Articles from this Category
26 August 2013
Today I do begin a side-trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina. I had went to Herzegovina in 2002 and other parts of the Balkans during several other trips. It is a rather expensive place to get to from Europe by flight due to limited options. But from Istanbul, I managed to prebook great fares on Pegasus […]
3 August 2011
We had a day for some sort of day-trip from Tirana. None of the options appealed so we settled for a roam around town followed by cablecar ride up Mount Dajti. While we didn’t really want to do that, the next option was to just do nothing in the room.
2 August 2011
Travelling back We woke early for the 0745 direct bus to Tirana. When a bus pulled up at 0720, the driver said “Tirana” and “directo” … so we boarded. Strangely, none of the markings on the bus said “Tirana”. Sure enough, when we reached Vlore, he instructed us to change to another bus. It was […]
1 August 2011
From our dorm at summer school, Jale beach is about 45 minutes away but we didn’t go there. Supposedly it has restaurants and is quite well patronised. We’ve been told that if you walk right or left from Jale, you’ll get isolated spots to yourself. Instead, our host Ben drove us (about 10 minutes by […]
31 July 2011
We travelled from Berat to Vlore (2.5h) to connect on to Vuno (1.5h), where we stayed in its local school. The school (Shkolla Vuno) is closed for summer (or in the last couple of years for the whole year due to lack of kids), when it is converted into airbed dorms. It is run by the […]
30 July 2011
Today we climbed up to the Kala or citadel above Berat. It was a hot but nice little outing. We had a traditional Berati meal up in the village in the citadel. As with the rest of Albania, there isn’t too much of “Wow” sites which allows one to relax, people-watch and appreciate the subtleties […]
29 July 2011
It wasn’t a long (2.5h) or windy road from Tirana to Berat but strangely people were vomiting. I thought Albanians might have the motion-sickness gene but later bus travels didn’t show that up … so maybe there had been some serious partying prior to the bus ride. Berat is an old Ottoman town scattered on […]
28 July 2011
Wandering around Tirana I soon realised that the sights listed in the guidebook existed because they had to fill that heading with something. The couldn’t just leave the section blank! Tirana isn’t exactly beautiful either as many of the buildings are plain and functional. It’s probably a reflection of the communist era. Despite all that, […]
11 September 2009
Above: Hazy start to the day in Porto on practice day of the Red Bull air race. We attempted to go to a nearby fishing village today … it all turned to custard with bus services being suspended due to road closures in preparation for tomorrow’s Red Bull air race. So we returned to the […]
10 September 2009
Porto or Oporto is home to Port Wine. The city centre is very much a Paris-wannabe like Buenos Aires and Montevideo … with wide boulevards and beautiful classy buildings on both sides. Text continues after this gallery. The old city or Ribeiro is located slightly downhill on the river bank. It is rundown […]