If you are planning a Balkan trip, you cannot miss Albania, especially three extremely interesting and beautiful places, i.e. the town of Qeparo, the canyon of the Lengarica river and the ruins of the ancient city of Butrint. Whoever visited Qeparo once, will miss it. You can find this charming town by traveling along the Albanian coast, not far from Himarë . Currently, we will not meet crowds of tourists there, but it is worth hurrying, because the situation changes every year. The original name of the town, according to the nineteenth-century topographer William Martin Leake, is Kiepero or Kiparos, derived from the Greek word kipos , meaning garden. Probably the etymology of the name is associated with the numerous olive groves that we can still admire in Qeparo today. The village is divided into two parts - upper (old) and lower (new). The former settlement located on the western slope of Mount Gjivlash is a must see. Partly abandoned, with impressive folk architecture and a wonderful view of the Ionian Sea - a sure point on the tourist map. In the new part of the village you can visit, among others church of St. Dimitrius from the 18th century. Besides, the center of Qeparo is almost an oasis of peace; several local bars and restaurants, friendly locals and beautiful beaches.

By car through Albania

Companies from all over the world presented themselves during the caravanning show in Dusseldorf. One of the few Polish representatives was the Balcamp company, which deals primarily with the construction of motorhomes based on vans. During the largest caravanning fair in Europe, Balcamp showed two of its cars , prepared on the basis of a Mercedes Sprinter. These motorhomes were a showcase of the company and at the same time a proof that Polish production does not have to differ from that of Western Europe.

Polish campers in Dusseldorf

A complement to the summer "castle" expedition is a one-day trip to Ogrodzieniec to see the castles in miniature and to find the castle in Siewierz, not found during the summer vacation. But one by one ... The day was not going to be bright, but there was no sign that it was going to rain, so you could go on a trip. The sun is shining through the car window, but the thermometer shows only 6 degrees of heat, but it reaches 17'C during the day. In Ogrodzieniec we stop at a small church "stuck in the rock" - the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rocks . We even manage to take a picture of the interior through the steamy windows of the temple.

Ogrodzieniec 2010

Day 5 - We leave the caravan at the campground and go to the castles around Prague. We originally planned to leave the trailer and go to Germany to see the castles in Bavaria: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. However, after much thought, we found that it didn't make sense. And this way we visited a few more interesting places in the Czech Republic ... The first was a baroque palace of the Chotek family from the mid-18th century in the Empire style in Veltrusy . Park with romantic buildings. To see it in all its glory, you had to go for a long walk, but - what can I say - it was worth it. It is true that the security guard did not let us in, but the views from the outside were satisfactory enough.

CZECH REPUBLIC 2010 part 2/2

Well, I am starting the first caravan trip in my life. Not only is the route quite long, about 2400 km, it is also a topic from the Middle Ages. In general, this trip can be described not so much as "castle", but from the series "I see locks everywhere" (after such a week you look in the fridge, take canned food, open it and what? See the lock :) not to mention the fact that we have enough canned food .. .). The preparations lasted quite short, but nothing was missing during the expedition. First of all, a specific program of the expedition based on various guides, search engines ... We wanted a route to see as many castles in the Czech Republic as possible. It was literally a tour around the Czech Republic. It was not possible to drive everywhere, but there were also points that we did not take into account at all.

CZECH REPUBLIC 2010 part. 1/2

In addition to longer trips, maybe a one-day offer: Krzyżtopór Castle in Ujazd and Sandomierz. The idea for a day trip in November, the weather was good, so you can go outside the city. You can find out about the castle on the official website. However, I will share my impressions and photos from the trip. The castle welcomes us with cannons, but only one is directed towards us.        It is not far from Ujazd to Sandomierz, where we can visit the castle, the Cathedral, the market square with the Town Hall, the underground tourist route ... If time permits - go on a boat trip on the Vistula River.   We can visit these two places in one day. You can also extend the route with several attractions that are located in the area.

Ujazd - Sandomierz

And again rummaging in the archives and returning to the past ... A trip to the Netherlands during the winter break 2006 ... I invite you to read (or actually watch). Yes, this is not a mistake, but one of my crazy ideas;) On Christmas 2005, I visited my Friends near Miechów and from word to word the idea of going to The Hague came up. A quick phone call to our Friends in The Hague: - What do you do during the winter break? - Why? - We want to visit you ... - Joke? - Not. Seriously. - Come on! And it happened. Packing the car on Sunday afternoon and parking in the streets of The Hague at 5 am the next day.

THE NETHERLANDS in a nutshell

We have a week off and a total of 9 days - something has to be done with such a beautifully promising free time. We planned to go to Croatia, but eventually decided to go there during the holidays. There was an Italian idea around the coast, but definitely not enough time. That is why we finally decided to go to the Alps. Everything is packed - here we go. We pass through the Czech Republic, and we cross the border with Austria in the small town of Reinthal - near Breclav (note the passage is only below 3.5T). Driving along side lanes is so different from the main roads. Calm down, there is no traffic and small towns have their own charm. We reach the main road from Mikulov. At the first possible station, we buy a vignette - as we continue to enter the motorway, which is getting closer to the Czech border every day. We often pass through Vienna, but always along the ring road. This time we decided to devote a little more time to it. A small donkey, therefore, after making a round along the beautiful, blue Danube, we park in the vicinity of the city park and go for a walk along the Viennese streets.

ALPINE ROUTE

We can choose the road along the Spanish coast - that is, another sunbathing on quite crowded beaches in this area, or just or, a drive through Andorra. We do not think for a long time because we already know the coast a bit, and we have never been to Andorra, and the weather is not very suitable for sunbathing today. It is quite cloudy and stormy, and apart from nature and mountains, Andorra also tempts with prices of fuel, camping and other products. We haven't ventured so deep into Spain yet - and the weather in the mountains seems to be better. Yes it was definitely a good idea. There were no problems with entering Andorra from Spain - they looked at the passports and asked for nothing. Abroad, you can see the middle lane of the road, which is intended for two-way traffic - red or green light is on, depending on the traffic. There is also a gas station nearby, heavily crowded - I wonder why. And nearby - as with almost everything in this small country - there is a shopping center where you can spend some time browsing between the shelves. A few kilometers away is the capital of Andorra, La Vella. We stop at the McDonald's car park, which offers free parking for meals and relaxation. We eat and go on a tour of a small town. We walk around the area for a while, but there are not many monuments here, but you can get acquainted with the local architecture. Andorra is a small country, but so much has to offer. Monuments, maybe not necessarily, because we didn't notice anything special, but these mountains are wonderful. Wherever we look, there is a peak - a paradise for our eyes. As we are close to everything, we are going to look around the hills a bit. We stay overnight at the campground and at the foot of the mountains. The campsite is located on the main road - but the traffic in this country, far from the border, is so great that we do not even notice it. The service was nice and the price - a fraction of what in Spain. Tomorrow, maybe we will go to a summit….

ANDORA 2009

Time for the last part of the report from our trip this year. As we wrote in the penultimate part of the report The long route initiated a brainstorming to use the rest of the holiday and go somewhere for a few days. We chose the Bieszczady Mountains in order to reach one of the peaks of the Crown of Polish Mountains - Tarnica, the whole plan has evolved so much that we decided to conquer all the peaks of the KGP in the Carpathians. After a quick stop at home, unloading unnecessary lumber, and a quick wash, we went to the east of Poland. The trip was delayed by a few hours, so we arrived there only around 10 pm. Daniel showed us the last wild and free camping site on the map, who travels the world in his Land Rover, it was a great alternative to our strained budget. :) However, finding this place in total darkness was not easy, because the entrance is nicely camouflaged between the bushes, but a nearby border guard patrol directed us a bit. On the spot, we found a few people sitting by the fire - former scouts. Without waiting long, we decided to make new friends and join the fire and fry long-awaited sausages. Initially, we were supposed to stay there only one day and move on, but the good weather and the proximity of the river meant that we stayed for about three days. The next day, we spent the whole day by the river, cooling our asses in the water. In the evening we prepared a dinner which hurt us a bit and we both had a sleepless night due to aching stomachs. In the morning we were exhausted and we were afraid to eat anything because we immediately felt like vomiting: (Around noon I improved and I decided not to waste the day hiking along the Otryt mountain range. Quite an interesting line - you can find many scales and remains from World War I because there was a front line on Otrita. After a dozen or so minutes of climbing on the way I pass the famous sociologist's hut and go to Trohaniec (939m above sea level), which is the highest elevation of the range. There is no tourist trail leading to the N peak, so I break through the grass on a narrow path which in addition is wet ... The top itself and the rest of the range are forested, so there is no way to admire the views :( At the top we find a cross with an inscription devoted to soldiers from World War I, covered with shells of ammunition and missiles from the On the way back, I stop by the Sociologist's Hut, if only for a moment, to see what it looks like, and I spent over an hour there talking to the inn. arzem. This place charmed me and I will gladly come back there in autumn or winter :) Unfortunately, it started to get dark and I had to interrupt our conversation and return to Dominika, who was resting during my absence, looking for interesting places to visit in August NG Traveler.

The Poor Journey - Norway / Poland part. 2/2

Oviedo is a nice Spanish university city, modern despite its remote location, actually in the provinces. They are distinguished by the number of sculptures that can be seen in it - a total of 107. Compared to other Spanish resorts, Oviedo is quiet and small. The more that in the old part of the city, casco viejo, there is no car traffic. Half of the pedestrianized streets run in this area and this is where life is most intense. If we visit Oviedo on Thursday, Saturday or Sunday, sooner or later our legs will lead us to Plaza del Fontán . Under this name, there is a square that serves as a marketplace these days. It was created on the site of a small, drained lake. It is surrounded by arcades, and apart from stalls, it also consists of pavilions where we can buy traditional black faience and local specialties. These include sidra apple pie and cabrales - blue-veined cheese with a very distinctive flavor and aroma.

Sculptures of Oviedo

Hymer DuoMobil is the embodiment of two more and more clear trends in the design of camping vehicles. Well, manufacturers are more and more willing to prepare campers for couples, but also more and more often they ask the users themselves for help in designing. Motorhomes for four, six or eight people? These will probably never disappear from the market, but they are losing their popularity today. More and more often , customers want comfort for themselves , and this is difficult when many people have to fit in one car. Hence the new trend to create camping vehicles for couples who want to travel without children. This approach forces a new way of designing space - it is no longer about squeezing as many packages and sleeping places as possible, but that practical solutions should go hand in hand with the comfort of use.

Blog

By car through Albania