Kosher Hotel in Albania, at Dhermi

An amazing, quirky little hotel. Antiques and amusing decor. Local mosaic floors. Every room, staircase, corridor has items to attract the eye.

Only six rooms. People seeking kosher food might find it on booking.com  

The hotel is also popular for week long stays, and for Tirana business people working all week, with children at school, but looking for a weekend away. 

Solomon has a shop in Tirana. He started a synagogue on the outskirts of Tirana. Solomon has the key. We drove past it to see it. It is modern with high walls. Apart from the name, nothing significant can be seen from outside. You need to contact Solomon.

Regarding the hotel in Dhermi, it is a short drive uphill from the Dhermi seafront. Solomon's son David is extending the hotel with a rooftop swimming pool.  

If you are interested in Jewish locations in Albania or elsewhere, they are interesting people to talk to.

Where Next?

Where else can you go to try Jewish style or kosher food? Greece has recently opened the long envisaged Jewish museum. Next nearby country of interest would be a stop in Montenegro, at Dukes kosher hotel.

Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, which is which, what is where?

Countries of Europe

Map from Nations Online Project.

ALBANIA

You can arrive at Mother Teresa airport near the capital. 

The capital is Tirana. The central, focal poing is Skandenbeg Square, named after the national hero shown in a statue on horseback. Like Trafalgar Square in London which has the national Gallery at the top or north, the main square has a main museum so you can do both together. The capital has museums on history, life under communism, and the home of a writer whose books are about those times. 

The west coast is on the Adriatic, which has beaches. 

(Greece is to the south. To look at it another way, Albania is north of Greece.) 

Driving north to the mountains, in summer, you find hiking and wineries.

BOSNIA & Herzegovina

The name Bosnia probably, at least most memorably, comes from the river Bosna. The origin of the name Herzegovina is Herzog's land. Note the spelling. The letter e is repeated at the start of the name. Then o. The letter i separated the o and the a. Finally a. Both Bosnia and Herzegovina have the three vowels o,i,a.

I have abbreviated Wikipedia's entry.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosna i Hercegovina (Bosnian) Босна и Херцеговина (Serbian) Bosna i Hercegovina (Croatian)
Flag
Official languages	Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian
Writing system	Latin, Cyrillic
Ethnic groups  (2013)[2]	50.1% Bosniaks 30.8% Serbs 15.4% Croats 3.7% Others
Religion  (2013 census)[3]	51% Islam 46% Christianity —31% Serbian Orthodox Church —15% Roman Catholicism 3% No Religion / Others

Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина, pronounced [bôsna i xěrtseɡoʋina]), abbreviated BiH (БиХ) or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans.

Bosnia and Herzegovina borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest.

 In the south it has a narrow coast on the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean, which is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) long and surrounds the town of Neum. 

Bosnia, which is the inland region of the country, has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In the central and eastern regions of the country, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat.

 Herzegovina, which is the smaller, southern region of the country, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. 

Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city of the country

CROATIA

KOSOVO

MONTENEGRO

Capital

Places to visit: Sventi Stefan 'island' hotel

Mount, cliffside monastery

NORTH MACEDONIA

GREECE

Capital Athens has the Acropolis and the hillside old city full of restaurants called La Plaka. Eat rice in vine leaves. Drink ouzo. Greek coffee and baklava. 

Second city Thessalonika has the tomb of the family of Alexander the Great and a museum and amphitheatre.

This post is being compiled and saved as I write. Come back or stay logged on to read more.

MONTENEGRO

Map of Montenegro showing the capital Padgorica to the East of the central region.

Montenegro (/ˌmɒntɪˈniːɡroʊ, -ˈneɪɡroʊ, -ˈnɛɡroʊ/ (listen)^] Montenegrin: Crna Gora, Црна Гора, lit. 'Black Mountain') is a country in Southeastern Europe.^[11] It is a part of the Balkans and is bordered by Serbia to the northeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the north, Kosovo to the east, Albania to the southeast, Croatia to the northwest, and the Adriatic Sea to the west with a coastline of 293.5 km. Podgorica, the capital and largest city, 

SERBIA

SLOVENIA

Slovenia - capital Ljubljana.

Places To See

Skocjan Caves

SLOVAKIA

Slovakia is East of the Czech Republic (capital Prague, notable personality, author Kafka). Slovakia used to be part of Czechoslovakia.

Useful Websites

ALBANIA

http://www.visit-tirana.com/things-to-do/museums-in-tirana/322/ismail-kadare-house-museum-tirana

https://www.azquotes.com/author/18556-Ismail_Kadare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanians

http://www.visit-tirana.com/eat-drink/desserts/79/yogurteri-tirana

https://www.tirana-airport.com/

BOSNIA

GREECE

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thessaloniki

KOSOVO

MONTENEGRO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro

SERBIA

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Montenegro, the Monastery Carved Out of the Cliffside on Mount Ostrog. and luxury village island hotel Sveti Stefan

 

The name means black mountain. 

Montenegro has a coastal region on the Adriatic Sea, and central and northern regions inland. The surrounding countries going anti-clockwise from the south are Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Mount Ostrog Monastery

 http://www.visit-tirana.com/things-to-do/museums-in-tirana/322/ismail-kadare-house-museum-tiranae

A former fishing village, restored to create a luxury hotel, apparently open only to residents, although you can pay to sit on the beaches looking at the houses with their red tiled rooftops.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Mount_Ostrog

https://hotel-sokoline.me/

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Sveti_Stefan

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Albania - what to see in the Capital and on the Coast

Albania is on the coast, to the north of the west coast of Greece.

Surrounding countries include Greece to the south, which accounts for why some people in the south speak Greek. If you already know Greek, that might come in handy. 

 Albania has wineries and hiking trails. The capital is Tirana. Mother Teresa airport is 15 minutes from the city.

The capital, Tirana

The capital has a cathedral and three major museums.

The National Historical Museum

 The National Historical Museums has nine rooms, arranged historically. Each section is for a different time period.

 

The House of Leaves 

The House of Leaves is a pun or double entendre. Outside it was once covered in leaves, in a forest, to disguise it. Inside it contains leaves of books, about the Communist era, which used to keep records of everybody

The House of Ismail Kadare

The House of Isrmail Kadare features the author, who is still alive. His books have been made into films. The plots, or settings, sound rather grim. One is about Italian and German generals seeking the bodies of dead soldiers from a previous war to repatriate them. Another film, The Traitor's Niche, is about the display of heads of executed traitors.

However, in his books, the writing, both the thoughts and the metaphors, even in translation, are effective. Here are some examples:

The writer is always, to some extent, in exile, wherever he is, because he is somehow outside, separated from the others; there is always a distance.

In our city spring came from the sky, not from the soil.

Clouds dashed about in all directions ...

Shiny musical instruments wailed, their mouths open like lilies

The house has lots of quotations from the author, and his wife who is also an author.

Other Sights

See the old bridge.

Eat at the Yogurteri.

The Coast

The coast is known for its beaches.

Travelling Onwards

Tirana's airport is called Mother Teresa, so you can learn the word mother which looks not like mama but like nana.

Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza

On the Facebook page for the airport you can watch a video.

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=373&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftiranainternationalairport%2Fvideos%2F834320287638067%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="373" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

Wikipedia showed many airlines including BA (British Airways) going to and from Heathrow airport in London.

Skyscanner claimed to find us the cheapest flight on the date we suggested - it was Wizz Air to Luton.

Montenegro

As the country is adjacent to several others, you have several ways of doing a side trip. From Albania, you might wish to make a side trip or two centre stay seeing Montenegro which is north of Albania. Montenegro has two major attractions, the cliffside monastery, and the island of Sveti Stefan, which is a village turned into a hotel.

Mother Teresa monument in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

Useful Websites

http://www.visit-tirana.com/things-to-do/museums-in-tirana/322/ismail-kadare-house-museum-tirana

https://www.azquotes.com/author/18556-Ismail_Kadare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanians

http://www.visit-tirana.com/eat-drink/desserts/79/yogurteri-tirana

https://www.tirana-airport.com/

Must See Montenegro's Amazing Cliffside Monastery at Mount Ostrog

Montenegro is a European country whose name means black mountain.  The capital is Podgorica. Montenegro is north west of Albania and surrounded by other newcomers to the map of Europe, Serbia, bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo (disputed says the map).


Map in Wikipedia. Map author Globe-trotter.


From the point of view of a tourist or armchair traveller black mountain is the key to remembering the country's most stunning sight.

The monastery on the side of the black cliff at Mount Ostrog.
Here's the monastery at the base of the cliff.

c

But up on the cliffside is an upper monastery, even more amazing. 



Amazing that they got up there to build it. Amazing that it stays there. Amazing that they get deliveries of food. And drinking water and water for washing and showers and toilets.

Amazing that it doesn't fall off the cliffside. 


Useful Websites
Montenegro

Mount Ostrog


About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See previous posts on the USA, Asia, learning languages,  musicians, Europe and Freddie Mercury. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Quiz on capitals: Bosnia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia,

Problem
I have a hard time remebering these. I bet you do too. Instead of giving you the questions first and then the answer, this time I'll give you the answers first, then test you to see if you remember them.

Capitals are not always the largest cities

Country - capital

QUESTION AND ANSWER
EUROPE
Travelling to Europe?
Belarus - Minsk (Remember the s ends Belarus and appears in the capital MinSk.)
Bosnia & Herzogovina - Sarajevo (disputed). (You could remember SARA went to SARAjevo.)
Bulgaria - Sophia (You could remember that SophIA went to SophIA in BulgarIA.)
Croatia - Zagreb
Germany - Berlin (no, it's not Bonn)
Ireland - Dublin, Eire (Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland which is part of the UK)
Macedonia - Skopje (The c in Macedonia sounds like S which starts the name of the capital)
Poland - Warsaw (I saw the big capital, Warsaw. Years ago it was cute little Cracow or Krakov.)
Republic of Macedonia -
Romania - Bucharest (Rest in Romania; book a rest, Bucharest)
Serbia - Belgrade (Letter B in the country and the capital)
Slovenia - Ljubljana (Slovenia has one l in the country and two in the capital)
Turkey - Ankara (But most tourists charge like bulls to Istanbul: K in the country and the Capital)

Travelling to America?
AMERICA
Canada - Ottawa (No, it's not Toronto, nor Montreal. The letter a appears twice in Canada and its capital Ottawa.)
Mexico - Mexico City
USA - Washington DC (No, it's not New York. Both New York in the North; and The South wanted the capital in their part of the country. As a compromise, a new city was built at the border.)

Travelling to Asia?

ASIA

China - Beijing (The letters IN are in both country and capital. ChINa and BeijINg.)

QUESTION - What's the capital"

EUROPE
Travelling to Europe?
Belarus -
Bosnia & Herzogovina -
Bulgaria -
Croatia -
Germany
Ireland / EIRE
Macedonia - area of Northern Greece as well as a separate new country to the north of Greece so the new coutnry is provisionally, in 2018, renamed Republic of Macedonia - which see below.)
Northern Ireland, UK
Poland -
Republic of Macedonia -
Romania -
Serbia -
Slovenia -
Turkey -

AMERICA
Canada -
Mexico
USA -

ASIA
China -

USEFUL WEBSITES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_national_capital,_largest_and_second-largest_cities
https://www.infoplease.com/world/countries-world/world-capitals

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Humroous after dinner speaker. I am still talking at breakfast - you can't stop me.

Handy maps of Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia

Problems. Are you wondering which country is which? Trying to remember the capitals and tourist sights? Thinking of a two-centre or touring holiday?

Answers: Check these handy maps.

Kosovo is landlocked and surrounded by Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. Look carefully and you'll see the little symbol of a plane. A five-point star marks the capital. Fly into the capital, Pristina.

To get an idea of why buildings are named after local heroes and what the conflicts were about, read:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adem_Jashari
It's rather chilling reading. I tried to see it from both sides.

Thinking back to earlier times, from the point of view of British film-makers, Lawrence of Arabia was a hero. From the point of view of the Turks, they were trying to bring civilization to a lot of nomads and Lawrence was the leader of a gang of terrorists.

Should a fighter keep his women and children with him, where he can protect them? Or send them away to safety?

The country is recognized by some countries but not others. Check out the up-to-date news on arrangements for crossing borders in both directions. You might need to get visas, change your direction of travel, and / or not have a passport with certain stamps in it.

Check the advice for American and Canadians and Brits. You might think you don't need it. However, their websites might have handy tips. Also, check the nationalities of your travelling companions and where your companions have travelled from. If you team up with a singleton or couple from another country, you don't want to get to the border with Serbia and find two of you can cross the border, but the other one can't.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kosovo

Montenegro, surrounded by Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania. Capital and airport, Podgorica.

Macedonia is surrounded by Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. The capital, Skopje, is in the north.
Skopje's buildings were badly damaged in the 1963 earthquake resulting in lots of rebuilding with Christian and Muslim edifices vying to outdo each other. Something to see for everybody.

What to see in Skopje
Mother Teresa museum
Holocaust museum
Alexander the Great memorial
Giant Cross
See next post.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Handy maps of Montenegro and Macedonia (and what to see)

I must admit, the two places starting with the M confused me.  The furthest north is Montenegro, black mountain. (The name Montenegro means mountain black, or as we would say in English, black mountain. The noun is first followed by the adjective which is second in many languages including French, moulin rouge being red mill.

Montenegro, black mountain, is north of Albania, which sounds like white. South of Albania is Macedonia, whose citizens, Macedonians, are also in Albania and Greece. Macedonia has been in dispute with Greece about the right to call itself Macedonia. In 2018 the two countries seem to have resolved this problem. 

Any more memory aids regarding which country is where. Yes, ma'am. Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, initials M A M make the acronym MAM. (An acronym means a new word from initial letters. Nym stands for name.)

                                                                                   

European Languages.This map seems to leave out Switzerland and does not tell you the languages spoken in Corsica and Sardinia. Nevertheless, quite handy.

Republic of Macedonia

Coat of Arms of Macedonia

Flag of the Republic of Macedonia since 1995
The old flag, which the Greeks objected to on the grounds of cultural appropriation, had a more elegant sun, small in the centre, with delicate rays. However, the new design is distinctive and striking.

So many flags are three bands of colour, horizontal or vertical, or a a white cross on a contradsting background. You would not confuse this flag with anybody else's! It's Macedonia! It turns out that neighbouring Greece is the main trading partner and benefactor of Macedonia. So, finally, they have reached a compromise and I think the new flag is terrrific. You can see it for miles. That's what a flag is for.

I see a pattern in small and large events. Macedonia and Greece, are like a son who left home and wanted to be independent and father is worried that the son wants to take over Dad's property.

Another analogy is the companies where the son sets up a rival business such as a hotel group, and wants to continue using the family name. They go to court and eventually an agreement is reached for two separate brands, with similar names, which confuse some of the public. When you look into, you find you now have two distinctive countries, Greece and Macedonia, with a shared history, both of which are worth visiting.

Also, no trouble remembering that Macedonia, with an unamrked c, is a soft c. Add an accent on top and you have turned the c into a ch, without needing to spend time writing a whole extra letter, rather like Pitman's shorthand where you can indicate a letter or sound with just a dot or a teeny tick.




***********************************************

More information from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_naming_dispute


Montenegro Map

Montenegro - Cities and Sites and Sights:
From Fly into Podgorica airport; see Podgorica the capital. Take a bus towards Mount Ostrog, a monastery against a cliff face. Get off bus ... and take taxi. The last part is stone steps.

Montenegro tourist sites:


Photo of Sveti Stefan by Einer Flog Zu Veit in Wikivoyage.
Sveti Stefan is the renowned, romantic five-star hotel on an island. I saw pictures of it years ago. If you cannot enter without booking a bedroom, or it is closed for renovation, admire it from afar. If you look at all the photos in Wikipedia under Sveti Stefan, you'll see that you get a better photo from a distance, like the one I have chosen to show.

Stefan is Stephen. Svet is world (in Serbian and Bosnian) and Svetnik is saint.
In Croatian Svet is holy and Svetnik is councillor. As you see, the three languages are mutually intelligible, like British and American English, with slight variations in meaning.

Montenegro flag

More capitals in Europe - bet you don't know these!

Country - capital
Problem
Liechtenstein - Vaduz (How do I remember the spelling of the country.  And the others?)

Answer
LIE - I don't lie - about the fact that I struggle to remember how to spell it. I had better check. Yes, add CH. I repeated it ten times. TEN! Stein is German for stone. Add STEIN. Lie-ch-ten-stein

Capital - country
Macedonia - Skopje (Common letters E O - O E. Think of M and S like  the shop Marks and Spencers. Macedonia and Skipje. Is there a shop called Marks and Spencers in Skopje in Macedonia?)
Moldova - Chisinau (Common letter a. in both MoldovA and ChisinAu.) Double letter o in Moldova. Check letter I is twice in Chisinau, an unusual name. My, it's good to see you. HellO Chums.
Montenegro - Podgorica. (Montenegro means black mountain. The letters O-G-O-R are in mOnteneGRO and pOdGORica. Oh, I'll to to Montenegro and on the black mountain I will grow a POD of GOReous - I CAnnot tell you because it's a secret.)
Vaduz - Liechtenstein (Nobody invades Liechtenstein. Maybe they think it's stony.)

https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/c9a0abc8-4704-4d76-ba8f-acd8865c12aa?lesson=5

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages. Please follow and share links to your favourite posts.