Paris Update # 13 - Countries 98, 99, and 100!!!!!

 October 30, 2025

Hi all - well, it is official...i have now visited my 100th country on this planet during my October Break! It's a big deal to me....and I don't plan to stop visiting new places (or previously visited places) any time soon 😜 Over the summer, my last trip was to Toulouse, France, Andorra (country #98) and Barcelona, Spain. It was short, but filled with craziness, fun, food, history and surprise. I took this trip with my friend Lisa, a seasoned traveler like me, but for Andorra, we did not plan well. Now, when we have something that is just not going right...our word to describe it is Andorra...more on why a little later in the update.

This past week, I was in London for an american football game (ram vs jaguars), then flew to Georgia #99, and spent a day in Armenia #100, while there.....this trip included visits with Karen (from Ghana days), Jason & Katie (who I had not seen for 19 years - since their wedding) and traveling to the two countries with friends Maja and Heather)....it was a great week of catch-ups, sports, food, drink, adventure and exploration.....so happy i got to experience these places with these people!!!!

There have been other events in Paris between these adventures, and I will send out a true Paris update next about my adventures here. I will be in the states over the winter holiday, but it will be a quick trip...if you would like to try and meet up, get in touch and we'll see if it can happen....in 2026, i am hoping to travel to Italy and the Philippines (country #101)....so am excited for these adventures that are already scheduled.....now onto the pictures from the other adventures.....

Lisa and I arrived on a super HOT day in Toulouse at the train station.....it was ridiculously hot, but it got worse after we left.....not a fun way to explore a city....but we did it!!!

One of the amazing things we visited in Toulouse was the Halle De La Machine.....it is an incredible exhibit of street art and mechanics....the machines are large enough for people to ride on them....and they are controlled by humans...the Minotaure was mind-blowing!!!!

This one is actually a dragon that lives usually in Beijing...it was designed for the city...I never saw it when I was in china, but it is visiting Toulouse currently, so I was pretty excited to check it out!!!🐲

From Toulouse, we traveled by bus to Andorra...which actually does not have an airport or train station...bus is the only way to get there....this was country number 98 for me!!! and what a strange place it was.....

The three main things to do in Andorra are ski (it was the wrong time of the year), shop (due to lower taxes than the EU, but I am not much of a shopper), and hike (but it was 35C+/100F+ while we were there....too hot!!!)....we did go on a hike up to a human-made lake, but you were not allowed to swim in it....so we wandered around it and had a beer while there.....

we also went up to a local mineral pool, as Andorra is also known for its spas...we also wnet to their biggest spa for a morning....we really wanted to relax for the day...but 4 hours was the maximum time allowed....no more for you!!!!! it was weird!!! 🤷

we did end up finding some good food....this chinese place was actually quite authentic and we loved this sign....due to Andorra being soooooo weird....not really sure why we stayed for four nights....we made the wrong choice with this, but we made it work.....

We also found a great wine bar, run by argentinians....but overall, this is a place you should go to if you are going to ski or shop....and if you are not doing those things, you really only need to be here for a day...not four....but now when things are really weird for Lisa and I, we just say "Andorra", and understand it all from that one word 🤣

and then we were on our way to Barcelona for one night....i made a point to go visit the Sagrada Familia, as I had not seen it for over 20 years! Last time i was there, there was no stained glass..it was incredible!!! 3 parts on the outside, of four are now mostly finished.....

As you can see from the shot above, the stained glass really has a huge effect on the inside of the cathedral...this was the side that faced the sunset....simply breath-taking!

the other aspect of this cathedral that i love is that it was built to look like a forest when you look up! the nature focus is throughout the design and really gives the building an interesting and different perspective...it is just incredible! We were only there in Barcelona for one night, but we certainly enjoyed every moment of it!

the second trip i am going to write about was just last week.... I was off to London for the first weekend of my October break....and I met up with Karen and her two-year-old son for breakfast....we had not seen each other since we both left Ghana in June of 20216...it was a lovely catch-up!

One of the main reasons i was in london for 48 hours, was to catch up with Katie & Jason....we realized that we had not seen each other since their wedding, 19 years ago....it was a blast catching up, eating, drinking and exploring london with them!!!

Another reason i was in london was to catch an american football game at Wembley Stadium LIVE!!!! this stadium did such an amazing job....i guess the Jacksonville Jaguars call wembley their second home...the merch and PR for that team was quite evident....and even though they did not play well, it was definitely a jaguars fan base....

these were my seats for the game...not too shabby....and a lot cheaper than Eagles tickets back in philly 😉 the other cool thing was to see jerseys from across the league...if you had a jersey, you were wearing it, whether the team was playing or not....such a fun atmosphere and experience...i would do it again!! 🏈

after the game, i raced to heathrow to catch a flight to country #99 - Georgia...where i met up with my friend's Maja and Heather to explore this country....we stayed in tblisi, the capital, the whole time, but did get out to go to Armenia for a day (ore on that later - 100) and into the wine region for a wine tasting....loved this shot of us with famous artworks....

i really enjoyed the street art in Tbilisi...this is sergei parajanov...a famous avant-garde filmmaker & georgian artist....he was considered a political dissident during USSR rule and did spend time in jail.....

this is the famous leaning clock tower of tbilisi....it was created by Rezo Gabriadze, who was a puppeteer and created the marionette theater in tbilisi....which we went to....it was charming and so fun to watch...we saw a play called Alfred and Violetta....it was a wonderful story and the puppeteers were incredible....this clock tower has an angel that comes out and strikes a bell every hour....and then twice a day, a small puppet show happens here as well....as part of the clock....simply stunning!

One of our days in tbilisi we took a cable car up to the top of one of their hills....from the top we could see the largest orthodox cathedral in tbilisi - the holy trinity cathedral....we did not make it there during our visit...although we went to many orthodox churches while visiting....more than 86% of all georgians are eastern orthodox....something i learned while visiting this country....

and this was the statue of the mother of georgia - kartlis deda...she stands 20m/66 ft tall, she holds a sword and a cup of wine in each hand - this is because georgians treat good faith guests well and offer them the wine, but their enemies will be dealt with ruthlessly

georgian wine is becoming more and more known...because it uses a different process of fermentation and production...more on that later...i did like some of the georgian wines, but only the dry ones....their semi-sweet and sweet wines are just too sweet for my taste...but this must be why they kept asking us how many liters of wine we could drink at once?!?!?!

for one of the days in this part of the world, we took a trip into Armenia - my 100th country to visit on the planet!!!! some interesting things i learned about armenia - it was the first country to adopt christianity as a state religion (92% of its population is christian), it was the first country to build. states church, and it was the first country to make chess a mandatory subject in school.....we had lunch at a food court along our drive...and were blown away by all the different types of baklava....yummy!!!!

our first stop was at the largest lake in armenia - lake sevan....this is a HUGE freshwater lake...it is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world....there was a monastery on a peninsula that we stopped to check out....it is called sevanavank...it was founded in 305 AD....crazy!!! the stones you see above are armenian stone crosses, known as khachkar...they act as a focal point for worship...

this was the altar inside of the monastery...quite beautiful....the monastery still holds services today and it is considered one of armenia's most spiritually charged places....

this is a view of the beautiful lake as the sun was coming out from behind the clouds...the view was stunning....lake Sevan makes up 1/6 of the size of all of armenia and is considered the jewel of armenia....

this is the monastery from the outside...it was a beauty of a day....actually it was quite drizzly, but every time we got to somewhere we were visiting, the rain would stop and the clouds would part and we would get pictures like this one....incredible!!!

this is me with the armenian flag, outside of the monastery, trying to make the number 100 with my fingers...easier said than done...i did make a sign, but forgot to bring it on the trip with me, but there is a shot with it on my phone a bit further down....

pomegranates were everywhere on this trip - both georgia and armenia...i really liked the way this picture looked with the colors, which is why i took it...they are seen in both georgia and armenia as symbols of prosperity and good fortune....

we also stopped at a town that is called the switzerland of armenia...it is called dilijan...it has this one beautiful stone street with a few artisans and souvenir shops...it was a quaint street where we could get things to remember this very quick, but lovely trip into armenia....

here are heather, maja and i on the top of the hill the sevanavank monastery....you can see the lovely lake behind us....we are celebrating our stop in this beautiful spot!!!

and of course, to celebrate number 100, i had to have a local beer with lunch....on my phone is the sign i made for this moment of my travels...who knew this would happen...and i am pretty excited that i did it!!! i will continue to go to new countries, as much as possible, but i am quite happy that i have reached one of my lifetime goals...and you have been along for the ride!!! yahooooooo!!! Thanks, Armenia!!!

one of the things i loved about tbilisi was all of the street art...whether it be murals or graffiti or sculptures, it was everywhere...it reminded me a lot of the street art in Bratislava...you never knew where you would see it, you would just need to keep looking....loved the sax player walking through the wall♬

Georgia is becoming more and more known for its wine...this is due to the interesting process it uses for production and fermentation....in the small wineries - like the one we visited outside of tbilisi, they use these earthen containers called qvevri....they put all of the parts of the grape, mushed up, into this and let it ferment based on the type of wine they are making (dry, semi-sweet, sweet, etc)....we saw how they did this in this small winery we did a tasting at....the wine is too sweet for me most times, but i can sometimes handle the dry wines....especially the super dark red one - saperavi....yummy🍷

the town we went tasting in was adorable and located in the kakheti region...it was called sighnaghi...and had these old, 18th century, city walls we could actually walk along....the views of the caucasus mountains from these walls were incredible 😲

then we went to the bodbe monsatery complex, which was originally built in the 9th century, it has been modernized and updated, but is still an orthodox monastery being used today...the main church was currently under construction and the mosaic they were making was stunning....we had a beautiful day to visit this place and had some of the best georgian pastries outside of its walls made by two grandmothers...delicious!!!

our second wine stop was at a more industrial distributor, KTW - this stands for Kakhetian Winemaking Tradition....they still use the same methods, but on a much bigger scale and we got to taste directly from the huge vats of wine.... Drinking red wine cold is not necessarily my style, but the Georgians certainly like it this way! this company's wines are the ones most commonly found outside of Georgia and if you have not tasted them, i recommend you do! This region is up and coming, definitely starting to export quite a bit of wine....

our last full day was back in tbilisi, where we went to their daily flea market....it was so interesting to see stalin everywhere - he was born in georgia, and the georgians claim him as one of theirs, but more as a historical reminder that all people are born somewhere and that place does not necessarily cause them to turn into the adult they become...this is the deda ena, the mother tongue statue in tbilisi....this was built to commemorate when georgians rose up against the USSR to NOT have their mother tongue (georgian) replaced by russian as their country's main language...they actually succeeded with this protest, and this is why georgian still exists today....it was a super cool statue....

one of my most favorite things about georgia was the food....they have a lot of vegetarian options...including the dumpling-like sacs above, called khinkali....you actually eat them upside down and you can have them boiled or fried....they are filled with veggies or meat, and are kind of like dumplings or pierogies.....and they also had this amazing walnut paste on salads and with roasted veggies...sooooo tasty!!!

so here is a final toast from me to you....on a balcony in tbilisi....here's to Andorra - country number 98, Georgia - country number 99 and Armenia - country number 100!!!!! they were two terrific trips, with terrific people, and just once again showed me how large and varied this planet we live on is!!! My hope is to get to country number 101 in 2026....the Philippines!!!! Bon Voyage to all of you...i urge you to get out of your comfort zone and travel...whether somewhere in your own country...or world-wide...there are amazing adventures to be had!!!!

if you have any questions, comments or concerns...please reach out....happy fall/spring to you all and i'll catch you on the next update!!!!

Peace out....

Dani

Paris Update #12 - Spring Break in Albania, N Macedonia & Kosovo

 July 29, 2025

Hi all - below is the update from my incredible Spring Break trip to Albania, N Macedonia & Kosovo - if you have not been to these countries or don't have them on your radar of places to visit, you need to add them and go soon....Albania has been heralded as the "maldives of europe" so you need to head that way soon, before all of the other tourists learn about it!! the growth in this particular country is astonishing and will go up in price over the next few years.....so get there if you can before it becomes more expensive to visit and is on everyone's list!!!!

I traveled through these three countries with three friends and we hired a local company to drive us to all of the places we wanted to see during this week long adventure...the name of the company was Go As Local, they are a brother and sister team from Albania and they were awesome with everything....we also did a wine tasting day and cooking class with them that both were a ton a fun and they tailored the trip to what we as a group wanted to do! It was a blast and we learned about the different parts or the countries...our guide - Endri - was awesome!!! On with the pictures...📷

The trip began in the capital of Albania - Tirana....i did not realize they had mountains (Skanderberg Mounatin Range - more on that name at the end of the update) surrounding the capital and we got there on a beautiful day....this shot was taken at a rooftop bar and was the start of a fantastic trip!

That night we had one of our favorite meals, once three out the four of us had made it...live music and singing and traditional food - very bready and meat heavy, but very fresh with tomatoes, squash, cheese,  and garlic....and of course some local beer for Laurie & I...Borhoritje!!! (Cheers in Albanian)🍻

this is the flag of albania, which depicts a double headed eagle (great for my american football team), which represents the resilience of albania, as it was not a sovereign nation for a long time of its history, yet made it through all of the regimes that ruled over it and is now its own country!

first stop outside of Tirana, was Durres, a sea-side town with a corniche/promenade...as we wandered down the corniche, we saw this sculpture of Tina Turner, John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger - so of course we needed to take a picture with it! Music is everywhere!

the first town we stayed overnight in Albania was Berat... this town was so charming and beautiful....and i loved this mural of this poem "A woman with a book and pen, has the power to move nations; A woman with a mind and voice, has the power to change the world!" Love it!

Berat stands for the "white city" and as you can see, many of the buildings are white....it is also nicknamed the city of 1000 windows....this was only one side of the bridge...and above these buildings in the background, there was a castle/fort at the top of the hill...and here are my super cool traveling partners....Wendy, Laurie & Gizela...what a crew!!!!

this is the view of Berat from the top of the hill...we stayed on this side of the river (what we were facing in the above picture), along a cobbled stone street....such a quaint place.....

this was our awesome waiter from dinner in Berat...we showed up at the restaurant and it was super busy....so he offered us free wine and some snacks to wait until the kitchen could get to us....how could we say no....he was a smooth talker and an excellent salesman!!!!

we also were offered the homemade brandy that was made by the restaurant and the owners...blueberry flavor and cinnamon flavor...cinnamon was just like fireball!!!!🔥 here i am with the two bottles....prost!

one of the places we swung by was the beach...it was a bit cool for hanging out on the beach....but look at the color of that water....the name of this beach was saranda...if i was going back in warmer weather, i would make sure to hit the different beaches of albania....it has been nicknamed the "maldives of the balkans"....this beach is a stone's throw away from corfu, greece....

off we went to another cobbled stoned village called gjirokaster....this particular town is known for it ottoman architecture...and it is a UNESCO world heritage site....it is nicknamed the stone city....

this building, known as the 6-hagon, was in the old town section of Gjirokaster...and just recently when the owner wanted to rebuild part of this building, a 17 meter (51 feet) deep medieval well was found in this building....now it is part of the tourist attractions of this city....

this picture was taken in the oldest family house of Gjirokaster...it was originally built in the 1700s...the man in the middle of us is one of the family members who is left and he gave us a tour of the house..he was very proud of this home.....it has 64 windows, 12 rooms, 9 fireplaces, 6 bathrooms (with plumbing methods) and 4 hamams (bathhouse style bathroom)....it was really cool and so was our guide...

this was one of our breakfasts while we were in albania....but most of the food in all three of these countries for breakfast looked like this....always some bread, meat, cheese, eggs and fresh veggies...it was super tasty and they definitely were able to accommodate a vegetarian....

here is a roadside seller along the way to the town of Ohrid, along Lake Ohrid....these were types of nuts and dried fruits and were soooooo tasty...he also had Airsoft available for anyone who felt like shooting at targets....just in case 🤷

lake ohrid is where albania and north macedonia meet....much of this area was not really open at this time of the year, but we made it into N Macedonia and then spent some time in ohrid's old town....this is ancient macedonian theater of ohrid....this was built in 200 BC...and is currently used for concerts and such in spring, summer and fall.....

Ohrid has been labelled as one of the oldest settlements in all of europe....it was built mainly between the 7th and 19th centuries.....this is another UNESCO world heritage site....

this is us with our awesome guide, Endri, on the walls of Samuel's Fortress looking down at the old town of Ohrid...these walls were restored in 2003, so the original is not really seen anymore....but wow, what a view!

the last image from Ohrid is the orthodox church of st john at Kaneo....it overlooks lake ohrid...archeologists have said that this structure was built during the rise of the Ottoman Empire...probably in the 13th century...

then we were off to the capital of N Macedonia - Skopje...you might notice that there are lovely buildings and tons of statues here...they were brought to the city in 2008 to help increase tourism...there are 284 statues...many of them have nothing to do with N Macedonia's history...its wild to see them all...i do have to say i liked the old town more than the newer version.....it was more like a turkish market/souk....

Skopje also had their own arc de triomphe...which i thought was pretty funny.....their huge statue of alexander the great and the fountain of the women that affected his life were my favorites, but i did not get good shots of them.....

mother teresa was born in skopje in 1910....they have set up a memorial house to her and all that she did for people during his life....she was born to an albanian family, who lived in n. macedonia....so folks always wonder if she is albanian or macedonian....this was the view out the window in her chapel....

from skopje we headed off to prishtina, the capital of kosovo...as we drove into the capital and there were USA flags and a huge poster thanking Bill Clinton and the USA for helping Kosovo become a country...it was wild....we went to the national library here, which was stunning....it was designed by a croatian architect and has 73 small domes....it is the center of the national university.....

the statue above is albanian...it is the heroinat memorial....it is a statue that focuses on kosovan women and each one of the individual circular pieces of metal that make it up is a woman's face....this was to recognize the 20,000 women who were raped during the kosovan war...it was a moving and sobering memorial for those women....

Everywhere i go, i always try and take a picture or two of the graffiti i find in the places i visit....this was one of the murals i saw in prishtina, kosovo...this one is called "when we thought we could fly"....by an artist known as millo....cool stuff....

we then headed to the largest city in kosovo called prizren...which had a beautiful old town and was along a river....in most towns on this trip we saw christian churches, orthodox cathedrals and mosques...all in the same areas....loved this shot with the mosque, sun, bridge and clouds....

in prizren there was an albanian museum that went through the history of kosovo and the area from the standpoint of albanians, who make up 92% of the population in kosovo.....here is our awesome guide Endri, who is Albanian, once again...love this shot!!!!

and then we headed back into albania....if you do any research about albania, you will find they decided a long time ago to build amazing roads for folks to explore the entire country (and they were amazing) and they have an incredible amount of bunkers that were built throughout the country....some estimates are as high as 750,000....what different people and communities have done with the bunkers has been a source of creativity....this was a farm-to-table restaurant that put a "spoon" into their bunker....

the last town we made it to before we had to head back to tirana was shkoder, albania....again it had a lovely old town, but the thing i was most impressed with the smart-solar flower they had....it powers the city's water supply and sewer services....too cool!

the last place we went was duka vineyard in albania.....we had a tour of the vineyard hill (which you see above) and the processing plant before heading down to do a tasting by the lake....four wines and a brandy, paired with an amazing four course meal.....yummy!!! 🍷

and here we are after our tasting and meal....with endri.....this was an incredible way to end our tour and from here we headed back to tirana.....i would say if you are hiker or a biker (cyclist or motorcycle), you should go explore albania....it has amazing hiking trails and people willing to help wherever...it seemed like those were the types of travellers we ran into the most on this trip.....wow, what a region of the world!!!!

we had one final day in tirana where we went and visited the Bunk-Art 2, a bunker that has been repurposed as a museum to show the history of Albania....it was important to visit, but definitely portrayed heavy material (communist regime & the secret police) that the Albanians had to go through to get to where they are today....

we also wandered through the town a bit before we went to a cooking class to round out our Balkan trip...I loved this building...it is known as the Rock Building or Skanderberg Building (remember the name of the mountains around Tirana in the beginning of this update???)....it was designed to represent the face of Albania's national hero - Gjergi Kastrioti, more commonly known as Skanderberg....such a cool monument!

and then we got down to cooking....which we also did with Go As Local....unfortunately only three of us could go, but we had a blast....this is one of the owners of the company....and she was awesome! Very tasty, but "heavy-ish" food...luckily everything can be done vegetarian....yummy!!! Plus, we were allowed to have as much wine as we wished....from the farm of the owners....Albanians really grow a lot of their own food and drink...it was incredible....

One last shot of me having a beer at a hometown restaurant in prishtina, kosovo...with a local beer called Peja....i did have a beer most cities i visited, as they all had their own brews...most were pilsners....light, but tasty....Brohoritje (Cheers!) & Gezuar (to your health!) to all of you....and remember, if Albania and this region is not on your travel list, you need to add it...it was fantastic!!!!

and there your have it...finally....my spring break trip to to the Balkans - Albania (#95), N Macedonia (#96) and Kosovo (#97)....what a great time, with a great company and again, i highly recommend you put this area on your travel list!!!  i am currently wrapping up my time in the States this summer...and what a busy visit it has been (visiting 8 states this time around with trips)...i get back to paris this week and will be traveling a bit more in France, Spain and Andorra (#98)....plus, i have some fun travel ahead this year to places in europe and further....and it looks like i will be traveling to my 100th country this school year!!! very exciting!!!!

hope everyone is well and enjoying whatever season you are currently experiencing!!! thanks for reading this update and i hope to get another one or two out over the fall semester...if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact...and please contact me if you are headed to paris or the surrounding european area...would love to see you!!!!

peace out and have a fab day 😎

dani