Category Balkans
Travelling By Train Across The Balkans – ‘No Beards’
To set the scene, my book chronicles my travels around the Balkans with my regular travel buddy called Hamish. Albania had always been a mystical place to us, Europe’s outcast being neither east nor west. During our teenage years we used to try and get information about the place, but in those Internet free days […]
Travelling By Train Across The Balkans – A Short Passage From Montenegro
To set the scene, Hamish and I had taken a taxi from Northern Albania into Bar in Montenegro, before catching a train to the Montenegrin capital……… Our arrival at Podgerica signalled our last train journey on this Balkan trip; it was buses only from now on sadly. First stop Kotor, situated on the Balkan’s largest […]
Travelling By Train Across The Balkans – Book Extract, A Bum Note
This extract follows on from our ejection under armed guard from Yugoslavia in 1987 (click YUGOSLAVIA for this part of the notorious night). So we found ourselves back in Austria at a small border station called Spielfeldstrass…… The backdoor to the station was locked – oh no, you don’t say, surely not……… Thankfully the front door […]
The Balkans – Europe’s Forgotten Frontier.
The above is the title for a two part BBC production hosted by Europe correspondent Katya Adler. The two part series visits Croatia, Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo & Serbia and focuses on the divisions that still remain there, the extraordinary beauty of the region and the battle for influence there between the EU, […]
Travelling By Train Across The Balkans
My train travel book is available from Amazon. Travelling By Train Across The Balkans chronicles my trips over the past twenty years or so in the intoxicating region. It features train travel in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Northern Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and European Turkey. The Balkan Peninsula conjures up images […]
Tuesday Train – Kosovo
This picture is taken in 2017 at Hani I Elezit at the end of the then only operating train in Kosovo from Pristina close to the border with North Macedonia. You can read about my time in Pristina and the train journey I undertook at this link. If this whets your appetite, you can read […]
The Volatile History Of The Balkan Peninsular
The Balkans region is a wonderful place to visit, being so full of history and contrasts. You can read about my travels there in my book available on Amazon. A brief history of the region appears in the book and is also shown below, giving you a flavour as to why this is such a […]
Monday Morning Blues – Lake Butrint in Albania
On my second visit to Albania in 2016 we took in the Roman ruins of Butrint in the south of the country. The site offers splendid views of Lake Butrint.
Western Balkan Trains
Railway Gazette have reported in September that there is going to be sizeable investment into train infrastructure in the Western Balkans. Agreement has been reached between Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia to improve connections and journey times. Progress is definitely needed of course, but at a cost to the throwback […]
