Author Archives: AdrianC

Another chapter closes

Posted on May 16, 2012 by AdrianC

After our couple of days in the mountains near Theth, our appetites were whetted for a last taste of the Accursed Mountains. There’s another road on the map, north of the Theth road, which curls along the Montenegrin border towards … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Albania, By Country - Montenegro, Officialdom stuff, Travel stuff, Van stuff | 2 Comments

Komani Ferry

Posted on May 14, 2012 by AdrianC

Our guidebook says that the Komani ferry is “one of the world’s great boat trips, right up there with Norway’s Hurtigrut”. With a recommendation like that, you can’t possibly miss it, can you? Yet it looked for a while like … Continue reading →

Posted in By Country - Albania, Travel stuff, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Nearing the north

Posted on May 13, 2012 by AdrianC

Kruja was the first bit of proper full-on tourist industry we’ve really come across in Albania. Apart from the nearby hotel which advertised camping (sauna and pool included – but migawd, you were paying for ’em!), we were guided into … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Albania, Food stuff, Personal stuff, Travel stuff | Leave a comment

Albania again

Posted on May 7, 2012 by AdrianC

Our short tour around Macedonia almost over, we headed south from Tetovo towards Lake Ohrid, to cross back to Albania. The route took us through the Mavrovo National Park, meaning that, whilst we’d not spent much time in the country, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Albania, By Country - Macedonia, Travel stuff, Van stuff, Wildlife stuff | Leave a comment

Scoping out Skopje

Posted on May 5, 2012 by AdrianC

Bitola wasn’t really all that great as a destination – there were some good views of the city from the mountains of the national park, and the old bazaar and market area was quite pleasant for a quick wander through, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Macedonia, Food stuff, Personal stuff, Travel stuff | Leave a comment

An ongoing Balkan border post

Posted on April 25, 2012 by AdrianC

As we did for the entry to Tunisia, we’ll be giving a handy how-we-did (promising nothing as generic as a “how-to”) for the borders we encounter. This post will be updated after each one – hopefully, with good news of … Continue reading →

Posted in By Country - Albania, By Country - Bosnia, By Country - Croatia, By Country - Macedonia, By Country - Montenegro, Officialdom stuff | 4 Comments

Something fishy

Posted on April 25, 2012 by AdrianC

As we entered Korça, our first impressions were less than enthusiastic. It seemed to have very few redeeming features indeed – certainly not the road surface… We found somewhere to park, conveniently right by the (modern but beautiful) Orthodox Cathedral, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Albania, By Country - Macedonia, Food stuff, Officialdom stuff, Travel stuff, Van stuff, Wildlife stuff | 1 Comment

Përshëndetje, Shqipëria

Posted on April 20, 2012 by AdrianC

In the last post, we mentioned the ticketing for the ferry briefly, but left out one important detail. This was deliberate, because – frankly – we didn’t want to tempt fate. The price we’d been given over the phone was … Continue reading →

Posted in By Country - Albania, Travel stuff, Wildlife stuff | 3 Comments

The Long Good Friday

Posted on April 10, 2012 by AdrianC

San Marco in Lamis, a small town in the hills of Puglia’s Gargano peninsula, is the home of one of Italy’s longstanding Easter traditions. There are three parades through the town on Good Friday – one in the early morning … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Italy, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Back to the mainland

Posted on April 10, 2012 by AdrianC

Heading back to the Italian mainland from Sicily was never going to be easy, so we found one last distraction to put it off for a day – Taormina. The Greeks had built a theatre here, on top of a … Continue reading →

Posted in By Country - Italy, Food stuff, Travel stuff | 1 Comment