Balkans – Day 4

Written on November 20, 2019 in Montenegro

After a very hot night in Kolasin, Montenegro we woke up to a cool, rainy morning. Why was the night hot? Once the temperature is cool for about a week, hotels in the area shut off the AC and only heat is available. We slept with the windows open even though it was in the...

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Balkans – Day 3

Written on November 19, 2019 in Albania

Today was our last day in Albania. We packed up and left Tirana. Getting out was fun (and our bus driver was glad we were leaving), as Albanians generally believe traffic laws are optional guidelines, that they generally ignore. For example controlled intersections (traffic signals, round-abouts, etc) generally mean “obey the general gist of ...

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Balkans – Day 2

Written on November 18, 2019 in Albania

Our first full day in the Balkans (specifically Albania) didn’t disappoint!  After an amazing breakfast at the hotel we set out on a walking tour of Tirana.  The architecture in the city has a very eclectic variety – modern buildings, buildings that scream “I was built during communist times”, and everything in bet...

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Balkans – Day 1

Written on November 17, 2019 in Albania

Okay, won’t be much of a blog today, as this was the travel period to start off the adventure.  We flew out on Saturday, around 11:50ish in the morning.  We flew to Chicago (O’Hare) with about a 3-hour layover.   We then caught a flight on Austrian Air to Vienna, Austria landing around 8:30 Sunday morning,...

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Iceland – Day 5

Written on August 12, 2019 in Iceland

Today was our lazy day as we had no set plans until the evening.  One of us was up early for coffee & breakfast and the other three trickled down to breakfast at their leisure.  Once everyone was around and ready we walked to the downtown area, which is where we started out our first...

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Iceland – Day 4

Written on August 10, 2019 in Iceland

What a day this was!!!  We headed out to territory unknown today – the southeast coast. Our first stop was at Gljúfrabúi and Seljalandsfoss – beautiful waterfalls within the same area.  Gljúfrabúi is unique because it doesn’t fall over the side as most do, it drops into an opening that is mostly obscured from passers...

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Iceland – Day 3

Written on August 9, 2019 in Iceland

  Another day of adventure for the Collins/Groves combo!  It was mostly a day of driving so our narrative is a bit brief.  Today’s journey was to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula on the west coast of Iceland.  The peninsula has an amazing array of topography – mountains, waterfalls, lava fields, dormant volcanoes, beaches ...

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Iceland – Day 2

Written on August 8, 2019 in Iceland

Day 2 was a long, busy day.   We picked up our rental car in the morning and headed out for the Golden Circle – Þingvellir National Park, Geysir, and Gullfoss – with a few extra stops along the way.  Just getting there was an adventure – the car is a diesel with variable transmission therefore...

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Iceland – Day 1

Written on August 8, 2019 in Iceland

First full day in the land of ice and fire!  We are honored to have Tim’s cousins – Sondra & Blake Groves – join us on this short adventure.  Tim’s birthday and Sondra’s birthday fall in the same week so this will be one heckuva celebration week for them! The temperature when we landed was...

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Prague – Day 5 – Final Day

Written on December 12, 2018 in Czechia

First, sorry for the tardiness in getting this post up.  We left our travel laptop at our family’s house over Thanksgiving.  Now, on to the post… Last day in the Czech Republic! We spent the day in the medieval town of Cesky Krumlov, located in the South Bohemia region of Czechia (if you now have...

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