Category: Uncategorized
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The Balkans: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
September 15, 16 and 17, 2024. Dubrovnik We left Shkodër in Albania Sunday morning, September 15, to drive through Montenegro on the way to Dubrovnik in Croatia. Once past the Montenegro border, most of the drive was along the Adriatic coast, passing St. Stephen Island (below, upper left), taking a car ferry across the Bay…
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The Balkans: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
September 12-14, 2024. Berat, Shkodër Thursday, September 20, 7:30 pm. Earlier today was the excursion to Berat, called the “City of 1001 Windows” (see below, upper left). As our guide, Ilir, noted, this title is something of a misnomer. Berat’s real sobriquet is “the city with windows on top of each other.” Apparently the expressions,…
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The Balkans: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
September 10-11, 2024: Arrival in Tirana Tuesday, September 10, 9:30 pm. This was a weird one. On Monday I was something of a wreck. Getting into the car to JFK without Stef? Negotiating airport security without Stef? Hanging out in the Lufthansa lounge without Stef? You get the picture. I’m writing this part of the…
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The Balkans: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
September 8, 2024: Albania Then and Now Some of my subscribers particularly enjoy historical perspective. This is for them. If that’s not your thing, then just delete this. No offense will be taken. (I’ll never know anyway, and there will be no quiz.) Albania had a history that was not terribly different from the other…
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The Balkans: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
(Just Ask Neil Sedaka) Upcoming Travels with Stan and Stef: The Balkans, September 9 – October 1, 2024 Talk about “West Meets East!” The Balkans is where the Ottoman Empire faced off against western Europe, and it was really not clear who would prevail. The Turks were literally at the gates of Vienna until late…
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“Vienna Waits For You”
Postscript, August 9, 2024. We just received our Google photo album for the Vienna trip. Stef is so good at preparing and formatting these things. Today we noted the bad news from Vienna: Two terrorists planned an attack at a Taylor Swift concert. The good news: The Viennese authorities thwarted it, with help from intelligence…
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“Vienna Waits For You”
July 20, 2024: Plachutta & MAK Final post for this series. Saturday, our last day in Vienna. Just two things on the agenda: Lunch at Plachutta and the MAK. The restaurant Plachutta is a place for classic Viennese dishes, such as Tafelspitz and Wienerschnitzel. Tafelspitz (boiled beef) was a favorite of Emperor Franz Joseph, and…
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“Vienna Waits For You”
July 19, 2024: The Hofburg, Sisi, Sausage and Sachertorte Today we went to the Habsburg downtown palace, the Hofburg. This is where the Imperial/Royal Family lived when they weren’t summering at Schönbrunn. It’s also the home of the Sisi Museum. As previously noted, Emperor Franz Joseph ruled the Austro-Hungarian empire from 1848 (he was 18…
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“Vienna Waits for You”
July 18, 2024: The Leopold Museum, the Heuriger Experience The Leopold Museum, founded by Rudolf Leopold, opened in 2001, with more than 5,000 pieces of art on display. To be sure, there is a bit of controversy about how Rudolf (a physician by training) obtained his collection. He has been described as a “too passionate…
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“Vienna Waits for You”
July 17, 2024: Schönbrunn, Naschmarkt, and Karlskirche We took the UBahn this morning to Schloß Schönbrunn, the Habsburg summer palace. We took a self-guided tour of the State Rooms, a small portion of the former imperial palace: These included the Lantern Room, the Great Gallery, and the Hall of Ceremonies. You will note, as we…
