Discovering The Best Places to Visit in Europe
This is a very slapped together video of my 2010 travels in Europe, Japan, and Australia. I would have liked to have put together a more professional looking slideshow but I wanted to get the video done before the end of the year. I only just bought Sony Vegas and haven’t had time to play around with it and I know the audio is particularly bad. Sorry! I hope you’ll watch anyway. I’ll try not to leave things to the last minute in future 
Happy New Year!
Living in Paris means I don’t do what I’d consider to be ‘touristy’ things very often. I usually avoid places like the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, and Notre Dame because I don’t want to get trampled in the tourist crush. But the other week Groupon had a 50% discount offer for cruises with Vedettes du Pont-Neuf. A one hour cruise for 2 people was 12 euros instead of 24. Bargain!
It was raining the day we went so I didn’t get any good photos (I took them from behind glass) but winter is definitely a good time to go because you can easily see all the buildings and monuments through the bare trees.
The cruise starts just below the oldest bridge in Paris, le Pont-Neuf.
We then headed under the pedestrian only Pont des Arts.
The Assemblee Nationale is France’s parliament building and of course you can see la Tour Eiffel in the distance.
One of my favourite museums in Paris is the Musee d’Orsay which not too long ago was a train station.
We then went past the magical Eiffel Tower without having to endure the crowds.
Then the boat turned around and we went under the beautiful Pont Alexandre III.
Next up was the Place de la Concorde with La Grande Roue which I have yet to go up.
Le Louvre is not one of my favourite museums but is definitely one of my favourite Parisian monuments. I love walking around what was once the King’s palace.
Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris was beautiful even with the rain and grey clouds.
Notre Dame from past the Pont de Sully:
Last up is another of my favourite buildings, the Conciergerie. I love the turrets. It needs a good clean though.
There were only about 10 of us on the boat that day so it was quiet and relaxing. I definitely recommend the Vedettes du Pont-Neuf if you want to take a break from the crowds and relax for an hour as you are taken along the Seine. It would also be a fantastic walk if you have the time and energy and wanted to save a few euros. I think I’ll walk it next spring and see if I can’t get some better photos.
Everyone’s talking about the snow in Europe and the chaos it’s causing travellers. As a gesture to help those stuck in the snow, Lonely Planet is offering 13 of their City Guides for free. Download the iPhone apps in the next 48 hours and it won’t cost you a cent.
The free guides are available for the following cities:
I’ve got a number of these guides and they cover all the basic tourist information you need to get you started in a new destination. Things to do, how to get around, maps, neighbourhoods, and a bit of history on the city is all included. Download them now while you can.
If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of central Paris, take a side trip to Paris’s most famous cemetery, Pere Lachaise. Not surprisingly, it’s one of the most peaceful places in Paris and a beautiful area to wander and admire the final resting places of the city’s former residents.
I always thought it was strange to visit a cemetery just to admire the surrounds but Pere Lachaise isn’t like any other cemetery. You can visit to check out the celebrity residents like Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, or Oscar Wilde (amongst many others) or to commemorate those who lost their lives for their country. Or you can just admire the fascinating and unusual tomb art work on display.
To get to Pere Lachaise, take metro line 2 or 3 and get off at station Pere Lachaise. Before you go in, pick up one of the maps at the entrance (for a couple of euros) to help you find tombstones of interest and to reduce your chances of getting lost in this massive cemetery.
Jim Morrison is probably the most famous person to be buried at Pere Lachaise and no doubt the most visited.
Oscar Wilde is also buried here and his tombstone is one of the most unusual. Women (I assume it’s women) say goodbye to Mr Wilde with a kiss.
Much loved Frenchie, Edith Piaf has a simple gravestone:
If it’s unusual you want, check out these two memorials:
There are many memorials dedicated to those who fought in the great wars and were part of the Resistance in Paris. Other memorials are for those who were killed in Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz and Ravensbruck:
I was lucky enough to have Karin guide me around the cemetery and she explained many of the stories behind the graves and memorials.
Abelard and Heloise – forbidden love kept these two physically apart for 20 years but they kept their love alive by correspondence. They were moved to Pere Lachaise by Josephine Bonaparte who was moved by their romantic story and wanted to see the lovers reunited for eternity.
Wall of the Federalists – The Paris Commune of 1871 – where around 200 Parisian insurgents were lined up and shot.
Designs by Hector Guimard – the architect famous for Paris’s art nouveau metro stations also designed a number of tombs in the cemetery.
There’s lots more to see, depending on what your interests are. It’s definitely worth visiting if you want to get off the beaten path in Paris.
As the end of year approaches, I thought I’d do a quick roundup of my most popular blog posts of 2010 by page views. My favourites are the Paris park series I did back in spring when the tulips and iris were in full bloom as well as the posts from my Balkans tour at the end of summer. Let me know your favourites
New Year’s in Amsterdam – Based on the number of views this post got, I’m guessing Amsterdam is a very popular destination choice for New Year’s Eve. I love Amsterdam but I think the amateur fireworks going off everywhere was a bit much for me.
I tried to get to as many of Paris’ parks as possible last spring so I could snap photos of the incredible flower displays. The Jardin du Luxembourg is one of the most popular parks in Paris and I think spring is the best time of the year to visit. If you love irises, peonies, or roses then I recommend the Parc de Bagatelle which is located right in the middle of the Bois de Boulogne on the western side of the city. Popular with locals living in the lower 16th arrondissement of Paris (like me), the Jardin des Serres d’Auteuil is a great park if you want to get away from the hordes of tourists in the centre of the city.
Vegemite in Paris – a very important post for Aussies living in or visiting Paris
I loved visiting the Balkans in September this year. There is so much to see in the region. I can’t wait to go back next summer. I started by visiting Croatia, which was amazing. I don’t know what took me so long to get there. Bol on the island of Brac was one of the highlights of the trip. We then headed to Albania and Kosovo (where my husband is from) where we enjoyed visiting Tirana (maybe enjoyed is the wrong word) and Prizren.
Before leaving the cold European winter for sunny Australia, I did a quick trip around Central Europe. Vienna is one of my favourite cities in the world so it was great to be back there and an afternoon in cute Bratislava was relaxing and fun. We briefly visited Poland and Berlin before heading back to Paris and then Perth where I am now.
I’m definitely not the person to ask a history related question. I can barely remember my own birthday, let alone the date of some major event from the past. I was never that interested in history but since I started travelling, that has slowly changed.
Berlin is a great place to visit if you are interested in World War II history. There are great museums like the Topography of Terror, which chronicles the atrocities committed by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945, plus you can still see a number of buildings which were used by the SS during that time. But I don’t think you can really understand just how bad the atrocities were until you go to one of the concentration camps like Auschwitz Birkenau.
Auschwitz is an easy day trip from Krakow in Poland. You can do it on your own or take one of the many tours on offer. We did a tour just because it seemed simpler and I figured a tour would give me more information about what went on in the camps. I’m not a huge fan of doing tours but I think it was much more convenient in this case.
There were 3 main camps at Auschwitz, the smaller Auschwitz I which is the first stop when you visit and which holds the museum, Auschwitz II Birkenau which is the huge main camp where most people were put to their death in the gas chambers, and Auschwitz III Monowitz where much of the slave labour worked but is no longer in existence.
Most of the people killed in the death camps were Jews, gypsies, and Polish prisoners.
Many of the belongings of the prisoners were on display which was creepy, to say the least. They included things like shoes, luggage, and personal items like toothbrushes and shaving items.
At Auschwitz I you can walk inside the ‘showers’ ie. gas chambers. Again, creepy.
A few minutes drive from Auschwitz I is Auschwitz II Birkenau. Birkenau was the much larger camp and the remnants of the 100s of buildings can still be seen and a few have been rebuilt for display. Prisoners arrived by train and were either sent immediately to the gas chambers or sent to work in the labour camps.
Obviously the living conditions were appalling. There was little to no heating, people had to share tiny bunk beds, and the once a day communal toilet break was no doubt humiliating.
Although the tour was long-winded and a bit restrictive, I found it to be really interesting and recommend it for both history buffs and newbs like me.
I love Google street view. It makes my life so much easier when I have to go somewhere new or when I’m trying to spy on people. 
France was the first country in Europe to get the street view option on Google Maps in 2008. Many other European countries have been added since then but Germany was slow to get it due to privacy issues. Germany’s 20 largest cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Dusseldorf now have street view available.
What does this mean for travellers? It makes planning so much easier because you can check street directions to your hotel or wherever you are visiting in advance. Of course you can do this with a regular map but it’s so much easier to get your bearings with street view. You can pick out landmarks to be sure you’re heading in the right direction.
You can also check out the neighbourhood of where you’re going, so you can avoid picking a hotel in what looks to be in a dodgy area or you can pick somewhere where you know there are cafes or internet shops etc around.
At the end of the day though, it’s just fun to go on a virtual visit of a city using Google street view.
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One of the most popular day trips from Krakow is a trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. The mine has been in operation for more than 800 years and today is one of Poland’s most popular tourist destinations. The main attractions are the salt sculptures and in particular the large cathedral where you can see religious sculptures such as the last supper, all made out of rock salt.
To go through the mine you need a guide which means you have to do the visit at their pace ie. extremely slowly. It was interesting to see all the work that has gone into these sculptures but not so interesting that I’d want to spend 3 hours doing so. I would have enjoyed it so much more if we could have quickly had a look around and then been on our way. Everyone I spoke to said how amazing the mine is and that it was a ‘must-see’ when in Krakow but I think my time would have been better spent exploring Krakow itself.
The salt mine is on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites so it’s of cultural and historic significance but I wouldn’t recommend visiting unless you love sculptures, religious monuments, or want to be trapped 100 metres underground for 3 hours.
Are these dwarves working the mines?
The main attraction at Wieliczka, the salt cathedral. They sometimes hold classical music concerts here or you can even get married here if you want.
I did love this 3D salty version of The Last Supper.
More religious works all carved into the rock salt:
After a number of failed attempts at getting to Bratislava, I finally made it there last month. We had a few days in Vienna, before heading to Krakow, which was plenty of time to include a day trip to Bratislava.
Vienna to Bratislava is only an hour or so by train and they have a special return day trip ticket for 15 euros which includes public transport in Bratislava. We got the tram to Sudbahnhof but it doesn’t stop right at the train station so we had to run to make the train. You save 3 euros if you buy the ticket before you board the train but we had no chance to do that but it was still a good deal.
I didn’t know anything about Bratislava before going and didn’t even have a map so when we got out from the main train station we just followed the crowd down the hill towards the old town. The first square we came across was kind of like a welcome to Communism:
Not far from there we stumbled upon the Presidential Palace.
It was then on to the old town with its typical cobblestone streets, pretty squares, statues, fountains, and traditional coffee houses.
The cute main square has a few cafes where you can relax or you can go around the corner and admire the Primate’s Palace.
Bratislava is small and easy to get around on foot. I loved walking around the streets, visiting the local shops. I was surprised to discover they use the euro in Slovakia as I figured they still used their own currency like their neighbours Hungary and Czech Republic do.
Not far from the main square is the Opera House. There are lots of places to eat in that area and we chose a little pub type place with a great atmosphere but inedible food. The food was typical of the region with goulash and chicken paprika etc on the menu. It looked delicious but was like eating pure salt. F said the local Slovakian beer was fantastic though.
Next we headed up to the castle where you get great views of the city, including the thousands and thousands of high rise, communist era apartments.
Bratislava has these quirky statues which all the tourists seems to think is a great photo op. I have no idea why but we did it too.
We finished the day with a hot drink and cake at one of Bratislava’s top Viennese style coffee houses, Cafe Meyer, right on the main square.
We then got the tram back to the train station and headed back to Vienna. I had a fantastic time in Bratislava. It’s a pretty city, very similar to Prague but much smaller and without the crowds. You can easily see everything in a day but it would also be a nice destination for a relaxing weekend getaway.
Vienna is one of my favourite cities in Europe. I’d put it in my top 5 cities for sure. I love the extravagant architecture, the beautiful parks and gardens, the musical history and, of course, the food.
The first time I visited Vienna was in December of 1999. I distinctly remember it being –5 degrees as it was the first time I had experienced negative maximum day time temperatures. It didn’t stop me from exploring the city and the best way to do so is on foot. On my first day I walked the entire ring road in awe. You don’t need to walk the entire ring road to see the most beautiful attractions but I wanted to keep walking to see what else was ahead. The numerous museums, the opera house, the parliament, the squares, the parks, all took my breathe away. When the cold got too much, I would stop in a traditional coffee house and indulge in a delicious Vienna chocolate. On subsequent trips to Vienna, I did pretty much the same thing and loved it every time.
Stephansdom, right in the centre of Vienna.
Vienna’s Opera House is beautiful inside and out.
The grand Hofburg Palace. There are loads of traditional coffee houses in this area as well shops selling local crafts (ie. tourist shops).
The other side of the Hofburg Palace. Visit the boring very interesting museums here.
Surely this guy must have a bad back holding up that thing?
Wander around the roses in the Volksgarten.
Surround yourself in history at the Kunsthistorisches Museum or just play in the formal gardens.
The beautiful neo-classical parliament, just opposite the Volksgarten.
The neo-baroque Burgtheatre, one of Vienna’s many theatres.
Rathaus – Vienna City Hall in neo-gothic style – relax in the gardens in summer or visit the Christmas markets in December.
Musical genius and golden man, Johann Strauss Jr.
New and old in Vienna.
The tradition veal schnitzel at Figlmueller is about twice the size of the chicken ones. They’re so big that they hang off the side of the plate. I loved my smaller chicken version though.
A strong competitor for the best schnitzel is at Cafe Schwarzenberg. They have all kinds of traditional Austrian meat and potato dishes. I skipped the meat had the vegetarian option instead which was a bread and egg dish. Yep, bread and eggs. I don’t know how vegetarians survive in Europe. Be sure to head back here for your obligatory afternoon coffee and cake.
I haven’t spent that much time in the 19th and 20th arrondissements of Paris, only really because I live on the opposite side of the city. I have read how it’s a rapidly changing area and is becoming more desirable than it once was ie. it’s not quite so dodgy.
I was fortunate enough to have a friend offer to show me around so I made the long journey to metro Jourdain where we wandered down to Belleville and then over to Pere Lachaise, Paris’s most famous cemetery.
It was a great relaxing walk through beautiful parks and little streets where local graffiti artists had left their mark. Definitely a place worth exploring if you want to get away from the touristy parts of the city.
In September, I finally made my way to Croatia for the first time. I think I fell in love with Dubrovnik before I even hit the tarmac. Mountains on one side, the sea on the other. As soon as I got out of the plane the 30 degree heat hit me. I can’t believe how much I have missed that kind of hit you in the face heat, especially after this year’s cold and wet summer in Paris. While taking the airport shuttle bus to the city, I was able to watch a pink sunset over the sea. For 20 years I have wanted to visit Dubrovnik, my dream destination. I wasn’t disappointed.
We stayed in a nice little apartment (thanks to Marija, the very friendly and helpful owner) in Lapad, about 3 kilometres from the centre of Dubrovnik. At first I thought it was going to be too far from the action but it the end it worked out great. It’s much quieter than bustling Dubrovnik and its overpriced tourist restaurants. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants in Lapad, plus there are numerous beaches where you can rent lounges or lay down on the pebble beach and Dubrovnik’s old town is only a short bus ride away.
It seems most tourists head straight for the city walls and it’s not a bad idea as it gives you a great overview of the city and fantastic views of the sea and nearby Lokrum Island. We wandered around for more than two hours, admiring the cute houses and beautiful churches. Then it was off to explore the town. I would have loved to have spent hours or even days wandering around the little streets but it was so crowded in most parts that it wasn’t that enjoyable. I think later in the evening would be a better time to explore but I never got the chance to do that. Instead I left the old town and wandered up and down the coast, checking out the pristine beaches along the way.
From Dubrovnik we did day trips to Lokrum Island, Korcula, and Mostar and all were incredible. I was reading a blog post today on how so many travel bloggers exaggerate when they describe a destination but the region around Dubrovnik really is stunning and unbelievably beautiful, to me anyway. I would have liked to have gone to Mljet and some of the other nearby islands but time was running short as I wanted to visit Split and the islands up that way.
As for the food, I was a little disappointed with the lack of variety between restaurants. It seemed like 90% of places offered the same menu: grilled fish and meat, pasta, pizza, and salad. Not very adventurous but delicious nonetheless and reasonably priced.
I will definitely visit Dubrovnik again, in particular to explore the islands a little more and the nearby towns like Cavtat. Croatia as a whole was fantastic and hopefully next time I’ll be able to take it slowly and enjoy everything it has to offer.
I know I said I was only going to post travel related stuff from now on but I couldn’t resist posting this motivational video.
Gary Vaynerchuk is a great motivational speaker and in this video he talks about following your dreams and doing what you love. If you hate your 9 – 5 existence, you’ve got to get out of it and do what you love. Create a site about something you are passionate about, build it up with content and over time you’ll make money and be able to live the life you’ve always wanted and you’ll be happy. It takes hard work, patience, and persistence but you’ll get there in the end.
This is why I want to take this blog to another level. It has been great having this as my personal blog to write about what I’ve been up to but I’ve never taken it seriously or thought that I could actually develop it into something more. Why can’t I make travelling my business or earn money reviewing the films I love to watch?
I do make my living on the internet but I’ve done that by creating websites around products and services I have no interest in. Do I really want to spend the rest of my days writing about the top dating sites for people over 40 or the best places to play bingo or some crappy anti-wrinkle cream? No, I certainly do not. I want to write about what I love and that means travel, movies, and food with a little photography mixed in. I’ve got to focus on what I love, not on the easy money because I know it will pay off in the long run.
Life is short. Don’t do something you hate for a living. Follow your dreams and don’t give up!
Albania’s capital Tirana is a polluted, chaotic mess. A lot has changed since I was last there 10 years ago. It was a chaotic mess back then but it was no where near as polluted. At that time, the population was about half of what it is now and there was not that many cars on the road. There were so few cars back then that the entire country only had 2 or 3 sets of traffic lights and they weren’t working when I saw them.
Constant construction, unlawful buildings, and no knowledge of how to use rubbish bins has resulted in a dusty, dirty city with rubbish throughout the streets and construction rubble piled up high. The main square Sheshi Skenderbej is one big construction site with all the roads and paths pulled up and traffic jams on every street. Thankfully a Belgian company is working on the square so it should look great when they’re finished.
Pollution is unbearably high. The heat, the old car exhausts, the lack of greenery all contribute to thick smog which makes breathing difficult. Tirana is not a city you want to spend time walking in.
Not that there is much to see anyway. As far as architecture goes, you’ll find 90% of the buildings are hideous concrete blocks built during communism. There are a few attractive Italian built buildings dating from the 30s and a handful of older buildings built long before that. If beautiful or interesting architecture is your thing, stay away from Tirana. The parks need maintenance too but maybe my standards are too high after having lived in France for so long where you don’t see a single flower out of place.
The most popular part of Tirana is the Blloku area which is where the former communist leaders used to live. It was blocked off to the public during communism and is now the place to meet up for a coffee in the afternoon or drinks in the evening. Drinks are super cheap, tea or coffee is around 70 cents (euro), red bull is around 2 euros (it’s 5.50 here in Paris), and cocktails are 3-4 euros. Drink up!
Drinking coffee is the favourite pastime of Albanians. Not many people seem to drink beer or other drinks, it’s coffee, coffee, or coffee. Cafes are full day and night but there don’t seem to be that many restaurants. I have no idea where the people eat. Maybe they have their coffee and then head home.
One of the specialities of Tirana is what they call hot chocolate but which is more like a dessert. I was quite shocked when I received it. It is a thick, mousse like ‘drink’ which you eat with a spoon. It is sickly sweet and neither F nor I could drink it. The poor waiter felt sorry for us and didn’t charge us for it which I felt really bad about it. I had no idea it was their specialty and I would have finished it if I’d known but I was expecting something completely different.
The food in Tirana (and in all of Albania and Kosovo) is generally simple meat dishes like kebabs and qofte or roast lamb or chicken with potatoes. All the food I had was delicious and very, very cheap, usually around 5 or 6 euros per person including drinks. It’s so much cheaper than when I was last here. That’s what competition does I guess. I recommend eating at Lulishte 1 Maji and Villa Ambassador (in the former East German embassy) for tasty Albanian cuisine.
The biggest danger when visiting Albania are the cars. No one knows how to drive. I’m pretty sure they all bribed their driving instructors to get their drivers license (this is actually commonplace). They like to speed and do u-turns or 3 point turns at the most inappropriate times. They often won’t stop at red lights. They don’t wear seat belts. You take your life into your own hands when crossing the street and beware even if you have a green light.
Also on the roads you need to watch out for potholes. This was a huge problem 10 years ago and I can’t believe it hasn’t been fixed yet. Be careful driving and watch your step when walking, especially at night. You don’t want to fall through the road and end up in a crappy Albanian hospital.
Another thing to be aware of is that Albanians nod their heads to say no (yo) and shake their heads to say yes (po). This can be very confusing and I’ve been caught out numerous times misunderstanding what people are saying. I think younger people are starting to use the European way but oldies definitely won’t.
The last annoyance with Albania is the currency. The currency (lek) was revalued over 45 years ago and yet the people still refer to the old values when they discuss prices. Albanians are obviously stubborn people who don’t like to change! So if something costs 1,000 lek (8 euros) they will say it’s 10,000 lek but you’ll pay them 1,000. Don’t give them 10,000 or you’ll be paying 10 times too much (although they always use new money with foreigners, they don’t try to rip you off). It’s completely ridiculous and extremely confusing, for me anyway, they think it’s normal. I’ve argued with F about this many times but he just says, c’est comme ca.
If you are reading this in a reader, please head over to my site Destination Europe and let me know what you think of my new theme. It’s still a work in progress (definitely need a new header) but I think it’s much better than the old theme. Comments and constructive criticism appreciated!
I’ve decided to make Destination Europe all about travel and living as an expat and not so much my personal blog. So all my movie review posts will now be over at World Movie Reviews (this blog is just an excuse for me to watch more movies). All my food and cooking related posts will be over at Bites of Pleasure (this blog is just an excuse for me to eat more food). All my fitness related posts are already over at my Fitness Blog (this blog was meant to be motivation for me to exercise more but that didn’t work).
As for any personal or off-topic stuff, I will no longer be posting that kind of thing. Not that I posted much personal stuff anyway but I’m going to keep it all business around here from now on
The only reason to go to Kukes is to change taxis on the way from Tirana to Prizren in Kosovo. Kukes consists only of communist era and new buildings as the old city was flooded and buried by the nearby dam.
F’s father is from a nearby village and he still has relatives in the region as well as in Prizren. On the way back from our day trip to Prizren, a guy offered us a lift back to Tirana. Within two minutes of taking off we discover this guy is married to one of F’s relatives and he knows all about F’s family. Small world.
We then took a detour to visit this guy’s uncle who wrote a couple of books about another of F’s relatives, Havzi Nela, a famous writer/poet/dissident who was hung in the centre of Kukes for political reasons, just before the fall of communism.
It definitely made for an interesting trip as I am always interested in hearing stories of life under communism in Albania.
Prizren in Kosovo is a 3-4 hour trip from Tirana. It will be much quicker once the new highway is completed but that looks to be a long way off. I’d definitely recommend visiting Kosovo’s most beautiful city, at least for a few hours.
From the little I saw of Kosovo, it looks like the people live better than in Albania. There are very few ugly communist era concrete apartment blocks which you see everywhere in Albania, instead you have Turkish influenced buildings and new three story houses which, although not of a very high quality, fit in perfectly with the style of the city. There is an extraordinary amount of rubbish around though. It seems like the Albanian way is to just throw your rubbish wherever you like. It’s a shame to see the old town and castle ruined by litter.
The people in Prizren are extremely friendly, more than happy to give directions and point out places of interest. One guy even gave us fruit to sustain us on our trek up to the castle. They also love to discuss economics and politics which is the case for most Albanians I’ve come across
Prizren (and probably Kosovo in general) is quite religious and I counted 25 mosques and a couple of (burnt out) Orthodox churches, although I am sure there are more. If you walk up to the castle you can see all the minarets popping up over the pretty city which is surrounded by huge mountains.
Also of interest are the burnt out houses of the former Serb residents who were forced to flee in 2004. The burnt out buildings remain and the Serbs are never coming back.
As with most places I’ve visited on this quick tour of the Balkans, I want to go back and see more. I’d love to go to Peja and Prishtina one day soon too.
Most tourists only visit Shkodra, in northern Albania, on the way through to Tirana from Montenegro. That’s exactly why I was there. Since the end of communism, the town has been in decline and there is very little to see aside from the Rozafa Fortress.
I got a quick glimpse of the fortress while stuck in traffic in a gypsy camp where local kids knocked on the car windows begging for money. That reminded me of the last time I was in Albania when after entering getting off the ferry at Durres, I was waiting alone in my car when about 10 gypsy kids surrounded the car knocking on the windows. The kids are quite cute but they can be very aggressive!
The only building I saw in Shkodra which wasn’t a concrete apartment block was a mosque recently built as a gift from Saudi Arabia.
