Shasti Walsh

Outside Tirana: Two More Stops in Northern Albania

I spent the majority of my time in Albania in Tirana, but I did venture beyond for 10 days or so. I’ve been told repeatedly that southern Albania is where it’s at — pristine beaches, even fewer tourists, etc — but I didn’t make it that direction on this trip. Instead, I spent a dayContinue reading “Outside Tirana: Two More Stops in Northern Albania”

Weird and Wonderful Albania

I spent a month in Albania this spring (May 2018), and I loved it. Because it was almost completely isolated under an extremely repressive communist regime from the 1950s through the early 1990s, it looks and feels like a slightly alternate universe. Those who are up on their Albanian history, skip ahead; I knew nothingContinue reading “Weird and Wonderful Albania”

New Favorite Mountain Fortress

03 May, 2018: On my third day in Bar, Montenegro, I took a local bus to Stari Bar, which is the old town in the mountains about a half hour from the port town of [new] Bar. It has a large and well-preserved ruined fortress:

Pickling My Way Around the World

I made several plans before I started this adventure, to give myself ways to stay grounded and feel at home regardless of place. One of those plans involves pickles, and the strangest item in my luggage: a glass pickle weight (thanks, mom!). I decided that every time I stayed in one place for long enough,Continue reading “Pickling My Way Around the World”

Black Mountain

01 May, 2018: I spent a week in Montenegro (or Crna Gora, in Montenegrin), in Bar on the Adriatic coast. Bar is a port city (the main port of the country) and border crossing (by ferry) first and a tourist destination second; it’s really only a tourist spot because the spectacular Belgrade-Bar railway ends there (moreContinue reading “Black Mountain”

Wide Awake on a Sleeper Train

I took my first sleeper train! It was fantastic. I decided to start on a high note, with one of the most spectacular train lines (according to the internet) in Europe: the Belgrade-Bar line. I did a bunch of reading first, of course, and in the process I learned that sleeper trains (at least inContinue reading “Wide Awake on a Sleeper Train”

Grocery update

Since I’m doing my best to be a proper local in each new place I live, however short-term, I’ve been exploring the local shops to find my groceries. As usual, grocery shopping is simultaneously the most stressful aspect of living in a different country, and one of the most engaging. It’s difficult not knowing whereContinue reading “Grocery update”

Public Transit

You can learn a lot about a place from the public transit. You can tell what the city/state prioritizes, what areas have better funding, and how important tourism is vs how many locals rely on public transit. Areas with a lot of tourism and an emphasis on that will have signs in multiple languages, orContinue reading “Public Transit”