Eastern Europe – Albania,
Kosovo, Macedonia – June/July 2018
Last year I met
many travelers heading to Albania
so decided to go there as well! Had a
bad experience with prime time shuttle that called 20 minutes before they were
to shuttle me to LAX and cancelled!!!
Luckily my dear friend drove me to LAX and I was in time for my
flight. With a quick stopover in Munich for a smoked salmon sandwich and coffee I arrived
in Tirana, Albania about 7 p.m.
Taxi driver got
lost so after many stops to ask directions I arrived at my very spacious airbnb
and was warmly greeted by my host. He
showed me the area, the green market nearby and how to get to the center. He finally dropped me off at one of his
favorite restaurants nearby called Oda, where I had a wonderful dinner. Cute little house with cozy rooms, Oda was
the perfect place to start my trip. I
had a slice of spinach phyllo “pie”, a cottage cheese and peppers dish which I
was to see often and a slice of honey
nut cake…
In the morning I
walked to the green market to pick up some oranges and had a delicious
chocolate croissant and double espresso at Mulliri Vjeter. Walked into the center and then to the south
bus station to see about buses to Berat which seemed to leave every 30
minutes. Visited the House of Leaves, an
old house once a medical office but during the war with Russia turned
into a spy center where many people were falsely accused of political crimes.
Walked into the
Blloku area with its cafes and little shops and had a piece of cheesecake on
the patio of E Jona where I would dine
tomorrow night. Took the bus to Bunk Art
1 and spent a couple hours in the 3,000 square meter underground bunker spread
over several floors. In every room there
was history of Albania being
taken over by Italy, Germany and Russia. What a saga!!!
In the evening
even though it was raining pretty hard I took a taxi to Uka Farm, an organic
farm and restaurant a bit far from town.
Sat in the large patio where chairs and tables were set up and had
antipasta platter with cheeses, grilled peppers and eggplant, spinach pie,
etc., followed by grilled lamb chops and some of their locally made wine. Would have been a better experience with more
people…
Breakfast again at
Mulliri Vjeter and then I took a local bus to the south bus station and a bus
to Berat, a Unesco world heritage site because of its collection of white
ottoman houses climbing up the hill to the castle. Took a bus to the castle/fortress and while
wandering around joined an Italian group who were very welcoming and enjoyed a
little tour with them.
Visited the Ethnographic Museum to see traditional clothes,
tools, etc. which I really enjoyed and then walked along the river to the stone
bridge so I could see the 1000 windows.
Crossed the river and stopped at a little hotel where I sat outside and
had some baklava before taking the bus back to Tirana.
Later that evening
I walked to E Jona and had a lovely dinner, i.e. a salad with “frico”, raisins,
spinach, nuts and tomatoes followed by a rich brownie with ice cream as I sat
outside on the patio…
After breakfast at
Mulliri Vjeter I left my nice airbnb to check into Hotel Kruja where the
Intrepid trip would start and then took a local bus to Kruja to see the old
fortress and visit the very extensive Ethnographic Museum
in an old house with interesting nicely restored rooms where people originally
lived.
Walked down a
tunnel to the old mosque, interesting as it had no minaret and finally wandered
into the street bazaar the town is famous for.
Back in Tirane, I walked down to the
“Pyramid”, originally the Enver Hoxha Museum
about the legacy of this long-time leader of communist Albania, it is
now closed and possibly will be demolished…
Met our Intrepid
group of 10 and then walked to Era for dinner, i.e. arugula salad with parmesan
and cheese stuffed peppers in a very cute little place. Walked to Sky tower and up to revolving bar
where I enjoyed the view and a crème brulee.
Nice hearty
breakfast at the hotel with delicious espresso and then an orientation walk of
Tirana where I saw many things I had missed so far. Stopped for coffee at Kommiti, a cozy little
coffee bar and they went to the sky bar and I walked along the river. Had an arugula salad and brownie outside on
the patio of E Jona and then we met at the
hotel to take the bus to Shkodra. Walked
up to the Rozafa Castle founded by the Illyrians in antiquity and rebuilt.
Walking tour at 7
p.m. to see the town followed by dinner at President, i.e. grilled vegetable
platter with arugula, sitting outside on the terrace.
Early morning
transfer to Lake Koman where we boarded a ferry and spent
about 3 hours enjoying the beauty.
Arrived at a guesthouse in Fierza where we took a walk to the lake and
then later had a lovely dinner at the guesthouse nearby, i.e. special cheeses,
peppers, olives, beets, salad with olives and oranges, trout and potato
pancakes. Quite nice.
After a simple
breakfast of homemade bread, jam and Turkish coffee we took a lovely walk
through the valley, stopping once for coffee and again for lunch, i.e. spinach
phyllo pie and shepherd’s salad (tomatoes, feta, peppers and cucumber).
In the afternoon
we walked over to one of the uncle’s homes and he talked about life under
communisim. Later in the evening we
drove to a local restaurant where we had a fabulous dinner, i.e. potato/carrot
soup with local bread, mixed greens with tomatoes, etc., fried cheese and
peppers with eggplant in a casserole, corn and creamed cheese, crisp potato
slices, yogurt with peppers, lamb and delicious nut cake with a creamy topping
for dessert.
In the morning, we
crossed the border into Kosovo, Europe’s
newest (official) country. Stopped at
the Decani Monastery, built in 1327, and known as the final resting place of
Serbian King Stefan Unos III Decanski.
It is a place of stunning art heritage where monks still live. On into Peja, the gateway to the Rugova
Muntains.
Had a quick look
around before our orientation walk en route stopping at the folk museum which
was very interesting. Free time to visit
the old bazaar, mosque, blood houses where the northern Albanians took refuge,
etc. Dinner at Kulla e Zenel Beut
recommended by Trip Advisor, i.e. grilled fresh trout and Greek salad. A peaceful atmosphere and delicious
food. Stopped for a baklava on my way
back to the hotel…
Nice breakfast in
the morning, pastries, cheese, honey, fruit and espresso. Drove to Relaj, a village deep in the Rugova
valley. The Rugova mountains are
nicknamed the cursed mountains and were declared a national park in 2013. Stopped at the Monastery of Patriarchate in
Pec, this complex of churches is the spiritual seat and mausoleum of Serbian
archbishops and patriarchs.
Took a very
pleasant 3 hour hike, stopping for lunch at a local family home, i.e. spinach
pie, 3 layer pie, cornmeal pie, stuffed peppers, potatoes, vegetables and the
ever present tomato/cucumber/feta salad.
We sat outside and it was lovely.
Went to Prince in
the square for chocolate cake and coffee later in the evening.
On our way to Prizren
we stopped in Gjokove and wandered through the street bazaar on our way to the
Hadum Mosque which was quite lovely.
Arrived in Prizren at the foot of
the Sar mountains and spent a couple hours in the house of Albanian League of
Prizren where a monumental document was signed. Orientation walk along the Bistrica river,
over the stone bridge and around the cobbled Shadervan square and then free
time to explore on our own.
It was a great
city to walk around in and had the most delicious tres leches cake I have every
tasted with a caramelized topping.
Dinner at Marashi by the river was grilled trout, nice but not worth the
#1 Trip Advisor gave it!
Walked up to the
Prizren Fortress in the morning built by the Byzantines in the 12th
century and it was the seat of power for the Ottoman rulers until their
expulsion in 1912. It started to rain so
we headed down. Went by van to the
winery with an elephant on the label and tasted some of their wines along with
a simple lunch.
Walked around the
vineyards before heading back to town. I
walked up to the fortress again to really see it well and had another delicious
tres leches cake before calling it a day…
Spent the day in
the capital city of Pristina
first heading to the Field of Blackbirds, which the country is named after and
where the 1389 battle of Kosovo took place.
Visited the tomb of Sultan Murat, leader of the Ottoman
Empire in the 14th century and finally the UNESCO World
Heritage-listed Gracanica, a Serbian orthodox monastery filled with paintings
and frescoes painted in the 14th century. There are 24 nuns residing there who are
active in icon painting, etc.
Enjoyed a
delicious lunch at Liburnia, a lovely restaurant with nice atmosphere and had
fresh grilled trout with eggplant, peppers and mushrooms. Stopped by a bear sanctuary where dancing
bears had been rescued. Back into town
for the evening.
In the morning we
crossed into Macedonia and
arrived in Skopje
about 2 p.m. Had lunch and an
orientation walk into the center of this very large city, stopping by Mother
Teresa’s house, church on the square and through the large marble statues,
fountains, etc. associated with very large cities. Walked across the beautiful stone bridge to
the bazaar and up to the fortress and later that night had a lovely dinner at House
Restaurant near the center, i.e. delicious “tava”, stew with veal, chicken,
eggplant, etc. and a kadaif dessert with nuts, honey and syrup – divine!
In the morning we
drove to Canyon Matka, a beautiful spot along the river in the mountains where
a couple of us took a ferry across the river and climbed up to the little
church on top of the hill. It was small
but filled with beautiful frescos. Free
time in the afternoon so I visited the bazaar and the great fruit and vegetable
market, contemporary art museum up on the hill and the national art gallery
which I enjoyed very much. There was an
exhibit of Amen Kastrati on Albania
life.
Stopped for an ice
cream before visiting the memorial house relating to Mother Teresa who was born
in Skopje in
1910. We all met at 8:00 p.m. and walked
to the Debar Maalo quarter for dinner which was very lively. I shared a mezzo
platter with a few others, i.e. fried cheese, eggplant, chicken kebabs, etc. as
we listened to some live music which was a great way to end our stay in Skopje.
After breakfast
drove to Ohrid situated on Europe’s oldest
lake and one of the oldest human settlements in the world. After an orientation walk of the city we
stopped at Potpie overlooking the lake and shared some delicious fried sardines,
pizza and a couple salads. Free
afternoon.
Visited the church of St. Sophia,
originally a Synod church and subsequently converted into a mosque during the Ottoman empire.
Today the interior of the church has been preserved with beautiful
frescoes from the 11th, 12th and 13th
centuries. Its superb acoustics make it
very useful for concerts. Walked up to
the Tast Samoil’s Foress on top of Ohrid Hill and down to the 2,000 year old Roman
theatre used for concerts in the summer.
Had a chocolate ice cream as I wandered back to the hotel along the
lake.
Took a lovely walk
along the lake in the morning and then we took two boats out to see the lake,
stopping along the way for a nice swim.
Stopped by the Museum on the water, i.e. the bay of the bones which
sheds some light on the life of prehistoric peoples living near the lake with
its 24 prehistoric houses on a wooden platform placed above the lake.
Visited the Sveti
Naum monastery, an imposing sight on a bluff near the Albanian border. There are some very impressive icons and
frescoes inside. Later in the evening we
took a ferry to our restaurant and ate grilled trout outside on the patio
listening to live music playing downstairs.
So very lovely…
Drove back to
Tirana in the morning, confirmed my morning flight and then to E Jona for another delicious brownie and ice cream. Stopped by Bunk Art 2 which was very similar
to bunk Art 1 except a bit smaller and then walked to the artificial lake where
I would have dinner later. Returned to
the hotel and met our group in the lobby to say good-bye. They were dining together but I felt that our
last night in Ohrid was really our last night…
Walked to
Mullixhiu and had a lovely dinner outside on the patio, i.e. the six course
metamorphosis menu with some variations.
Chef Bledar Kola makes wonderful dishes inspired by Albanian organic
products. He joined me while I was
having dessert and it was delightful talking with him.
In the morning I
walked to a nearby Mulliri Vjeter for a chocolate croissant and coffee before
taking the bus to the airport where I caught a flight to Slovenia where I would
spend some time before picking up another Intrepid trip in Budapest. So far Eastern Europe
has been a very pleasant surprise!
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