Budapest, 01.08.2015 Heading southeast

This years summer holiday was a patchwork of several ideas spontaneously popping up. The first one was Tobis wish to visit the lake of Ohrid in Macedonia. He had travelled there back in the 1980s with his parents and was keen to take a look at what had changed in the meantime. I chose the two stops in between, Budapest and Belgrad. When looking at the map, we realised how close Macedonia is to Greece, so we chose to travel even further afterwards. But instead of visiting Delphi and Athens with the impressing Acropolis, we chose the monasteries of Meteora and a farm in Zakynthos, one of the Ionian islands. As stops on our way back, we drove to Berat in Albania, Dubrovnik in Croatia and, finally, Trieste in Italy. Quite a trip it was!

I had visited Budapest once on a stopover from Israel in november 1999, because I wanted to meet my former flatmate Kriszta, and remembered the city being covered in snow. This time, it was sunny and hot, but at least I maintained the tradition to meet with Kriszta and her family.

Belgrad, 03.08.2015 All stages of decay

Let`s start with the great things. In Belgrad, we had a fantastic dinner, and we bought two pairs of sandals for Mia. Apart from that, the city was, to cite our host, branded by the fourteen wars that devastated it.

Ohrid, 05.08.2015 Velestovo

After some days mainly driving and walking through city centres, it was a relief to arrive in the outskirts of Ohrid overlooking the beautiful lake. We enjoyed great Macedonian food, a lively market and the clear water with its small fishes. I had cut my hand in Budapest which needed stitching, and went to a local hospital to have the stitches removed. Quite an experience, because I did not understand any of the signs, and was completely dependent on asking people for help. The doctor that I finally met was so surprised to treat a foreigner, he did not even charge any money. I had to think about it for quite a while - me, the lucky one, being welcomed so friendly and examined and medicated at no charge, instead of being asked for identification and money. How I wish we would treat foreigners the same!

Ohrid, 07.08.2015 Golem Grad

This small island is located in the lake Prespa, close to the border triangle of Macedonia, Albania and Greece. It was once inhabited, and is therefore home to several ancient ruins and churches. Because of a huge population of snakes, humans left the island sometime before the 20th century, but cormorants, pelicans and turtles didn't seem to mind. We loved exploring that beautiful landscape, especially the greyish-white trees (burned by the acidity of the birds excrements) created a magical scenery.

Kuratica, 08.08.2015 Donkey tour

With Nikola and two farmers of Kuratica, we took a donkey tour around the hills surrounding the small Macedonian village. We mostly enjoyed the explanations of the different herbal plants along the way, and of course, the local lunch afterwards in the familys patio.

Meteora, 10.08.2015 Monasteries

Once entering Meteora, it gets clear why it was chosen as scenery for a Bond movie: so crowded (by tourists arriving by big tour buses), but still so secluded! The scenery reminded me on the Chinese Wall - a beautiful building structure simply where you don`t expect it. The moments in the monasteries without the huge parking spots were the most magical, and I did not mind everyone had to wear long trousers, skirts and had to cover their shoulders: it is actually quite a relief, too. We enjoyed walks through the karst formations, and, of course, Greek food: tsatsiki, souvlaki,eggplants Imam-fainted-style, big beans and wine leaf rolls.

Usually, the pics speak quite well for themselves, but this one needs explanation. It is a hornet nest in the hole of a statue, and the hornets flying all around were around 5 cm long - impressive! And scary.

Zakynthos, 14.08.2015 Farming and hanging out

After city centres and cultural sights, we needed a couple of days mainly enjoying summer, swimming and riding a pedalo. Our best discovery was to visit the cliff coast of Limnionas at the time of sunset, when most other people leave. Apart from that, we happily helped our host Dimitri picking and displaying raisins, small, but surprisingly sweet fruits. Our "pet" was the cat Nana, that visited every morning and evening. Laid-back days!

Berat, 18.08.2015 Blank area

Our surprise booking. I had searched the internet for interesting places to stay in Albania, and Berat is the city we finally chose. It's historic city centre belongs to Unesco world heritage, and we were lucky enough to stay right in its middle. And what a charming place it turned out to be, with lots of young and old people strolling the streets at night, eating grilled corn and vibrantly enjoying life! We hope to be back one day.

Dubrovnik, 19.08.2015 Strawberry earrings

We have a saying that "too many cooks spoil the broth", and after visiting Dubrovnik, I would like to interpret that as "too many tourists spoil the atmosphere". Dubrovnik is a beautiful city with an impressive historic centre, and we were lucky enough to climb the city walls relatively early in the morning. The view was simply fantastic! When finally descending, the crowds queuing to ascend was huge despite the rising summer heat, and we were happy not to have to trip one after the other.

Trieste, 20.08.2015 Spaghetti Mixed Mare

Italy. Unchallenged master of the best food worldwide. The city had a rustic charme, creative shops and great pasta. Nothing to add to that.

Berlin, 23.08.2015 Back home

We crossed the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Montnegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Austria. Alltogether 13 countries. We came back with three purses of various coins, and had droven 6000 kilometers. It was intense and manifold, and we had enough time in the car to listen to both "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". Looking forward to the next time leaving home!