2-25 to 3-17 Visited the wonderful country of Colombia for the second time. After one of NYC's coldest winters, it's always an easy one flight from JFK on JetBlue to Cartagena. Stayed in Cartagena for a few days to visit the walled UNESCO site, the city beach area and the artsy community of Getsmani, which has colored painted walls, umbrellas hanging between buildings to provide shade. It was sunny, 90's temperature and hot. Always like going to the many restaurants, especially the Colombian one that has two Colombian woman in the open kitchen, cooking fresh ingredients, as orders come in. A bus from the transportation center, was a 4 hour ride to Santa Marta, where Masaya Santa Marta, was welcoming. Has two pools and a center open area, three stories to the rooftop, where a choice of breakfast is included with your room. A delicious and filling way to start one's day. Off to the beach to sit under a coconut tree or in one of cabanas that line the shore, to avoid the bright hot sun. Sunscreen is definitely needed and applied opten. Once the sun goes down at 6 pm, the cool breeze sets in. At La Plaza Santa Marta, Calle 19, begins many diverse restaurants, at all price points. The area is crowded with lanterns and umbrellas hanging from each side of the paved, car-free streets. In the Plaza, live music is played and salsa dancing begins. An hour bus ride from the market, takes you to Minca, which is a tiny town near Santa Marta with stunning views, waterfalls, coffee, and hiking in the shadows of the Sierra Nevada mountains, population 800. A three hour bus ride to Palomino, which is a small, sunny town located on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, population 3,000. Stayed at Casa Colibri, which is a favorite place to visit with wonderful English speaking hosts. Their breakfast is delious, very fulling and fresh with endless cups of coffee. Walking thru a nearly nature path, about a mile to the ocean is lined with lush trees and a few Indigious Kogui people who live with their communities near the river, are interesting to see and many want to sell their handmade wares. Sitting under a coconut tree with the cool breeze is meditative, while looking at the incoming waves of the Carribean ocean. A few hammocks are nearby with people snoozing or reading. Returning to Casa Colibri, is usually thru Carrera 6, a street lined with shops, restaurants and cafes. After five days in Palomino, returned to Santa Marta, since it is a long bus trip to go to Cartagena and the ocean is calling again. After a few more days in Santa Marta, returned to Cartagena for the end of visiting a part of the Caribbean coastline of Colombia! Loved it all!

October 7 - October 24, 2025 Traveled to the Eastern European country of Albania and enjoyed every moment. Flew from JFK to Rome and connected on a remaining flight to the capital, Tirana. Tirana is a very vibrant city, combines the old centre with the modern part of the city. Bustling with lots of people, who seemed to be sitting in the abundant coffee cafes with an expresso and a cigarette, mostly groups of men. Staying in the centre at Villa Tafaj on Rruga Mine Plaza was the perfect location and a short walk to Skanderberg Square. The Square is the main plaza, which has the National Opera, Ballet Theatre and the Palace of Culture. Rruga Mine Plaza also had my favorite fresh fish restaurant, Detari Fish, always crowded and two people could have lunch or dinner for a total of $14.00 USA dollars. Albania's currency is the Leeke, 1000 Leeke is about $10 USA dollar, but all establishments take Euros and some will take credit cards. Nearby is the New Bazaar, a vibrant market which has restaurants and various shops. Another favorite restaurant in this area is Tradita Te Meri, family owned for 30 years, very reasonable and delicous food, soup is 200 Leeke, which is $2.00 and many dishes are $5.00, always crowded and sometimes a wait for a table, but definitely worth it. Albania has many buses to take you throughout the country, so we took a bus from Tirana bus station to the southern coast of Sarande, 5 hours south for $10 dollars each, Staying at a hillside guest house was a short walk to the pristine, Ionian Sea beach. The city centre was walk into the bustling center where the port is located to take a ferry to Corfu, Greece, a 30 mintue ride. The port in Corfu is a short walk to the Old Town. Lovely, architecture and cobbled stone streets, devoid of cars. Many shops, restaurant, cafes and plenty of tourists. We stayed for a day and took the last ferry back to Sarande, since we decided to stay longer in Sarande. After 5 days in Sarande we took a bus to Himares, further north on the coast. Himares is a wonderful place to relax and explore, where we were told one could walk a trail or take the road to nearly the top of a mountain to visit the Old Town and Castle. One morning after breakfast, we started to walk the road to Old Town, but then decided to walk back into Himares, since it was much further to reach Old Town. We took a cab the next day and walked thru the area and learned how generations are now living in the stone houses that still exist in the area. The new generation are all grandfathered in to live in the Old Town and former stone houses of their ancestors. The views from this area were extraordinary. We decided to stay in Himares for 5 days since we liked all the town had to offer, including the Himare 28 hotel, which offer a huge breakfast each morning, included with the price of our room with a deck and ocean views. After our stay, we took a bus back to Tirana. The bus took the coastal route, which had lots of curves, while going upwards north, high in the mountains, but the view of the sea was stunning. When back in Tirana we visited the Castle in Centre, which is known as the Fortess of Justinian and after 1816 Tirana was under the control of the Toptani family. Now, this Castle complex houses many restaurants and shops, with the wall still existing. We did not visit some other towns that were on our list, since we preferred to stay longer in places that we really liked. Now, we can have the possibility of including those towns to visit, if we decide to return to Albania. I think that might happen! Albania is awesome!