When it comes to travel, I had a busy year.
Still when I thought: I’ll put together a photo from each of the places I traveled to, I never thought it would take me as long as it has. First I had a longer list to make than I originally thought. Then I had to look through all of my photos and re-live the day. Finally I had to pick which single photo I wanted to use to represent the city/trip/adventure.
In January, I went with friends to Rome, Italy. I ate lots of great food and played for a long weekend in Rome.
The Colosseum
For spring break I hit up Casablanca, Marrakesh, and Essaouira, Morocco with a friend. I’ve never been to a place like this before–the colors, foods, smells and sights were all incredible.
Marrakech: Djemaa el Fna
Essaouira: Boats
I hopped on a plane to spend an extra long weekend in Paris, France. Paris was pretty wonderful in the spring. I thought I might not like Paris. I thought it might be too cutesy. But Paris won me over. Don’t worry.
Paris and the Ef... something
In July I went on a whirl-wind tour of the Balkans with my friend R. We met up in Budapest, Hungry. R. used to live there and this was my third visit. So we ate and drank and gossiped rather than go sight-seeing.
Budapest: Castle Hill
An eight or so hour train ride later we found ourselves in Belgrade, Serbia. Belgrade is a pretty great city. I really dig walking around this town.
Belgrade: Museum
Then we spent a week by the ocean. This was one of the best parts of the trip. Kotor, Perast and Budva, Montenegro have rocky but wildly beautiful beaches.
Kotor: Mts and Church
Perast: a town by the ocean
Beach south of Budva: Sveti Stefan
From Montenegro we headed to Albania. This was a little bit of a shock to start with. Albania is not an outwardly beautiful country but the people we met were some of the nicest on the trip. There were few tourists in either Tirana or Berat, Albania which was a relief after a couple of days in Budva. Tirana is young, hip and modern while Berat feels older–classic Ottoman–and clings to a mountain side.
Tirana: Rainbow Block Buildings
Berat: White Houses at Night
We crossed the boarder between Albania and Macedonia on foot after a crazy drive in a furgon and a longer than anticipated walk from the Macedonian side of the boarder (sorry R.). Luckily Lake Ohrid was great. Plenty of tourists but also some great beaches. From Lake Ohrid we checked out Skopje, Macedonia.
Lake Ohrid in White
Then in the boldest part of our journey we crossed the boarder into Kosovo to explore Pristina and Prizren. It was totally worth it. And kind of strange to think about now that I am at home in Walla Walla writing this post.
Pristina in light rain
Finally, in November, I met up with my friend D. in Madrid, Spain. Madrid was lovely and exactly the break that I needed in the middle of the first semester of school.
Madrid's Palace
Now I guess the only question is: where will I go in 2011?!
WOW! Awesome photos. Man you really get around!
Great summary. I am sure your MoM and dAd will be disappointed that your forgot your trip to the States this summer. Uncle Hicks
Love that picture of the Eiffel Tower. taking it diagonally emphasizes the height. Clever. I would never have thought to do that. And really, there must be some place you haven’t gone yet!
Switzerland, maybe. It reminds me a lot of the Sawtooths in Idaho but with quainter homes and a lot more high pasture cows. And no salmon. It really is a lovely place, very different from Germany and most other European countries.
Ruth, when I went to Paris many years I took a diagonal picture of the Eiffel Tower. The reason for that was my camera took those small square size prints and it was the only way I could fit it into the picture!
That is why I love digital cameras!
Ahhh, the travels and fun we had, indeed! Was just reminiscing about our trip the other day — it takes a special person to hop off a bus in the middle of nowhere Croatia and to hop into a UN van in Kosova. As the school year starts up…and I already find myself saying “just remember the sun in Kotor, the emerald-colored water…and the beer nearby” to get through the stress. I wish I could bottle up the feeling of backpacking with you through the Balkans (well, save the last few days when neither of us were feeling, errr, up to snuff
)
So, where to next? And, when will you want to grab our packs and hit the road again?
PS: The long border crossing wasn’t that bad … in retrospect, we probably both needed to burn a few meat-topia calories
@Robyn It was kind of hot though and we didn’t exactly know where we were going. Good thing I was able to speak Bulgarian and make myself understood in Macedonia.
This is a great round up! And Im so jealous you got to see all these places in just one year! Wow. I plan to travel a lot in the area this year and I just added Montenegro to my list!
@Inga If you can, you definitely have to go to Montenegro. It is beautiful, beautiful.
beautiful pictures. For me travel was the best part of living in Europe.
The one thing I remember most about the Colosseum was crossing the street to get there, tourists, even in the crosswalk, are fair game for Italian drivers….
What a great photo trip through your travels, Karolinka!
Miss you! Have a safe trip back home to Sofia! Happy New Year and many new adventures to you, my love!