Albania to Montenegro to Croatia...again

Terry and Marcine came for a visit in October to see Albania...for what they hoped was the last time. As a special treat we decided to show them Albania's best features, namely how close it is to Montenegro and Croatia. Our journey began with a stop at the Rozafa Castle in Shkoder, Albania, which was built some time in the early 1300's.

Some parts of the castle are still in pretty good shape, but the majority of it is a bunch of ruins that give its visitors an idea of where things used to be.

A short drive away from Shkoder is the border crossing into Montenegro, which is followed by a brief drive through Montenegrin villages before reaching the coastal road. The village portion of the drive was littered with every kind of farm animal imaginable.

We dropped our stuff at an apartment in Budva and headed for the beach near Sveti Stefan.

The kids went European and played in the water. Although Ainsley was excited to go swimming, she was soon dismayed to find that the tiny fish surrounding our ankles were friskier than most aquatic herbivores.

The rest of us sat around on the beach and enjoyed the sunset.

The next day we set off for Kotor, which is truly one of the most magical places around. They've turned the old town area into a fully-functional medieval dreamworld complete with moat, narrow cobblestone walkways, and dozens of churches.

During our tour of the city it began to rain, so Ainsley and Ollie hid out in a doorway and ate bread until the storm was over.

After lunch we began our hike up the staircase that ascends the mountain behind Kotor...it's a long staircase.

Here's a view of the old town from the mountain behind it.

Just like last time we were here, we didn't make it too far up the mountain before our party decided they'd had enough and headed for the cafes below. One day we'll learn what lies at the top of the Kotor staircase...but not today.

A Sad Turn of Events: After leaving Kotor, we took Teuta in our car back to Budva (Teuta wasn't able to get a visa for Croatia in time) while Terry and Marcine gassed up their car outside Kotor. Unfortunately, gassing up turned into a two-hour long gas-tank draining exercise since I forgot to tell Terry that his car took gas and not diesel. The mechanics were very nice--albeit slow and unsafe (note the lit cigarette next to the gas receptacle)--and only charged us 40 Euro for their work. In typical Terry fashion, he tipped them nicely for their help.

We finally made it to Dubrovnik, where we enjoyed a two-night stay in a quaint (read: cramped) apartment in old town--for 25 Euro per night, what should we expect. The city was beautiful, enchanting, and full of yummy things to eat. Unfortunately, our camera died shortly after we got there, so this is the only picture we got.

All in all we had a wonderful time and were very happy to host Terry and Marcine on this trip. the kids enjoyed playing with grandma and grandpa, especially when grandpa played with them at night, carried them all over the place, and bought them ice cream and apple studel.