There's a festival going on this weekend!

When we were walking through the central plaza here in Berat the other day, there was a lot of activity going on.

It turns out that the Berat Friendship Festival takes place this weekend!

Just found out the cost of my dental work

Just for some background, I had my two center upper front teeth removed about twenty years ago. I think it was in 2004 or 2005. The two teeth were in bad shape. Very crooked, broken, and the dentist said they weren't worth trying to save.

They made me a removable denture that I had for probably five years. It was relatively inexpensive, but annoying. And at the time, I didn't know there were other options.

Views from the top of Shpirag Mountain

We're in the midst of a heat wave here in Berat, so getting out and doing some hiking requires a change of schedule!

We were up at 6:30am and out the door before 8am. We did the forty minute drive over to the parking area for the hike up to the top of Shpirag Mountain.

Making plans for next week

Yesterday morning before it got too hot we walked up to the Castle Park Hotel. It's only 3 kms away, but the last half is uphill and we were quite sweaty by the time we got there!

On the way up, we noticed that the circus is in town!

Berat at night

Funny story the other day. We were looking to buy a bottle of raki... the local hooch that everybody in Albania makes from either plums or grapes. 

You can buy commercially made raki, but it's not as good as the local stuff. Usually you can buy the local stuff at a local market, but we haven't been able to find any yet.

Cabo San Lucas: Local Tips For The Most Memorable Experience

Are you planning on heading to Cabo San Lucas soon, and are wondering how to have the most memorable trip possible?

One of the most popular destinations in all of Mexico, there’s tons to see and do in Cabo - not to mention with lots of resorts and great restaurants to enjoy. However sometimes following just a few basic local tips can make your experience not only much smoother and cheaper, but also overall more memorable too!

In this guide we’ll explore how you can have the most memorable trip in Cabo San Lucas, by exploring some of our best tips based on our experience. This includes how to choose the right season for a visit, getting around Cabo as well as how you can avoid the crowds.

It's a real shame

The other evening when we were sitting in the waiting room at the dentist office, they had a TV and the news was on. Of course we didn't understand what they were saying, however we could see the pictures and video of some problems happening in the village of Theth.

We have been to Theth twice. The first time was in November of 2022 with friends David and Mirsie.

Dentist update

We relaxed most of the day yesterday, however we did go out in the afternoon to do some grocery shopping. We will be eating out a little bit while we're here, but we'll also be doing some cooking at home.

First stop was a fruits and veggies store...

Albania... our 5th visit in 5 years

We first came to Albania in April 2021 during Covid. It was one of the few countries at the time that was still open to visitors, and we got a rental car and spent three months here slowly exploring a country about the size of the state of Vermont.

And we loved it!

Welcome to Albania!

Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave Bologna until 4:30pm, so we had some time to go back into the city to have another look around.

And, we had to find a stationary shop with a printer because when I checked in for our flight, it said "one or more passengers on this booking needs to have a printed boarding pass".

Mamma Mia... Eating Pizza Pie in Bologna, Italy!

It was an early start to the day when we got up at 5:00am, which is almost silly o'clock except for the fact that at least it was light out in northern England at that time!

On the road by 5:30am and headed out for the hour and a half drive to Edinburgh Airport.

On our way to Italy!

We said goodbye to Elaine, Zed, and the doggies. They were such easy dogs to look after and we'll miss them.

Before we left, we had a quick look at their campervan. It's a white cargo van that they had converted to a camper van, and the company that did it did a really nice job!

Nice day trip out to Richmond and the Easby Abbey

Our new friends Greg and Kerri came and met us where we are housesitting, and we all piled into one car along with the dogs and went for a drive inland to the town of Richmond.

Richmond is a market town and has a big open central square as well as an abbey ruins located two kms down river from the town.

Day trip to Whitby, North Yorkshire, and met some new friends!

A bit of an overcast blustery day... it sure didn't feel like early July! But, we wanted to get out, so we took the dogs and hopped in the car for a drive over to the seaside town of Whitby.

First though, we said goodbye to Helen and Tony. Always fun times with them, and we look forward to the next time! 

Beautiful day for a hike up Roseberry Topping

Funny name for a place... Roseberry Topping. 

We set off with Helen and Tony and the three dogs. Only a 25 minute drive to the parking area. It's paid parking, because it's quite a popular spot.