In the last few years I have heard many fabulous stories about ‘Mrizi i Zanave’, a popular slow food restaurant in Albania. When our Albanian friends invited us to join them last week, it goes without saying that we were very happy to get the opportunity to have dinner at this famous farmhouse. I must […]
Balkans
5 AMAZING CITIES IN BOSNIA
While most foreign tourists visit Sarajevo and Mostar only, there are many other interesting cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As we wanted to travel ‘off the beaten track’, last month we made a 7-day camper trip through Bosnia (N.B. Herzegovina is the southern part of the country) with the aim to discover some less-touristy cities. […]
SOCIALIST REALISTIC MONUMENTS IN ALBANIA
During our round trips through Albania, I could not help noticing that there are still a lot of socialist realistic monuments, bas-reliefs and sculptures to be found in every corner of the country. One of the finest examples of socialist realism is the huge mosaic called ‘The Albanians’ that decorates the façade of the National […]
BOSNIAN PYRAMID VALLEY: THE MYSTERIOUS RAVNE TUNNELS
One of the highlights of our camper trip through Bosnia & Herzegovina was a visit to the Ravne Tunnels, an allegedly prehistorical network of tunnels and chambers located in the Valley of the Bosnian Pyramids near Visoko. We had gathered much information about the Bosnian Pyramids and, although we were skeptical, we wanted to see […]
THE SECRET OF TITO’S BUNKER
Ever since I read that Tito’s bunker in Konjic, Bosnia & Herzegovina has been opened to the public, I have had the ardent wish to visit this complex. The fact that this secret nuclear bunker, officially called Atomic War Command or ARK/D-0, was built to protect Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito and his close associates […]
A DAY TRIP TO KORČULA
During our summer holidays in Camp Rogač near Slano, we made a nice day trip to the island of Korčula. It was easy to get there: the scenic drive through the quaint and tranquil landscape of Pelješac peninsula (around 65 km long) offered beautiful views of typical vineyards, natural bays, dense forests and picturesque Dalmatian […]
THE CAPE OF RODON – A HIDDEN JEWEL ON THE ALBANIAN COAST
Albania is getting more and more popular as a tourist country, but there are still plenty of undiscovered places. One of them is the Cape of Rodon (in Albanian: Kepi i Rodonit), a rocky, 10 km long cape on the Adriatic Sea, north of Durres. We visited the cape last year in May and I […]
DISCOVER HIMARË ON THE ALBANIAN COAST
Although we have crisscrossed Albania many times, there are still a lot of hidden secrets to be discovered. One of them is Himarë, a place that offers great sandy beaches, but also historical sights like Himarë Fasht (Old Himarë) and the fortress of Porto Palermo . Last spring we took a few days to visit […]
HIKING TO THE BLUE EYE OF KAPREJA (THETH)
Did you know that Albania has at least two “blue eyes”? The Blue Eye of Saranda in the southern part of the country is the most famous one, but the Blue Eye of Kapreja/Theth is rapidly gaining in popularity. A few weeks ago we made a hiking tour to this breathtaking place with a group […]
5 WEEKEND TRIPS TO NORTH ALBANIA
Although Montenegro is a wonderful country, many expats and inhabitants of Podgorica have been asking me how and where to spend a nice weekend in North Albania. No wonder, the distance to the Božaj/Hani i Hotit border is 20 km only. Although the border crossing is still under reconstruction at the moment, new control points […]