Eastern Europe Trip 2017

October - November 2017
A 23-day adventure by Always exploring
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  • 9countries
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  • Day 11

    Time to explore Albania

    October 26, 2017 in Albania ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    This morning we started the day with a nice hotel breakfast which had traditional pastries- delicious. Then we headed out for the free walking tour of Albania’s capital; Tirana. It was a nice tour with a local guy that knew a lot about the history of his country. Again, there was a lot of history about communism but it was different hearing about how life was for Albanians as they were so cut from any ties to anyone else in Europe really. (Learning a lot on this trip!) Tirana also prides itself on being a country that does not discriminate against any religion and it was clear to see this with all the different religious buildings all next to each other. Despite being quite a small population in Albania, there seemed to be a lot of people in Tirana and therefore a lot going on. Coffee culture here is big! Old men chilling on terraces with an espresso was a common sight! It’s a cute place to visit. :)

    After the tour we picked up some local specialities from a bakery for lunch and headed back to the hotel to get the car.

    Driving in Albania... here are some car experiences so far:

    1. Round-abouts = crazy. No lanes. No rules. Cyclists going around the wrong way.
    2. Pedestrian crossings = no need to stop- keep going.
    3. Police everywhere - yet there seems to be no rules so I’m not sure why.
    4. Junctions- don’t bother waiting- just go for it and hope for the best.

    .... and it’s only day 1! I’m sure we will have some more stories tomorrow!

    We made it to a lovely little place called Berat which is also known as “a city of a thousand windows” (see pics below to see why). Berat has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site in order to preserve the culture here. We have only been able to see it by night so far but its so pretty!

    Restaurants were harder to find though- it seems only men come out at night here to sit and drink on the terraces... bit intimidating! But thankfully we found a nice little restaurant which felt like we were getting nice home cooked food. There was only one woman who was doing everything (waitressing, cooking, bar tender and cleaning up!) so impressive. The food was so good too! We tried some specialities like baked aubergine and stuffed peppers. Amazing. Only thing that let it down was the home made wine that tasted like vinegar. Can’t complain though as it was the first bad wine we have had yet!

    Can’t believe how well the trip is going so far actually! *touch wood* Feeling very lucky to be able to have such great experiences. :)
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  • Day 12

    Road trip time

    October 27, 2017 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We started today with an absolute feast at the homestay that we were staying at. The hosts were so kind and absolutely adorable. They spoke very little English and we spoke zero Albanian but we got by! We were fed traditional Albanian pancakes, fresh homemade jams and juice made from fruit from the garden and freshly baked cake! She must have been up so early preparing it all. We felt like we were visiting family as it was so homely!

    We left quite early and headed up to the castle in Berat. So glad we had a car as the path to get there was so steep! When we got to the top we realised it wasn’t just a castle but a fortified town! It felt like we had stepped back in time. Cobbled streets, hidden lanes, incredible views, amazing smells of Albanian cooking... so authentic. There was hardly anyone around too- I’m sure it would get busy in summer but at 9am in low season, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We came across an old Albanian man who was so friendly and wanted to take a picture of us, so we spent a while trying to teach him the basics of taking a picture on my iPhone (first, removing fingers from the lense and pointing it at us...) I’m sure you can imagine the difficulty never mind the language barrier. He was so sweet though and we got there in the end- see photo below. :)

    We continued our drive down south to Gjirokaster. There was a castle up on the hill here so it had incredible views of the city and mountains in the background. We met a local selling jam so bought some fig and watermelon jams to try. The rest of the day was spent driving towards the coast. We took a wrong turn and almost ended up in Greece! We also only just managed to avoid so many accidents as we tried to work out the road rules over here. In the end I think we have worked out that there are no rules. The police pulled us over at one point which was a bit scary... but as soon as we said “hello” and they realised we weren’t Albanian they let us go. Strange, but we weren’t complaining.

    Tonight we are staying in another homestay on the coast that is run by a Greek couple. Such a lovely place and incredible value at only €22. I’m going to miss these cheap prices when we arrive in New Zealand!
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  • Day 13

    Driving along the Adriatic Coast

    October 28, 2017 in Albania ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We enjoyed another lovely breakfast this morning with an incredible view of the ocean. :) spoiled! Today was mostly just a day of driving up the coast to then return the car in Shkodër (north of Albania) but as the scenery was so stunning, we stopped plenty times along the way. Gorgeous turquoise coast line, next to huge ragged mountains and passing people walking their goats amongst the crazy driving- only in Albania!

    We visited another lovely castle high up in the mountains of a town called Kruja. Very scary road to get there as it was so tiny and steep with two way traffic... but we made it! It was worth it though as the views were stunning and you could see for miles! And..it wouldn’t be a proper road trip without a huge traffic jam so we finished the day off waiting in traffic for about an hour (of what should have been a 5 min journey). Great fun. It was amusing watching all the Albanians try to overtake and undertake each other though- mad. And there was a guy selling a puppy and a baby rabbit at the side of the road! Can’t say I wasn’t tempted...

    We were happy to arrive safe in Shkodër and give the car back! We ventured out for some food but it didn’t look too promising at first. We then came across a little traditional looking place so thought we would give it a try. It was amazing! The waiter was so lovely and made us feel so at home. He gave us some great recommendations for what to eat and the best wine that €2 (for 0.5 litre!) could buy! Such a great find and a lovely way to finish off our trip in Albania!

    I can’t comment on meat dishes, but if you are heading to Albania and want to try some great local food- you need to try;

    Albanian breakfast pancakes
    Stuffed peppers
    Baked aubergines
    Traditional pie (a bit like a crêpe)
    Traditional beans

    It was all so good!! :) I would recommend this country to travel. (Although I think that I would have felt slightly intimidated if I was travelling alone- often you would struggle to find a girl anywhere in the evening, bit strange) However, the people were friendly and did not harass us even in the bigger cities. Driving culture is another story... but overall a must visit for the beautiful scenery!
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  • Day 14

    Crossing more borders to Montenegro

    October 29, 2017 in Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It was a relaxing morning for a change! We had a lovely balcony so managed to get some sun before we spent the rest of the day travelling!

    We arrived at the “bus station” to get the bus over to Montenegro - the taxi driver just dropped us off at the side of the road so we had no idea where to go. After asking a few people and hotel receptionists, we were none the wiser. A fairly friendly looking guy offered us a lift for €30 which was slightly more than the non existent bus so we thought it was a good idea. We arrived at his old Mercedes (couldn’t be any other car in albania could it) and we were on our way! He was very chatty considering we didn’t understand what he was on about. I think he was mentioning the terrible traffic, corrupt police and something about busses... it was a quick journey across the border which was great but unfortunately we were faced with very bad traffic going into Podgorica which took forever. Thankfully our friendly driver had ran out of things to say!

    We spent most of the rest of the day looking into car rentals etc but explored a little in the evening. The city didn’t seem too exciting and I got a bit of a weird unfriendly vibe from the people. A cute little dog made our day though as he came around with us as we walked all around the city. We called him Jack and when we stopped in at a bar for a drink we lost him. Amazingly though he found us back at our hostel like 2 hours later! Adorable, wish we could keep him :)

    Another good thing about the city- we found a great little restaurant with amazing pizzas and pasta and live music! Although, it’s so strange that smoking is still allowed inside everywhere here- didn’t like that too much.

    Good news is we got a good deal for a car rental at only €37 a day and the guy dropped it off for us this evening so we’re all set for another road trip tomorrow morning! Yay!
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  • Day 15

    Leaving Podgorica on another road trip

    October 30, 2017 in Montenegro ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    We started our day with a few car problems- although the agency didn’t seem to think that an airbag warning light and a broken seat belt were problems... “no problem, no problem my friend. In Montenegro normal normal, no problem!”. Thankfully we managed to get another car and only lost an hour of our time.

    The journey was beautiful. We passed a big lake and headed straight to the coast. When we got there we were amazed at how crystal clear the sea is! So inviting to jump in if it wasn’t so cold. We continued our drive to Sveti Stefan - a tiny island that is filled with old brick houses. It was very pretty- and surrounded by turquoise waters. Stéphane braved the cold and jumped in for a swim - I got as far as my ankles. We went for a little walk around and had a picnic on the beach with the stunning views.

    We continued our journey to Kotor, via the windy mountain roads. Such incredible views of Kotor from the road! I think a car hire is a must if you’re visiting here, and the driving isn’t too crazy either (especially compared to Albania!) So we arrived in Kotor just after sunset and it was such a beautiful little town! Jaw dropping first impressions. We are staying in an amazing hostel (hostel pupa) just on the harbour for only €8 a night per person. (And that was paying a bit more for a 4 bed dorm- I think it was only €6 for a 10 bed which is quite good for here.) We are just on the doorstep of the old town so we went for a wander. It’s another world! You feel like you are walking through a movie set. It’s a UNESCO listed town and you can tell that its been taken care of. Everywhere you looked there was something to see- so many hidden lanes and a restaurant, bar or souvenir shop on every corner. Old churches and museums were scattered about too with an incredible amount of cats everywhere! They looked healthy and well fed though and we later found a shopkeeper dedicated to feeding them which was good to see. For dinner, there was plenty choice! We chose a nice little place to sit outside with heat lamps, blankets and a man playing saxophone. Bliss. And to top it off we had a little kitten visitor and a friendly dog. I was in my element!
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  • Day 16

    Relaxing day exploring Kotor and Perast

    October 31, 2017 in Montenegro ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    We visited the cute little sea side town of Perast today. It’s iconic for two little islands which we got a boat over to visit. There was a little museum and church on the island but that was about it. The other island has a monastery but it couldn’t be visited. Very remote. It was lovely though and thankfully it was quiet being low season. Afterwards we drank coffee in the sunshine (it’s sunny but getting colder) while enjoying the views.

    The afternoon was spent wandering through the old town by day- it was still very nice but I think I prefer the atmosphere in the evening. Then we hiked up to the top of the fortress. We went the back road which avoided paying the €3 charge but it turned out to be the nicest route! There was a beautiful friendly donkey and hilarious goats all staring intensely at us as we got higher up. The views were incredible and so rewarding after having walked up! We made it in time for sunset so the sky was the most amazing pink colour after. The city lights all came on and we got to see the city by night too. Definitely worth doing! Tonight’s dinner was a traditional pastry from a bakery which was delicious and very filling! Followed by a Nutella crêpe which was too difficult to resist.

    We leave Kotor and head to Dubrovnik in Croatia tomorrow. Excited!!
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  • Day 17

    Sunny Croatia

    November 1, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    It only took two hours to drive over to Croatia today. We only have two days here so we decided to just visit Dubrovnik. We got an amazing shared house to stay in with a big balcony but seen as it’s low season we have the place to ourselves! It’s incredible, best accommodation so far!

    We went to copacobana beach for a picnic (with the biggest roll I’ve ever had- see pics) and spent the rest of the day wandering around the HUGE old town. It’s like every old town we have seen so far but on steroids. Very beautiful and thankfully quite quiet. It’s nice to see these alleyways with no one there- sort of gives you a sense of how it might have been like back in the day. We tried to get a nice spot for sunset overlooking the red roofs. It’s crazy how early the sun sets here though! It’s dark by 5pm! I guess it is November... just not feeling like it these days with all the sunshine.

    Despite the low season, you can tell this is a very touristy place from the really high prices for everything. Such a difference! Although, we found a good place for a cheap(ish) dinner which was like an Italian version of Subway. You picked what pasta you wanted and your sauce and veg/meat and then they would make it up for you fresh. Was pretty nice!

    Walking tours are unfortunately quite pricey here so we’ve used our trusty friend google to help us understand the city more and tomorrow we are going to try find some 'Game of Thrones' filming locations! 😁
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  • Day 18

    Old town Dubrovnik

    November 2, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Relaxing morning on our balcony in the sunshine today! Can’t believe the beautiful weather at this time of year. Stéphane visited a war photo exhibition (Balkan wars and Dubrovnik under siege) which he said was extremely moving and sad but also very interesting. I spent my morning catching up on my journal in the sunshine.

    We wandered around the old town for the afternoon- chasing after 'Game of Thrones' filming locations! You can see why the directors got so much inspiration from the streets and buildings here. For lunch, we managed to find an amazing vegan restaurant and after walking around for the rest of the day, we decided to buy a bottle of wine and watch the sunset on our balcony. Amazing sunset over the ocean!! Reminded us of the many we watched in Australia.
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  • Day 19

    A day of travelling

    November 3, 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Breakfast in Croatia, Lunch in Montenegro, Dinner in Bosnia... not often you can say that!

    Sadly we left our amazing accommodation and beautiful Dubrovnik today and headed back to return our car rental in Montenegro. We took the wrong road and accidentally ended up in Bosnia which we weren’t meant to do with the car so that was a bit stressful but everything was fine! Phew. On our way back to Podgorica we took a détour up the mountains to Ostrog Monastery- a big white church that’s been built into the rocks. It was very pretty but it was the view from up there that was the most incredible part. It was very peaceful- although I can imagine it being a completely different vibe in high season. We sat and ate a picnic up there in the sunshine with the amazing views- feeling very lucky.

    Miraculously, we made it to Podgorica hassle free and without any traffic jams!! First for everything. I thought I was going to get in a weird situation with the police though. I was sitting with all the bags across from the bus station while Stéphane returned the car and two policemen came up to me and asked for my ID. I think they were confused why I had so much stuff- they asked me what I was doing and if everything was mine... (to be fair, I think we have taken a ridiculous amount of baggage) Everything turned out okay though and they seemed friendly - I just had ideas of corrupt police in my head thanks to our last Taxi driver and didn’t know what to expect.

    We then took a surprisingly expensive bus (€18 each) to Mostar in Bosnia which was 5 hours of extremely bumpy and windy roads through the mountains with possibly the most popular guy in Montenegro as a driver. (Don’t think there was one moment that he wasn’t texting or calling someone) - despite this... we made it there safe!
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  • Day 20

    A day in Mostar

    November 4, 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We started today with another free walking tour around the city. Due to low season, it was a very small group (only 4 of us). The tour started in Spanish square- exactly where the front line of the war took place in the early 90s. Despite the war ending 20 years ago, it felt so recent due to the many buildings that are still half destructed from shell bombs. You can also see bullet holes all over the buildings and areas where buildings used to be. It’s very surreal. Our guide told us that a lot of these buildings have not been fixed due to financial problems and also because there is a law that ensures all reconstructions have to honour the original building design. A lot of these buildings are from the Austrian/Hungarian ruling and therefore were quite fancy and unfortunately too expensive to redo. It’s a shame. A lot of old communist style cheap buildings remain - and there are a few reconstructions going on in the city but the amount of abandoned buildings is insane. Despite this, the old town is still a very pretty place and this very obvious and recent history just adds to its character. Our guide had pictures before the war which he showed us at the same locations that they were taken... looking at these was a good way to get a better idea of the history. Cannot recommend these free city tours enough!

    There is a beautiful bridge that goes across the river in the heart of the old town. The bridge is famous for its impressive design that was built in the 1500’s. Unfortunately the original bridge was destroyed during the war. It is now a UNESCO heritage and was reconstructed. There is a diving club that is based on the bridge and as soon as they raise a certain amount of money each day (€30 in summer, €50 in winter) then someone from the club will jump off the bridge. It’s pretty high, 23 meters! We were lucky enough to be there when someone jumped too! Scary to watch. The club also organises training to jump which is a half day of practicing on a training platform before attempting it. Bit too crazy for me.

    We spent a lot of time by the bridge, eating ice cream, bird watching and chatting to a local who was telling me all about how it used to be when he was young. We visited a war photo exhibition on the bridge too which was very interesting to see but so heartbreaking. One of the photographers wrote about Mostar: “Though the fighting has stopped, the scars of war, both physically and emotionally, still remain. Mostar is a multi-ethnic city but a divided one; and it will take several generations for this to change.” :(

    ———

    The rest of the day we just wandered and as we were back to cheap prices again (yay) we had an absolute feast for lunch. It was sooooo good. We tried fried bread called ‘Peksimet’ and a vegetable and rice dish (a bit like ratatouille), called ‘Duvec’. Delish!

    I could easily stay longer here- especially to learn more about its history. A trip to Serbia would be really interesting to compare the different versions of events!
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