Tag Archives: edmonton travel blog

2014, Albania, Europe, Macedonia

Lake Ohrid: A charming Balkan oasis

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lake-ohrid-macedonia

By Karlie Marrazzo

A short flight took us from Belgrade, Serbia to Skopje, Macedonia, a stopping point on our way to the small town of Ohrid, nestled on the shores of Lake Ohrid, one of the deepest and oldest lakes in Europe. Together the lake, town and surrounding region form Macedonia’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. Two-thirds of the shoreline is in Macedonia, and the rest lies in Albania.

Skopje is not known for being a conventionally attractive tourist destination, but its history and slight weirdness make up for that. The area has been inhabited since 4000 BC and has suffered many devastating earthquakes, most recently in July 1963. That quake decimated 75% percent of the town, which explains the hodge-podge of architectural styles accompanied by cranes and scaffolding all around. Skopje’s most famous name by far is the one and only Mother Teresa, born there in 1910 when it was still a part of the Ottoman Empire. Macedonia gained its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and Skopje is its capital.

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2013, Europe, Iceland, Road trips

11 day Iceland itinerary: Part two

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iceland-waterfalls

By Karlie Marrazzo

Iceland’s popularity is higher than ever and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. And why should it? The small island nation in the North Atlantic is the most breathtaking place I have ever seen, full stop. Volcanoes, dramatic cliffs, crashing waves, geysers, majestic waterfalls, gorgeous glacial lagoons, the cutest sheep and horses, the midnight sun, friendly people and awesome vodka are just a few of the reasons I fell in love with this country.

It’s been a year and a half since I visited Iceland, and my post “11 day Iceland itinerary: Part One” is the most popular page on my site. The number of comments and emails I’m receiving about it continue to grow, so this is the perfect time for me to update all of you on how the itinerary worked out for us.

Iceland-ring-road-itinerary

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2014, Europe, Serbia

Walking through Belgrade’s Communist past

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belgrade-aero-museum

By Karlie Marrazzo

Ever since I visited Bosnia, Montenegro and Croatia in 2013, I’ve been fascinated with Yugoslavia. I’m constantly reading memoirs, historical books and articles about the former Communist state and have spent countless hours dreaming about returning and spending more time in the region. Aside from our self-tour of Novi Beograd, we were planning to visit Yugoslav leader Tito’s grave. I wanted to know what other significant places we could see in Belgrade so I googled “Belgrade Communist sites” and came across the website for Belgrade Walking Tours, who offer a three and a half hour “Communist tour” for only 10EUR.

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2014, Europe, Serbia

Belgrade: Serbia’s White City shines

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Belgrade-Republic-Square

By Karlie Marrazzo

One of my favourite things to do in Europe is take the train, no matter how long or short the journey. Book me onto an 8-hour flight and my mind fills with anxiety, but a train ride of the same length fills me with excitement; the satisfaction of slowly passing through countryside, crossing borders the old fashioned way, and staying firmly on the ground. The train from Budapest bound for Belgrade was nearly empty for the entire trip. We stopped at the Hungarian border, had our passports stamped, moved on for a few short minutes, and stopped again on the Serbian side of the border in Subotica. The border police seemed a little more tired, a little more weary, their faces a little more lined. Moments after we pulled into the station, the sky grew dark and exploded with rain. I grasped the deliciousness of the symbolism in that moment.

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2014, Africa, Morocco

14-day Morocco itinerary

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desert-tour-morocco

By Karlie Marrazzo

Morocco – the name of this North African country conjures up images of ancient cities, bustling markets, mysterious men in djellabas disappearing down side streets in ancient medinas, convoys of camels trekking through the vast desert, and any other number of exotic clichés that also happen to be true.

My husband Dave and I were first inspired to visit Morocco after a trip to Spain in 2011 where we visited the Alcazar in Seville and the Alhambra in Granada, two very important and intriguing Moorish sites. Sometime in 2013 we found an amazing deal on flights to Lisbon, one of our favourite cities in the world. We knew that there were lots of short, direct flights to Morocco from Portugal, so we booked the flight without a second thought and set to planning for February 2014 to celebrate Dave’s 30th birthday. We are fairly seasoned travel planners, but we soon realized that planning a trip around Morocco, a country 22 times smaller than our own, was a little more challenging than expected. I’ve gathered up all of the information from our trip and am now sharing our 14-day Morocco itinerary with you, to hopefully make your planning and decision making process a little bit easier! I have linked to our detailed posts about each destination throughout.

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