We were driving down from the mountains, returning from spending three days in Valbona National Park. The narrow mountain road curved and zigzagged between steep ridges and precipitous cliffs, occasionally revealing breathtaking views of lush valleys and a fast-flowing river. We were heading towards the port city of Durres and […]
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I never planned on going to Albania. Albania was never on my “Top Ten Places to Visit List” or even on “If I Live to be a 100 Travel Bucket List”. Albania was not even on the radar. Until one evening when Victor and I were both on our computers, […]
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It’s dusk in Lisbon. Darkness is setting over narrow streets and mournful melodies flow out of every pub, café, and restaurant. It’s the sound of traditional Portuguese lament, produced by a twelve-string guitar, a viola, and a heartbroken woman (or sometimes a man). This is fado, folk music of Lisbon’s […]
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We were in a tiny Peugeot, in a small Spanish city, staring at a road, going up the hill. The car was manual, the hill was steep. Victor, who happened to get a traffic ticket two days before we left for our trip and thus didn’t have his driver’s license, […]
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Read “Part I: The Train Ride from Hell” here. After spending the entire night being tortured by bright lights, uncomfortable seats, and unruly passengers, we finally reached Barcelona. It was early morning, cloudy and chilly, and we barely had an hour of sleep last night. Shivering, we ran down the […]
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