Vacation

I just took a long, overdue, awesome and exhausting trip. My dad and aunt came to Albania to see some of Eastern Europe and me, of course. So, after a long night in the airport and a few hours the next day, due to lost luggage, we were off to Dubrovnik 7 hours behind schedule. We then spent 2 full days exploring the old town and an island. My favorite part was walking along the wall that surrounded the city. It had the best views and we were able to watch a huge storm come in. We made it off the wall before the storm actually hit but at lunch we had to run inside even though we were under an umbrella. The wind blew the rain sideways. Dinner, the same thing happened but the storm was much bigger but we had just about finished eating when the storm hit. The next day at lunch it rained again but it was much lighter and we were able to stay outside and dinner had no rain (finally). The seafood was awesome. The water was very clean and clear even in the marina. When we left on a bus to go up the coast, I got to see more of Croatia and it is awesome. I wanted to stay in one of the little towns on the coast but I was on my way to Zagreb. Zagreb was just an overnight. We got in at 8pm and were on a train at 8am. The hotel was the nicest we stayed in. The next destination was Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is a pretty little town with some neat bridges and an overly renovated castle. There was some cool architecture and a huge outdoor market. We got on a train at 4 and headed for Vienna. Vienna was like Zagreb in that it was a stop over but without the really nice hotel. In the morning we were on our way to Prague. Beautiful. There was so much to see in a day and a half but it was awesome and the food and beer were great too. The Czech are meat, potatoes and beer kind of people. I loved it but on the last night I had to get in some American food and we went to The Hard Rock Café. We flew back to Tirana and my dad and aunt got to walk around for the evening and see a bit of Albania. They left the next morning and I was on my way back to Berat to do all my laundry so I could leave the next morning at 5am to go to my mid-service conference in Korce. The volunteers lobbied for Korce because the conference was being held during beer fest. Korce beer is the best in Albania. I went last year and it was awesome so I was happy to go again but because of the trip and the early mornings of the conference, I was not able to party all night. I came back to Berat on Saturday and slept for 13 hours. Sunday, my country director’s family came for a tour of the castle and to see Berat. I am currently taking some recovery time before this weekend. It is my site mate’s birthday and she is having a party. I will then have one more week before the teachers and myself go back to work. Pictures. My blog only lets me do 5 at a time and I don’t like to spend too much time at the internet café uploading pictures. There is a view of the walled city in Dubrovnik. I took that picture from the island at a fort that I climbed to. The other picture is of the storm coming in while on the wall. The picture of the river is in Ljubljana. The other 2 pics are in Prague. One is of the astronomical clock and the other is of the cathedral up at the castle. I really liked the drainage gargoyle and you can see a bit of the gothic style cathedral. Sorry for the over usage of the word awesome but it is the best word to describe the trip.