Slovenia

LJUBLJANA
We watched the All Blacks lose to the British & Irish Lions at an Irish Pub in Zagreb in the morning before catching the three and a half hour bus to Ljubljana, the beautiful capital city of Slovenia (birthplace of Melania Trump).  We chose to stay for two nights at the very quirky Hostel Tresor in the central city fifty steps from Preseren Square and close to the triple bridge - the one with the dragons on it. The hostel is in a refurbished bank, all the rooms are names after global currencies and breakfast is in the converted bank vault.

Hostel Tresor in Ljubljana

From the city we walked over the bridge and up the hill to Ljubljana Castle, a medieval fortress over looking the city and surrounding countryside. It's an easy, beautiful walk with plenty of places to stop, rest and take pictures. The castle has lots of exhibits and top of the main tower has a huge national flag (I love flags) and the best views of the city.

The path to Ljubljana Castle

Ljubljana Castle

The view from the tower at Ljubljana Castle

The following day we rented a car and drove north on the E61 to Bled to visit the fairy-tale 11th century castle overlooking Lake Bled. It's the oldest castle in Slovenia and one of the top tourist attractions, but it wasn't particularly crowded. There were lots of places to explore and exhibits to wander through. The kids got the best ice cream ever and Seb ended up wearing most of it on his face.

Seb looking down to the lake

Dubrovnik, Croatia

DUBROVNIK
Dubrovnik has been around since the 7th century when the Greeks fled north to escape the barbarian invasions. They built walls around their settlement and established trade and a port which, for the next thousand years, would be known as Ragusa. It wasn't until the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire that the city changed it's name and built an industry around tourism. In recent times the city was senselessly bombed by the Yugoslav army in 1991 but recovered to earn UNESCO World Heritage status and become one of the most iconic spots on the Adriatic Sea. It is absolutely beautiful, very similar but much bigger than Kotor but many. many more tourists. Too many for my liking.

The bus from Kotor in Montenegro took about two and a half hours to reach Dubrovnik with stunning views of the Adriatic for the last thirty minutes or so. We were deposited near the cruise ship terminal but quickly got a taxi to Srebreno beach and our apartment for the next few nights. While it would have been great to stay within the old city walls, there is a ferry from Srebreno beach to the 'Porat' entrance to Dubrovnik.

GAME OF THRONES TOURISM

The best way to see the city and take in the location and views is to walk around the city from the ramparts above. The views are stunning and there are plenty of places to stop for photos and grab a drink and something to eat. The best way to explore the city is to get lost in the streets and alleys below.  There are a bunch of 'Game of Thrones' themed tours but we opted instead to explore without a map or guide - and to be honest that's the best way to do it. We stopped frequently for ice cream, or beer or food and even more frequently for photos.

For me one full day in Dubrovnik was enough for me. Although the photos may not show it, the place was teeming with tourists and at times I was worried about getting separated from the kids.  This was one of the few places where we organized a meeting point (the clock tower) should we lose each other during the day, but thankfully it never came to that.

NEXT STOP BOSNIA
Tomorrow is Sunday. We're scheduled to pick up a Sixt rental car from the city which we're going to drive all the way to Zagreb in the north. Along the way we're catching a car ferry to a Croatian island, but before then we're headed to Mostar and Sarajevo for a slide of history tour in Bosnia. I can't wait.

Montenegro

THE CITY OF CATS
We were up early to catch a taxi to the Tirana bus station and eventually boarded the bus bound for Montenegro, via Podgorica and then the stunning capital city, Kotor - also known as the city of cats. Kotor is one of the most beautiful walled cities I've ever seen, smaller than Dubrovnik but big enough to get lost in for a little bit. Lots of nice courtyards with appealing restaurants and shops and some lovely churches. Lily and Seb had fun playing with the numerous cats wandering all around the place and even tried talking me into buying a kitten.

Seb & Lily playing with kittens in Kotor

Kotor from the top of the old fort trail

We stayed at the Kotor Old Town Hostel just inside the entrance to the old town and easy walking distance from the bus station. The hostel is in a rustic 13th century stone building and had recently been refurbished. It's an excellent location with a tourist desk next door and plenty of restaurant options right around the corner. We wandered around the narrow alleys and stunning courtyards for the afternoon and stopped for pizza and ice cream.

A DAY OUT AND ABOUT
We took a day tour of Montenegro with a bunch of other like minded tourists out of the city and around the bay of Kotor taking in sights like 'Our Lady of the Rocks' (a small lighthouse in the middle of the bay), Slano lake and the beautiful Piva Monastery.

Our Lady of the Rocks - Seb, Lily, me, Glen & Ale

ZIPLINING IN PLUZINEAfter Piva Monastery was the highlight of the day - a monstrous zipline over Pliva Lake. Both kids were brave enough to take it on and loved it. It was a thrilling was to end the afternoon before starting out for Ostrog Monastery.  We would never make it there though. The tour van broke down several times and we were losing precious daylight at the driver tried without luck to get it fixed properly.  We had to abandon the monastery and head back to Montenegro, hours behind schedule.  The silver lining after all the waiting was that the tour company generously reimbursed the full price of the tour for all five of us.

Viaduct over Pliva Lake.

The zipline group

Montenegro was a surprise.  Next on the list was Croatia and the city of Dubrovnik!

Kosovo

KOSOVO - COUNTRY OR NOT?
A country is a country if enough other countries agree that it is a country. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Although the United States and most members of the EU recognized Kosovo's declaration, Serbia, Russia, and a significant number of other countries, including a few EU members, did not. So officially, Kosovo is not a country and is not a member of the United Nations. Although it doesn't count towards completing the U.N list of 193 countries, it is a significant and intriguing place to visit.

The border crossing from Albania into Kosovo was very quick - less than 10 minutes. And a significant portion of that time was taken up verifying that Ale and her Chilean passport were welcome without a visa. The outbound crossing the following day would be even quicker, even with another Chilean passport check. The road between Tirana and Kosovo is excellent

OF MOSQUES AND MEN
The population of Kosovo is about 95% Albanian and predominantly Muslim. This became immediately obvious as the small town we stayed in, Prizren, boasts more than 40 mosques, all of which were blasting the call to worship as I was parking the car. It was difficult to miss. We were here during Ramadan and were told but someone in Albania that we should head to the Kaljaja (Prizren Fortress) for sunset, to hear the call to worship and see some fireworks.  The town was very quiet and the fortress was an easy 15 minute walk up the hill behind our hotel. We took a bottle of wine took in the stunning views and watched both fireworks - yes, only two - before wandering back to the town now teeming with men, women and children out for dinner.

Atop Prizren Fortress at sunset

TWO GREAT MONASTERIES
We spent an entire day driving around Kosovo in search of two UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as the capital city - Prishtina.

First stop was the Visoki Dečani Monastery near the town of Desan on the western side of Kosovo about 90 minutes drive from Prizren in the south. It is one of the most important monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church, famous for its elegant and peculiar architecture. It dates from the XIII century and mixes western and eastern church building styles to create a hybrid style only seen in old Serbia. This monastery is particularly noted for some of the world's finest medieval frescoes including a kick ass one of Jesus holding a sword - nothing like it anywhere else. Sadly though, no pictures allowed inside.

Visoki Dečani Monastery

Next stop was an excellent lunch in Peja at a restaurant called Kulla e Zenel Beut, then the second monastery, the Patriachate of Peć, 2 km west of Peja city center. Dating from the XII century, this is the mother church of the Serbian Orthodoxy. Another stunning interior with many spectacular frescoes but, once again, no photos allowed.

The Patriachate of Peć

It took the best part of two hours to drive through the center of the country to Prishtina on the eastern side. We had to play Tetris to park the car then walked around the old clock tower and through a market where we stocked up of football jerseys and golden eagle energy drinks.  From there we took the long drive back to the Albanian border to Tirana airport through town with names like Kukes, Rubik and Milot. By 11pm we were back at Tirana Backpacker Hostel for the night.

Albania

BALKANS 2017
The kids and I embarked on our most ambitious and complicated overseas trip yet. Seven countries (five new ones for me), at least ten border crossings, five flights, four buses (one overnight), two rental cars, one high speed train, ten different hostels or hotels a ferry and a whole bunch of memories. This is the Balkans tour of 2017 with Glen and Alexandra (Ale).

100 U.N COUNTRIES
I've been at this travel business for a long time and while all places are memorable for one reason or another, Albania will always be special to me because it is the 100th U.N. country visited. Only 93 to go to complete the set!

Tirana was great. With Seb and Lily I picked up an SUV rental car from Tirana International Airport and drove to the Backpacker Hostel in downtown Tirana.  We took a self-guided walking tour around the city to get bearings, withdraw money and scope out a place for dinner that evening. Glen and Ale arrived at around 7pm - the first time I've seen them since Chile a couple of months ago (but it seemed longer). Sadly the dinner place was closed but we stumbled upon a nameless seafood place where we were the only patrons. It was a really nice meal and a beautiful evening in Albania's capital but I doubt I could find the restaurant again. We went to Skanderbeg Square and saw the Et'hem Bey Mosque & Clock Tower while the kids played in the water fountains. The square had just recently opened and the entire thing is essentially a water fountain.

The next day we drove to Berat via Fier where we visited the Greek ruins of Apollonia. The ruins were a great way to spend a few hours and we had afternoon tea at a neat little cafe. During the drive I got waved down by one of the many police officers beside the main road. I didn't know that it was a requirement to drive with lights on at all times but the police officer was kind enough to reach into the car and turn them on for me once he figured out I couldn't understand Albanian.

The Greek ruins at Appolonia

THE TOWN OF A THOUSAND WINDOWS
The town of Berat, about three hours south of Tirana, is known for its historic architecture and scenic beauty. It's called 'the town of a thousand windows', due to the many large windows of the old decorated houses overlooking the town. In July 2008 the old town, called Mangalem district, was given UNESCO World Heritage status.  There are plenty of gorgeous sites within easy walking distance - the church of the holy trinity, the citadel, Berat castle, the ethnographic museum and the panorama of the town from high of the hill. It's a stunning place, unspoiled by mass tourism and delightful at every turn. I didn't want to leave after only two days there but I didn't want to miss out on some of the other hidden treasures of Albania either. We had to keep moving.

The view of Berat from Berat Backpackers

Beautiful view of Berat

EASY ON THE EYE, TOUGH ON THE TONGUE - GJIROKASTER
The old town center of Gjirokastër is another UNESCO World Heritage site, described as "a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate". We took a detour to check this place out and it didn't disappoint. This would be the southern most point of the trip - from here it's pretty much north all the way until we get to Paris in three weeks.

Gjirokastër can be divided into roughly two halves, the old town up on the hill, and the new town in the valley below. The castle is the historical and geographical center of the city and where we spent most of our time. The views are amazing and there is a lot to explore including an armaments museum, various chambers in differing states of disrepair and a couple of large open areas used for folk festivals. Dinner was on a lovely little terrace at a restaurant called Kujtimi not far from the huge Kodra hotel. We stayed for sunset and wandered around the old city streets for a while before driving back to Berat (about two hours away) for some late night drinks at Berat Backpackers.

Tomorrow is another new adventure as we drive over the border into Kosovo.

Lisbon, Portugal

The first day of the Europe/Africa leg of the vacation went better than expected. Exciting things happen when my brother is around and today he didn't disappoint. Glen tracked me down at the OneWorld lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3 and woke me up while I was taking a power nap after the overnight flight from Dallas. Ten minutes later we bump into an old work friend of his from New Zealand and half an hour later we're taking selfies with Tiki Tane on our way to our gate. (FYI Tiki Tane is a New Zealand musician). Quick flight to Lisbon, pickup a rental car and we head straight to the too trendy Hilton DoubleTree for our two night stay.

Monument to the Discoveries

After a number of weeks in the Caribbean where Christopher Columbus features heavily, our time in Portugal was all Magellan this and Vasco de Gama that. The weather threatened to ruin things slightly but for the most part we had clear skies and only a little bit of rain on and off. The main reason for the stop in Portugal is to enjoy a few creature comforts before heading further south into Africa.

The Rue Augusta arch

On our only full day in Lisbon we spent the morning at the castle and the afternoon in Belem at the Belem Tower, the 500 year anniversary of discoveries monument and the impressive Jeronimo Monastery. By a weird coincidence the world rally championship was racing next to the monastery in the early evening so we stuck around to watch the top guys race at the end of the day.

Entrance to the Castle of St Jorge

Peacocks at the Castle (for Lily)

The Belem Tower was a pleasant surprise. Built on a small island near the shore of the Tagus river in the 16th century, it was originally a defense system but is now more of a ceremonial entrance into Lisbon from the sea. It, along with Jerónimos Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese discoveries during what they call the Age of Discoveries.

Belem Tower

Jerónimos Monastery

The cloisters inside the courtyard at Jerónimos Monastery

Back at the hotel another unplanned surprise - the hotel was celebrating 6 months as part of the Hilton family of hotels - free drinks, food and mimes taking random photographs. We were the only two people in shorts but we didn't care and even though the drinks were free we snuck out for a late night port before turning in.

Welcome party at the Hilton

Irkutsk

We've been in Irkutsk for the last three days or so and we're ready to move on. The reason for stopping here was to see Lake Baikal, the worlds oldest and deepest lake. Yesterday we took a day trip to the lakeside town of Listvyanka, 60km south east of Irkutsk. There wasn't an awful lot to do in the town which apparently had only one toilet (a hole in the ground) and two cafe's serving marginally edible food - millions of stalls selling smelly fish though. The lake is the attraction - it's absolutely beautiful, crystal clear water, surrounded by mountains and lined with little settlements of wooden villages. We ended up walking for a few hours out to the mouth of the Angara river and up to the Hotel Baikal perched on the mountain overlooking the lake. The Angara is the only river flowing out of Baikal but it's heavily outnumbered by the 336 rivers that flow into the lake.

Lake Biakal

Cars aren't the only things on the road to Listvyanka

After being unceremoniously kicked out of our hotel at 8am this morning by the babushka on duty we ventured to the railway station to leave our bags in the left luggage section so that we could spend the day back in the city. Actually the main reason is so that we can go back to a Sports Bar that we found yesterday to watch some of the world cup football. We're both looking forward to getting on the road again and quietly anticipating what Mongolia has to offer.

 The city of Irkutsk

 

One of the many Lenin statues

The Trans-Siberian

THE TRANS-SIBERIAN
This morning the train pulled into Irkutsk at 3:13am - 77 hours after leaving Moscow. It seems quite a long time 77 hours but we were both sad to get off. We had a very comfortable compartment with two single beds, a table, plenty of storage space and a couple of cups and a teapot so that we could make ourselves coffee and soup whenever we wanted. Our neighbors were a French couple - one a writer and the other a photographer. Each carriage has a samovar at one end so hot water was never a problem. Although the carriage slept twenty, I only counted 7 other people in our carriage during the entire journey - and only three of those spoke English.
Here is what has happened since my last entry in Moscow

JUNE 9th
Got up at 8am and packed our room, , then put our packs in storage at the hostel. While Sara went shopping for food and drink for the following days on the train, I went back to Red Square with our friends Ronnie & Erika so that I could tend their bags while they went to see Lenin. Met Sara back at the hostel in the afternoon then caught the Metro to Komsomolskaya where two key railway stations are situated - i) Leningrad Station for trains to St Petersburg and ii) Yarlslavl Station which is the beginning of the Trans-Siberian Railway. After a short wait at the station we boarded train no. 2 bound for Vladivostok, carriage 7, berths 9 & 10. I took a few photos of the train and then we took off, right on time. It was a wonderful evening watching the first few towns and hamlets roll by as we sat there glued to the window drinking coffee. Bit of a panic after two hours when we heard breaking glass and two people running through the compartment. We saw blood on the floor throughout the hallway and the glass on the door to the neighboring carriage was smashed. We could only assume that someone has slipped and hit the glass, maybe with their head, and run off in a panic. The initial route was slightly different to the one in my guidebook - we stopped at Vladimir for 20 odd minutes and then close to midnight we rolled into Gorki.

Train #2 headed to Vladivostok

Our carriage

JUNE 10th
During the night we made a few stops (Kirov, Glasow) and awoke to find us stopped at Vyatka. The countryside in between the towns was very flat and many of the towns were no more than a few hundred people, the majority of which were farming their own land. Coffee and soup for breakfast, then we left our door wide open and read for much of the day waiting to see the Urals later that evening. Quite a long stop at Perm (which was at one time called Molotov, after the cocktail guy) in the early afternoon but already we were caught out with the time changes and the day was passing much quicker than expected. We had gone forward two hours already. The Urals were quite frankly not worth writing about. I've seen bigger mountains in Dallas. At about 8.30pm Moscow time (everything train related in Russia runs on Moscow time to save confusion with the time zone changes) we pulling into Sverdlovsk which I mistakenly called Yekaterinburg. Same place I thought - just a different name. It was here in 1918 that Tsar Nicolas II, his wife and children were murdered by the Bolsheviks in the basement of the house they were being held in. Their remains were found about 10 years ago in a shallow grave nearby. No time to do much at the station - it was raining and we had an important backgammon tournament going on.

Inside out two berth sleeper

JUNE 11th
Woke up just before the train pulled into Omsk. Got a few provisions at the station and then had coffee and chocolate for breakfast. Most of our more wholesome meals were either soup or yummy Russian noodles. On the south side of the tracks are kilometer markers so that you can tell exactly how far from Moscow you have come - or have left to go. Some of them are tricky to spot because they can be very close to the train but I spied the 3010km maker and knew we were over half way to Irkutsk (about 5,200km). At 5pm Moscow time, 8pm local, we crossed the River Ob and into the sprawling city of Novosibersk - the biggest city in Siberia. It's a typical Soviet city with huge industrial centres and very gray. Once we got moving again we decided to try the dining cart for dinner - we shouldn't of bothered. The food was disappointing and it would ruin Sara's morning the next day. Forward another hour.

 

One of the many station stops along the way - cannot recall where this is

The utilitarian toilet

JUNE 12th
With Sara diving between our compartment and the toilet she missed some of the better landscape. We stopped at Krasnoyarsk in the morning, another town closed to foreigners until recently because of the secret nuclear weapons cities located nearby. Heading out of the city we crossed a 1km long bridge over the Yenisey River. A short while later the countryside changed dramatically. Flat prairie land gave way to lush rolling hills. Tiny hamlets clung to the hillsides and all about the place people were out farming, walking and going about their business. Later in the afternoon we stopped at Ilanski - another pretty station. It seemed that for the rest of the evening the scenery just kept getting better. Sometime in the evening I put the clock forward another hour to Moscow +5 - by my reckoning we should stay in this time zone for the next month at least. More pretty station stops at Taishet and Nischnevdinsk and then it was time to try and get some rest. The train was due to arrive at Irkutsk at 10:13 Moscow time - 3:13am local.

The train station at Taishet

Small communities in Siberia

Checking the wheels at one of the stops

And that's about it for the train journey. It was much more fascinating than I ever imagined and now we can't wait to get on board the next train - a 36 hour jaunt around lake Baikal, then south to Mongolia. We have a few days to explore Irkutsk but the main reason for stopping here is to see the lake. That's the plan for tomorrow.

Trans-Siberian Route

We were a little rushed at the Internet Cafe last night so I am back again today to outline the next few days of our trip. We managed to make the Bolshoy Theatre last night but only for the last 10 minutes of Giselle. The show was a sell-out so we waited outside the theatre until a couple of gentlemen came out. I offered to but their tickets from them but they just handed them over and said 'run'. Although we missed most of the show it was great to get a look around the theatre. In the evening we hung around Manezhnaya square next to the Kremlin and had some food and beer.

Our train leaves at 5:16 this evening and here is a quick outline of the route.

• Sunday: Through Sergiev Posad, Yaroslavl and Danilov.
• Monday: Through Vyatka, Perm (a military town formally closed to foreigners), the Ural Mountains and across the imaginary border between Europe and Asia and into Siberia. Yekaterinberg is the first big town, home of Boris Yeltsin, then Tyumen.
• Tuesday: On and on through Siberia and the town of Omsk and the city of Novosibersk. Wednesday: Through Taiga, Mariinsk and Krasnoyarsk.
• Thursday: Past the Western Sayan Mountains and on through Tayshet, Zima (whose name means Winter), and then to Irkutsk.

This morning we said goodbye to Veronica and Erika after spending the best part of the last four days with them. They are heading back to London tomorrow evening. It's been great traveling with them not in the least because of safety in numbers, but also to share some of our other travel stories.
Next mail will come from Siberia.

Baltica Beer is Best

BALTICA BEER IS BEST
Tonight is our last night is Moscow. We arrived here at 6.20am on Tuesday morning after catching the overnight train from St Petersburg. As luck would have it we met two lovely New Zealand girls from Auckland (Veronica and Erika) staying at the same youth hostel in St Petersburg who were booked on the same train and ended up shared a four berth sleeper with them. We've spent the last three days together seeing some of the sights of Moscow, enjoying the great weather, cheap beer and some of the football World Cup.
I had been to Moscow before in 1999 so I knew my way around but it took some time to get familiar with the Metro system. For those with a Moscow Metro map handy, we're staying near Prospekt Mira, north east of the city center. On the first day here we had to catch up on some much needed sleep but then it was down to Lubyanka (the old KGB HQ) and Red Square to see the heart of the city. The sun sets quite late (about 10:30) so we stayed out and made the most of the daylight. The next day we went out with Veronica and Erika to get tickets to the Moscow Circus and Bolshoy Ballet. Sara and I decided to pass up the Ballet in the hopes of getting a cheaper price on the night. We stopped for close to three hours for lunch at a Russian chain called Yolki Polki to try some of the local food but ended up sampling more beer than food.

St Basil's cathedral in Red Square

In front of Lenin's tomb in Red Square

Yesterday we spent the day at the Kremlin and the evening at the Circus. It's been sunny and hot in Moscow and already we are feeling a little worn out with all the walking. There are loads of cafes everywhere so it's been very easy to sit, relax and have lunch. We have struggled a little with the language but we're both now pretty good at reading Cyrillic script.

Spires inside the Kremlin

The Assumption cathedral inside the Kremlin

Sara in front of the Tzar bell inside the Kremlin

Today we went straight down to Red Square to see Lenin's tomb and then out to Ismaylovsky Park to do some shopping - Sara found a wonderful Sable Hat at a bargain. This evening we've been trying to catch up on the latest news including the situation in India/Pakistan which could potentially effect our future plans. We're just across the road from the Bolshoy waiting to see if we can get ourselves in to Giselle.
That's all for now - tomorrow we board the train for Irkutsk.

The Moscow Circus

So It All Begins In St Petersburg, Russia

SO IT ALL BEGINS
With the world at our feet our trip begins. Without knowing if this will be a success or failure we took the first and hardest step of all. Where it will lead we don't quite know but we can only imagine all the places we'll go over the coming months!

WHITE NIGHTS
Our flight was delayed 30 minutes leaving Gatwick yesterday morning, but we arrived in St Petersburg only a few minutes behind schedule. Once on the ground we quickly passed through immigration, changed some money then caught the bus to the nearest Metro Station. The Metro is very efficient and before too long we were at our station and heading up the escalator. It took me a while to gain my bearings but once I found a familiar landmark I remembered the way to the hostel I had stayed in three years prior. By the time we were settled in the room it was 7pm. Had a quick meal at the cafe next door and then tried to get some sleep - easier said than done. It didn't get fully dark until after 1am and the curtains in the room didn't seem to block any light whatsoever. Eventually the day caught up with us and we fell asleep for a well deserved 11 hours. This morning we've validated our visas and now we have to book our train tomorrow night to Moscow. The computer here is not the best and for some reason we've been unable to get into Hotmail to check or send any messages.

 Church of the Savior

Outside the Hermitage

 St Isaac's cathedral

Sara in front of the Bronze Horseman