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

Update #11 - Paris Update, but Not Paris Adventures

 July 10, 2025

Hi all - well, I am making progress and getting another update out that is late....i have one or two more i will try and get to you after this one as well...as my spring break trip to Albania, N Macedonia and Kosovo will be in the next one...and if Albania is not on your travel card for a visit, you need to add it!!! 

this post will be about my travels this spring that were not to the balklans and not in paris....so malta for a conference, london x2, dusseldorf, sicily (mostly palermo), plus st malo, mont st michel, and die, france (Die for one last visit 🙁) all fun adventures, but only sicily was the first time visit out of them....i love that it is so easy to travel out of france to places in europe....by train or bus or plane...and so easy to travel IN france....just an awesome perk for living in paris....on with the pictures....

First spot I visited, in January, was Malta...it was my second visit, but this time it was for work...gotta love that i got sent to such a lovely, sunny & warmer spot for a conference when it was cold and grey in paris 😉 this was the view from my first room....it is my favorite conference for middle level educators to get re-inspired for the rest of the school year....

one of the evenings, the team from school that went, travelled over to valetta for dinner and a wander after the day of workshops...i loved this lit up fountain, called the triton fountain, that sits at the entrance to the old town portion of valetta.....

this conference is always a great time for me to connect with old friends that i have taught with from around the world...including ted o'oconnell....we worked together in panama....but this is one of those perks about teaching abroad...since i move so frequently, i have friends from all over, who i get to see when they move somewhere else...it is an awesome part of my life as an international educator!!! 🎉

the next few shots are from my first london trip in March for Nadine's birthday theatre weekend....we did three shows in two days..it was amazing!!!! ⭐ we saw kyoto - an incredible play about the UN kyoto protocol...then tina - a musical about tina turner - the woman who played tina was phenomenal, and lastly hadestown...one of the best productions i have experienced...from the music & musicians to the actors, dancers, lighting and set design...just incredible....

we stayed over by hyde park and in the morning of the first theater day we had a wander through the park and surrounding area....i had not seen the royal albert hall or monument...which you see above...

to celebrate nadine...at kyoto i got the champagne package!!! ooooh-la-la... the play itself was amazing...it was in a theater in the round and had been set-up like the UN...so we were actually delegates and "part" of the play....it was so well done!!!!

the tube, like the metro, always has interesting stations and each one has its own flavor....i loved the mosaics in tottenham court station...so colorful.....i guess i should spell that the british way - colourful 😉

this was the crew that went to hadestown...a mini panamanian reunion!!! nadine's daughter anna, also joined us....some of us had not seen each other since before the covid lockdown in panama...as it was one of the strictest countries during covid and we had to get out when we could....crazy times for sure....

another trip i made was to dusseldorf, germany....you might be asking why...well, it was between the warsaw, where cat lives, and paris...we could both get there relatively easily, and both of us had never been there....once there...this was the morning pancake maker for breakfast...i had never seen one of these before....can you see the pancake movin through????  so cool!!!🥞

i had no idea that dusseldorf was the fashion capital of germany...this particular street with a river running through it is where you will find all the chic brands (Dion, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, etc)....it was super similar to the Champs-Elysees....who knew???

this is Cat and I chillin' in dusseldorf....funniest thing for this trip for me was that my train ticket did not take me here, even though it was supposed to...no one ever contacted me about this, and when i asked the conductor on the train out of paris what the deal was, he let me know the connection tracks were under construction....so i had to get off at the last stop and book a new route up to dusseldorf...luckily the conductor spoke english and was willing to help me....you find most folks are helpful!!!! the conductor was also astonished that i did not receive an email letting me know this was going on...in his words...."this is very un-german!"

another country i visited this spring was italy...specifically sicily....it was my first time to this part of italy...i was mostly in palermo, but also spent a day in cefalu, by the beach....it was familiar to be back in a place that has corner saints (Le Edicole Sacre)....this one was just down the street from where i was staying!

Palermo has quite a large port....this was the area that the private boats & yachts were kept! wandered down here and hung out at some of the outdoor cafes to enjoy the breeze and have a beverage!

This is the Teatro Massimo, or opera house of palermo...i did not get inside for a show, but this is the largest opera house in Italy....it is an important place for sicilian culture and is the center of palermo....

above is one of the four seasons depicted in an intersection of palermo....called the quattro canti (4 corners) - there is one of these edifices on every corner of this intersection...the above one is in the southwest corner of the intersection....the bottom part is a fountain...the statue above the fountain, the first one you can see in the picture, is of one of the four seasons - this one is spring....above each of the seasons is a statue of the spanish kings that used to rule in Sicily - this is Charles V, and at the top is is the patron saint of the section behind the building - this is Christina of Bolsena, patron saint of the southwest portion of palermo...history is everywhere in palermo!!!

this is the palermo cathedral....it is a beautiful building externally....i wandered around it for awhile...it was originally built in the 12th century by the normans and represents four main types of architecture, as it was changed and added onto thru the centuries...it has features of the norman style, the arabic-norman style (it even was a mosque during its long history), gothic style and baroque style...just stunning!!!!

one of the other things i did in palermo, to honor my sicilian heritage, was take a cooing class..it was vegetarian, and i was the only student....which led to awesome one-on-one attention, great food and interesting stories about what i wanted to explore....we made panelle (chick-pea fritters- very tasty), many different types of pasta...and ended with a citrus jelly (no gelatine included)...the instructors were a ton of fun....it was a blast!!!

here you can see all of the different pasta types....from gnocchi to messina style macaroni - longer pasta....we used every day kitchen tools to make the different styles...no special equipment needed!🍝

one of my days i headed out to cefalu for the afternoon....a quaint sea-side town....had some food while watching the waves...it wasn't super warm, so i only put my feet into the water....brrrrrrrrrr......

while walking through the old part of the town, there were many lookouts to this point....as you can see, lots of folks were out having a wander....the water was beautiful looking!

in cefalu, it is more hilly than palermo, so they make the effort to make the uphills in the alleyways look pretty....this type of pot with plants was very common...it also made sure that these particular alleyways were for pedestrians only....although of course a scooter or two was spotted going up or down them at times....crazy italian scooter drivers....ciao!!!!

this last shot is back in palermo...where everything is brightly colored and flavorful...it has been said that palermo has been the most conquered city in the world....which is why there is so much diversity and color found there...even in the street food and drink....lots of the tastiest drinks are made from citrus and ice....palermo was definitely filled with life and vibrancy....

i got to spend a second theater weekend in London with my friend bill in may....we stayed around st paul's cathedral and had amazing weather (a bit chilly, but clear blue skies)....made for some lovely pictures of this particular cathedral....

we walked most places, so i was able to get this great shot of tower bridge....the naval ship is not moving, but i like how the bridge and ship are black in contrast to the sparkly thames river.....

 

we made it a point to go to the borough market for food and a wander one of our mornings....so many options...from excellent coffee to vegan arepas to a Croatian seller (got ajvar!!!)....it was a blast and my first time at this market...i will definitely be back....

while wandering along the thames, towards the theater district, we saw this image on a wall...these are ALL OVER Paris too...i was excited to see the same one we see in paris...too cool....

in between the shows we came to see - my master builder, starring Ewan McGregor (which we did not really enjoy) and The Book of Mormon (which was offensively hilarious!!! and we loved it)....we went out for indian food...the place we went to actually did a flight of pani puri....yummy!!!!

sunday, before we headed back, we went to the tate modern for two exhibits they were showing! at the bottom of the tate is the love statue...the same as the one in philadelphia....i had not spotted it before!

the next few shots are from two trips i took in france, outside of paris....we had a three day trip with students to saint malo....which you can see here...this is a walled city that used to have state sponsored pirates...it is also quite famous for some of the food it cooks and the butter it uses for this food...the most famous pastry is the kouign-amann....which is delicious and able to cause a coronary due to all of the butter it is made with 🫀

we also took the kids to mont-st-michel....which is a tidal island that has an imposing and impressive abbey at the top of it....we went through the abbey, wandered through the town and the kids walked in the bay, where quicksand is found to play in....don't worry...we did not lose any of the kids, as we were with a guide who showed us how to get out of the quicksand....

i also made it one last time to the town of die....it was my third or fourth visit here, due to my friends having a house in this lovely spot...the green hills and flowing river are stunning and i am so glad i got there one last time before they moved....

as you can see, the drome valley is surrounded by some rugged peaks...and we got some amazing weather and lovely clouds during my visit....plus it was the perfect place to chill, as spring at school had been quite busy!

these are the wonderful folks i got to visit...rick, thalia and their pup, sadie....it was such a fabulous and relaxing couple of days with them!

salut!!!! from me to you...with a frosty beverage from sicily....took this shot while chillin' in cefalu along the beach....

and there you have it...my travels during the spring to places for just a weekend or a bit....i have to say this is one of my favorite things about living in europe...things are not super far....so if you are headed to europe in the near future....be sure to reach out, because you never know if i am able to pop over to where you will be...its just a hop, skip and a jump in most cases....hope you enjoyed this finally written update of my travels in the spring!

peace out....

dani