A Trip Down the Garden Path

**To those people following who received my 'A' blog post via email I hope you enjoyed it. It was a lot of hard work that one. 

I'm back, bitten by a fresh commitment and motivation to get my blog up to date. I looked at my blog record today and realised I'd posted 65 times, wowee. Far too much work there to just let it all slide. Even Glen said to me 'wow, I can't believe you hid your blog, that's bad'. Yes it was bad, very bad, but I'm back on track and ready to make it all right again.

I have so much to tell you all, and where I last left off was Greece. This was part of a tour we did with Topdeck, and from Greece we headed up through Albania, Croatia to finish in Hungary. Here's a little overview of what we got up to.

Albania has only emerged from a strict communist regieme within the last 10-20 years. It's a country that is still finding its feet in the global community, but one that has been racked by a lot of poverty and corruption in the past. After the borders came down and movement out of the country was allowed, many people immigrated to western European countries, to escape the poverty and to get ahead. These days, on the bumpy dirt roads around Albania you will see many grand old Mercedes cars driving along. It is said that during the period of unheaval and migration, many people returned from places like Germany with their luxury Mercedes, more often stolen than bought. Another interesting thing about Albania is the dolls or teddy bears some people hang from the roofs of their houses. This practise is believed to ward of evil spirits. Alas, I was never quick enough to get a photo of the poor bears. And a third interesting fact is the concept of yes and no: yes is a shake of the head and no is a nod, certainly not we're used to (nods head).

Albania is not a typical tourist destination. If you want to see the raw day-to-day life of an Eastern European and Balkan country then this is certainly the place. There are no theme parks and 'cultural' centres here. Albanian has made a bid for the EU, and they were deemed a possible candidate. They are currently undertaking lots of internal renewal in a hope to attain the stability that will allow them to achieve this status one day. I hope it happens for them, It would be nice to see more of these countries stepping up to the plate with the Western European super countries.
A few images of Albania:

These concrete bunkers dot the countryside. They are a relic of the communist regieme and served the purpose of shelter during the threat of invasion. This is so strange, having been built from the 50s to the 80s, the leader at the time had the parnoid belief that other countries intended to invade Albania. I just can't imagine it, living a life cut off from the world, and knowing no more than what existed in your immedidate environment and what you were told by others. What always seems to come with communism is corruption, leaving the everyday person in utter poverty. You can sort of get an impression of the appearance of the countryside from this picture. And we drove along the only two-way road in the country. It makes you wonder what's going on inside the borders of North Korea...

Fast food restaurant, does the logo look familiar?

Wanna pedestal fan, pick your own off the side of the road!

In Albania's capital, Tirana. After the collapse of communism, the next mayor of the town had been an art teacher at the local universtiy. His idea was to brighten up the otherwise dull, concrete buildings of the once communist city, with the paint and colour and design. There were tonnes of buildings painted with all sorts of pictues and designs. It gave the city a more cheerful vibe.

The cheapest tours you can get are the camping tours. We camped in all sorts of places, but come Tirana in Albania, with another couple we shared a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment complete with kitchen, dining and lounge, just for the night. It was pretty ritzy compared to a tent. Just shows the cost of living in Albania...

From Albania, we headed into Croatia. This is such a pretty little country, and leaps and bounds ahead of Albania in their bid for EU membership. It's hard to realise though, that only about 10-15 years ago this area was ravaged by war. I remember learning about the war in Yugoslavia (now Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and few other separate nations). This was way back in grade 7, when we read about the horror and devestation experienced by a young girl our age (then 12), called Zlata. You would never know 'nowdays that these things happened. It's crazy how authoritarian a government can be and, correspondingly, when the need arises, how powerful the everyday person can be, especially when efforts are combined. But far from war and destruction these days, Croatia was a pretty amazing place.

Entry to the old city, you can see the city wall and the bridge over the moat

A water cistern, icy cold

Part of the harbour and the city on the hillside

One of my artistic attempts

Pretty little laneways in the old town

This is where they do the cliff jumping - ARed Bull comp every year

Glen preparing to cliff dive, NOT!

And an afternoon at the beach, more crystal clear water

A stop off in Zadar to see the Sea Organ. An urban installation that uses the ebb and flow of the water to create sounds.  Youtube it, it's amazing.

Another installation, 'Greeting to the Sun'. Powers the lights on the esplanade.

And a day spent in the Plitvice National Park, wandering amongst the lakes. It was a warm day, but no swimming allowed.

So pretty

A day spent wadering amongst nature

City view

My attempt at artistic photography

A fountain of red wine, wow.

A city of statues

Typical architecture - the side of a cathedral

So much gilded work in this cathedral

House of Terror. Chronicles the atrocites faced by the Hungarians (amongst others) during WW2 and other significant historical events.  A real eye opener.

Those who lost their lives, mini framed photos form a row along the museum

The market building, for fruit and veg and a ton of souvenirs.  I love the tile patterns on the roof

Eating (very average) goulash

Glen enjoying the talest ice-cream ever

Babushkas