2026 FIFA World Cup: Hogwarts vs. Narnia

Those who follow this blog know I am a big soccer fan and try to attend games in every country I visit.  This fact is even listed in my section of “About Us” on this website.  So, it won’t surprise anyone that attending the World Cup this summer was on […]

Travels with My Mother: Uzbekistan Episode

During the pandemic, our favorite show on Netflix was Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father.  In this series (filmed in pre-COVID times), the British comedian Jack Whitehall travels the world with his elderly, curmudgeonly father, Michael, who detests travel and the exotic destinations Jack takes him to.  The show is […]

Monterrey, Mountains, and Unexpected Mexico

For those of you following along, I mentioned how our tickets to Monterrey had been canceled twice, and it was becoming increasingly unclear whether the universe really did not want us visiting this part of Mexico or whether Viva Aerobus was only pretending to offer flights there. Well, we finally […]

In the Saddle: Conquering Cerro de la Silla

Its image is everywhere — on labels of tostadas and tortillas, wall murals, and even in the logo of the local baseball team. It’s the symbol of the city. The most recognizable landmark.  It is as iconic as Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf or Cape Town’s Table Mountain. Cerro de la […]

São Paulo: Hate At First Sight

“Skip São Paulo. It’s just a concrete jungle. Nothing to see there,” was the advice I received while planning a trip to Brazil. Nonsense. We are big city people. We love architecture, museums, and restaurants. Big cities have this never-ending energy and are always full of activities and things to […]

Raki-n-Roll or Getting Drunk in Albania

By Victor / September 2, 2021

We’ve mentioned in this blog that we don’t drink alcohol unless we travel. No, this is not a complicated loophole in a mostly sober lifestyle; we are simply submerging ourselves in cultural explorations.  We firmly believe that learning about the drinking culture of a country can help us get a […]

Impossible to Ignore All the Red Flags: A Dive into Albanian Past

By Victor / August 26, 2021

If you look at the map of Europe with no political borders, you may not even find Albania.  Where exactly does Greece end and Albania begin?  If you remember that just a thin strip of the Ionic/Adriatic Sea separates it from the heel of Italy, your task finally becomes achievable.  […]

We Ate and Paid for It: The Best Restaurant in Albania

By Julia / August 12, 2021

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 […]

Albania: When The Price Is Right

By Julia / August 5, 2021

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, […]

The Magic Dancing Dolls or The Scam That Took 15 Years to Solve

By Julia / July 30, 2021

In 1999, a few girlfriends and I decided to take our very first international post-college trip to Europe.  We had no idea how to go on our own, so we booked a bus tour that would take us across seven countries in a span of two weeks.  The tour company […]

A Lesson On How Not To Get Scammed From People Who Got Scammed

By Julia / July 15, 2021

From the moment we strap on our backpacks, tell the cats we love them and to behave themselves, and head out to the airport, an invisible target appears on our backs.  We are now tourists and therefore the target of every tourist scam in the world.  We are strangers in […]

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