Macedonia: Overnight on the microbus
It turns out that getting from Albania to Bulgaria is harder than you'd think. Our friend Ivo had invited us to visit him while he spent July in his homeland. We balked at the price of the flight through Istanbul, so after poking our heads into every travel agency in Albania we found a bus for cheaper. When we arrived at the bus stop in Tirana, Ardit saw the tiny vehicle parked there and said "God, I hope that's not your bus!" It was, and it was jammed full of 20 excited Albanian lady Jehovah's Witnesses on their way to a convention.
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Albania: From Mir to Shum Mir
We spent the last ten days in Shqipria (Albania in Albanian) with our friends Ardit and Nick. Both are dear friends of mine from high school. Ardit moved to the US in fourth grade, and in 10 years of friendship I’ve heard many stories of life growing up in his hometown Hoxharë. When he told me his brother Klevis was getting married in Albania around the same time we'd be heading to India, I wrangled an invitation faster than you can say Shqipria.
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Corfu, Greece: Land of many fruits
We’ve spent the last 4 days in sunny, fruit-filled Corfu, off the northeast corner of Greece. We stayed in an apartment in the north of the island, in Acharavi, which was idyllic other than a wicked ATM that ate Ted’s credit card. The friendly Greeks behind him in line for their daily cash ration of 60 euros offered conflicting advice: "Call the police!" "Go to Corfu Town!" "Revolt!" One old lady helpfully whacked the ATM with her cane. We arrived on the day of the EU bailout referendum. Other than a chatty No-voting shopkeep (“I want to live!”) and some fireworks when the results were announced (Corfu voted 71% No) we noticed no excitement whatsoever about the vote; everyone seems tired of the subject
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Bergen, Norway: First stop
At the end of our noisy redeye from JFK (Ambika: asleep; Ted: squirming), the pilot announced the weather in Bergen: "Amazing! We have 27 degrees and sun." We bought bus tickets from an incomprehensible Norwegian bus ticket machine (smarter than us, but willfully unhelpful) and went to town. The sky was cloudless, the fjords sparkling, all the people coifed and gorgeous. (Ambika: Blonde! Blonde! Another Blonde!)
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