Welcome to Your Second Home: Kosovo

We have arrived in Kosovo! It was long travels with layovers in Chicago and Frankfurt, Germany, but we made it to Kosovo with out any major problems. However, we were delayed a bit with our arrival to Kosovo, so after arriving at the Prishtina airport and being welcomed through the VIP reception area we headed straight to a welcome by the Prime Minister. His message was clear. “Welcome to your second home. Our home is your home.” This great hospitality will no doubt be a theme for the week. Our Kosovar friends are always so welcoming and are gracious hosts.

Following our time with the Prime Minister we had a little time to check into the hotel and freshen up before traveling to Stone Castle Vineyards and Winery. Stone Castle is the largest winery in the region and have started exporting to Iowa and plan to expand export markets. It was a specatacular evening with friends discussing the Kosovo/Iowa partnership over dinner. It was great to catch up with former Minister of Agriculture Memli Krasniqi.

Tomorrow will be a full day with briefings from the U.S. Embassy and Kosovo Ministries, before visits with the Minster of Education and Minister of Agriculture. We look forward to an exciting day growing our partnerships in Kosovo!