Entry #2 Macedonia & Albania: June 6 - 12, 2023

 Hello from Albania!

It has only been about a week since our last update, but so much has happened.  Since leaving Italy we have switched gears.  Rome was an immersion into the epicentre of the ancient empire.  It was focused more on absorbing the details; whether they be dates of the centuries-old structures, or the stories of life long ago, or the secrets of complex frescoes.  It was all very engaging, but somehow a dense type of travel.  

However, upon arriving in the Balkans, we shifted to a more relaxed, more casual, and more playful kind of existence.  So far our time in both Macedonia and Albania has been full of opportunities to have kid-friendly versions of fun!

Our visit to Macedonia was limited to a lake town called Ohrid.  Here we took in the view of beautiful Lake Ohrid by getting lost in the narrow stone terraces.  This teeny tiny town is home to a mountaintop fortress and more than 350 churches, some dating back to the 7th century!  

It wasn’t just the abundance of churches that made this place special.  Macedonia became the place where Jamie got to redeem a coupon we gave him for his 13th birthday.  He got to go paragliding!  

Jamie and Lee took an off-road ride up to the top of a mountain, where they got on the gear and then proceeded to run off a 1700m high mountain cliff!  Jamie LOVED the thrill of his feet pedaling through the air as he took flight.  In tandem with a paragliding pilot, the boys got to glide over the Macedonian countryside 2km off the ground.  According to our very grateful kiddo, it was the BEST PRESENT EVER!  Happy Birthday to our amazing baby - um, I mean, teenage boy!

Meanwhile, Jessie cheered on her brother from below, satisfied with a level view of the lake and an ooey-gooey donut.  

Even without a parachute, there was so much to enjoy all around the town.

In Macedonia, we rented a car that would be our ride for the rest of our time in the Balkans.  Driving off on our own gave us a giddy sense of freedom.  

We crossed the border to Albanian.  Before leaving for our trip, when people would hear that Albania was on the itinerary, they would pause to ask, “Why Albania?”.  Well… after spending time in the capital, a UNESCO heritage site, and a beach town on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, we can confidently say, “Why, Albania?  Because it is incredible!”

Travel has always taught us to expect the unexpected.  Despite that well-learned lesson, I still had certain preconceived notions about this country with a beleaguered history.  Having been a communist country, ruled by a fierce dictator for over 40 years, only recently in recovery from a difficult political and economic past, I imagined a starkness or rigidity that I assumed came with that kind of history.  Perhaps informed by my memories of visiting communist Romania in the 80s and the stories of the struggles during that time, I was prepared for a bleaker, colder capital city.  I couldn’t have been more mistaken.  In fact, Tirana, Albania’s capital, was in many ways the opposite of what I imagined.  Colourful, warm, casual, and modern, Tirana surprised us on every level.  

The main square was filled with smiling, affectionate families going for a stroll, or grabbing a late-night bite.  There were beautifully illuminated avenues dotted with charging stations for impressively common electric cars. There were mosques alongside churches and evidence of peaceful religious coexistence. And no matter day or night, the square felt welcoming, safe, and alive, and was a wonderful place to play.  

There were still the traditional markets that had endless stalls of goods all crowded together in alleyways off main roads.  This scene, with freshly cut flowers, bundles of garden-grown crops, and piles of basic housewares, felt wonderfully nostalgic.  These markets always feel like you are on a treasure hunt.  In fact, it was in the markets of Tirana that Jamie hit the jackpot!  Knock-off Jordans as far as the eye could see!  Our sneaker-head child was in heaven as he stopped at every stall and every store to marvel at the fake versions of the shoes he has memorized and covets with all his heart.  

The real fun was when we made a trip to the biggest indoor trampoline park in all of the Balkans!  Thank god for Lee’s incredible research, because he found the Disney World of indoor playgrounds and it was the best!  We were so proud of Jessie, who is typically very reluctant about heights and any activity that requires a safety harness, but after 5 minutes in the playground looked as if she had been sprinkled with Tinker Bell fairy dust.  She was obsessed with zooming over our heads on the super speedy zipline, racing to the top of climbing walls, and walking the high wire of the sky-high ropes course.  Jamie, who is always a daredevil, instantly made friends with a local boy and was living the dream of flipping on trampolines and dunking on nets. It was a great outing!

Tirana also offered a somber, eye-opening history lesson when we visited an eerie museum in an underground bunker.  At the Bunk Art Museum, we learned about the country’s four-decade-long rule of the dictator, Enver Hoxha, who held his citizens captive and persecuted them viciously.  Descending into the maze of underground compartments revealed the terrifying and heartbreaking regime that shaped this resilient country. The museum helped us see Albania's elderly population with new eyes, realizing that they were survivors of this difficult time.

It’s impossible to avoid history lessons when travelling through places with such long and layered pasts.  In fact, it was like time-travel when we visited the remains of the medieval town of Berat.  It felt like we had been transported into a fairytale setting - or a scene from Game of Thrones - take your pick.  The ever-climbing cobblestone streets rise steeply on either side of the Osum River and make for a romantic setting that sparks the imagination.

Moving on from made-made structures to the brilliance of Albania’s natural glory, we drove through the Ceraunian Mountains, gaping at the rocky ridges, before emerging on the coast of the Adriatic Sea in the beach town of Ksamil.  

That’s where we are now, swimming in sparkling blue water, sunning ourselves on beautiful beaches, and generally just having a blast! 

For now, we are going to spend some time being beach bums and taking it slow.  Looking forward to soaking up the Albanian sun.