Tirana The next morning we set off to the Albanian border nearby. The building there was pink, painted with flowers, which seemed a little odd. We passed many small bunkers, some of the thousands built during the reign of the paranoid Enver Hoxha. Along the way were towns with factory buildings, abandoned after the fall of communism in 1991. One small town decorated its crumbling factories by painting thousands of ladybugs on them. We passed through the city of Elbasan, once contender for capital city. A highway was built through the city and has somehow turned into a free-for-all, with kilometre long traffic jams paralyzing the roads for hours at…

To stamp or not to stamp your passport in Kosovo We left Albania in driving rain that had continued through the night. It cleared up gradually as we got to the border of Kosovo. It’s fun to look at all the passport stamps you get, but that is due to change. With the new passports with electronic chips, facial recognition and digital stamps will take over soon, at least at airports. For now though, why wouldn’t you get a stamp from Kosovo? Kosovo is one of the newest countries in the world, declaring itself an independent country in 2004. Before that, it had most recently been under control of Serbia.…

Heading out of Tirana I met my 11 travel companions and tour leader in Tirana. They are all very well-travelled, and include three people who will hit their 100th country on this trip! (In case you’re wondering, I don’t know what my country count is, but I think it’s between 50 and 60.) (Update – I made a list and it looks like 82!) Travelers from UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, USA, and Canada are in the group. Our tour leader is a guy from Serbia who seems to always be happy. We all went out for dinner to a big touristy place with local food and singing by locals…

What could go wrong with my trip to Albania? Two things were potential roadblocks to my trip – an airline strike and the weather. The Air Canada strike did not happen, with pilots settling for a 42% increase over 4 years! I covered myself with a Westjet flight that was cancellable for a credit. Weather has been unpredictable in eastern Europe this fall. After a summer of temperatures up to 45, there has been torrential rainfall and deadly flooding. Looking ahead in my weather app to my time in Albania, I saw a day when 70 – 100 mm of rain was predicted, and temperatures of 30 in early October.…

Air Canada pilots will be in a strike position soon Air Canada pilots have voted to strike if they have not reached an agreement with Air Canada by Sept. 17. And if the pilots don’t strike, Air Canada has suggested it will lock them out. My flight to Albania is Sept 19 – Regina to Toronto is Air Canada (AC), onward is with Polish Airlines (LOT). The booking was made using Aeroplan points. When will I know if my flight is cancelled? If an agreement is not reached by Sept. 15, either party could give 72 hours notice of job action. Air Canada would begin to pre-emptively cancel flights for…

Where am I going next? In a few weeks, I will be joining a small group adventure with Intrepid Travel to these countries. If you want to know more about the trip, click this link https://www.intrepidtravel.com/ca/kosovo/kosovo-albania-macedonia-explorer-143597 “It’s hard to find a patch of Europe as secluded as this one. Among the rugged mountains and green fields of Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia there are plenty of shepherds, monasteries, lakes, valleys and Byzantine churches – what’s lacking is crowds. It’s taken decades for the Balkans to wipe away memories of conflict and communism, but (amazingly) they’ve emerged strong and smiling. From hip cafes in Skopje and the soft shores of Lake…