You wouldn’t call Tirana a beautiful city, but it has a beating heart and is vibrant and highly walkable. It was battered and bruised and neglected for years and while some of the architecture shows Ottoman influences, a great deal more leans to Soviet-era buildings. Between 1944 and 1991, vast tracts of massive featureless apartment … More Tirana: Haunted by the past, but running toward the future.
Comparing Berat and Paris is certainly off-base, but our beautiful little boutique hotel was indeed situated on the Left Bank of the this old fortified city, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008. This is the Hotel Koroni, open just 10 days after a lengthy renovation. The young owners bought the building three years ago, … More Berat: Living on Albania’s Left Bank
We were beginning to wonder if all the rave reviews we had read about Albania were exaggerated. We had an image in our minds of Albania (medieval villages, narrow cobblestoned streets, olive groves and vineyards) that we just weren’t seeing until we left the frenetic beach scene of Ksamil, drove up into the mountains and … More Gjirokaster: The Albania We Were Looking For
The Llogara Pass has also made the list on Dangerousroads.org but I think calling it “dangerous” is possibly overstating the case. This 31-km. high mountain pass that follows the coast from south of Vlora to Dhermi is a road that demands attention, but most people lucky enough to take this trip give the road the … More Following Julius Caesar on the Llogara Pass: One of the World’s Most Scenic Drives
If you’re a betting type, you might want to put your spare investment cash into a pied-a-terre in Albania. It is pretty much guaranteed to increase in value. As one of our recent hotel hosts said to us, “Albania is changing by the day.” This image of old versus new is Albania in 2023 – … More Albania: The Rising Star of the Balkans
For the second time on our trip to Greece, we have felt quite buffeted about by the tourist hordes, (of which we are a part) and it has somewhat detracted from our full enjoyment of this very beautiful island. So..confounded, confused and at times a bit cross, we have nonetheless been quite captivated. Our six … More Confounded in Corfu
Meteora is also Greek for “suspended in the air“, which pretty accurately describes the monasteries to be found in this unearthly landscape in central Greece. This story began between the 9th and 10th century, when hermit monks chose to live in isolation in the caves of these fantastical rock formations. They survived on donations of … More Meteora: the Higher the Rock, the Closer to God
When you think of a Greek island, what images come to mind? Do you think of scenes like this? Or this? Or perhaps this? Stephen, testing out the water. I am not currently photographing in bathing attire. We are not actually on a Greek island, we are staying in Parga, a gorgeous little town on … More Parga: Greece’s Mainland “Greek Island”
The Zagori region ( Slavic name for Place Behind the Mountain) in northern Greece is one of the most untouched, remote and thrilling landscapes we have ever encountered. Surrounded by mountain ranges and rivers, 46 small stone villages were built during the Ottoman period between the 17th and 19th centuries. The early settlers were loggers, … More Zagori: The Place Behind the Mountain
When you think of Greece, white-washed buildings and sun-drenched olive groves usually come to mind. Our first four days in Greece have been rainy, cloudy and cool, but considering the blistering heat and wildfires that have bedevilled this country all summer, we are not complaining. The last time we were in Greece was in 2020 … More Rainy Thessaloniki
Leaving Ourselves Behind 