgaria. And - Skopje does not get EU money.

My friend Aleksandar, whom I met while in Skopje in summer 2000, recommended dinner at Makedonska Kuka (Македонска куќа), a traditional-style restaurant. So we all went. He said that the food in Macedonia was better than in Bulgaria. It's a hard call...

The billboard says: `Cyrillic is one of the oldest and most beautiful scripts. We preserve language. We should also preserve Cyrillic. Because a language without writing is nothing. And writing is best preserved when it is used. Macedonian is written with Cyrillic.' I love Macedonia. It loves itself, it loves its language.

A last reprieve before returning to Bulgaria, we stopped for lunch at the delightful Restaurant Park in some village about 31km from the Macedonian/Bulgarian border checkpoint. Fresh, locally raised trout, greenery, peacefulness. Oh, the bliss.