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Published: July 18th 2010
Ulcinj, Montenegro (3-4th July 2010)
We followed the Montenegrin coast south along to Ulcinj. Our ‘hostel’ turned out to be the spare room in a Montenegrin couple’s house - our room even had the kid’s toy motorbike parked in it. Very nice people though and great views out across the Adriatic Sea, if a tad bizarre.
Long beach is just outside the town and stretches for some 12km to the south so we headed there to top up the tans before having dinner in the old town. We then stumbled upon some live music, in the form of the ‘Sexy Very Much’ Band. How could we pass up such an opportunity? They were actually pretty good and the views across the bay were a worthy accompaniment to our drinks.
Tirana, Albania (5th July 2010)
The Albanian capital is certainly better seen by night, as they have decided to dig up most of the roads and the buildings range from quite ugly, to very ugly. Luckily, the Albanians know how to have a good night out. We enjoyed the Albanian custom whereby the locals all take to the streets and, in Tirana’s case, the central park, in the early
evening to chat and generally be merry. We then drank at the top of the Sky Tower in the revolving bar, ending what should have been a quiet Monday night in another rammed bar and somewhat worse for wear.
Lake Ohrid, Macedonia (7-8th July 2010)
The trek to Lake Ohrid involved two buses, a minibus, a taxi and walk half a kilometre across the border into Macedonia. Over 8 hours of travelling to get us approximately 100km. However, the trip was worth it, as the lake itself is amazing to see. We arrived in time to watch the Spain versus Germany semi-final which was packing out the local bars. We wandered around the lake the next day, visiting beaches on the way and seeing some of the local sights, including the hill top castle with great views over the lake.
Skopje, Macedonia (9th July 2010)
The Macedonian capital didn’t seem to offer much in the way of sights, but we enjoyed a walk along the river and up to the old town before a nice dinner and drinks. Three weeks in, and a number of frustrating backpack packing sessions down, we realised we were lugging way
too much stuff around with us, so ditched some, then found the sleepiest post office in the world to send a few items home. Organising a parcel to England appeared to be the highlight of their week and we had every member of staff involved in packaging, weighing and stamping our goods - who knows if they’ll ever arrive.
Pristina, Kosovo (10th July 2010)
As we were getting an overnight bus through to Istanbul we had a free day to fill. What better to do than take a day-trip to the newest country in the world, Kosovo. So we boarded the bus to Pristina along with a number of Snoop Dogg fans (he happened to be playing there that night), conspicuous by their gangster rap get-up. We only really had time for lunch and a wander around after the border crossing took ages, but we did find out that they adore Tony Blair. There were big posters of him all over the place, adorned with the slogan A Leader, A Friend, A Hero. Someone tried a not-too-subtle attempt to steal stuff out of Nat’s bag (luckily, all that was in the compartment he went into was hand sanitizer).
Just a shame we couldn’t stay for the evening to watch Snoop.
Istanbul, Turkey (11-12th July 2010)
We wanted to go back to Istanbul having visited 2 years previously and loved it. However this time the accommodation was slightly different to last time. The prize for ‘worst hostel’ has a very clear current leader! Even Dave didn’t want to have a shower as it was so scabby and Nat was avoiding cockroaches on the floor.
Luckily, Istanbul itself was just as cool as before. Awesome sights, fab food and great colours in the Grand Bazaar. Visited the Princes Islands and got chatting to the landlady of the Red Lion in Hoxton (anyone who plays Friday night football will know the pub I mean). Amazing views from the boat across the Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara.
We watched the World Cup Final with loads of crazy Spaniards in a Latino Bar and enjoyed their company while watching the culmination of the tournament that has helped define our itinerary somewhat over the last few weeks. How long till the Premiership starts, Nat wonders?
Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey (13th-15th July 2010)
Awesome place and a great hostel with pool. Nat
spent the first day in bed as she didn’t feel too hot after a dodgy kebab. On the second day Nat was mobile again, so we braved a tour of the area to see what Cappadocia had to offer. We were joined by a lovely Italian couple and a crazy Turkish guide. The tour was hilarious. First stop was an underground city, led by another crazy man (apparently the tour guides’ mate) who was (a) stoned, (b) spent most of the time talking about his belief in the afterlife (see point a), and (c) claimed mosquitos die when they bite him (see also point a). The tour itself involved a crazy climb up through vertical tunnels in the dark, which was both lots of fun, but also somewhat daunting at points. Luckily we all made it out in one piece and were much happier once the light at the end of the tunnel could be seen! After some more visits locally we finished off heading up into the hills for amazing views of the fairy chimneys and the Rose valley at sunset. An awesome day.
Third day in Cappadocia was time for Dave’s early birthday present. Hot air ballooning over
Cappadocia meant we were up at 5am and standing in a field by 5.30am, waiting for numerous massive balloons to fill with air. This was definitely the highlight of the trip so far and was something to remember forever. We took off at sunrise and slowly rose to around 700m, with amazing views of all the scenery from high above. Very serene and quiet from up there, it gave us the perfect view of this quite incredible landscape. The champagne we received post-flight finished it in style. Certificates for David and Natali Roose will take pride of place at home when we get back.
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Couchies1
non-member comment
Jealous as always!
Sounds like you are having a great honeymoon so far Rouseys! Glad you managed to step foot in Kosovo, though Skippy probably isn't so happy about that! Nat, I hope you are able to make the most of your hubby for a few weeks before the premiership begins again. 27 days to be precise! We're off to increase our European tally by 4 on the 26th July : ) Looking forward to the next update. Tracey (and Dave)