What can I say about these days…we eat, we sleep, we drink, we swim, we bask in the sun…that is all we do this week. There are 5 pools here and we make sure to visit them all. There are numerous playgrounds which the kids try out. There are 6 restaurants and we try out a few, although our favourite is the one right by our place. The kids swim for hour upon hour and I actually finish a fiction novel.
We venture off the resort just once go into Sozopol which is a magical town built in the Ottoman style which is wood structures instead of the stone we have seen in other old towns. The views of the Black Sea are stunning. We have a gorgeous (and expensive - we paid for the view big time) lunch overlooking the sea and shop. Then we head straight back to the resort for a swim!
It’s a lovely week, and we feel blessed to have this time together in such a nice place.
Friday 7 August 2015
Day 16 - Sofia to Sozopol
We are up early and packed and we heat out to find the coffee shop “Memento” that was recommended to us. A good coffee is what it takes to set the day off right in my opinion! We meet Wendy, Bruce and Brian there and have a snack and coffee before Dave heads off to pick up our rental car at the Hilton. We wander around a bit and stop at a cool t-shirt store where Brian buys a good shirt and I get a scarf before we say our real goodbyes and head back to the apartment to check out. Dave isn’t back yet which is not a surprise at renting cars over here can sometimes be a painful and slow process.
The girls work hard and bring all the luggage down the stairs from the 5th floor as we had promised the host we would be out by 11am. We meet his girlfriend who is lovely and wait outside for Dave to arrive with the car. It’s hot and we are all a bit sweaty from hauling all that stuff!
Dave appears finally and we get loaded up and head out of the city. We are headed to the Black Sea to a town called Sozopol. We have rented an apartment in a large resort and we are excited for some down time!
The drive in uneventful - its a long straight highway in good condition with a good speed limit. We make one stop off in a town for lunch and end up in a mall where we buy some beach toys for the kids and two new bikinis for me! One thing I’ve learned is that over here, it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, everyone wears a bikini - I intend on doing as the locals do! I feel no shame.
We arrive at the resort and have a bit of a hard time finding it, but we do. The person we were told to meet doesn’t speak any english so that poses us a bit of stress, but we do manage to get the keys only to find out (after parking) that you also need a FOB so we have to go all the way back to reception. Once we get to the apartment, the keys don’t work. I am getting frustrated! It’s hot and we have all this luggage and we just want to get in and its like a comedy of errors. Finally we get in! Argghhh.
We strip down and head to the pool. There is one right by our place and its lovely! We eat at the restaurant beside the pool and are feeling much better about life! The view of the Sea is beautiful and the resort is truly luxurious.
There are a lot of Russians here - apparently 90% of the guests, so nobody that we see is speaking any english and the staff don’t speak much english either. We manage though. We are feeling good about the week ahead.
The girls work hard and bring all the luggage down the stairs from the 5th floor as we had promised the host we would be out by 11am. We meet his girlfriend who is lovely and wait outside for Dave to arrive with the car. It’s hot and we are all a bit sweaty from hauling all that stuff!
Dave appears finally and we get loaded up and head out of the city. We are headed to the Black Sea to a town called Sozopol. We have rented an apartment in a large resort and we are excited for some down time!
The drive in uneventful - its a long straight highway in good condition with a good speed limit. We make one stop off in a town for lunch and end up in a mall where we buy some beach toys for the kids and two new bikinis for me! One thing I’ve learned is that over here, it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, everyone wears a bikini - I intend on doing as the locals do! I feel no shame.
We arrive at the resort and have a bit of a hard time finding it, but we do. The person we were told to meet doesn’t speak any english so that poses us a bit of stress, but we do manage to get the keys only to find out (after parking) that you also need a FOB so we have to go all the way back to reception. Once we get to the apartment, the keys don’t work. I am getting frustrated! It’s hot and we have all this luggage and we just want to get in and its like a comedy of errors. Finally we get in! Argghhh.
We strip down and head to the pool. There is one right by our place and its lovely! We eat at the restaurant beside the pool and are feeling much better about life! The view of the Sea is beautiful and the resort is truly luxurious.
There are a lot of Russians here - apparently 90% of the guests, so nobody that we see is speaking any english and the staff don’t speak much english either. We manage though. We are feeling good about the week ahead.
Day 15 - Skopje to Sofia
Our transfer is picking us up at 11am this morning so we have a bit of time to wander around and grab something to eat after we get packed up. We load into the car and I realize that I don’t have Dave’s cel in my hand anymore - I seem to have a knack for losing things! We aren’t leaving without the phone so head back to the apartment and tear open everything. Emi our host is cleaning the apartment and she can’t see it so we are pulling apart the car when I finally remember where I put it! Ha! I had gone to take a quick pee before we left and had placed it on top of the water heater. Jeez - I need a bell or a strap for the phone!
Our driver is nice, and not a crazy driver which is great - so we make our way smoothly towards Sofia. The border crossing goes smoothly and we arrive into Sofia at around 5pm. There was an hour time change that we didn’t realize which meant we were quite a bit later to meet our next Airbnb host - which I felt badly about, but he didn’t seem to mind too much.
Wendy, Bruce and Brian had a place a couple blocks away, and our place was right along a main tram street which had great shops and restaurants. As is often the case, the lobby and stairwell of the apartment were not so lovely - a bit dark and rundown, but the apartment was lovely and very well decorated - very trendy and urban. No AC though which meant for a bit of a hot sleep, but the temperature has cooled down quite a bit since we entered Bulgaria.
We get settled in and then head off to meet for dinner. Our host suggested a restaurant called “The Little Things” and although it was really hard to find as it was tucked into a little courtyard - it was by far the best meal I think I’ve had - ever. I cannot even begin to do justice to the setting by my photos or my descriptions, but I will do my best. It was a little house, or felt like a little house with a series of rooms with tables in them. The whole place was decorated with “little things”…little shells hung on a piece of twine on the wall, little lightbulbs that had been filled with little flowers and hung in a row, little candles and this and that. It was beautifully done and very artistic. The door and window frames were all distressed, and you felt that you might be sitting in someones living room.
We sat upstairs in a room with a large wall of books and the kids enjoyed playing dominoes and looking at the books. I’m trying to think of whether or not there is even something close to this in Vancouver, but am falling short…it kind of had the feel of what Little Nest was like off of commercial drive - but with more attention to the design.
So right away you feel comfortable and warm and like you’re in this neat kind of place where your imagination is really captured…and then comes the food. We ordered a lot of it and it did not disappoint…Brushetta with goats cheese and honey and walnuts, beautiful salads, fresh veggies, enormous burgers and beautiful pastas…we honestly pigged out! Then we had to try dessert of course and that was amazing too. They make dessert for the day, so you pick from the selection. It was petit pots of chocolate mousse with what I think were elderberries and a lovely coffee cheesecake. Yum! Bruce is bent on coming back for dinner or lunch the next day as they have another day in Sofia before they head home - we are headed to Sozopol but have time for another stop here on the way back perhaps. It was a magical evening.
After dinner its time to walk off some of that food. We will not have the opportunity to see too much of Sofia so we wander around the streets, up to the main park in front of the National Theatre and back. These old cities with the beautiful buildings are magnificent to walk at night. They all do such a great job of uplighting that I think the buildings often look nicer in the dark - the architecture is more dramatic somehow.
Its getting late so we head back to our apartment and make plans for coffee in the morning. We say our goodbyes just in case!
Our driver is nice, and not a crazy driver which is great - so we make our way smoothly towards Sofia. The border crossing goes smoothly and we arrive into Sofia at around 5pm. There was an hour time change that we didn’t realize which meant we were quite a bit later to meet our next Airbnb host - which I felt badly about, but he didn’t seem to mind too much.
Wendy, Bruce and Brian had a place a couple blocks away, and our place was right along a main tram street which had great shops and restaurants. As is often the case, the lobby and stairwell of the apartment were not so lovely - a bit dark and rundown, but the apartment was lovely and very well decorated - very trendy and urban. No AC though which meant for a bit of a hot sleep, but the temperature has cooled down quite a bit since we entered Bulgaria.
We get settled in and then head off to meet for dinner. Our host suggested a restaurant called “The Little Things” and although it was really hard to find as it was tucked into a little courtyard - it was by far the best meal I think I’ve had - ever. I cannot even begin to do justice to the setting by my photos or my descriptions, but I will do my best. It was a little house, or felt like a little house with a series of rooms with tables in them. The whole place was decorated with “little things”…little shells hung on a piece of twine on the wall, little lightbulbs that had been filled with little flowers and hung in a row, little candles and this and that. It was beautifully done and very artistic. The door and window frames were all distressed, and you felt that you might be sitting in someones living room.
We sat upstairs in a room with a large wall of books and the kids enjoyed playing dominoes and looking at the books. I’m trying to think of whether or not there is even something close to this in Vancouver, but am falling short…it kind of had the feel of what Little Nest was like off of commercial drive - but with more attention to the design.
So right away you feel comfortable and warm and like you’re in this neat kind of place where your imagination is really captured…and then comes the food. We ordered a lot of it and it did not disappoint…Brushetta with goats cheese and honey and walnuts, beautiful salads, fresh veggies, enormous burgers and beautiful pastas…we honestly pigged out! Then we had to try dessert of course and that was amazing too. They make dessert for the day, so you pick from the selection. It was petit pots of chocolate mousse with what I think were elderberries and a lovely coffee cheesecake. Yum! Bruce is bent on coming back for dinner or lunch the next day as they have another day in Sofia before they head home - we are headed to Sozopol but have time for another stop here on the way back perhaps. It was a magical evening.
After dinner its time to walk off some of that food. We will not have the opportunity to see too much of Sofia so we wander around the streets, up to the main park in front of the National Theatre and back. These old cities with the beautiful buildings are magnificent to walk at night. They all do such a great job of uplighting that I think the buildings often look nicer in the dark - the architecture is more dramatic somehow.
Its getting late so we head back to our apartment and make plans for coffee in the morning. We say our goodbyes just in case!
Day 14 - Skopje
We’ve been following a pattern of 2 nights in a city followed by a travel day which leaves us with essentially one full day to see a city. This has been working out pretty well. Most big cities you can visit in a day, two if you really want to dive in. Given that it has been so hot, one day has been good enough for us as its really been too hard to do much more than that, our travel days have been nice in order to see the countryside in the comfort of air conditioning.
The one benefit of our city days is that we don’t have to get up early - and so we like to indulge in a bit of a sleep in. Our days tend to start late and end late as its nice to eat dinner later in the evening when its not so hot. unfortunately this means the kids have been going to be at around 11pm every night…sometimes they make it….other times they fall asleep at the table :o). We are going to have to really work hard to get them back on track when we get home!
So…we sleep a little late this morning and then get a text from Bruce and Brian that they are in the main square at a restaurant. We walk over to meet them…its another really hot day. We enjoy a lovely more traditional style breakfast at the London Bistro of omelettes and crepes and coffee and enjoy just spending time talking and eating.
Its then time to brave the heat and try to see some of this city. Immediately behind us while we are eating is a major construction zone. I understand from some other blogs I’ve read that this main part of the town has been undergoing extensive renovation and construction for some time now. The end result is something between spectacular and tacky extravagance. The main square features an enormous fountain…I mean enormous! It has a water sequence with water shooting out of lions and way up on top is Alexander the great riding a huge stallion. As you continue along towards the canal and over the bridge, you come across statue after statue after fountain. While they are truly magnificent and beautifully done - I’m not sure what the locals think of this extravagance. Our Airbnb host didn’t seem to care for it too much - he says the problem is that they have tried to make it look like they are old statues, but of course they haven’t - they look new. As a tourist, we did enjoy looking at them, but I can’t even think how much this project must be costing the city.
We carry on into the area featuring shops and browse around. There are shop after shop of gold and silver jewelry - I can’t imagine how they all stay in business side by side - perhaps they are all owned by the same person! There are lovely dress shops and shoe stores. There are a lot of muslims here and their dress is really beautiful - many women are wearing beautiful long coats and headscarves…hard to believe given the fact that it must be close to 40 degrees, but they look very nice.
We continue on and make our way into the Bazaar - its enormous, apparently second to only Istanbul - we weave through it but quite honestly, the heat is just to much. We’ve made a pretty good tour now and so we loop around and back up to the Fortress and find a place for a drink - a local Brewery. Good beer and food is a great way to beat the heat. While we are there a huge storm comes up and as we are perched up on the hill, we get an incredible view of the storm as it rolls in and the wind gusts start to fly huge pieces of debrie from the construction site - kind of scary! We have to shut the windows in the pub as the wind comes up so strong - unfortunately the rain that we all so desperately want doesn’t grace us.
We split up here and Dave, the kids and I venture back towards our apartment for some rest, we walk over a huge bridge featuring enormous anatomically correct male lions and then down to our little neighbourhood where we stop in a shop and buy the cutest little dresses for the girls.
We have a nice rest at the apartment and then everyone comes to our place for a drink on the deck. Its cooled off a bit now and we head down to find a place for dinner and run into our Airbnb hosts - they walk us over to the Bohemian area of town where we have an unbelievable meal in a little terrace. It has the intimacy of being in someone’s backyard and shortly after our arrival a small band arrives to serenade the diners. The food is truly magnificent - I can’t believe how lucky we have been on this trip with the food. It is not at all what I would have expected. Maybe we’ve just been really lucky with our choices, but for we have eaten very well for a very reasonable price.
We organize our transfer for the next day at dinner and then make the walk back to our apartment. Things have really livened up since we walked to the restaurant. Where once the other places had been quiet, now every table is packed. Little bars are playing good music and at another time in my life - this would have been a great area to stop in for a drink and maybe even some dancing…? Alas, Fiona is asleep in my arms as we trudge home and Avery is being carried as well. Funny how your life changes!
The one benefit of our city days is that we don’t have to get up early - and so we like to indulge in a bit of a sleep in. Our days tend to start late and end late as its nice to eat dinner later in the evening when its not so hot. unfortunately this means the kids have been going to be at around 11pm every night…sometimes they make it….other times they fall asleep at the table :o). We are going to have to really work hard to get them back on track when we get home!
So…we sleep a little late this morning and then get a text from Bruce and Brian that they are in the main square at a restaurant. We walk over to meet them…its another really hot day. We enjoy a lovely more traditional style breakfast at the London Bistro of omelettes and crepes and coffee and enjoy just spending time talking and eating.
Its then time to brave the heat and try to see some of this city. Immediately behind us while we are eating is a major construction zone. I understand from some other blogs I’ve read that this main part of the town has been undergoing extensive renovation and construction for some time now. The end result is something between spectacular and tacky extravagance. The main square features an enormous fountain…I mean enormous! It has a water sequence with water shooting out of lions and way up on top is Alexander the great riding a huge stallion. As you continue along towards the canal and over the bridge, you come across statue after statue after fountain. While they are truly magnificent and beautifully done - I’m not sure what the locals think of this extravagance. Our Airbnb host didn’t seem to care for it too much - he says the problem is that they have tried to make it look like they are old statues, but of course they haven’t - they look new. As a tourist, we did enjoy looking at them, but I can’t even think how much this project must be costing the city.
We carry on into the area featuring shops and browse around. There are shop after shop of gold and silver jewelry - I can’t imagine how they all stay in business side by side - perhaps they are all owned by the same person! There are lovely dress shops and shoe stores. There are a lot of muslims here and their dress is really beautiful - many women are wearing beautiful long coats and headscarves…hard to believe given the fact that it must be close to 40 degrees, but they look very nice.
We continue on and make our way into the Bazaar - its enormous, apparently second to only Istanbul - we weave through it but quite honestly, the heat is just to much. We’ve made a pretty good tour now and so we loop around and back up to the Fortress and find a place for a drink - a local Brewery. Good beer and food is a great way to beat the heat. While we are there a huge storm comes up and as we are perched up on the hill, we get an incredible view of the storm as it rolls in and the wind gusts start to fly huge pieces of debrie from the construction site - kind of scary! We have to shut the windows in the pub as the wind comes up so strong - unfortunately the rain that we all so desperately want doesn’t grace us.
We split up here and Dave, the kids and I venture back towards our apartment for some rest, we walk over a huge bridge featuring enormous anatomically correct male lions and then down to our little neighbourhood where we stop in a shop and buy the cutest little dresses for the girls.
We have a nice rest at the apartment and then everyone comes to our place for a drink on the deck. Its cooled off a bit now and we head down to find a place for dinner and run into our Airbnb hosts - they walk us over to the Bohemian area of town where we have an unbelievable meal in a little terrace. It has the intimacy of being in someone’s backyard and shortly after our arrival a small band arrives to serenade the diners. The food is truly magnificent - I can’t believe how lucky we have been on this trip with the food. It is not at all what I would have expected. Maybe we’ve just been really lucky with our choices, but for we have eaten very well for a very reasonable price.
We organize our transfer for the next day at dinner and then make the walk back to our apartment. Things have really livened up since we walked to the restaurant. Where once the other places had been quiet, now every table is packed. Little bars are playing good music and at another time in my life - this would have been a great area to stop in for a drink and maybe even some dancing…? Alas, Fiona is asleep in my arms as we trudge home and Avery is being carried as well. Funny how your life changes!
Friday 31 July 2015
Day 13 - Tirana to Skopje (via Kosovo)
Today is an awesome day! It is amazing what a nice vehicle, driven by a good driver, with a good guide can do for you. While its fun to have a car so that you can do things the way you want and have control over your day, having a driver is also very nice. It can be exhausting to drive for hours, so this way, you get to see the countryside, but not have the stress of driving on your shoulders.
We are in a beautiful bus…its not a van, its like a small 19 passenger bus. Its in lovely condition and has AC! Whoot!. Our driver, Def, is great - he is a good and conscientious driver and even keeled - not at all like the crazy man that drove us from Montenegro. We also have a guide, his name is Adam and he is extremely knowledgeable and a lot of fun. He spent 13 years or so in England, so his english is good and he’s got a great sense of humour which make the day pass easily.
We head up North out of Tirana before we turn northeast and head towards Kosovo. While Skopje Macedonia is about in the same direction, we really want to get our feet over the border into Kosovo so we can say we’ve been there! With some of these countries that are still settling themselves, you just never know if they will be the same in a few years from now, so best to get in and see them while we can.
Its a beautiful drive through Albania - they have built a new beautiful highway and at one point near the Kosovo border we go through an amazing 6 mile tunnel. We hit the border and go right through and the roads in Kosovo are great too. We arrive easily into Prizren which is our first stop. We get out and enjoy a lovely walk around the town and in the end decide to have lunch here. It is smoking hot as is the norm these days. So we don’t walk too long as its truly unbearable. We dine in what Adam claims is “the best restaurant in Kosovo” - and it is good, although the restaurant itself is super unique. It is enormous with multiple floor and inside and outside terraces and rooms. There is a huge pond that the kids enjoy looking for fish and turtles in.
After lunch we pile back into our bus and head north further to the capital of Kosovo, Pristina. Here we get out and have a quick walk around, we stop for ice cream and for some fun in a water fountain built into the street and then head back to the bus.
The roads from Pristina to Skopje are not as great and its much slower going. To be honest, this is what I had expected for the whole drive and the new highway all the way to Pristina had been a really nice surprise.
We arrive into Skopje and have a heck of a time finding our apartments, but we do in the end and they are great. We had not been able to find one place for the whole group so rented two smaller apartments. The owners is a lovely lady and she takes us up to ours and then walks Mom, Bruce and Brian over to theirs.
After settling in, its pretty late, the clan comes over to our place to check out our view - which is pretty awesome, and then we head around the corner to a cute little restaurant for dinner. We have lovely salads and meat and wine and have found the people here also very friendly and warm.
We head back to sleep after dinner, it truly was a really nice day.
We are in a beautiful bus…its not a van, its like a small 19 passenger bus. Its in lovely condition and has AC! Whoot!. Our driver, Def, is great - he is a good and conscientious driver and even keeled - not at all like the crazy man that drove us from Montenegro. We also have a guide, his name is Adam and he is extremely knowledgeable and a lot of fun. He spent 13 years or so in England, so his english is good and he’s got a great sense of humour which make the day pass easily.
We head up North out of Tirana before we turn northeast and head towards Kosovo. While Skopje Macedonia is about in the same direction, we really want to get our feet over the border into Kosovo so we can say we’ve been there! With some of these countries that are still settling themselves, you just never know if they will be the same in a few years from now, so best to get in and see them while we can.
Its a beautiful drive through Albania - they have built a new beautiful highway and at one point near the Kosovo border we go through an amazing 6 mile tunnel. We hit the border and go right through and the roads in Kosovo are great too. We arrive easily into Prizren which is our first stop. We get out and enjoy a lovely walk around the town and in the end decide to have lunch here. It is smoking hot as is the norm these days. So we don’t walk too long as its truly unbearable. We dine in what Adam claims is “the best restaurant in Kosovo” - and it is good, although the restaurant itself is super unique. It is enormous with multiple floor and inside and outside terraces and rooms. There is a huge pond that the kids enjoy looking for fish and turtles in.
After lunch we pile back into our bus and head north further to the capital of Kosovo, Pristina. Here we get out and have a quick walk around, we stop for ice cream and for some fun in a water fountain built into the street and then head back to the bus.
The roads from Pristina to Skopje are not as great and its much slower going. To be honest, this is what I had expected for the whole drive and the new highway all the way to Pristina had been a really nice surprise.
We arrive into Skopje and have a heck of a time finding our apartments, but we do in the end and they are great. We had not been able to find one place for the whole group so rented two smaller apartments. The owners is a lovely lady and she takes us up to ours and then walks Mom, Bruce and Brian over to theirs.
After settling in, its pretty late, the clan comes over to our place to check out our view - which is pretty awesome, and then we head around the corner to a cute little restaurant for dinner. We have lovely salads and meat and wine and have found the people here also very friendly and warm.
We head back to sleep after dinner, it truly was a really nice day.
Day 12 - Tirana
Well…i certainly fell off the blog writing wagon! The last bit of the trip was a bit of a whirlwind and now we are at a lovely resort and I’ve been slacking off!
So - Tirana…Albania…let me try to remember! We are in our lovely hostel which is super trendy, we wake up feeling cool which is such a treat. We head out looking for breakfast and this is not super easy as people don’t seem to do breakfast the way we do here. I’m seriously on the prowl for a good coffee so we start walking towards the Blloku which is a trendy area with shops and bars etc. During communist times it used to be an elite area reserved only for leaders and politicians etc.
We find a lovely cafe called Sophie’s or something like that and they have a play area and good coffee and while perhaps not breakfast by our standards, I’ll eat a good ham and cheese sandwich any day. Its already super hot by this time and we enjoy the little bit of AC before we head out into the heat to stroll around.
We really enjoy the area, nice tree lined streets, lovely boutiques and restaurants and bars. It’s not super fancy and the streets and sidewalks are not pristine by any means, but we feel safe and comfortable. I actually am wishing we had a bit more time here - its really a neat place and the people here are fantastic. So friendly and helpful, I just get a good feeling.
People claim that Albanians are the worst drivers in Europe as they have only been driving for about 10 years or so since the end of communism. Its hard to believe heh? I mean I understand the concept of communism, I just didn't really understand all of what it entailed for the people living here...you couldn't own a car, so people didn't drive. Now you can and everyone has a car and so its pretty hectic on the streets. I've seen worse mind you, Delhi or Cairo have Tirana beat for sure.
We try to exchange some money and are able to do much of it except for several thousands of Serbian dollars which we have had no success exchanging since we left Serbia. At least we are able to get rid of some Romanian and some Croatian and the small Serbian bills.
By lunchtime or so, we can take the heat no longer and head back to the hostel to sit by the air conditioner in the cafe and drink cold drinks and play games etc. Its like high 30's here...its tough! Dave picks us up some Burek style pastries for lunch and we just enjoy lounging.
We then decide we should go do some more sightseeing so we head out to the Museum which is honestly a lovely surprise. It costs us about $1.50 each to get in and although not grand or big, I’m truly taken by many of the lovely paintings in the gallery. I’m not much of an art connoisseur by any stretch (although I just finished the Goldfinch which I really enjoyed and inspired me to learn a little more!), but the large war pieces were colourful and energetic and showed such confidence and excitement for life ahead. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this visit.
After the museum it started to rain a little which we were honestly begging for, but it did not last, we strolled around the streets looking at architecture, visiting the main turning circle and status, Independence Sculpture and so on. We finished by walking across a large park on our way to find a nice place for a drink when we realized that Fiona had lost her darn shoes again….let me back up. We brought the carrier for Fiona on this trip instead of a stroller. We figured a stroller would be useless on cobblestone (which would be everywhere) and would take up lots of room. The carrier has been great, but she tends to fall asleep in it as she only goes in when she’s tired. When she falls asleep, her feet relax and off go her flip flops! This has happened to us several times and we have found the shoes each time and you’d think we would learn - BUT NO! Off I go searching back to the point that she went into the carrier for the lost flip flop (found the first one right away). It is found! Hooray and so our beer was well deserved at the cafe we found.
After our drink we walk back to the hotel and relax a little and get cleaned up for dinner. Looking in the little tourist guide and online we pick a place for dinner and as were leaving, we ask the hostel if its any good and which way to go and they say - no no! You must go to this other place…a bit of a drive but its great and true Albanian food.
So we get some cabs and off we go. We honestly haven’t a clue where we are being taken - its dark and we are now on the highway and seem to be just driving into the distance, but we finally come to a beautiful castle looking building and there is a true Albanian restaurant set in an outdoor garden which is lovely. The kids play in the enormous playground and even find some english speaking kids - huge novelty for the other kids and they are missionaries from the US and don’t get many english speaking kids to play with. We have a nice dinner and then get cabs called to take us back.
All of this would have been lovely and pleasant, except that we forgot where we were and got too comfortable and forgot the cardinal rule when taking cabs in places like this: YOU MUST NEGOTIATE CAB FARE IN ADVANCE! I learned this lesson a long time ago…but we got lazy. So when we arrived at the restaurant and the guy says 1000 - even though the meter say 500 - we say what gives and he shuts off the meter and says “no…its 1000”. This isn’t big bucks or anything, but the principal of it bothers us of course. We settle on 800 in the end. On the way back, we think we are smart, we say we will only pay 600 - well they don’t want to take us for 600. We are in the boonies, I don’t think we have a choice, it takes FOREVER to negotiate and then they are not even sure where we are staying and so on and so on. We settle on 800 in the end to take us back. This makes us feel better somehow. I’d rather pay the 800 and tip him the extra 200 which we do.
Its bedtime now - Fiona has been asleep for sometime now, so we make our way up and to sleep.
Robert leaves us here - we though he was to come to Skopje with us, but the days were a bit muddled and so we had to rearrange his flights and get him home from Tirana. He leaves at 4:30am tomorrow morning - yikes!
Our transfer is set to pick us up at 8:30am tomorrow…we are headed to Macedonia!
So - Tirana…Albania…let me try to remember! We are in our lovely hostel which is super trendy, we wake up feeling cool which is such a treat. We head out looking for breakfast and this is not super easy as people don’t seem to do breakfast the way we do here. I’m seriously on the prowl for a good coffee so we start walking towards the Blloku which is a trendy area with shops and bars etc. During communist times it used to be an elite area reserved only for leaders and politicians etc.
We find a lovely cafe called Sophie’s or something like that and they have a play area and good coffee and while perhaps not breakfast by our standards, I’ll eat a good ham and cheese sandwich any day. Its already super hot by this time and we enjoy the little bit of AC before we head out into the heat to stroll around.
We really enjoy the area, nice tree lined streets, lovely boutiques and restaurants and bars. It’s not super fancy and the streets and sidewalks are not pristine by any means, but we feel safe and comfortable. I actually am wishing we had a bit more time here - its really a neat place and the people here are fantastic. So friendly and helpful, I just get a good feeling.
We try to exchange some money and are able to do much of it except for several thousands of Serbian dollars which we have had no success exchanging since we left Serbia. At least we are able to get rid of some Romanian and some Croatian and the small Serbian bills.
By lunchtime or so, we can take the heat no longer and head back to the hostel to sit by the air conditioner in the cafe and drink cold drinks and play games etc. Its like high 30's here...its tough! Dave picks us up some Burek style pastries for lunch and we just enjoy lounging.
We then decide we should go do some more sightseeing so we head out to the Museum which is honestly a lovely surprise. It costs us about $1.50 each to get in and although not grand or big, I’m truly taken by many of the lovely paintings in the gallery. I’m not much of an art connoisseur by any stretch (although I just finished the Goldfinch which I really enjoyed and inspired me to learn a little more!), but the large war pieces were colourful and energetic and showed such confidence and excitement for life ahead. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this visit.
After the museum it started to rain a little which we were honestly begging for, but it did not last, we strolled around the streets looking at architecture, visiting the main turning circle and status, Independence Sculpture and so on. We finished by walking across a large park on our way to find a nice place for a drink when we realized that Fiona had lost her darn shoes again….let me back up. We brought the carrier for Fiona on this trip instead of a stroller. We figured a stroller would be useless on cobblestone (which would be everywhere) and would take up lots of room. The carrier has been great, but she tends to fall asleep in it as she only goes in when she’s tired. When she falls asleep, her feet relax and off go her flip flops! This has happened to us several times and we have found the shoes each time and you’d think we would learn - BUT NO! Off I go searching back to the point that she went into the carrier for the lost flip flop (found the first one right away). It is found! Hooray and so our beer was well deserved at the cafe we found.
After our drink we walk back to the hotel and relax a little and get cleaned up for dinner. Looking in the little tourist guide and online we pick a place for dinner and as were leaving, we ask the hostel if its any good and which way to go and they say - no no! You must go to this other place…a bit of a drive but its great and true Albanian food.
So we get some cabs and off we go. We honestly haven’t a clue where we are being taken - its dark and we are now on the highway and seem to be just driving into the distance, but we finally come to a beautiful castle looking building and there is a true Albanian restaurant set in an outdoor garden which is lovely. The kids play in the enormous playground and even find some english speaking kids - huge novelty for the other kids and they are missionaries from the US and don’t get many english speaking kids to play with. We have a nice dinner and then get cabs called to take us back.
All of this would have been lovely and pleasant, except that we forgot where we were and got too comfortable and forgot the cardinal rule when taking cabs in places like this: YOU MUST NEGOTIATE CAB FARE IN ADVANCE! I learned this lesson a long time ago…but we got lazy. So when we arrived at the restaurant and the guy says 1000 - even though the meter say 500 - we say what gives and he shuts off the meter and says “no…its 1000”. This isn’t big bucks or anything, but the principal of it bothers us of course. We settle on 800 in the end. On the way back, we think we are smart, we say we will only pay 600 - well they don’t want to take us for 600. We are in the boonies, I don’t think we have a choice, it takes FOREVER to negotiate and then they are not even sure where we are staying and so on and so on. We settle on 800 in the end to take us back. This makes us feel better somehow. I’d rather pay the 800 and tip him the extra 200 which we do.
Its bedtime now - Fiona has been asleep for sometime now, so we make our way up and to sleep.
Robert leaves us here - we though he was to come to Skopje with us, but the days were a bit muddled and so we had to rearrange his flights and get him home from Tirana. He leaves at 4:30am tomorrow morning - yikes!
Our transfer is set to pick us up at 8:30am tomorrow…we are headed to Macedonia!
Thursday 23 July 2015
Day 11 - Budva to Tirana
We were supposed to leave early this morning but decide to change the transfer to a later departure so we can enjoy a break on the beach. It is so bloody hot that we need to enjoy the beach while we can.
The host of the apartment gets the AC fixed for the next guests (good for them!) and we get packed up and head to the other side of old town to a beach called Jaz. The beach here is pebbly but so clean and the water is so nice. We spend the 10 euros to get an umbrella and two chairs right on the water and spend 2 luxurious hours laying in the water and looking through all the lovely small stones/pebbles on the beach. Our bags are a little heavier now from all the pebbles the girls collected!
We head back to the apartment to gather our belongings and our tour van meets us here to pick us up and drive us to Albania.
The drive starts out pretty good but then we slowly realize that the AC in the van doesn’t seem to be working either! Arggghh…we are doomed to be hot. It must be 42 degrees outside and the driver is a total nutcase to boot!
After sweltering in the hot van until we are over the border into Albania we decide that having the windows open and at least having a breeze is better than sitting in the sweat box.
The driver is erratic and at the border does a crazy manoever to blow past a bunch of cars. At one point he is running back to the car with his shirt flying open and cigarette dangling from his mouth like some kind of crazed man. He actually gets pulled over by the Albanian police for trying to pass 4 cars on a blind corner in a no passing lane. He actually argued and yelled at the policeman, then tried to pay them off and in the end ended up with a ticket that he could pay on the spot. His behaviour would have landed anyone in Canada a nice place in the back of the police car!
They had included a nice good looking young woman as our guide and she coaxed him to calm down and we told him no more passing! We still found the rest of the drive very colourful thanks to him, and he seemed to cause quite a few very near misses once we hit Tirana but we ultimately made it to our hostel safe and sort of sound - although incredibly dehydrated and sweaty.
Our hostel is super trendy and has air conditioning that works! We have cold showers, get changed and have a nice beer in the cafe attached to the hostel. We are feeling much better!
We head out to the recommended restaurant, Era, and have one of if not THE best meals of our trip. The traditional Albanian food is amazing! Beautiful fresh salads and hearty meals. The service is impeccable - our server Ansi was fantastic! Generally, we have found the people here super friendly and helpful and while the city is obviously still going through some growing pains since its freedom from communism in 1992 it is lively and colourful and has a really great vibe.
We stroll back to the hostel and have an amazing sleep in the cool clean rooms. Let’s hope the trials of the last 24 hours are behind us!
The host of the apartment gets the AC fixed for the next guests (good for them!) and we get packed up and head to the other side of old town to a beach called Jaz. The beach here is pebbly but so clean and the water is so nice. We spend the 10 euros to get an umbrella and two chairs right on the water and spend 2 luxurious hours laying in the water and looking through all the lovely small stones/pebbles on the beach. Our bags are a little heavier now from all the pebbles the girls collected!
We head back to the apartment to gather our belongings and our tour van meets us here to pick us up and drive us to Albania.
The drive starts out pretty good but then we slowly realize that the AC in the van doesn’t seem to be working either! Arggghh…we are doomed to be hot. It must be 42 degrees outside and the driver is a total nutcase to boot!
After sweltering in the hot van until we are over the border into Albania we decide that having the windows open and at least having a breeze is better than sitting in the sweat box.
The driver is erratic and at the border does a crazy manoever to blow past a bunch of cars. At one point he is running back to the car with his shirt flying open and cigarette dangling from his mouth like some kind of crazed man. He actually gets pulled over by the Albanian police for trying to pass 4 cars on a blind corner in a no passing lane. He actually argued and yelled at the policeman, then tried to pay them off and in the end ended up with a ticket that he could pay on the spot. His behaviour would have landed anyone in Canada a nice place in the back of the police car!
They had included a nice good looking young woman as our guide and she coaxed him to calm down and we told him no more passing! We still found the rest of the drive very colourful thanks to him, and he seemed to cause quite a few very near misses once we hit Tirana but we ultimately made it to our hostel safe and sort of sound - although incredibly dehydrated and sweaty.
Our hostel is super trendy and has air conditioning that works! We have cold showers, get changed and have a nice beer in the cafe attached to the hostel. We are feeling much better!
We head out to the recommended restaurant, Era, and have one of if not THE best meals of our trip. The traditional Albanian food is amazing! Beautiful fresh salads and hearty meals. The service is impeccable - our server Ansi was fantastic! Generally, we have found the people here super friendly and helpful and while the city is obviously still going through some growing pains since its freedom from communism in 1992 it is lively and colourful and has a really great vibe.
We stroll back to the hostel and have an amazing sleep in the cool clean rooms. Let’s hope the trials of the last 24 hours are behind us!
Day 10 - Dubrovnik to Budva
Today is a short drive, so we have until 12:30pm to explore Dubrovnik. Unfortunately mom gets a call about the forest fires near La Casa so we need to spend a few hours in a local coffee shop dealing with sending updates to guests and so on. It is a little stressful and it is SOOOO hot. In the end we decide that Dave will take the girls to swim and only a few of us will stay to meet Tea for the tour.
As we really want to learn more about the history of the area and the war, we ask Tea for a bit of a history lesson. She is amazing and I would recommend her to anyone visiting this area. We sit down and she draws us a map of eastern europe and gives Brian, mom and I a lesson on the history of Yugoslavia. It is truly fascinating to me and I can’t wait to get home and get some more books about all of this. After visiting all of these countries I really feel the desire to know more about what they have undergone.
The one piece that I will share is the reason for why Dubrovnik is separated from the rest of Croatia with a sliver of Bosnia between it and the rest of Croatia. Dubrvnik was initially its own free state and in the 1400’s the Turks were invading this part of Europe. The turks (Ottoman Empire) had a new set of rules around war that was terrifying to Europeans, and so the people of Dubrovnik (Ragusa) sent representatives to speak to the Sultan. In the end, they ended up paying an annual tribute to the Sultan (a “donation”) that would give them freedom from being attacked. In the 1600’s the city would suffer a huge earthquake and economic downturn and it ended up selling two pieces of its land to the Turks in order to protect themselves from the ongoing fights with the Venetians. This meant that forces would need to pass through Turk land in order to reach Dubrovnik. The sliver of land to the north of the city now belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to the south is now know as Montenegro. I may not have all the facts quite right but that was the gist of it and I found it all very interesting. Dubrovnik really has flourished over the year and has been a major port for import/export.
It is a high class place and certainly the most expensive and high end city we have visited so far. Everything is top dollar including food.
After our history talk, we take a short walk through the streets of the city with Tea pointing out this and that and sharing little anecdotes. We finish at a small gallery where we may or may not have picked up a little something for the walls.
It’s now time to get out of here…we take a few quick photos of Brian and the girls in the Game of Thrones throne and then can’t stand the heat any longer and get into the car to head towards Budva. This is a short drive and we cross the border within the hour and arrive into Budva by early afternoon. We take a short ferry ride across the inlet to save us some driving hours and generally the drive is uneventful but beautiful.
When we arrive in Budva, our apartment here is absolutely lovely and the host is very gracious, but unfortunately the AC isn’t working. We get the rental cars dropped off and we lounge around a little until we can’t stand the heat any longer and then we head down to the beach for a swim which is refreshing, but the beaches in the main part of town are truly disgusting with cigarette butts everywhere.
We stroll down a little further to a neat place for dinner and have a lovely meal. The kids enjoy the various aquariums around the restaurant but the heat is still a factor so they are tired.
After dinner we stroll along the main pedestrian boulevard which is honestly a bit of a circus. There are nightclub after nightclub with very scantily dressed women out front to lure you in and music pounding out at an alarming decibel. They seem to be in competition for the loudest music. It actually would be a lot of fun in a different lifetime! We tell the girls how much fun they will have at places like this when they get a little older!
Once we are back at the apartment it is still unbelievably warm. We have a horrid sleep with windows wide and our bodies desperate for any kind of small breeze that may come our way. It is a restless night for all.
As we really want to learn more about the history of the area and the war, we ask Tea for a bit of a history lesson. She is amazing and I would recommend her to anyone visiting this area. We sit down and she draws us a map of eastern europe and gives Brian, mom and I a lesson on the history of Yugoslavia. It is truly fascinating to me and I can’t wait to get home and get some more books about all of this. After visiting all of these countries I really feel the desire to know more about what they have undergone.
The one piece that I will share is the reason for why Dubrovnik is separated from the rest of Croatia with a sliver of Bosnia between it and the rest of Croatia. Dubrvnik was initially its own free state and in the 1400’s the Turks were invading this part of Europe. The turks (Ottoman Empire) had a new set of rules around war that was terrifying to Europeans, and so the people of Dubrovnik (Ragusa) sent representatives to speak to the Sultan. In the end, they ended up paying an annual tribute to the Sultan (a “donation”) that would give them freedom from being attacked. In the 1600’s the city would suffer a huge earthquake and economic downturn and it ended up selling two pieces of its land to the Turks in order to protect themselves from the ongoing fights with the Venetians. This meant that forces would need to pass through Turk land in order to reach Dubrovnik. The sliver of land to the north of the city now belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to the south is now know as Montenegro. I may not have all the facts quite right but that was the gist of it and I found it all very interesting. Dubrovnik really has flourished over the year and has been a major port for import/export.
It is a high class place and certainly the most expensive and high end city we have visited so far. Everything is top dollar including food.
After our history talk, we take a short walk through the streets of the city with Tea pointing out this and that and sharing little anecdotes. We finish at a small gallery where we may or may not have picked up a little something for the walls.
It’s now time to get out of here…we take a few quick photos of Brian and the girls in the Game of Thrones throne and then can’t stand the heat any longer and get into the car to head towards Budva. This is a short drive and we cross the border within the hour and arrive into Budva by early afternoon. We take a short ferry ride across the inlet to save us some driving hours and generally the drive is uneventful but beautiful.
When we arrive in Budva, our apartment here is absolutely lovely and the host is very gracious, but unfortunately the AC isn’t working. We get the rental cars dropped off and we lounge around a little until we can’t stand the heat any longer and then we head down to the beach for a swim which is refreshing, but the beaches in the main part of town are truly disgusting with cigarette butts everywhere.
We stroll down a little further to a neat place for dinner and have a lovely meal. The kids enjoy the various aquariums around the restaurant but the heat is still a factor so they are tired.
After dinner we stroll along the main pedestrian boulevard which is honestly a bit of a circus. There are nightclub after nightclub with very scantily dressed women out front to lure you in and music pounding out at an alarming decibel. They seem to be in competition for the loudest music. It actually would be a lot of fun in a different lifetime! We tell the girls how much fun they will have at places like this when they get a little older!
Once we are back at the apartment it is still unbelievably warm. We have a horrid sleep with windows wide and our bodies desperate for any kind of small breeze that may come our way. It is a restless night for all.
Day 9 - Sarajevo to Dubrovnik
We get up early and get out of the apartment b 8:30am. We have another big day of driving ahead of us, but we want to stop at the Tunnel of Hope on the way out of town. This is the 800m tunnel that the Bosnians dug underneath (across) the airport runway during the war so that they could get people out and provisions in.
The city of Sarajevo was under siege for 4 years (April 1992 to Feb 1996) - the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare (*Wikepedia). The city had been encircled and all routes were blocked. The Serbs had thought that the city would capitulate quickly, but instead the locals resisted. The museum was incredibly well done with video footage, a small area the types of items that were created to provide basic necessities to the people and a small portion of the original tunnel that you could walk through. The tunnel was only 1.6M high and about 1m wide. you had to crouch down slightly to make it through and Bosnians would trudge through with their belongings on their back with goats and children in tow. It was very powerful and worth the stop.
We then carried on towards the coast…again a lovely drive. The border crossing into Croatia was hugely long, and then as it would turn out, we had to travel back into Bosnia again and then back into Croatia again because of the land division along the coast. This meant a lot of waits, but the weather again is so bloody hot, that we are happier in the car with AC turned on high.
As we drive along the coast the landscape and architecture turns Mediterranean and it is absolutely stunning. The water is a beautiful colour and beautiful homes resorts dot the coastline.
As we enter into Dubrovnik, we are amazed at the city. We are staying within the old town city walls which is really a neat opportunity. There are no cars allowed and the streets are extremely narrow and steep with stairs. Our place is an extremely narrow and extremely steep 4 story. The stairs basically wrap straight up with doors that pop out at every storey with the bedrooms. I wouldn’t say this is the best place…it is find and the bathrooms are clean, but its a little treacherous and I’m a little dubious about the cleanliness of the blankets. Anyways, its cool to be within the old city walls.
We are sooo hot, so we quickly make our way to the beach for our first swim in the Adriatic Sea. It is sublime! We cool off before heading back to get cleaned up for dinner.
We had contacted a lady here to give us a tour and she booked us reservations for dinner at a place down by the water. Tea comes to meet us to discuss what we will do with her the next day. She is a total hoot and we like her instantly. She helps us to order and we decide to meet her at 9am the next morning. We enjoy lots of seafood and wine but it is so hot that we are all really melting here. Even though its late and we are on the water, there is no breeze and everyone is really feeling the heat. After dinner we stroll along the main pedestrian walkway where a live band is playing. It is the summer festival in Dubrovnik so there are lots of outdoor music venues.
We make our way back to the apartment and go to sleep - the heat again is making our days pretty difficult and trying for everyone. Even the locals are suffering from the heat. Sleep comes easily as usual!
The city of Sarajevo was under siege for 4 years (April 1992 to Feb 1996) - the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare (*Wikepedia). The city had been encircled and all routes were blocked. The Serbs had thought that the city would capitulate quickly, but instead the locals resisted. The museum was incredibly well done with video footage, a small area the types of items that were created to provide basic necessities to the people and a small portion of the original tunnel that you could walk through. The tunnel was only 1.6M high and about 1m wide. you had to crouch down slightly to make it through and Bosnians would trudge through with their belongings on their back with goats and children in tow. It was very powerful and worth the stop.
We then carried on towards the coast…again a lovely drive. The border crossing into Croatia was hugely long, and then as it would turn out, we had to travel back into Bosnia again and then back into Croatia again because of the land division along the coast. This meant a lot of waits, but the weather again is so bloody hot, that we are happier in the car with AC turned on high.
As we drive along the coast the landscape and architecture turns Mediterranean and it is absolutely stunning. The water is a beautiful colour and beautiful homes resorts dot the coastline.
As we enter into Dubrovnik, we are amazed at the city. We are staying within the old town city walls which is really a neat opportunity. There are no cars allowed and the streets are extremely narrow and steep with stairs. Our place is an extremely narrow and extremely steep 4 story. The stairs basically wrap straight up with doors that pop out at every storey with the bedrooms. I wouldn’t say this is the best place…it is find and the bathrooms are clean, but its a little treacherous and I’m a little dubious about the cleanliness of the blankets. Anyways, its cool to be within the old city walls.
We are sooo hot, so we quickly make our way to the beach for our first swim in the Adriatic Sea. It is sublime! We cool off before heading back to get cleaned up for dinner.
We had contacted a lady here to give us a tour and she booked us reservations for dinner at a place down by the water. Tea comes to meet us to discuss what we will do with her the next day. She is a total hoot and we like her instantly. She helps us to order and we decide to meet her at 9am the next morning. We enjoy lots of seafood and wine but it is so hot that we are all really melting here. Even though its late and we are on the water, there is no breeze and everyone is really feeling the heat. After dinner we stroll along the main pedestrian walkway where a live band is playing. It is the summer festival in Dubrovnik so there are lots of outdoor music venues.
We make our way back to the apartment and go to sleep - the heat again is making our days pretty difficult and trying for everyone. Even the locals are suffering from the heat. Sleep comes easily as usual!
Day 8 - Sarejevo
Today is a fun day! We get up and head over to the old town and find a nice little cafe to have breakfast. Despite the fact that the cook has a cigarette dangling out of her mouth with about an inch of ash on the end, the food is surprisingly good. A few of us try a traditional Bosnian coffee (like a turkish coffee) and declare it pretty gross - although after reading up on it afterwards I don’t think we drank them properly. Kind of tasted like coffee flavoured bathwater in my opinion.
After breakfast we stroll around and into the turkish area, we stroll through the bazaar and buys some goodies including fans for the girls which was a great investment it would turn out. We then decide to try and find the old Sarajevo Olympic abandoned bobsled track which we hear is fun to walk inside and explore.
We manage to take a totally wrong turn and end up climbing up a huge mountain…we keep going even after figuring out we were on the wrong track as we figure that there must be a good view from the top. We are not disappointed. At the top is a cel tower and there are actually quite a few people sitting at the top. It is obviously a hiking spot for locals and tourists and we see lots of neat trails and downhill mountain biking tracks. We were happy to have stumbled across this lovely place.
As we come back down the mountain, we head to the right as directed by some people and see the entrance to the bobsled track area. Just beyond is a neat sort of park/resort area where we stop to have lunch. It will turn out to be the most expensive meal we’ve had so far…a beautiful setting though but sort of like Banff where the prices are all a little over the top. They even wanted to charge us for the kids to play in the playground - no thanks!
After lunch we head back a little ways and finally find the bobsled track. It is amazing. We climb up to the top and then down to the bottom. The kid totally love running inside the large concrete tubes that are covered in graffiti. Also, because of the curves you can talk to one another from a long distance and hear each other perfectly. It is so much fun and was a big hit for the girls.
We then head back down into the city and get the kids an ice cream and sit at a nice cafe with misters! A nice way to finish off the day.
As we had a late lunch, we just grab a couple of pizzas as a late snack but both Avery and Fiona put themselves to bed before we even get the pizzas as they are so tired. The rest of us read and relax and follow them not to long after. We are getting up early the next morning so we need a good rest.
After breakfast we stroll around and into the turkish area, we stroll through the bazaar and buys some goodies including fans for the girls which was a great investment it would turn out. We then decide to try and find the old Sarajevo Olympic abandoned bobsled track which we hear is fun to walk inside and explore.
We manage to take a totally wrong turn and end up climbing up a huge mountain…we keep going even after figuring out we were on the wrong track as we figure that there must be a good view from the top. We are not disappointed. At the top is a cel tower and there are actually quite a few people sitting at the top. It is obviously a hiking spot for locals and tourists and we see lots of neat trails and downhill mountain biking tracks. We were happy to have stumbled across this lovely place.
As we come back down the mountain, we head to the right as directed by some people and see the entrance to the bobsled track area. Just beyond is a neat sort of park/resort area where we stop to have lunch. It will turn out to be the most expensive meal we’ve had so far…a beautiful setting though but sort of like Banff where the prices are all a little over the top. They even wanted to charge us for the kids to play in the playground - no thanks!
After lunch we head back a little ways and finally find the bobsled track. It is amazing. We climb up to the top and then down to the bottom. The kid totally love running inside the large concrete tubes that are covered in graffiti. Also, because of the curves you can talk to one another from a long distance and hear each other perfectly. It is so much fun and was a big hit for the girls.
We then head back down into the city and get the kids an ice cream and sit at a nice cafe with misters! A nice way to finish off the day.
As we had a late lunch, we just grab a couple of pizzas as a late snack but both Avery and Fiona put themselves to bed before we even get the pizzas as they are so tired. The rest of us read and relax and follow them not to long after. We are getting up early the next morning so we need a good rest.
Day 7 - Belgrade to Sarajevo
We got up early this morning with slight headaches and the drivers (Bruce + Dave) went off to the Crown Plaza Hotel to pick up our rental cars. I was happily tidying and packing up when it was announced that we actually had to be out of our rooms in 10 minutes! Yikes…we had to get our act together.
We quickly finished packing and dumped everything out into the living room of the hostel. Once the cars arrived we loaded up. The cars were a little smaller this time. I have no idea what kind of car we had…but it was like a little sardine can with no guts and no space. Thankfully we were able to fit the girls across the back seat okay and the luggage in the trunk. We were off an surprisingly out of the city very quickly. It is another stinking hot day today…40 degrees at least. Its nice to be driving in an air conditioned car as its honestly way to hot to be outside. We head West and then drop down South heading towards the Bosnian border crossing.
We stop at a fruit stand just before the border to spend some of our remaining money and get a snack. I say to Dave “maybe ask if its okay to take fruit over the border”. He asks a fellow standing at the stand and he replies “ya…its no problem - you can take guns across the border” and he laughs!
Crossing the border is quick and painless. Shortly after the border we detour slightly out to the west to drive through the family village of my dear friend Angie. We take some photos and carry on south towards Sarajevo.
We make a stop at a roadside shop for some sandwiches and honestly, I think they are one of the best we’ve had on this trip..the bread is so fresh! Good job Dave with the hand signals as they spoke no english.
The drive is absolutely stunning. The water in Bosnia is apparently very good and there are spouts along the sides of the roads everywhere with people filling up.
We make a brief stop in Mostar to visit the famous bridge but its a whopping 43 degrees out so we are literally out to take a photo, we grab a drink at a neat little cafe with an energetic woman running it and then back to the car. Its just too hot! Mostar is lovely though.
People do drive crazy over here, they pass at any opportunity on blind corners driving super fast, and we find the drive through the mountains a bit stressful. Its also very windy and we don’t come out unscathed. Fiona gets carsick but we give her some gravel and carry on.
Once we arrive into Sarajevo, we find our apartment and message the owner to come meet us. The owner doesn’t speak english and bring along a friend to translate. They are very nice and he just carries on in Bosnian as if i understand. They would like to take us on a tour the next day but we are tired and don’t want to be in a car all day the next day so we decline, deciding we will figure things out on our own.
We have a quick rest before we head over the bridge and into the old town. The apartment location is absolutely unbelievable.
I fall instantly in love with Sarajevo. It is such a smaller scale to some of the cities we’ve been in recently. It has a very nice comfortable feel. We stroll along the main pedestrian street and stop off a a restaurant for dinner. We enjoy a private room inside at the back and the dinner is very good. They take good care of us and those house wine here is delicious. It is Erik’s last night with us, so we bid him good bye as the boys are heading out on the town and he leaves very early the next morning.
We have an early night as we are all pretty tired. The heat is really taking a lot out of us!
We quickly finished packing and dumped everything out into the living room of the hostel. Once the cars arrived we loaded up. The cars were a little smaller this time. I have no idea what kind of car we had…but it was like a little sardine can with no guts and no space. Thankfully we were able to fit the girls across the back seat okay and the luggage in the trunk. We were off an surprisingly out of the city very quickly. It is another stinking hot day today…40 degrees at least. Its nice to be driving in an air conditioned car as its honestly way to hot to be outside. We head West and then drop down South heading towards the Bosnian border crossing.
We stop at a fruit stand just before the border to spend some of our remaining money and get a snack. I say to Dave “maybe ask if its okay to take fruit over the border”. He asks a fellow standing at the stand and he replies “ya…its no problem - you can take guns across the border” and he laughs!
Crossing the border is quick and painless. Shortly after the border we detour slightly out to the west to drive through the family village of my dear friend Angie. We take some photos and carry on south towards Sarajevo.
We make a stop at a roadside shop for some sandwiches and honestly, I think they are one of the best we’ve had on this trip..the bread is so fresh! Good job Dave with the hand signals as they spoke no english.
The drive is absolutely stunning. The water in Bosnia is apparently very good and there are spouts along the sides of the roads everywhere with people filling up.
We make a brief stop in Mostar to visit the famous bridge but its a whopping 43 degrees out so we are literally out to take a photo, we grab a drink at a neat little cafe with an energetic woman running it and then back to the car. Its just too hot! Mostar is lovely though.
People do drive crazy over here, they pass at any opportunity on blind corners driving super fast, and we find the drive through the mountains a bit stressful. Its also very windy and we don’t come out unscathed. Fiona gets carsick but we give her some gravel and carry on.
Once we arrive into Sarajevo, we find our apartment and message the owner to come meet us. The owner doesn’t speak english and bring along a friend to translate. They are very nice and he just carries on in Bosnian as if i understand. They would like to take us on a tour the next day but we are tired and don’t want to be in a car all day the next day so we decline, deciding we will figure things out on our own.
We have a quick rest before we head over the bridge and into the old town. The apartment location is absolutely unbelievable.
I fall instantly in love with Sarajevo. It is such a smaller scale to some of the cities we’ve been in recently. It has a very nice comfortable feel. We stroll along the main pedestrian street and stop off a a restaurant for dinner. We enjoy a private room inside at the back and the dinner is very good. They take good care of us and those house wine here is delicious. It is Erik’s last night with us, so we bid him good bye as the boys are heading out on the town and he leaves very early the next morning.
We have an early night as we are all pretty tired. The heat is really taking a lot out of us!
Day 6 - Belgrade
We woke up and ventured out to find some breakfast. The book had recommended a place called Biblioteka that sounded really neat and so we went out to find it. Unfortunately it is now a Mexican restaurant so we decided to go to the place next door which turned out to be amazing. No idea what it was called, but the food was yum!
Now...temperatures were supposed to hit 40 degrees today, so that did not leave a lot of options for what to do today. That was way to hot to do sightseeing, so we asked around and found out where locals go to beat the heat. The answer: Ada Lake.
We hit up a store for some towels, had already packed up bathing suits, so we hopped into a cab and headed for the lake. It was a bit of a walk from the drop off point to where all the action was...but once we got there..wow! Awesome! Hard to describe this place, its basically a long river/lake and you can down one side of the other. We went down the side closest to us and you walk along until you come upon all of these little outdoor restaurants with huge areas of lounge furniture and with umbrellas. They are just one after another with music pumping. We stationed ourself in front of one of the water access areas that was also right beside a playground and had table service + lounge furniture. It was the perfect trifecta. The kids swam, the kids played, we ordered beers and read books and ate and swam and generally just had a lovely day. There was a nice breeze off the water and although it was hot, being next to the lake and under the cover of the umbrella, made the day totally manageable. We just had a great relaxing day among the locals.
Around 4-4:30 we decided it was time to head back to clean up and get ready for dinner. After a brief rest and after cleaning up, we headed out to eat.
We got another recommendation for dinner to a place tucked away in an alley at the back of a very generic looking building. It was a beautiful outdoor garden with a fountain. We had an amazing dinner consisting of salads, sausages, kabobs etc. and then headed back to the apartment to put the kids to bed.
I had read about the amazing night life in Belgrade and even though the boys had been going out a lot at night, Dave and I had yet to hit the night scene ourselves. Tonight was the night! We waited for Ivana (the lady at the hostel) to be off at 11pm and she took us out. The first place we went to was a really cool nightclub set in the outside courtyard of an abandoned building turned nightclub. The cool DJ from Peru was playing some kind of weird house music that I have no way of describing...but it was cool and edgy. Ivana told us how about 10 years ago, it was decided to start putting all the abandoned buildings to better use with music/nightclubs etc. These are literally falling down buildings, they are raw and unfinished with crumbling walls, yet they are now a vital piece of the incredible nightlife here in Belgrade. I was amazed at how this place came to life in the most unusual places.
After this club, we headed along the water for about 15mins to one of the music boats. A jazz boat with live music, swings, teeter totters and lounge seating. It was really a neat atmosphere. A large spider dropped on my lap and scurried down my leg...and we left soon after...not because of the spider of course, but because us aging parents can't stay up all night and then drive with three young children...that would be sooo irresponsible.
We hit up a store for some towels, had already packed up bathing suits, so we hopped into a cab and headed for the lake. It was a bit of a walk from the drop off point to where all the action was...but once we got there..wow! Awesome! Hard to describe this place, its basically a long river/lake and you can down one side of the other. We went down the side closest to us and you walk along until you come upon all of these little outdoor restaurants with huge areas of lounge furniture and with umbrellas. They are just one after another with music pumping. We stationed ourself in front of one of the water access areas that was also right beside a playground and had table service + lounge furniture. It was the perfect trifecta. The kids swam, the kids played, we ordered beers and read books and ate and swam and generally just had a lovely day. There was a nice breeze off the water and although it was hot, being next to the lake and under the cover of the umbrella, made the day totally manageable. We just had a great relaxing day among the locals.
Around 4-4:30 we decided it was time to head back to clean up and get ready for dinner. After a brief rest and after cleaning up, we headed out to eat.
We got another recommendation for dinner to a place tucked away in an alley at the back of a very generic looking building. It was a beautiful outdoor garden with a fountain. We had an amazing dinner consisting of salads, sausages, kabobs etc. and then headed back to the apartment to put the kids to bed.
I had read about the amazing night life in Belgrade and even though the boys had been going out a lot at night, Dave and I had yet to hit the night scene ourselves. Tonight was the night! We waited for Ivana (the lady at the hostel) to be off at 11pm and she took us out. The first place we went to was a really cool nightclub set in the outside courtyard of an abandoned building turned nightclub. The cool DJ from Peru was playing some kind of weird house music that I have no way of describing...but it was cool and edgy. Ivana told us how about 10 years ago, it was decided to start putting all the abandoned buildings to better use with music/nightclubs etc. These are literally falling down buildings, they are raw and unfinished with crumbling walls, yet they are now a vital piece of the incredible nightlife here in Belgrade. I was amazed at how this place came to life in the most unusual places.
After this club, we headed along the water for about 15mins to one of the music boats. A jazz boat with live music, swings, teeter totters and lounge seating. It was really a neat atmosphere. A large spider dropped on my lap and scurried down my leg...and we left soon after...not because of the spider of course, but because us aging parents can't stay up all night and then drive with three young children...that would be sooo irresponsible.
Sunday 19 July 2015
Day 5 - Timisoara to Belgrade
We awoke to sounds of the country this morning...birds chirping and roosters crowing. Thank goodness I'd had a good nights sleep or it might have driven me crazy.
Another lovely breakfast spread for us of farm to table food and coffee. Once we were packed up we were off to Timisoara to drop off our rental cars and catch our transfer over to Serbia.
We had a quick visit to the heart of Timisoara which is undergoing an amazing transformation. The main square, Plata Ursii is completely under renovation. At first glance we thought maybe that the square was filled with garbage, but it turned out to be huge bags of small stones that would form the new surface of the square. It will be spectacular when its finished.
We needed to have our cars dropped off at the airport by 12pm, so we had a quick walk around and then headed off to the airport. We had scheduled a transfer with GEA Tours for 20 euros each to take us across the Romanian border to Belgrade Serbia. It was a nice drive and we were in a large van so we had a little more room to move around. Getting through the border took 19 mins! We had a bet going and Erik won. The rest of us didn't have high enough times...I for one hadn't factored in having to pass through the Romanian border, and then you travel forward and cross the Serbian border...so it took longer than I thought.
Arriving into Belgrade, it took us quite awhile to get to our hostel as traffic was bad and this is a large and busy city. We got dropped off at the address and I started to worry. Dave's phone had died and the address we had been given did not look right and frankly was a dingy run down lobby that left a lot to be desired. While we frantically tried to get Dave's phone charged up to be able to contact the host of the hostel, Bruce found the place up the road. Again, the lobby of the building if you would even call it that, was run down and honestly, yucky...but after travelling up to the 4th level and entering the hostel, it was truly a lovely place. They had given us one side of the hostel with 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. It had beautiful crown moulding and the walls were painted in beautiful colours and the doors were huge impressive and solid wood. The owner of the hostel and his employees were extremely friendly and helpful and made us feel welcome and comfortable.
It was stinking hot out as usual so we took some time to rest and avoid the hot hot heat before venturing out for dinner. Even when we did eventually go out for dinner, I think it was still in the thirties...it was incredible and very difficult to do much of anything.
We walked up our street and onto the main pedestrian street and I was instantly amazed at the vitality of this city. I was not overly impressed by its beauty, and to be honest, even now that we're gone from here, it doesn't rank high on my list of the places that we visited, but it was a truly colourful and alive city. As we walked down the pedestrian lane, we were met by multiple orchestras playing beautiful music, an amazing art display of what appeared to be almost life size Transformers, people painting, people dancing, balloon artists and so on. The street was packed with people and made you feel sort of invigorated to be walking among everyone. Again, the buildings are not beautiful, but the people animate this city in an amazing way.
We had dinner at a place called ? (not that I don't know the name...it's actually called question mark) and the patio was lovely. We had some Serbian musicians serenade us and ate some traditional food. The dinner didn't knock my socks off...and truthfully the heat was so incredible that the kids and I were really struggling. After eating we trudged back to the hostel and went to bed!
Another lovely breakfast spread for us of farm to table food and coffee. Once we were packed up we were off to Timisoara to drop off our rental cars and catch our transfer over to Serbia.
We had a quick visit to the heart of Timisoara which is undergoing an amazing transformation. The main square, Plata Ursii is completely under renovation. At first glance we thought maybe that the square was filled with garbage, but it turned out to be huge bags of small stones that would form the new surface of the square. It will be spectacular when its finished.
We needed to have our cars dropped off at the airport by 12pm, so we had a quick walk around and then headed off to the airport. We had scheduled a transfer with GEA Tours for 20 euros each to take us across the Romanian border to Belgrade Serbia. It was a nice drive and we were in a large van so we had a little more room to move around. Getting through the border took 19 mins! We had a bet going and Erik won. The rest of us didn't have high enough times...I for one hadn't factored in having to pass through the Romanian border, and then you travel forward and cross the Serbian border...so it took longer than I thought.
Arriving into Belgrade, it took us quite awhile to get to our hostel as traffic was bad and this is a large and busy city. We got dropped off at the address and I started to worry. Dave's phone had died and the address we had been given did not look right and frankly was a dingy run down lobby that left a lot to be desired. While we frantically tried to get Dave's phone charged up to be able to contact the host of the hostel, Bruce found the place up the road. Again, the lobby of the building if you would even call it that, was run down and honestly, yucky...but after travelling up to the 4th level and entering the hostel, it was truly a lovely place. They had given us one side of the hostel with 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. It had beautiful crown moulding and the walls were painted in beautiful colours and the doors were huge impressive and solid wood. The owner of the hostel and his employees were extremely friendly and helpful and made us feel welcome and comfortable.
It was stinking hot out as usual so we took some time to rest and avoid the hot hot heat before venturing out for dinner. Even when we did eventually go out for dinner, I think it was still in the thirties...it was incredible and very difficult to do much of anything.
We walked up our street and onto the main pedestrian street and I was instantly amazed at the vitality of this city. I was not overly impressed by its beauty, and to be honest, even now that we're gone from here, it doesn't rank high on my list of the places that we visited, but it was a truly colourful and alive city. As we walked down the pedestrian lane, we were met by multiple orchestras playing beautiful music, an amazing art display of what appeared to be almost life size Transformers, people painting, people dancing, balloon artists and so on. The street was packed with people and made you feel sort of invigorated to be walking among everyone. Again, the buildings are not beautiful, but the people animate this city in an amazing way.
We had dinner at a place called ? (not that I don't know the name...it's actually called question mark) and the patio was lovely. We had some Serbian musicians serenade us and ate some traditional food. The dinner didn't knock my socks off...and truthfully the heat was so incredible that the kids and I were really struggling. After eating we trudged back to the hostel and went to bed!
Friday 17 July 2015
Day 4 - Bran, Sighisoara then on to Timisoara
We woke up fairly early and started off with an amazing breakfast provided by our hosts. Eggs from her farm, cheese she had made, fresh produce from the garden, good coffee and warm milk straight from the cow! It was a good start to the day.
We left Moieciu de Sus and headed to Bran to visit the famous castle. It was really interesting to read about the history of the castle and the history surrounding Vladmir the Impaler and of course Dracula himself. I'll be honest that the castle was not at all what I thought it would be. After seeing Peles Castle yesterday, this one was a rabbit warren of halls and rooms and passageways. It was not decorated, it was not fancy, and it was not scary at all. I thought that it would be more caught up in the whole Dracula thing (although ultimately I'm glad it was not) but I thought I would be more wowed by it...and was somewhat disappointed. I'm so glad we went to check it out and it did have a certain charm...just not what I had envisioned.
We had decided the day before that we wanted to make this a long driving day and go up to see the old medieval city of Sighisoara. This was going to add at least 2 hours to our driving time, and we had to get all the way across Romania today - so it was going to be a long day. After seeing Bran Castle, it was time to get started. We headed north to the town of Sighisoara...it has come highly recommended to us. It was a lovely town and we had lunch in the park before walking up into the town square. Dave, mom and I walked all the way up the covered walkway from the 1600's to see the beautiful church at the top and then it was time to get a move on.
Back in the car we started to head west across Romania. Romania doesn't have an extensive highway system, it is mostly small national roads that wind their way through every town imaginable. Every 5km or so you need to slow and make your way through a town. The towns are absolutely gorgeous though. Houses are painted every colour of the rainbow - bright pinks, turqoise, purple, yellow, hot red etc. Lovely flowers are planted out along the houses and roadways making it such a nice drive. In almost every town is a beautiful church with steeples that are adorned with silver and gold. One of the other neat things is that because of the heavy agriculture and farms in this area, that you often are sharing the roadway with horse drawn wagons filled with hay or other things as well as tractors.
The ride was long for the kids and they did pretty well. I include the below video to give you a glimpse into our lives on this day. Those with children know all about this!
As we made our way west the terrain started to flatten out into more rolling hills and countryside, the predominant crops being corn and sunflower seeds from what we could tell. We also noticed that sheep seem to be huge source of agriculture here as well...and all the herds are accompanied by a real shepherd! So cool.
After a couple of hours, we hit one major highway for approximately 100km before it came to an abrupt end, and we wound our way along the country roads for another 75km. Although the road conditions up until this point have been very well kept, we were about to hit a major change as we turned off onto a rural road to make our way to our place for the night.
When picking the accommodation, I had tried to intersperse some "off the beaten track" stuff into the big city stuff. I like the idea of getting a feel for the way that locals live and not just be in the hustle and bustle of the large cities all the time. Tonight we were staying in the country, and the road was ROUGH! It took us a long time to wind our way to Casa Altringen. The road literally had huge squares cut right out of the pavement - no way you were driving straight through them without totally annihilating the bottom of the car, so it was slow going to get to the place.
When we arrived, we were tired and burnt out from the long day. The place was lovely and serene though, and they had a great spread of cooked potatoes and amazing stewed meat, soup and bread. We feasted and enjoyed the hammocks outside, listening to the sheep bells and braying. It had been a really hot day, but the night air was cool and our rooms were adorable. We all went to bed early and slept well.
We left Moieciu de Sus and headed to Bran to visit the famous castle. It was really interesting to read about the history of the castle and the history surrounding Vladmir the Impaler and of course Dracula himself. I'll be honest that the castle was not at all what I thought it would be. After seeing Peles Castle yesterday, this one was a rabbit warren of halls and rooms and passageways. It was not decorated, it was not fancy, and it was not scary at all. I thought that it would be more caught up in the whole Dracula thing (although ultimately I'm glad it was not) but I thought I would be more wowed by it...and was somewhat disappointed. I'm so glad we went to check it out and it did have a certain charm...just not what I had envisioned.
We had decided the day before that we wanted to make this a long driving day and go up to see the old medieval city of Sighisoara. This was going to add at least 2 hours to our driving time, and we had to get all the way across Romania today - so it was going to be a long day. After seeing Bran Castle, it was time to get started. We headed north to the town of Sighisoara...it has come highly recommended to us. It was a lovely town and we had lunch in the park before walking up into the town square. Dave, mom and I walked all the way up the covered walkway from the 1600's to see the beautiful church at the top and then it was time to get a move on.
Back in the car we started to head west across Romania. Romania doesn't have an extensive highway system, it is mostly small national roads that wind their way through every town imaginable. Every 5km or so you need to slow and make your way through a town. The towns are absolutely gorgeous though. Houses are painted every colour of the rainbow - bright pinks, turqoise, purple, yellow, hot red etc. Lovely flowers are planted out along the houses and roadways making it such a nice drive. In almost every town is a beautiful church with steeples that are adorned with silver and gold. One of the other neat things is that because of the heavy agriculture and farms in this area, that you often are sharing the roadway with horse drawn wagons filled with hay or other things as well as tractors.
The ride was long for the kids and they did pretty well. I include the below video to give you a glimpse into our lives on this day. Those with children know all about this!
As we made our way west the terrain started to flatten out into more rolling hills and countryside, the predominant crops being corn and sunflower seeds from what we could tell. We also noticed that sheep seem to be huge source of agriculture here as well...and all the herds are accompanied by a real shepherd! So cool.
After a couple of hours, we hit one major highway for approximately 100km before it came to an abrupt end, and we wound our way along the country roads for another 75km. Although the road conditions up until this point have been very well kept, we were about to hit a major change as we turned off onto a rural road to make our way to our place for the night.
When picking the accommodation, I had tried to intersperse some "off the beaten track" stuff into the big city stuff. I like the idea of getting a feel for the way that locals live and not just be in the hustle and bustle of the large cities all the time. Tonight we were staying in the country, and the road was ROUGH! It took us a long time to wind our way to Casa Altringen. The road literally had huge squares cut right out of the pavement - no way you were driving straight through them without totally annihilating the bottom of the car, so it was slow going to get to the place.
When we arrived, we were tired and burnt out from the long day. The place was lovely and serene though, and they had a great spread of cooked potatoes and amazing stewed meat, soup and bread. We feasted and enjoyed the hammocks outside, listening to the sheep bells and braying. It had been a really hot day, but the night air was cool and our rooms were adorable. We all went to bed early and slept well.
Thursday 16 July 2015
Day 2 - Bucharest
After a nice homemade breakfast and coffee at the hostel it was time for some real sightseeing. we took the Metro up to the northern part of the city. Bucharest is split into Sectors (kind of like the Hunger Games!) and so we ventured up into Sector 1 to Park Harastrau.
I'll say it again...because its worth mentioning...but the Parks here are amazing. Harastrau was stunning with hardly anyone in it midday during the week. There are awesome playgrounds and beautiful gardens and sculptures and little paths and then there are swans and peacocks in many of the ones we came across. This one even had an amazing adventure park that you could harness yourself into and climb and balance your way across this crazy obstacle course.
Oh...and its hot by the way! Jet-lag is also still an issue, so we are pretty exhausted after this little episode and its time for lunch. We take the Metro back to the old town and find a place to grab lunch.
We can't do much more after this, so we head back to the hostel with a stop at the playground and a quick popsicle on the way and then its nap time! Its great to get out of the afternoon sun and then venture out when its cooler in the evenings. This means late night for the girls, but there really isn't another way to do this while staying sane so they are adjusting to their new late night routine.
Avery falls asleep at dinner and we end up having to carry her home a long way...thank goodness for lots of strong arms.
We are heading out of the city tomorrow, so its back for sleep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)