North Macedonia (country#75) was on our itinerary on a recent trip to Europe. Information and photos from our trip to Lake Ohrid are below. Ohrid Lake is a natural border between North Macedonia and Albania. Ohrid is the Cultural capital, and on the North Macedonian side of the lake, it is mostly Muslim, but you won’t see many mosques. The other side of the lake is mostly Christian Orthodox. There is a system of three lakes: one shared by Albania and North Macedonia; one shared by North Macedonia and Greece; and a third that is shared between Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece. Ohrid Lake is approximately 294-301m deep, and the…

We recently visited Europe, and had the opportunity to do a day trip to Kosovo (country #74). Information and photos from our trip to the towns of Pristina and Prizren are below. Albania and Kosovo were one country from the 16th to 20th century, as they were part of the same administrative district of the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman Empire lost a war against Russia, they had to give land to Russia as compensation. At this time, Albania was independent. However, as a reward to Serbia, Albania was given to Serbia. Liberation of Albania land from Slavic armies started with a creation of a opposition government with a prime…

On a recent visit to Europe, we visited Albania (country #73), and information and photos from our trip are below. Albania (phonetically called “Shiperia” by the locals [spelled Shqiperise], and the language is phonetically called “ship”) is 11,000 Square miles (you can drive from the north to the south of the country in 7-8 hours), has a population of 3 million people, and is one of the poorest countries in Europe (at the time of this writing, $1USD = 105 Albanian Lek; 1 Euro = 124 Albanian Lek). History in this area begins with ancient local civilization inhabited by the Illyrians, followed by the Roman Empire, and then the Byzantine…

Greetings! We recently returned from a trip to Turkey (country #72). Below, you will find information and photos from our trip. ISTANBUL Upon arrival in Istanbul, we were introduced to the city that straddles two continents (Europe and Asia) across the Bosphorus Strait, the primary landmass of which (95%) lies within Western Asia. The Bosphorus feeds into the Black Sea, which is 22km from Istanbul. There are approximately 16 million people who live in Turkey, though some counts have it closer to 20 million. The bridge above was built in 1974. We were told that it is easier/better to live on the Asian side because it is newer and less…