Balkans – 2023 | The Adventures of Dave

In 2005 I took a trip to Croatia. This was the first year US tour companies were going there. This year I returned on a much more extensive trip including Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia.

*On the city walls in Dubrovnik, Croatia*

I arrived in Tirana, Albania a day before my Albania pre-trip began and took a 3-hour Albanian cooking class. Though I wasn’t an overall fan of the food we cooked, it was fun anyway.

When we arrived the whole region had been experiencing rain and thunderstorms for weeks. I was worried the trip would be washed out. Fortunately we there were only a few showers in Tirana and from there on out we experienced mostly sunny days with little rain.

While in Tirana we visited the Bunk’Art Museum, a former Cold War bunker, now an underground contemporary art & history museum. Rains forced us to cancel a day trip to the medieval city of Berat. From Tirana we headed to the northern Albanian town of Shkoder. On the way we stopped for lunch at a unique farm to table restaurant. The restaurant itself made it’s own cheese, wine, preserves and grew many of its own fruits and vegetables.

From Albania we drove through Montenegro to Dubrovnik, Croatia for the start of the main trip.

We had a fantastic Dubrovnik hotel and had a 3-day city bus pass to use for our included sightseeing as well as going out on our own. The bus ran from our hotel to the old town every 15 minutes and was very convenient.

While in Dubrovnik we took a day trip to Kotor Montenegro. We started with a boat ride in the bay of Kotor and then took a city tour with free time to explore and have lunch on our own.

Our next stop on the tour was Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along the way we had a lunch stop in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. After a nice meal in a local restaurant we had some free time to see the iconic Stari Most (Old Bridge), a reconstructed medieval arched bridge.

Our hotel in Sarajevo was in a perfect location right in the old city with all walking streets. Near our hotel was the “Latin Bridge”. The northern end of the bridge was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip in 1914, which began the July Crisis that ultimately led to the outbreak of World War I.

While in Sarajevo we had a home-hosted dinner one night. 5 of us joined a three generation family living in an old Yugoslavian communist era apartment. The meal was excellent and we learned about how they managed during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 – 1996. Prior to the siege the Grandmother had worked at the 1984 winter Olympics in Sarajevo making flower decorations for the medal winners. The oldest Granddaughter spoke perfect English. If you walked up to her in the U.S. you would probably have no idea she was from Sarajevo.

After three nights in Sarajevo we headed back to the northeast corner of Croatia for a night at a family owned farmstead in Karanac, Croatia. There we stayed in simple rooms for a night pretty much off the grid. Shortly after arriving we had a cheese making lesson for a “new” soft cheese decorated the cheese with edible pansy flowers that we had for breakfast the next morning. For dinner we broke into smaller groups and had dinner with local families in town.

From Karanac we headed to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, for a 3 night stay. Sadly Zagreb was hit by a magnitude 5.3 earthquake in March 2020. The earthquake took a heavy toll on the city and many historic buildings, churches and museums were closed for renovation and/or covered in scaffolding. One interesting sight was that we were in Zagreb on the last day of high school. High school seniors from all over the city gathered in the city square to celebrate.

From Zagreb we headed to Opatija, Croatia located on the Istrian Peninsula and the Adriatic Sea. Enroute we spent the late morning and early afternoon at Plitvice Lakes National Park. This place is absolutely amazing. Nature at its finest. When I traveled to Croatia in December 2005 my tour was supposed to spend a night here but the roads were snowed in so we missed it. It was nice to finally be able to experience the beauty of this place.

While in Opatija we took a day trip to see two hill towns of Istria, Motovun and Hum. There we had a truffle hunting experience, tasted mistletoe and other flavors of brandy and had lunch at a tavern in the town of Hun.

From Opatija we headed to our final city on the trip, Ljubljana, Slovenia. On the way to Ljubljana we had the opportunity to visit Postojna Cave. This place was fascinating. The cave system is 15 miles long with about 3 miles open to the public. We took a small train in for the first 2 miles and then walked about a mile inside. The paths were all concrete and walking there wasn’t a problem.

Our hotel in Ljubljana, Slovenia was also located right at the edge of the city center, which is closed to traffic except in the early morning. Ljubljana is a wonderful walkable city. There we took a city tour and boat ride on the Ljubljanica. We also had lots of free time to explore this old city. During our free time I took the funicular up to Ljubljana Castle which had great views of the city.

While in Ljubljana, we had a day trip to Lake Beld, Slovenia in the Julian Alps. There we took a row boat ride to Bled Island to visit the Church of the Mother of God and clock tower. After leaving the island we drove to Bled Castle, perched on a hill overlooking the lake.