It was going to be a long weekend with International Labor Day on Tuesday, so we of course made plans for some more unforgettable travel. Lizzie, Justin, Erin and I set out after work today to start our drive to the Montenegro coast. There are few highways that pass between countries in this region, and even fewer of them would be in a condition that is suitable for travel. This being the case, we headed south out of Tetovo towards Struga, Macedonia to cross into Albania. This meant 2 hours south... which just seemed so wrong since we needed to go north...but that was the path to take. This meant that we got to stop at the famous Mekica restaurant on the highway heading south. Below is what makes this stop so famous. FRIED BREAD AND CHEESE called Mekica. Oh how heavenly!!
We made it safely and without any problems to the boarder of Macedonia and Albania. This boarder is just to the northeast of Ohrid Lake. I was able to snap a picture of the lake from the Albania side. You can see the city of Ohrid across the lake.
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| Ohrid Lake |
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| Ohrid Lake with goats!! |
Albania has beautiful mountains...Justin our driver may have other descriptors for them, and well to be truthful I do as well, however what will stay with me is their beauty. As we climbed and climbed up and up, we stopped to look over the city of Elbasan. It was an amazing view! We continued up the mountain from where we stopped. We all commented on how it didn't seem possible that we could continue going up, but at every turn we did. But as we did finally reach the top and crossed over to the other side, you could see the reflection of the sea with the sunlight. We had a long journey still ahead of us, but we were high enough up to see it!
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| View from Elbasan |
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| Looking further up the mountain |
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| The girls...with the view! |
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| A bit higher up even yet! |
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| Other side of the mountain, the reflection way in the distance is the ocean |
The roads turned out to be much better than our trip to Bosnia. On the boarder crossing between Albania and Montenegro, we opened the windows, and you could smell the sea...oh my word! We were getting so close! We encountered some construction on the road after the boarder, but since it was so late, there was not much traffic to have to worry about others which made that portion of the journey less stressful. There was also some wonderful music selections to help our journey pass. We arrived in Kotor, Montenegro around 12am and we quickly took our things into the apartment hostel before journeying to find some food. It was amazing! Two bedrooms, a living room area with a kitchen, it was impressive. But what I was most excited for was the view when I would wake up in the morning and look out the windows... we were right on the bay, separated only by the road!
Dinner was a bit of a challenge, but nothing we couldn't handle. We just needed food into our bodies so we can get to sleep and WAKE UP!! We stopped at a near restaurant and although they looked to be closing, they allowed us to come inside. However the language barrier played its ugly hand and they no longer had an open kitchen. Despite their kindness, we decided to leave and look for somewhere with food. The waiter told us that if we walked a bit further we could find some fast food. Sure enough we found the restaurant. It was grilled chicken for me with cabbage, tomatoes, onion, and ajvar!
The food was just what we needed after the long day of travel. With full bellies it was back to the apartment and off to bed!
Lesson: Perspective... takes but a moment to change.
What fun food, great friends, and breathtaking views!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Dad