Road Trip in the Balkans Part 1

After an amazing trip with the family to Istanbul, we embarked on our adventures through the former Ottoman territories in South East Europe.  Arriving on Christmas evening into Prishtina, the Road Trip Trio, consisting of Mom, Mark, and I, made our way to my apartment.  We did not have plans for the evening, so we called it an early night as there were adventures to be had in the morning.

The day after Christmas sees the group getting split into two.  I went to work, I worked all day.  Nothing truly special there, but you gotta make that bacon when you can. However, Mom and Mark set off towards Skopje in hopes to rent a car that would be our vessel through the region.  They were successful getting the car, though, due to border control issues and the like, they were unable to see much of the city.  This, to me, is a shame.  Skopje comes off as the Las Vegas of the Balkans; one could say that the town looks a bit like Cesar’s Palace if one were so inclined.   The massive statues that are haphazardly placed throughout the city look like they are straight out of ancient Greece, but there is a catch.  The catch is that each of these statues was built in the last few years.  The mayor of Skopje (need citation) has made good on his promise to produce statues throughout the city to increase tourism.  While it is awesome to see a politician make good on his word, it makes the city a little cheesy.  But hey, you cannot get everything you want, amiright? Anyways, they got the car and headed back to the good ole RKS.  We had a wonderful dinner at Pishat with Jason and Laura.  Pishat is such a fabulous restaurant.  It’s good, cheap traditional Albanian/Kosovar food.   The next morning was road time.

Random Door/Tree in Kotor, Montenegro

We set off towards Prizren, on a rainy December morning, so that I could give them a tour around the cultural capital of Kosovo.  After a brief espresso break, we started the trek up to the castle.  The castle had a little bit of an eerie edge to it, a combination of the ruins and the weather.  On the way to the top, we got “lost” through the old Serbian section of the town.  This area, destroyed, is tucked into the hill against the castle.  It sustained its damage during the ethnic riots during 2004; no one has returned and nothing has been done to repair the buildings.  After a nice lunch, we started off towards Decan monastery.  It was a pleasant drive.  We stopped off at the Tailor’s Bridge just south of Gjakova to walk it and look at sheep.  The temperature had dropped a bit and there was still snow on the ground.  We hopped back in the car and pointed ourselves north to get to one of the older Serbian monasteries in the area.  While this was my second time to the monastery, I was not prepared to witness it in winter.  There was ample snow on the ground and visibility was nil.  We could not see beyond the walls, and while Mom and Mark missed out on the surroundings – it was still a cool scene.  The fog was so thick that you were truly isolated inside the walls, with just the towering monastery and silent monks to keep you company.  I should mention that the monks will talk to you, but for the most part they are pretty quiet people.  I guess they could be described as monk-like?

After a good tour of the grounds and chapel, we purchased a good amount of homemade Decan wine and set off on our way back to Prishtina.  We ran into some problems with a lack of a headlight and a dense fog mixed with poor roads, so the trip back was quite stressful.  It became a theme for our time on the road.  Back in Prishtina, we feasted on homemade sheep’s cheese and homemade wine – with a bit of Raki and whisky.  We woke up early and met up with Jason and Laura for lunch, and then I had a meeting with the US Ambassador to Kosovo, the amazing Mrs. Tracy Jacobson.  We headed out towards Kotor after the meeting.

The Meeting:  I met for about twenty minute with an extremely talented and incredibly smart Ambassador; it was just a nice aside that I was meeting someone who was doing what I wanted to do with my life.  She answered all my questions about being an FSO, the best plans for achieving that, and things that can boost my application.  I am really lucky to have gotten an opportunity to meet with her and I could not have done that without Dan Moulton.  He originally introduced me to her which then led to her inviting me to a meeting. 

After the meeting was the beginning of the main part of our trip.  Our plans included the following cities: Kotor, Montenegro; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Mostar, Bosnia-and-Herzegovina; and Tirana, Albania.   The biggest thing that I learned from my trip is that you should never make plans without first consulting how long the sun will be in the sky, especially when driving in the mountains/coast where the infrastructure is less than perfect.  That being said, we got really lucky to have crossed the Albanian/Kosovo border and border region while the sun was still in the sky.  I will note that Kukes, Albania is a super depressing town that really left me feeling a bit concerned; when I say concerned, I really mean to say that it is one of the few locations that I have been to that made me feel less than safe.  It’s also a known drug running/organized crime region of Albania, so there is always that too.  Back on track, so here’s how the roads in that part of Albania work.

                

                                     Backdrop:  There is a road currently under construction that will link Nis, Serbia (ultimately connected to Belgrade) and Durres, Albania.  It will be a highway, and, by the looks of the Kosovo part, it could be a good one that will severely reduce the amount of time it takes to traverse that region.  So Serbians wishing to tan on the Adriatic should be able to with relative ease.   This has the potential to drive tourism in the region, as well as economic growth due to ease of commercial transport.  Still, it is a work in progress and the Albanian section is a bit….. dangerous.  Here’s why:  So you are driving through the mountains, steep mountains on one side and harrowing cliffs on the other, when all of a sudden your two lanes (headed towards Durres) have shifted over to the other side and your current trajectory takes you over the cliff.  Is there any warning? Of course not, that would make life too easy.

Mom conquering St. John's Fortress

Anyway, we arrived in Kotor, Montenegro later that evening.  I could, and might, dedicate an entire blog post to the beauty of the Adriatic Coast.  The Croatian and Montenegrin coast lines are absolutely riveting, though I am still a firm believer that Kotor is the most beautiful city I had ever seen.  (Southern Albania is supposed to give it a run for its money, but I cannot confirm or deny) Montenegro is named for its black mountains, (Monte- Mountain Negro – Black; or Mali i Zi in Albanian) which are accurately compared to a lunar landscape.  It is unlike anything I had seen prior to this, which was exacerbated by the Bay of Kotor in which these mountains, and the city of Kotor, converge upon.  The water was rather clear, rather blue, and would be perfect in the summer.  So the Bay of Kotor, where it meets the city, is a horse-shoe shape that has a short flat “plain” before it rises into the mountains.  So the mountains all but meet the water’s edge, and this little distance between the two is the city of Kotor.  Did I also mention that the Old City of Kotor is walled-in?  There is a path up the mountain; it is 1350 steps up and 1350 down to reach St. John’s Fortress.  This fortress provides some spectacular views of the Bay, the Old City, and the surrounding “suburbia”.  The wall dates back to Illyrian times, with Justinian I (of the Byzantine Empire) doing a large part of the reconstruction.  (There was an earthquake and reconstruction later, too)  You can definitely tell the wall was constructed of local stone, as sometimes it is hard to discern the difference between the landscape and the walls themselves.  

Mom, Mark, and I relaxed the first day after the heavy driving the night before.  We drank some rakija (Serbian name for raki) with our landlords at like 9:30 in the morning, paired with some excellent local cheese.  Our landlords were excellent hosts that were super friendly; the husband was also a bit of a whisky fanatic so while the language barriers were great, we were able to bond over that. (and his collection of bottles)  After a hardy breakfast of like 2 or 3 rakijas, we headed towards the Old Town to make our ascent to the fortress.  The Old Town is beautiful and well maintained, the path up to the fortress is steep and difficult, and overall the ambiance is something that I would have paid money to enjoy.  It is really difficult to produce the words that would accurately paint a picture of the beauty and majesty that is Kotor, though it still holds a quaintness of a small town.  One thing that I decided is that if I wanted to become a painter I would move to Montenegro – the landscapes themselves would do 90% of the work.

Black Risotto

After exploring the city, we ate a delicious dinner that included the local specialty of black risotto.  It is blackened by squid ink, but does not taste like I imagined it too.  I imagined it to taste similar to drinking a fountain pen, but it was rich and delicious instead.  The seafood was fresh and the wine was delicious.  We retired to the apartment to plan our next moves to Croatia and Bosnia-n-Herzegovina the next day. 

Operation Mountain Goat

 P.S.  I think I have found my honeymoon location, but I think I should probably see about the larger part of getting to the honeymoon stage....

P.P.S  I am hoping to make an entire photo-based post in the near future, I just thought I would give you a taste of them.

Kotor By Night (Not my photograph)

View from the Fortress (Not my Photography)

Albanian Independence, Greece, and Beyond

Still we were onto Thessaloniki.  2nd largest city in Greece.  Back into the EU.  Greek Food.  Perfection.  Though I will admit that the ride into Saloniki is rather ugly, it's the industrial port side of things.  But it got real pretty, real quick.  

So we had all these huge plans to travel more of Greece while we were there, but the weather and the relaxation factor took most of that motivation away.  Still we thoroughly explored Saloniki and were true gluttons.  I don't think I have eaten as well as I did there.  The seafood was fresh.  The food was homemade.  The food was rich.  The food, expensive for Kosovo but cheap for EU, was the best part.  I think I ate more in that time than I have eaten the entire time I've been in Kosovo.  The food was so good, especially all the bird liver we had, that it killed Jason on the way home.  It wrecked him.  Gluttony/rich foods are bad when you've been away from them for a few months.  That's a PSA in there for everyone.  

I highly suggest including Saloniki on your Greek travel plans.  But I could be biased, going from Prishtina (which I do adore) to Thessaloniki was a culture shock.  We, albeit ridiculously tired, were struck dumb when we tried to pick a restaurant the first night.  I mean there were options, which just blew our fatigue addled brains.  We picked a good spot, where I had some deliciously fresh fried Calamari.  We called it an early night and headed to the market the following day.  

Markets.  They are so cool.  I am so excited for the markets in Istanbul (like a week and a half from now).  I really liked the seafood part of the market.  Squid, shark, and a myriad of fish were all right there.  The land meat one was similar, goats, cows, and pigs just propped up for display.  The freshest olives, olive oil, and cheese.  Oh Lord the cheese and olives.  After the market we made it over to the White Tower before retreating from the rain.  

This was our day to explore the city.  We went to the top of the tower and the old city.  It was a hefty, uphill walk, but the views (and the walk) left me gasping for air.  I forgot how much I liked the ocean.  (I did dip my hand in this sea, which unfortunately is not the Med)  Our late start, hill climbing, and church viewing left us ravenous.  To which we filled our stomachs with fresh fish and chips.  I think we did it wrong, as the piece of cod was enormous, and we could have easily shared and ordered all the great veggies.  C'est la view.  I ate like a King.  We relaxed the rest of the day, ate a nice dinner at around 11, and wandered back along the board walk to our hostel.  

Our hostel.  Affectionately, "The Medical Ward".  It was adequate for our needs and served us well.  It was just funny.  

Our final day, Friday, was spent wandering more.  Seeing more.  Shopping aplenty. To which I purchased a nice new winter jacket and a flag patch of Greece. (it's a strange hobby I keep) Then we feasted.  Have I mentioned how much food we ate?  I mean it was ridiculous.  It was delicious.  There was nothing bad about anything we ate. I also did very much enjoy Craft beer out of Athens.  They have one that tasted like a smoked ham.  Living in a Muslim country means that I have limited access to ham.  So eating pork while drinking pork flavored beer is something to be cherished.  It was almost an out of body experience.  

Our last day was plagued with Jason's illness.  Other than that, it all went very well.  Everybody arrive safe at home.   I even had the energy to go and visit a friend for her birthday/going away party.  Sunday, though, I was a bit worse for the wear.  

Sofia, Bulgaria: Where Vienna met the Socialist Party

The Road to Sofia

A Bulgarian tram is never late nor is it early.  It arrives precisely when it means too. (LOTR)  This adequately sums up my experiences with Sofia, as I ventured on all forms of public transportation during my recent visit to the Bulgarian capital.  This weekend was also my first experience taking the UN bus on weekend trips, which there are definitely some pros and cons to doing so.

I arrived a bit early to catch the bus on Friday afternoon,  I had worked a little bit extra everyday to ensure that I worked my 40 hours this week and could take the day off, and spent my time idling around the Fuel Station where the bus picks up.  New to this system, I was unsure about how promptly it leaves (although it is not Kosovar, it runs on Kosovar time)  so I made sure to get there roughly an hour before it began loading.  I had decided to save the money on a taxi and hoof it out towards the base, which is roughly a mile or so down the main highway to Peja.  It was a decent walk, with terrible weather, but I definitely was thankful that I decided to stretch my legs before getting on that bus.

Fish Soup, Cherni Bread, Salad, and Cookie!

The bus ride itself was pleasant; I met some other Americans and got a better idea of how other expats live.  The only thing is that it is about a 6 hour bus ride, adding in the +1 hour time difference, means us leaving at 16:00 gets us into Sofia around 23:00.  I was rather glad to get off the bus, needless to say, and the 30 min walk to my hostel was a welcomed thing.  However, Sofia has an interesting system of back alleys and "tunnels" that led me astray.  I walked back and forth in front of my hostel for about 15 minutes before I even noticed that it was down through one of these "tunnel" contraptions.  So I stumbled into the Nightingale Hostel around 24:00, enough time to eat a small bite and go straight to bed.  Tomorrow was mountain hiking day, and I assumed, rightly, I would need every ounce of energy I could muster.  Cherni Vrah (Black Peak), Vitosha (The name of the Mountain range) was my destination.

My Destination- Cherni Vrah

I woke up promptly at 4:30, when a couple of drunk girls stumbled back home from the bars (Oh, hostel life), then again at 8:00 when my alarm started blaring.  By the looks on the faces of the drunk girls, my revenge was exacted almost perfectly.  I started with a delicious breakfast of cereal and fresh baked croissant thingies with jelly in the middle.  This was provided in my nominally priced hostel.  I made sure to pack in my fair share.  I decided to ask the hostel owner, Michael, about the best way to get to Cherni Vrah.  The lengthy discussion, I made it out of the hostel by about 11, ended and I was armed with great directions to get money changed (Bulgaria uses the Lev, although it is well on its way to the Euro) and grab the appropriate bus to Vitosha.

Up, Up, and Away

I made it to the bus stop and was patiently waiting for my noble steed to take me to the next bus station, then on to the cable cars/lift.  After about 20 minutes, I asked around about the 9TM bus and heard that it decided not to run today.  This met one of the requirements to be considered a Balkans country.  So I grabbed the number 10 tram and headed towards Hladilnika, my next staging point.  Trams, regardless of location, are not the most efficient form of travel.  While they are fun, they do not go very fast.  Luckily, unlike Kosovo, there are no unofficial stops so it wasn't a constant start and stop.  The thing about the public transportation system that made me laugh was the systematic approach to them,  they would wait a little if they were ahead of schedule and speed up if they were behind.  It was a nice change of pace to the erratic Kosovar system. However, the thing irked me was that if the tram was at the end of the line you had to get off and could not get back on until he had moved around to the next "starting" stop.  The same went for buses, as I found out quickly enough.  Either way, I made it to Hladilnika safetly and ate the most delicious sandwich in the world. I mean overall it was a mediocre sandwich; however after a month and a half of zero pork, this sandwich was a gift from the heavens!

My Noble Steed

My Ferryman 

I attempted to get ahead of the game and walked to the 122 bus, the one that would take me to the cable cars/lift, and get on before it had stopped at its first stop.  This was bad form, I found out.  However, the bus driver gave me a free ride and let me sit upfront with him.  He would babble on in Bulgarian, I would laugh when appropriate.  I had heard that Bulgarians were not the nicest, but this fellow was quite the character.  I would catch the words"Obama" and "Cherni" in a sentence and then the bus driver would burst out laughing. I can only imagine what the sentence was about but I laughed along with him.  We had a golly good time, I'd say.

After arriving at the lift, I purchased a student pass (I'm such a rebel)  and started my ascent to Aleko.  Aleko is a tourist center/restaurant/chalet and is the highest point you can get to without walking.  During the winter, you can take a ski lift but alas there was no snow in October.  The wind picked up and the temperature started to fall, especially with the light drizzle that had started to pick up.  Mom, you would have been terrified of these lifts as they were a little rickety and made a lot of mechanical noises that raised some doubts.  After I exited the lift early, two times to be exact, I finally made it to the starting point of my trip.  It was roughly 13:45 at this point, and the last life down was 16:30.  I had my work cut out for me.

To give some background on Vitosha:  It sits on the outskirts of the city of Sofia, the south end of the city to be exact.  It's quite tall and has some great ski resorts, as I was told.  It's rises out of the south as I imagine that Mt. Saint Helen does in Washington.  Absolutely beautiful, but I am biased towards mountains.

Scenic Backdrop for a House

I started my trek, finding a random path here or there that took me through golden meadows dotted with rock outcroppings.  I finally made it onto the gravel pathway that would lead me up to the top as quickly as possible.  The views from here were daunting, your eyes would follow the meadow to a cliff and then out from there was the city of Sofia.

Presidential Guards

The ascent really took off the last about 100m.  If I remember correctly, it is approximately 500m of elevation change from Aleko to Cherni Vrah.  I felt every meter.  The only thing I wish I had once I got towards the top was a walking stick, the ground was steep, muddy, and full of rocks.  The meadows, I found out, were peat fields and the area was rich with it.  It is this grand golden color, like wheat fields, then off a cliff into the tall ex-Socialist buildings and bright evergreens.

The Path that I Found and Followed

I finally made it to the top.  Though there was not much to see as these dark grey clouds had started to wander in, fearing rain I started my descent.  I made it about 20m when the sun came out of nowhere and visibility returned.  I was awfully tired by this point, so I decided not to make the trek back up.  But it was a bit of Madden luck to reach the summit full of clouds.  It was around 15:30 when I started my descent, so I had to make up for lost time.  This included cutting through the meadows, with a gaggle of Bulgarian teenagers in tow, and jumping down super steep embankments.  There were a few close calls that would have led to a saturated and muddy behind, but alas the natural poise and grace I inherited from Mom and Dad won through and I escaped only slightly dirty.  I made it onto the last cable car down the mountain, so dodged a giant bullet there!

It Started to Get Real Steep, Quick!

I made my way back to the hostel, where I traded some Lev for a shower and a towel and awaited a pick up by my CouchSurfing host Nikolay. Nikolay was good people, he gave me a short tour through the city.  But with a slight pessimist spin.  That did wonders for me, because it made it all that more real.  It's one thing to sell a city, it's another to sell it as a real place. Don't get me wrong, Sofia has a magical air to it, but it is nice to get a pragmatic view on it.

Square of Tolerance

The Orthodox Corner

Catholic Corner

Islamic Corner

Jewish Corner

     To give some background on Nikolay, he lived on the West Side of Sofia.  It's name is on the tip of my fingers, Zapden Park or thereabouts.  At least that's the subway name.  This is supposedly the "rough" part of town, though only for women and small children.  It might also have to do with a tall, blond tourist with two backpacks.  I could have been a target.  Either way, he cooked dinner for me. We had steak, mushrooms, and bread.  It was almost American in its simplicity, and yes I did just steal simply delicious meal as American.  Boom. Anyways, his parents worked for the Interior and Exterior Agencies in Bulgaria and have been stationed all over the world.  He might have at one point been fluent in German, is currently fluent (or thereabouts) in Italian and French.  Bulgarian, which being the easiest of the Slavic languages cause it is the most simple, Serbian, Macedonian, (which is just faux-country anyways, according to Albania, Greece, and Bulgaria) Croatian, and Russian are mother tongues.  Hungarian, a little bit, and Arabic are his weakest languages, he has a degree in applied linguistics with a focus in Arabic.  Oh and he speaks English with a slight New York-er accent.  He's been around the block.  We discussed all sorts of things from the EU, to politics, sports, national identities, archaeology, bacon futures, maple syrup robberies, etc all over some nice Bulgarian beer followed by some Red Label.  It was a pleasant and relaxed evening, that I thoroughly needed after such strenuous hiking.

Random Rotunda inside the Presidential Building's Courtyard

My Subway Station for Saturday Night

Bulgarian Subways are Clean, Nice, and BIG

 
     Sunday was my subway day, I swear if the Atlanta could put together such a clean and magnificent piece of public transportation, I'd never leave.  It has the same reach as MARTA, but man was it on a whole n'other level. I completed my walk about tour, gathered some great photos, and found a hookah shop for my land lord.  So Sunday was really relaxed in that nature, though my Achilles was really starting to act up.  'Tis all better now, but whew did it hurt.  The bus back was on par with the bus there, maybe slightly more exciting. I realized however, that I am greatly interested in exploring urban decay.  Specifically ex-Socialist style buildings as nature has made their move.  It fits with my "ghost" town fascination too.  The road to Sofia has a few industrial parks that seem like nice little "time capsule" style moments.

I Had This View Regardless Which Direction I Turned My Head

     This week marked the start of my teaching career in a full position.  I am molding the minds of another countries youth. (though my night class is all adults, which is my favorite ESL level)  Working in another country has its ups, as well as downs.  Today was hectic and I've become an ad-hoc leader of the English teachers (think the Rebels in Star Wars) so I am trying to work out grievances/issues/questions/concerns/etc which is both informative and challenging.  Luckily, I love a good puzzle!

National Theater

The Mountain Path

Near the Chalet Was Wooded

It Really Started to Open Up into Flowing Meadows

The Mountain Range

Finally Found the Path!

The Path Continues

The Descent

Tape 3: Picture Post of Ohrid

This is the promised picture post that you guys have been so patiently waiting for, so I'll do my best to keep the words to a minimum.  These pictures are entirely in chronological order, so you should be able to follow along as if you were sitting right next to me.  Enjoy!

The Ride Out There Through Kosovo

Skopje

 The Ride Through Macedonia

Ohrid

 By far the most perfect piece of property that I have ever seen.  It boast water/boardwalk front complete with astroturf.  That is the definition of perfection.

The Start of a Journey

 

Leaving St Jovan Kaneo

 This would be someone's view every single day. Above is behind their house, below is their view. 

The Fort and its Views

The Ancient Theater

The Gallery of Icons

A Final Look at the Port before I Headed Back to the Bus Station

 A Cute Old Man Playing Music on the Main Boulevard 

                                        

I hope this last post has been all that you imagined it to be, though it's only a fraction of the photos that I took.  When I get back stateside or if you end up in Prishtina, I will gladly show you every picture I took.