Days 1-3

It took me 43 1/2 hours for me to get from my home in Los Angeles to my hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where I would join a Globus tour named East to West that would take us to Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Slovenia, and Austria with an optional trip to Slovakia. I flew on miles on Austrian Airlines to Vienna and then on Croatian Airlines to Zagreb, Croatia. My plane was late arriving in Zagreb and I missed my connection to Dubrovnik where my Globus tour would start, so I had to wait 7 hours for the next flight. This flight left late, close to 12 p.m., but while in the air, our pilot told us that we couldn’t land in Dubrovnik due to too strong winds, the bora. We landed instead in Rome, Italy, because Zagreb refused to let our plane land as they had let go too many people after our plane had left, something they weren’t supposed to do. The Croatian press called it “the weird flight to Rome,” so I guess that landing in Rome was very unusual.

Day 3

When we went inside the Rome airport, no one greeted us, so we followed a fellow passenger who might know where he was going––to the baggage carousel. We were then met by a woman who told us to go to a certain bus number. We had to drag all our luggage, carry–ons plus suitcases, up the steps of the bus and then down again when we reached a beautiful Marriott hotel at 3 a.m. We were told to wait for instructions as to when we would fly to Dubrovnik, which came about 10:30 a.m. We were picked up and then had to wait 2 hours in the check–in line as there was a computer glitch. Our plane left 2 hours late, but even though our pilot told us mid–flight that the winds were picking up again in Dubrovnik and we might not be able to land, we did land. So happy to see my Dubrovnik hotel even though I was a full day late arriving: the very nice Valamar Lacroma.

Day 4 Trip to Albania

I was in Dubrovnik a day (should have been two days) before my Globus tour was to start. On this day, I went on a day trip to Albania. From Dubrovnik, you can take day trips to Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, and to some of the Dalmatian Islands. But as I found out, these tours do not run everyday. I wanted to go to the island of Korcula on the first day I was to be here, on a Saturday, but none of the at least 10 tours offered to go there did so on a Saturday. Anyway, I spent most of Saturday in Rome, so I would have missed going. I greatly enjoyed the tour to Albania. We went as far as Shkodra, marked on the map. We traveled through four countries: Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Bosnia, all in one day.

Leaving Dubrovnik

There were four of us on the tour plus our driver/guide who was a wealth of information. I was joined by two college professors from Canada who were in Europe to attend a series of conferences. My other tour mate was a woman from the UK. Photo: The beautiful coastline of Dubrovnik.

Montenegro

We drove along the coast of Montenegro to Kotor Bay where we would take a car ferry across the bay.

Kotor Bay

Crossing Kotor Bay.

Sveti Stefan

We drove back along the Montenegro coast. This is a photo of Sveti Stefan, a five–star resort, near the city of Budva. This is close to the photo that is used to entice tourists to come to Montenegro.

Albania Border

We are now close to the Albania border. The borders between countries can be very time–consuming, with the border between Croatia and Montenegro the slowest one of the day. It didn’t take us long to cross into Albania.

I have put our trip from Dubrovnik to the Albania border on a slide show. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/dubrovnik–to–albania/

(Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, “Dubrovnik to Albania”).

Albania

Our first sight in Albania was this bunker that the communist leader of Albania from 1967 to 1986, Enver Hoxhal, had built along with over 173,000 other ones. Hoxhal was afraid that Yugoslavia would attack them and he wanted to be prepared.

Souvenirs

After viewing the bunker, we had time to shop for Albania souvenirs. Everyone wanted something to remind them of being in Albania.

Albania Countryside

We drove through the Albania countryside. Here, a man is walking his cows on the road.

A Mosque

About 60–70% of Albanians are Muslims. However, you don’t see women in Islamic dress here as it is not their custom to wear them. The only way you know that it has a high Muslim population is by the number of mosques that you see. The rest of the population (29 million) is Orthodox Christian or Roman Catholic.

Rozafa Castle–Fortress of Shkoda

We stopped at the Rozafa Castle––Fortress of Shkoda on top of the hill. The hill that the castle/fortress is on was an Illyrian stronghold until it was captured by the Romans in 167 BC. It fell under Ottoman occupation in 1497.

Rozafa Castle–Fortress of Shkoda

Walking from the first gate to the second gate.

Rozafa Castle–Fortress of Shkoda

Grounds of the Rozafa Castle––Fortress of Shkoda.

Rozafa Castle–Fortress of Shkoda

The castle part.

Views from the Castle-Fortress

From the top of the hill, you can for miles in every direction. This is one of the views.

Views from the Castle-Fortress

Another view is of the city of Shkodra, where we would go to next.

I have put my photos from crossing the Albania border to the castle–fortress on a slideshow. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/albania–1/

(Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, “Albania–1”).

Shkodra

The city of Shkodra has a very nice pedestrian street of restaurants and shops. We spent some time here.

St. Stephen’s Catholic Cathedral

We also visited the St. Stephen’s Catholic Cathedral.

St. Stephen’s Catholic Cathedral

Inside the cathedral.

Horse and Buggy

We saw this horse and buggy when leaving Shkodra.

Albania Countryside

We took a different route back to Dubrovnik than we took to get to Albania. The mountains along this route were spectacular.

Albania Countryside

We had to stop and wait for the shepherd to pull his sheep to the side of the road.

Montenegro

We have now passed through the Albania–Montenegro border and are on a mountain road.

Tara River Gorge

We stopped to view the spectacular Tara River Gorge on the border between Montenegro and Bosnia.

Bosnia to Dubrovnik

We crossed the Montenegro–Bosnia border and night fell, so no photos of Bosnia. We next crossed the Bosnia–Croatia border and I was dropped off at my hotel. I really liked the trip to Albania and would like to see more of the country.

I put my photos from leaving Shkodra to Bosnia on a slideshow. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/albania–2/

(Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, “Albania–2”).