Here we are, the last day of the Month again, and I am once again up against the deadline to get out our monthly email. It has been a busy month as we spent most of the month traveling in the Balkans. There is a good bit of debate as to exactly which countries are in the Balkans. I chose a picture of Lake Bled in Slovenia to be the lead foto, However, many experts don’t consider either Slovenia or Croatia, where we spent the majority of our time, to be in the Balkans. In addition, we spent time in Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro. Here is a brief introduction to each country and hopefully enough of an overview to follow the links to the new posts that we made this month. For a general overview of the area please see our post http://cosguide4travel.com/the-balkans/. To give yourself some assurance that it is safe to travel here please see our post http://cosguide4travel.com/safest-places-to-visit-in-europe/. Albania http://cosguide4travel.com/albania-is-worth-visiting/
Albania is the first country we entered on our tour of the Balkans after our 10-day tour thru Greece.
We had a tour guide from Albania who took us into most of the countries that we visited on this trip. He was wonderful and helped us better understand this wonderful area of the world. In Albania we visited a number of different cities and learned a lot about the Albanian people and their wonderful culture.
North Macedonia
Our visit into Macedonia was brief as we only visited the Lake Ohrid area and the city of Ohrid. Like Albania, North Macedonia is a wonderful place to visit, the lake is spectacular. Please see more about North Macedonia in our Albania Post: http://cosguide4travel.com/albania-is-worth-visiting/. Kosovo http://cosguide4travel.com/kosovo-muslim-population/
Kosovo was probably one of the last places I thought I might ever visit. Nevertheless, we had a great trip and learned a lot about the country. We visited a famous Serbian Monastery that turned out to be the highlight of our visit. Bosnia & Herzegovina http://cosguide4travel.com/waterfalls-in-bosnia/
I remembered vividly the horrible Balkans war of 1991-1992 and how Sarajevo was so badly damaged. We toured Sarajevo and stayed in Mostar and learned a lot about this troubled country. If you are a history buff, like us, you will want to read this post. Montenegro
We did a quick pass thru Montenegro and stayed in the beautiful port city of Kotor. Please visit our overall Balkans Post for more information about Kotor and Montenegro. http://cosguide4travel.com/the-balkans/. Croatia http://cosguide4travel.com/famous-landmarks-in-croatia/
We started our visit to Croatia in Dubrovnik where we left our tour guide and went on our own. We had a great time in Croatia visiting two of the famous Dalmatian Islands (Korcula and Hvar), and then traveling to Split, Zagreb, Rovinj, Zadar and the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Truly a wonderful time. Slovenia http://cosguide4travel.com/trieste-slovenia/
Slovenia may very well be the most beautiful of all the countries we visited. This was our second visit and once again we fell in love with the country. Some people, including my daughter, have asked why are we traveling to The Balkans and in particular why go to places that were once communist and recently fought in serious wars. Well hopefully this newsletter and our new posts will help you decide to visit. It is truly a beautiful area of the world, and from a budget perspective a great value for your euros.
Next Month Next Month we will be updating our posts on London, and providing new posts on Spain and Portugal as we will be traveling the Northern part of Spain and doing a river cruise in Portugal on the Douro River. We will be sharing our first hand experience of what we learned and how the different countries are addressing their challenges. | 
