Plaka

Changing of the guard in Syntagma square outside parliament. Apparently they have 400 pleats. And they do this weird leg kicking thing. A military man also checks them over to make sure they are in the exact right position after they change. This happens at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Hadrians Arch outside the temple of Olympian Zeus (which was covered in scaffolding)

Statue of Alexander the Great.

The Acropolis- Parthenon and Erechtheion

The Parthenon

Overlooking the Ancient Agora to the Acropolis

Walking back through Monastiraki

This was just everything overload!

What the Acropolis would look like back in the day as told by the Acropolis Museum

Panathenaic Stadium

The display of the Olympic torches

The Parthenon from Filopappou Hill

The Treasury of the Athenians

The Temple of Apollo

Ancient Delphi

Arachova - a cute little mountainside town

Streets of Arachova

Wow! This place is amazing. Got up and had breakfast this morning, a full continental breakfast where I actually ate, and then had a half day tour of Meteora and the monestary’s. We started by going up the the Holy Monestary of Grand Meteora, which was the largest monestary, but only 6 monks living there.

We walked through the museum \240and into the church, which had painting all over the walls, but you weren’t allowed to take photos there. The photo below is one of the murals outside:

The monestary was lovely, but there were 300 steps to get up to it and that was annoying. Although it did have a lovely view of Varlaam Monestary.

Varlaam Monestary was my favorite, sitting on top of a rock a bit lower from the Grand Meteoron:

This Monestary was so beautiful! It had a lovely courtyard with nice panoramic views and just had a really peaceful feel about it. It had a museum open where we could see the monks daily schedule (up at 3.30am praying til 5am). It also had another lovely church where again all the walls were covered in pictures. One of the monks was explaining them, but he was talking Greek so I couldn’t understand it. There was also a lot of gold in the church. They also had a barrel room and we could also see the place where the net was, which was how they used to transport people up. I just loved the scerenity of this place. There are 11 monks living here.

Next we drove through the mountains to get a few of the holy trinity Monestary, which is the most famous because it was where James Bond was filmed (for your eyes only), but it wasn’t open today. There is. Cable car into it that only the monk who lives there (yes but the one monk) and the staff (and the President or something) can use and everyone else has to climb up from the bottom. I would hate to do that journey. A few people were there and I wondered if they realized it was closed today…

Next we went to the Roussanou which is the Monestary for the nuns. There are 30 living there and you weren’t allowed to take photos. It is the newest one and the smallest one we visited today. More of the same x except the murals in the church here all depicted torture of some sort, and even more interestingly, it looked like the people who were inflicted the torture had their eyes gauged out (after the mural was done) which was quite strange.

We also saw some very picturesque locations while driving. It’s just such a beautiful area

I have a sunset tour this afternoon so am taking some time to just relax after the half day tour which finished at 1pm. It was great though, the guide was funny and let us explore the Monestary in plenty of time so I was happy with that. In the Monesatry’s you had to have shoulder and knees covered, but females had to wear skirts. Even people with pants on had to wrap a skirt around them as a sign of respect. The bus driver had some so I borrowed off him. Most places also had them at the entrance, but Varlaam was making people pay for one.

You can see the water down the end (just)

View from the Hostel.

I had to get cash out so went for a walk down one of the main streets (it’s also a pedestrian street) and got some cash out and a gyros (3.90€)

Thessaloniki was under the Ottoman Turks rule for 500 years. There was also Jews here, but they were almost all removed during the holocaust. Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC and was named after Kassandros wife Thessaloniki - she was the sister of Alexander the Great and was named for the victory of the battle of the Thessalians. Kassandros also killed Alexander’s mother, wife and child after Alexander died.

1917 65% of the city was destroyed by fire so some of the city is new and that’s is the part where the roads are parallel and perpendicular.

Wall of kindness where people put things during the financial crisis

In 200 AD in the Roman occupation. Thessaloniki was the capital of the east side? And Caesar Gararius was the emporor and gave the order to build the castle and Rotunda. The rotunda is the oldest completed intact building in the city, but they don’t know what it actually was. It was once a church, then mosque, then church, then museum, then monument and now it is a church and monument. There is also a minaret in the rotunda which are found in all mosques.

The palace was never fully excavated so they don’t actually know how big it is

Hippodrome under mosque where they slaughter people so people don’t like this area. Also earthquake killed 30 people in only 1 building in the city and it was here

Ancient wall of the city. A lower level, the city has been built up over time

White tower is Turkish. Many Turkish monuments were destroyed, but the white tower wasn’t because it was expensive to destroy. Officially called the tower of the lion. It was a prison and torture tower. Had the nickname the “bloody tower”.

We ended the walking tour at the waterfront in time for sunset. Thessaloniki is not what I expected, not that I really knew what to expect. I like it so far. Looking forward to exploring more over the next few days.

I slowly made my way home looking for food, but man, for the gastronomical capital, all it seemed to have was bars, coffee shops and pizza places. I just wanted somewhere to sit and have normal Greek food! I never knew I would miss the men from Plaka who keep asking you if you want a table!

Talking to someone who’s from Cambridge and thank gos I’m not going there, the accent is quite grating and annoying. Like a real Aussie bogan talking.

Simonopetra Monastery.

Osiou Grigoriou Monastery

Arsanas Mones Xeropotamou

Monastery with Mt Athos in the background

At the end there were some houses with red roofs and a monk got onto the boat to give people the opportunity to bless items. Overall, this didn’t really live up to expectations, however, the water is so blue and it has been nice to be on the boat with the wind blowing so it doesn’t feel so hot.

After the cruise we went to Drenia Island where we had lunch and could go for a swim. I was so hungry at this point because I skipped breakfast and it was already 3.30. I only had some mini cookies on the boat. It annoys me that they put bread in front of your (with your cutlery) and then charge you if you eat it, but I was so hungry I ate it anyway.

The water was so nice, but I didn’t swim cos I couldn’t be bothered getting changed. So I sat on the beach for an hour and read my book :)

When we got home I had dinner (would it kill them to have some lettuce or something?) and then went to the rooftop bar for a drink. I talked to a guy from Athens for a bit and that was nice.

I then walked up to the fortress which wasn’t really great. But I didn’t go in. I then had a cocktail near the wall and dinner before walking back to my hotel, which was luckily all downhill

Sunset over Thessaloniki

Unfortunately there are houses and restaurants in the way of the setting sun, but the sky is pink and it looks pretty.

Annoyingly, my phone is taking better photos than my camera. I wonder why that is. Maybe I’m out of practice, but I think it’s probably just because it’s about 10 years old now.

Country number 48 - North Macedonia 🇲🇰

Skopje is a very green city. I basically slept on the bus, the border control was easy, just had to hand my passport over and they did the rest. I took a taxi to my hotel, again, probably was ripped off, but he also didn’t have change so I ended up giving him denar, which was cheaper for me (I think). I spent some time looking up things to do. The man at the hostel was lovely and told me about the walking tour in the morning as well as the way to get to Matka Canyon. I then booked my stay in Ohrid as he also had a list of all the buses to other destinations. I think I will explore Macedonia a bit before moving on. There is a national park and a wine district and I wonder if I can get there by public transport? Either way, I think after Ohrid I will come back to Skopje to go to Kosovo. I’m also contemplating missing Albania and doing Serbia instead. Don’t know yet. Just seems a long way away from everything. I have to spend some time either tonight or tomorrow planning out what I want to do so that I know how long I can spend in places.

I went for a walk this afternoon down into the main part of town. It’s a small city, even though it’s the capital, and there wasn’t a lot of activity going on. However there were restaurants and cafes to rival Melbourne, and lots and lots of statues. Some normal, some not so normal.

There is some cool architecture around as well, that’s like old school modern. In the 60’s an earthquake wiped out much of the town and so when the rebuilt they redid many of the buildings in an old style that they didn’t have before. But they were interesting to see.

The bridge leading to this building was also covered in statues.

I had some lunch and then walked across the stone bridge to the old bazaar which wasn’t very busy but was very charming. Lots of shops of all kids, but a small town feel to it.

I really liked it. After an hour or so of walking around I heading back up the hill to my accommodation. I’m going on a walking tour tomorrow morning and looking forward to hearing more about the history and the buildings.

Mother Theresa church

Mother Theresa memorial house

The city was destroyed by Esther quake 3 times a in 518 they moved the location to be more safe. In 1963 the most recent one wiped out 85% of the city. The train station is a memorial for it and the time is 0517 which is the time the earthquake came through

The city was rebuilt in the baroque style, but the city actually has no ties to the baroque period, and much of the decorations are made from styrofoam.

There are many many statues in the city from the Skopje project in 2014, costing the city a lot of money

They were made to look old, but they are really only 8 years old.

In 1991 sept 8th, Macedonia gained independence and only 4 years ago it was changed to North Macedonia by a deal from the government. Tour guide says the changes to Skopje are due to corruption. Apparently one small statue was worth 250,000€ and the statue “warrior on a horse” was 8 million €.

We had a short stop on our walking tour, how do you say no in Macedonian?

The shot was Rakija “rah-ki-a”

Afterward we walked to the fortress

It wasn’t really much of anything, but that might have just been the view from where we were. The walls are short because it wasn’t for defense.

We walked back to the old bazar after the tour and had some lunch (5 of us in total, all from the tour). We then went to the place where we had a free coupon for rakija, had one and then a drink (I had a cocktail). Rakija reminds me of tequila. But you sip it, not shot it. I think walked to Hotel Arka which I read had a good view of the city. I had a drink and took some photos, but I expected a bit of a vibe and it was literally just me up there, not even anyone to serve me when I first arrived. But I thought I better do the right thing and order a drink.

There was also a Monestary at the side

I really like the look of these monestary’s

We went into the Vrelo cave. The lake at the bottom is the biggest in the Balkans and the second biggest in Europe. It is 15m deep.

The one is only 8m deep

Scuba divers can go into the underwater cave and they enter from the spring (below). The cave itself only opened to visitors in 1992

We sat at the river bed for a little while after the boat ride. We were going to go swimming but the water was so cold! We drove back to the hostel where we played cards for a bit (a game called “shithead” which was really easy and pretty fun). A couple of people joined us and we eventually went out to dinner with them. We went to a traditional restaurant which was quite a walk away, but they were too busy so they recommended another restaurant for us. When we got there, the waiter, who was awesome, heard us talking about traditional Macedonian food and said he would prepare the best dishes for us. It was more expensive than what I had been spending, but still less than $20 Australian for soooo much food. And we had a great time. He gave us starters, which were all before so it was so good to have some veggies. And then the biggest meat plate you’ve ever seen, and even though there were 8 of us, we still couldn’t eat it all, but it was all so good. On the walk back to the hostel we went and had another drink and got kicked out at 1am. We eventually made it back to the hostel at 1.30am, but overall it was such a great night and I’m really glad I went :)

They make very big tomato’s in Macedonia!

The lake from the port

A less busy commercial area in Old town.

All the roofs are red so it’s nice to see. We then drove around the coast to the “cave of love” which is apparently where young people go but it wasn’t really anything. I didn’t even bother to take a photo. We then traveled to the bay of bones. The water is so clear and nice here. The bay of bones is an old settlement on top of an archeological site. It’s a museum I n the water. The water is so clear here I can see the fishes in it!

It was interesting to see the settlement. The information wasn’t very good about how old it was, but the people that lived here used to tie their babies to their feet so they couldn’t roll into the water and have trapdoors in their houses that they could just open to put a bucket into the water to catch fish.

The settlement.

The huts

Inside all the huts were the same

All the beds had animal skins on them

The one bridge to enter the settlement

It’s such a pretty place here

As the boat sails there are these beautiful moments os peacefulness where it’s just the water and the greenery and the sound of the boat and the wind in my hair. It’s very relaxing.

Rocks that look like they are floating

Next we visited the Church Mother of God Zahumska, which was a cute little church on the lake, but didn’t have anything inside. There was a building next to it that has a pretty garden though

Also, finally got to feel the water. It is so nice!

The water is so clear

Yes. I am standing in the water in my shoes… the rocks hurt

This is the boat I am on today

We docked at St Naum Monestary for 2.5 hours. The Monestary itself was pretty from the outside and had a nice view. I didn’t go into this one as I had been to a lot of monestary’s at this point and didn’t want to compare.

The Monestary consisted of St Nahum church (below)

And the chapel of St Cyril and Methodius (also below)

There was also the typical fairytale style housing. It was obviously more commercial because there was also a hotel and restaurant attached. The gardens around it were nice too.

Afterwards I went for a swim, the water was a lovely temperature, but wasn’t as nice as the previous places, probably because it is used more so isn’t as clean.

This area is much more touristy with little shops all along the street.

It’s still beautiful though.

I had lunch at a restaurant on the springs.

The St Naum springs

When it’s so blue to hard to tell where the water ends and the sky starts (except for the mountains)

Had dinner on the lake tonight. And cocktails and watched the light change in the sky as I ate.

Before I ate though, there was some kind of parade through the streets. I think they were dance companies, but they were all dressed up and it was interesting to see.

Turns out there was an international festival of dance and music. Some of the dances were awesome, others were folk dances which was also cool to watch. I stayed for a bit and watched some of the dances before walking a bit around town.

I walked through the streets to St Sophia church

But I couldn’t go in because they were doing a rehearsal for something. I endowing your going out a different entrance and got lost, but it wasn’t a bad thing because I ended up finding a boardwalk that went around the cliffs and walked along it.

I then headed up to the Church of St John Theologian at Kaneo and the location of this church was just wow! Up a hill unfortunately, but that just seems to be the way here, but it did lead to breathtaking sights.

Worth it!this church was 13th century and built in Armenian style.

Oh my what a walk! It is hot today. From here I walked up the hill to Samuil’s fortress (which I have seen spelt many different ways). It was 10th century and apparently served the city well.

I walked along the top of the walls which had a nice view over Ohrid township.

From there I walked down to the Ancient Theatre.

I missed 2 landmarks because apparently I took a different path to the fortress, but I might catch up with them later. I definitely need a drink and a swim.

After an hour or so drinking a cider, I made my way back to the hostel to rest for a bit. It was hot outside so getting out of the sun was a good idea. At 5pm I left to walk to Plaosnik. It is an archeological site (which I didn’t enter) and there is also a Christian Church there called St Kliment (9th and 10th century).. I didn’t go in, but it was impressive to look at from the outside.

Again it was all uphill, but did have a nice view of the town

Afterwards I had a swim to cool off. The water is lovely, and the swimming area literally just off the path, but no sand and all rocks which actually made it painful to walk into. So I just went in, dipped and came back out. It was lovely.

At least sand doesn’t get everywhere!

I ordered a traditional Ohrid dish for dinner tonight and it was hands down the best meal I’ve had so far. And to think I was gonna get seafood pasta. It was pork with mushrooms, carrot, onion and tomato, like a shakshula and came with home made bread. 👌🏻

Ship is the language

Tirana is not an old city 1614?? In 1920 Tirana was elected capital. Because it’s in the middle and the mountains protect the city

Under communist rule til 1991

Clock tower 1820. It’s been destroyed but it always rebuilt as the symbol of the city. 35 m high now, was originally 30m

Public bus to bunkart blue bus takes you there - bus station is closed maybe taxi?

During communist times you weren’t allowed to own a car

1939 Mussolini arrived, king left and took the money. In 1941 all the communist groups came together, found the communist party and became the Albanian dictator. Also formed an army. In 1944 Albania is free thanks for local army. They had a 1 party election. Borders were closed, no one could enter or leave from 1945 to 1991. Albania was NOT part of Yugoslavia. The allied with the Soviet Union. Albania accused other nations of not being communists after Stalin died and then they formed an alliance with China. In 1978 accused china of not being real communists because china wanted to open. In the 80’s the communists were really bad and there was lots of suffering and isolated from the rest of the world. If you tried to leave you were hung in a square publicly or shot at the border. Lots of people disappeared or went to communist camps. Regime collapsed after the leader died in 1985 and another leader was elected who gave more freedom. Students destroyed a statue in the main square, leading to 2 options, either a civil war or more freedoms. Still have problems with democracy. Things changed overnight. They didn’t have things like coke or bananas. They even had to teach them how to open bananas.

In 2010 came to Schengen Agreement. Have just applied to join EU

There are 9 million Albanians in total, but only 3 million in Albania. 3 million are in Kosovo and North Macedonia

Mother Theresa born in Skopje to an Albanian catholic family so Labania has claimed her

After communist times, they names streets and places are families who lost things as a way to pay back, such as the mall I went to called Toptani which was a family who had land or something.

This is the Toptani shopping mall!!

An artist tried to make the streets look nice so wrote like a musical stave, and the chairs were notes, but they did it backwards. Oops

After communist rule they painted buildings to make them more cheerful!

This mosque will be one of the biggest but is still not compete

Bunk’art2 - a museum about the communist times (will visit tomorrow)

The only mosque that remained standing from before communism. It has interesting decorations as usually mosques aren’t decorated on the inside.

The independence memorial.

Inside the shopping mall where I had to buy shoes.

Albania seems to take a lot of pride in their streets as many of them are tree lined. Apparently a few years ago they wanted to add more greenery to the city

The independence monument by night .

The waterfall in the park all lit up

It was still hot today, 38 degrees, so I went back to the hostel afterwards and read. I had a good conversation with the guy from the hostel who was lovely. I then organized to go to Shkodra tomorrow with a lady who was on my bus coming to Tirana. We are going to share a taxi to the station which will make it cheaper :)

The road was super bumpy and counted 8000 steps while I was sitting down.

We eventually made it to the ferry, where it was floor space only, so I sat on the side next to a car. It was actually crazy how packed it was, but I was expecting it based on my research. The scenery was great, even though it was a bit repetitive, but the noise was awful. I remember when it stopped my ears kept ringing with it. It was very loud.

The Koman Lake Ferry

Once we got to the dock we got on another bus to go to Valbona. The roads here were better and not as bumpy which was nice. My guesthouse is situated in the Valbonë valley, and it looks like someone painted a backdrop and attached it to the sky. It is incredible. And to think I was only going to go to Tirana.

The Accursed Mountains from my guesthouse

It’s a very pleasant 24 degrees here so I am the most comfortable I’ve been the whole time. I went for a little walk through “town” but the town just consists of guesthouses. So I went back to relax before my hike tomorrow (which starts 3km from my guesthouse so that’s fun).

The view from my gueshouse

11km my arse. More like 11 miles, but maybe that’s what they meant

The dry riverbed I had to walk through.

I kept walking, but it was all flat. It was an easy work, but I was getting concerned cos everyone said it was well marked, but my k’s were getting up there and I hadn’t even started the ascent yet.

It was very pretty though

Finally at 7km I found the sign that said 9.5km to Theth. I left at 8am and it was already 10am by this point.then the hard stuff started.

A tea house on the way.

There was an interesting mix of terrain. But it was pretty steep going.I was starting to get really tired. I was also passing people coming from Theth so it gave me hope I was doing ok. And let’s be honest, I didn’t have a choice.

There were lots of sections that were uncovered, and I was very tired and starting to feel unwell, but I tried to take in the scenery as much as possible.

At 10.33km I made it to the last cafe before the ascent. I saw the kiwi girls there who had gone the other way. I was also unwell and had a sneaky vom by then. But everyone was saying it wasn’t that far the the Valbona pass (the highest point). After ila rest I kept going.

Heading up to the pass the views were spectacular.

Managed to get someone to snag this beauty too.

Red face. I was so exhausted by this point. But I got a bit more energy when I saw someone struggling more than me and I actually passed them. That and I met a couple who told me it was 1.5km away (it was not, but at least I had a goal, 2.1km later I still was there). My watched died at 12.7km and I still hadn’t made the pass. I didn’t get a lot of pics on the way up on the actual path, but it was very step and windy and no shade. It was about 1.30-2pm at this stage so pretty hot in the sun (yes I had my hat on mum).

This is pretty much the only view of the path I got, and this wasn’t even the steepest bit.

Finally at 2.35pm I made it to the Valbona Pass - Valbona side

Proof that I made it.

It was actually interesting because the 2 sides look very different.

Theth side. Much greener. I preferred the Valbona side.

360 degrees of the Valbona pass.

After Valbona pass

This was the terrain most of the way down. It was shaded in a lot of the area. I was still passing people going up so that gave me a boost. It was downwards the whole way which was tough on the knees and ankles, but I felt like I made much better time going down then up!

There were some sections that were uncovered and at this time of day it was pretty hot. I tried to enjoy the scenery as much as possible even though I was cursing myself as to why I decided this was a good idea.

Heading down to Theth.

The town of Theth.

I finally broke about 600m from my guesthouse. Sat down and cried and just couldn’t move anymore. I was exhausted. My map had the guesthouse in a different spot so I was following the signs and I couldn’t see anything and by this stage j was so exhausted I couldn’t think straight so I walked back. Why, I don’t know, but I did. The guy at the cafe was really lovely and saw me on the ground crying and got out google translate to ask me if I was ok, and then called the guy from the guesthouse who walked to get me. I changed my shoes, which felt so good. And then made my way to meet the guy. He carried my bag and shoes and then his wife rubbed my back. They didn’t speak any English, but they were so sweet. I had a shower, which was amazing, and then they showed me to my room, which was a private room in a double bed even though I was booked ina dorm, but I think it was full. Anyway I just crashed. Put my feet up, and even though I knew I needed dinner, the tough of putting my feet back on the ground made me want to cry, so I didn’t. I slept. I arrived at the guesthouse about 5.20-5.40ish, I don’t actually know. So I made it down in decent time. Anyway, at 9pm they realized I wasn’t coming down and brought me up some nectarines. And man they were the best nectarines I think I have ever had, and not just cos I was exhausted and hungry. Or maybe it was, I don’t know.

Anyway. I slept for 12 hours. I had lost of blisters but my hips for the most painful. I was so glad to be off my feet.

There were some walks in Theth, but there was no way I could do them. The bus was leaving at 11 anyway. We had to walk down to the village for the bus (which was 1.3km away, but I managed in my sandals cos there was no way I was putting g my hiking boots back on). There were a few of us going to the company was nice. Turns out though, that my hostel didn’t actually book me on the bus so there was no room for me, but he managed to squeeze me in anyway. Phew. The bus going down was slow, and windy, and hot (no aircon). It took almost 3 hours. There was a sick girl and I felt really sorry for her, it was a very windy road and she was already unwell.

I eventually made it back to Shkoder and just chilled. I couldn’t be bothered doing anything at all. I showered and washed my hair and read my book and did nothing. I’m glad I went from the Valbona side because it was more beautiful and I really didn’t get a chance to enjoy Theth cos I was so tired.

I went out for dinner, including a glass of wine and dessert, cos I had money from barely eating during the hike (maybe why I was so exhausted, but I really couldn’t stomach anything anyway. I did eat pringles). I had a burger, which was pretty lame seeing as it was my last night in Albania, but sometimes comfort food is required. I walked through the city in the evening before I found dinner, but didn’t explore it much. It was nice but nothing special. I didn’t go to the castle cos it just seemed so far away. It was flat though, which I very much approve of.

Streets in Shkoder.

At 2pm I had the hostel call a taxi, and none were available, apparently they were all at the airport. Anyway, they suggested I walk to the roundabout to try to hail one which I did. I didn’t get a taxi, but st the taxi rank a man offered to drive me. He said he was a “private driver” and sorry mum, but I was kinda desperate cos it was 4km away, so I said yes. And he drove me to the petrol station and I didn’t get kidnapped. J mean, everyone here has been so lovely that I didn’t think I would, but I followed in the map anyway just to make sure. I had my ticket, and hoped I was in the right spot, and just before 3pm someone else turned up so I knew I was. That was comforting. Particularly because the bus didn’t show at 3. Or 3.30. Or by 4pm. Then the other couple said the guy at the petrol station told them it can sometimes be 2-4 hours late because of the border crossing from Montenegro. That and traffic seemed awful. So we just waiting. And FINALLY at 4.55pm, it turned up. The next bus was at 5pm and people had already arrived for that one. The drive is so slow because there is soooo much traffic. I don’t know if it’s normally or cos it’s a Sunday, but it’s crazy. It’s supposed to only take 3 hours and 1.5 hours after getting on the bus we have only travelled 44km. It’s crazy. I also really wanted an icy pole or cold drink but I couldn’t leave my stuff so had to miss out on spending my last 200leke (I gave the driver more than he needed cos no use in me having it, but left myself enough for a drink). It’s only $2.50 but a cold sprite would have been nice after waiting for almost 2 hours.

My set up.

Anyway. I’m on my way to country number 50, but who knows when I will actually arrive, might be tomorrow at this rate. 🇽🇰

Man I have to say, driving through Albania to Kosovo is awesome. On the road there are mountains on either side, huge, and with the setting sun it’s sort of peaceful.

Also, spelling of Albania traditional name is Shqiponja.

And I did manage to spend my last 200 leke. I’ve been eyeing off the “exotic” Fanta and I decided to buy it at a rest stop and omg I think I may have a new addiction. It’s sooo good!

And the mountains we are driving through are cool too I guess

Finally arrived in Prizren 3 hours late and walked to my hostel. They had Wi-Fi and the password was on the door. The reception closed at 7pm and it was almost 9.30 by now. I messaged to be let in and then saw an email that said they had overbooked and I didn’t have a bed. Frustrated was an understatement. But luckily they had Wi-Fi so I jumped on booking.com and found a hotel close to stay at for the night. The map took me the wrong way, into an area that was open one side and closed the other, but I eventually made it. After all that it was nice to have my own space. I had a shower and relaxed in the nice big double bed. Plus breakfast was included.

Anyway, it’s a very cute down. Lots of red roofs and mosques. I relaxed a bit this afternoon and then walked up the hill to the fortress for sunset. Man it was a steep climb, but I was really early so I took my time. The fortress was the cities protection and was built in the 4th-6th century. There was even a secret tunnel built in case they couldn’t get water during a siege. They also had screens set up there because I think there was a festival that recently finished. There was a museum of old artifacts, but they weren’t very interesting and it was very small.

Behind the fortress are more mountains, but the view over Prizren was very nice.

The old town really comes alive at night time, lots of people out and j really enjoyed my people watching this evening. There are buskers and people selling things and the restaurants are all full.

I had a cocktail and then called it a night.

And they also like Skenderbeut here

Mother Theresa continues to be a theme. She moved here with her family from Skopje and apparently in a small town was where she found her calling to god, so Kosovo has claimed her too. There was a staple mosaic on the wall at the museum to prove it. Appanrely took a month to construct.

There were also some interesting statues here

I walked through the main pedestrian part which is lined with restaurants and shops to see the Cathedral of another Theresa.

Inside was some beautiful stained glass windows. The cathedral is quite modern and not very old.

I then walked along to the statue of Bill Clinton, thinking it would tell me why he had a statue and a boulevard names after him, but it didn’t.

I had a long lunch because there is honestly not much to do here. I had another quiet night. Tried to bug a bus ticket but they both needed security codes and I have no reception so that was a bust. The internet st the hotel is pretty shitty too. And the people don’t speak English. So that’s always fun.

I also had lots of food and the best orange cheesecake.

This meal was 3.50€ so about $5.50. Crazy.

I started chatting to some people at the bus station. A guy couldn’t believe I was 30, said he dreamt about me and gave me a flower.

Lucky gal right here.

I also spent time window shopping and bought a book and some new earrings. I spoilt myself.

My bus set up

Budva

We drove through the town, and made a stop, before going on to Kotor.

Arriving in kotor at 12pm was very hot. Back to the 35 degrees heat :( my hostel is in old town, which was really cool. It has walls around it and no cars in the old town.

Old town walls

Bay of Kotor from outside old town

View from lunch

Small church in the square.

Stuffed squid for dinner

One of the churches by night. There was a busker playing his clarinet maybe? He was good, but played the same 3-4 songs on repeat. He was right outside the restaurant where I had dinner. He played a whole new world several times.

Next we stopped at a town famous for its prosciutto, cheese, Rakija and wine. I passed on the Rakija, and he didn’t offer us a taste of cheese, but I tried some wine, which was not really typical wine. The prosciutto was so good, I knew that if I didn’t buy some Tim Mitchell would never forgive me, so I did.

Afterwards we continued our scenic drive to Lovcen national park. At the national park is a mausoleum of Peter the second. The mausoleum was up almost 500 steps, but the view was amazing. Peter the second was a very popular leader in Montenegro, hence why he was given the honour of the mausoleum.

The Mausoleum.built in 1979. Peter the second died in 1851. He was young and died of tuberculosis. He asked to be buried on the top of the mountain so they built a chapel for him so he could look after and over Montenegro. In 1916 the chapel was destroyed and then rebuilt after the war. It was the. Destroyed again in the Second World War. After this they became communist so couldn’t build a chapel. So instead they built the mausoleum.

The crypt

The observation area

The view from the top.

Next we visited the royal capital of Cetinje. This was where the first palace in Montenegro was established and where the kingdom was ruled from. Before the palace was built, the leader ruled from the Monestary.

The billiard palace, first palace in Montenegro.

Old French embassy.

This church was built in 1880, however it was built on the ruins of the Monestary that was built in the 15th century.

The Cetinje Monestary. Peter the first is buried here and his body is on display. All you can see is a mummified hand and the rest is covered with gold cloth.

Cetinje streets

After Cetinje we went to Skadar lake national park.

This is the river leading to the lake. The lake is one of if not the largest in the area and is half in Albania (Shkodra lake there which I didn’t see when I went to Shkodra). We took a boat ride on the river to the lake. It was a bit pricey, but I figured I may as well go. It was nice with the wind on my face and the occasional splash from the water, the scenery was fine too.

The bridge near the fishing village

So many lily pads

More flowers from guys ;)

Entering Skadar Lake.

Driving the boat.

The beautiful scenery

Afterwards we visited Sveti Stefan which was an old Monestary that is now a very exclusive hotel.

Our final stop was Budva. I considered staying here as well, and while I really liked the old town, it was a bit touristy for me.

The water was very blue though.

I finished the day eating bread cheese and the prosciutto from this morning which was so good. A few drinks and conversation with people from the hostel. There is also a carnival on in town so I will also check that out.

I went out for a drink with a couple of girls from my hostel room and we checked out the karnival. The girls are from Netherlands and they said they have one similar but way more hardcore. There are people dressed up and in marks and flashing headbands. There’s a parade with dancers and musicians playing and the streets are packed.

We also saw the submarine tunnel

It was nice to be on the boat with the wind blowing in my face. It made it feel not so hot and every so often the water would spray on me and cool me down.

We also visited the church of our lady of the rock. This is a man made island where each day on the celebration day people still bring rocks to add to the island so it doesn’t sink.

From here you can see Perast.

There is another island with a church that some rich guy bought the rights to so now you cannot pull a boat up there, but it was still interesting to see. This was on a non man made island.

The boat got back about 6pm and I walked to buy my bus ticket for Tuesday. I got a slice of pizza for dinner and walked around old town a bit. There were many musicians out playing. One group of 3 females were playing bad romance on their string instrucments which was really good!

Overall it was a pretty lazy day, but it was just what I needed.

This was the path I took. Once you got to the fortress there is a ladder and a window that you climb in. Sneaky sneaky. But for me it was win win, no pay and no stairs. The view was amazing.

You could see all across the bay and old town, which we couldn’t see from the road.

This was a little church out the back before you climbed in the window

The walls of the fortress from the free path.

I mean there was no denying that the views were great, but that red face!

I came down the normal way and was very grateful for going the back way. There were a lot of stairs.

Old town Kotor.

Afterwards, I had a well earned shower and a rest, and then caught the bus to Perast. I was lucky to get a seat cos the but was very full. Perast is the oldest town on the lake and built in the baroque style. It was pretty and right on the water, unlike kotor old town.

Perast streets

The view from lunch (I did end up moving into the aircon though, which was lucky cos it started pouring with rain while I was eating).

I went on an eating tour of Perast because it rained for about an hour.

Lemon pepper prawns for lunch, which I had to peel which was annoying.

Followed by traditional Perast Almond Cake st a different location cos it started raining again.

And a cocktail.

I walked by the water for a bit after the rain stopped. It was nice and the breeze coming from the Water was also nice.

The clock tower. This was after the rain, blue skies again.

I was in Perast for about 3 hours, and then went back to kotor by bus. It was less crowded on the way back.

I finished my afternoon of food with ice cream

I’d always wanted to try to scroll ice cream at home and I’d been eyeing this one off for a while. It was right near the hostel. This is raspberry and Oreo, and they add the raspberry and Oreos and then cut them up really fine. They they add milk. At least it looks like milk. This is all added to a freezing plate and they mix it all together and then spread it out so it freezes, then scrape it off in rolls. It was delicious. Another ref after that, followed by dinner and cocktails. I ate quick cos they said there was going to be a storm. It never came while I was awake though.

May as well finish off with pics of my food journey.

It was supposed to be red velvet pancakes, but they didn’t have any, but I wasn’t complaining about my normal raspberry and Oreo pancakes. Bring on the sugar coma.

The bus journey was smooth, I did have to walk 1.2km to the bus station with all my bags but I made it work.

The hostel in Zabljak was so close to the bus station, which was great! Once I checked in I went to the black lake which was about 3km walk away, flat which was good.

It was very beautiful! Reminded me of where Harry Potter fought the demontors. I walked part way around the lake. There are 2 section, a big and a small part with a small gap in the middle

The second lake had the better view.

I walked back and had to actually put pants and a jumper on because it was cold!

I had dinner and went to bed.

So much protective gear for baby rapids, but considering they didn’t tell us what to do if we capsized, and there was a 4 year old in the boat, I wasn’t worried. I looked the part though.

The river area was so beautiful! It was unfortunate that my GoPro couldn’t capture the colours properly, but the river was a beautiful blue colour and was so clear!

We stopped and got out at one point for a look at this waterfall.

We paddled all down the river and went under the Tara bridge. I let and chatted with Jen and Oscar for the journey which was nice.

Afterwards I went zip lining on a 1050m zip line. It didn’t last long, but it was fun and had a nice view of the Tara river and bridge.

We got back about 3pm and I had a nap and went and had dinner and then spent some time chatting to people at the hostel over some drinks.

View from the chair lift!

The view from the top was incredible! This was once we got off the chairlift, and then there was a small hill to climb as well.

This was from the peak. It was amazing and I’m so glad I went!

These were some of the houses in the valley.

As I was going up to the top I saw Jen and Oscar from rafting coming down. They must have stayed to have lunch because as I was walking back they passed me in their car and gave me a lift which was really nice! I was very grateful.

I packed my bag when I returned as I had a 0513 bus in the morning.

I went and had dinner and then chatted to other campers over some drinks and then went to bed.

The journey getting here was not smooth. Left my hostel at 4.50am which was early, but fine. Got on the bus fine. Arrived at Niksic, waited 2 hours for the bus to Sarajevo, for the driver to tell us the bus was full. There were 5 of us who had already purchased tickets. I bought mine on the 10th so we’ll in advance, and it was a minibus. He wasn’t happy but he let us on. This was the solution:

3 of us sitting on the floor in the aisle. So fun. Eventually people got off and the boys got seats, but I ended up in the aisle most of the trip. Luckily once the boys had seats though it was more comfortable

Once I arrived, I shared a taxi with some other I met on the bus into town because it was a long way away. It was quite dramatic arriving in Sarajevo. The bus station was up the mountain a bit so as we drove we caught glimpses of the city. Nestled in between green mountains were the red roofs of the building that I’ve come to recognize as Balkan/ottoman style. We arrived and parted ways.

Then I did the 4.30pm walking tour around town. We started in old town and saw some sites.

The old library

The coppersmith lane - last old functioning lane in Sarajevo

The bridge near where Franz Ferdinand was killed

The place where the assassin stood when he shit Franz Ferdinand that started world war 1

Some old ruins

The streets

The Catholic Cathedral

Sarajevo was bombed extensively during the siege in 1992-1995. In some of the places where the bones fell, the filled the gaps with red as it was symbolic of blood

In one part of the city, the Austrohungarian heritage is to the left, and the ottoman is to the right. I stood in one spot and this was my view from both sides.

This is one of the last Luna clocks in the world. The time hits 12 at sunrise and sunset.

About 50% of the population is Muslim, so here is a mosque.

The tour guide talked a lot about the history, which was interesting, but I’m so tired I will process it all later.

This was the view from the top of the mountain. I then walked along the old bobsled track. There is lots of graffiti on the track so it was very interesting.

Unfortunately I walked down so I had to walk up :( but that was fine. I bought a return ticket so I went back down by cable car too.

I met a couple on the bobsled track, a woman who grew up in Australia (Brisbane) who gave me some tips on where to go.

This was the view from the cafe she told me about. I got there just in time for the rain to start. But again, I had to walk up hill.

Views were good though.

I had another Burek for lunch and relaxed a bit in the afternoon until the rain stopped, then I went for a walk. The Sarajevo film festival is on, so there was a lot of things set up, but apparently things didn’t happen until late at night. I had a drink on a street that is normally busy with cars, but was closed for the festival.

I walked around the city a bit at night, got tea and kofta meat things in pita and ice cream for dessert.

Standing in one spot in town, Austrohungarian on one side, Ottoman on the other.

I went into the Dervish house. It didn’t have much there but there were 3 levels with tradition rugs as the carpet and windows that looked out onto the river. The second level was the summer and winter kitchen and the top level was the living quarters. There was also a hammam in there. I think the bottom level was the prayer room.

Afterwards we travelled to Pocotelj. This is a famous old down on a hill with a castle and mosque. I climbed up the stairs to get a good view and then had a Burek for lunch.

We skipped one of the other town because apparently it was the celebration day and would have been very busy. It didn’t matter to me, I hadn’t heard of it anyway.

Lastly we headed to Kravica waterfall. It was beautiful, but crowded. We had 3 hours there and it was nice to just swim, sit and relax!

View of the city from the walls

View of the fort from the walls

View of the port

The ancient walls

View from the top of the fort

After the walls I went up the cable car to see the city from the top of the hill. It was quite an impressive view.

Afterwards I went back into the old town to have lunch. It wa all definitely more crowded by 11.30. And the humidity was stifling.

The many stairs in Dubrovnik.

After lunch j went into the museum in the Rector Palace. It had interesting artwork and rooms, but overall was a bit of a letdown.

The foyer of the Rector Palace.

One of the churches

Inside the church.

I liked the lanterns in the street, they had the names of the stores on them.

It rained in the afternoon, so I went back to the hostel.

The water here was beautiful and blue and I swam in a few different places. And also spent time just sitting on the beach (also called concrete here).

The mausoleum.

After visiting Cavtat, I climbed the fort next to Dubrovnik. The entrance is 100kn, however the ticket to the walls allows you access here. This however, is not well documented which was very annoying for people who didn’t know that. The fort wasn’t much of anything, but it did have a different view over Dubrovnik.

I went back into the city to have dinner, before having an earlyish night.