Montenegro is another of these places i’ve always wanted to visit, without being entirely sure of the reasons why. One of Europe’s newest countries, it narrowly voted by referendum in 2006 to become independent of Serbia and go it alone. We’d already driven through Montenegro on our way from Albania to Dubrovnik, but this time we would be driving to the capital city, Podgorica (pronounced pod-gore-itza) and using it as a base to explore the rest of the country.
Exploring
B A L K A N S (part 4 – Dubrovnik and BiH)
Dubrovnik is hardcore, unadulterated sightseeing. This is the kind of place you can go on a two-day walking tour of, and still only have seen the main streets. The Old Town (Stari Grad) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for culture, as well as being one of the most visited places in the Mediterranean and as a setting for Game of Thrones. Its position in Europe also makes it easily accessible from Central Europe, and Croatia’s position in the European Union has given people easy access to visit. Walking down toward the Old Town it is clear to see why this walled city has become so popular.
Travel writing take 2 – Balkans
I started this blog after finding my travel notes from the Middle East, and wanted to write them up into prose so I don’t forget the things I’ve done. I found myself really enjoying this – actively taking the ephemeral scribblings of my trip and constructing them into a more logical narrative – so have decided to just keep on writing, this time about my most recent trip to the Balkans (Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo). Considerably more contemporary than my Middle East trip, what I’m going to write might actually be useful for anyone thinking of undertaking a slightly different but fantastically rewarding European adventure – so hopefully this manages to inspire someone to do something a little different to usual.
J O R D A N
Country number 4 on the trip was the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan – a large patch of desert claimed in the scramble for territory in the Middle East, and relatively politically and economically stable given its lack of resources and small population. We arrived by air into King Hussain Airport in Amman, ready for the next part of the adventure.
L E B A N O N (part 2 – Tripoli & Baalbek)
I have directly funded political terrorism (but we’ll get to that later). Our first adventure in Lebanon outside Beirut was the ruins of Baalbek, in the Bekka valley of Eastern Lebanon. The diminutive size of Lebanon means that whilst nothing is particularly far away from anything else, even the smallest difference can offer a dramatic change in both environment, scenery and culture. Apparently in Lebanon you can wake up in the east and go skiing, then have your afternoon nap by the pool overlooking the sea in 30 degree heat, the same day.
L E B A N O N (part 1 – Beirut)
Lebanon was a bit of a weird one for me, as it is a country I knew relatively little about. For my parents and their generation, ‘Lebanon’ would always be preceded by ‘war torn’ and ‘Beiruit’ always by ‘besieged’. The only comparable I guess we have nowadays is news reports of ‘war torn Syria’, and the shelling, bombing and urban warfare shown in special correspondent reports on the BBC. Yet in 2010 (and broadly speaking now) Lebanon was a safe country to visit, and we were excited to leave Syria and experience country number 3.
L X T H R D G 