Outings

Kruja tower

The weather this fall has been strangely warm, like everywhere else around the globe - though it's been nice to have some more rain this week. Well, nice except when we're walking to or from school. Building character! We have had some cold days, a couple weeks ago the nights were hovering around freezing - but this week has been Bogota-like weather: 16 degrees C and rainy. I'm trying not to use the space heater too much though to keep our electric bill down. 

A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to play tour guide to a friend-of-a-friend who was wandering loose in Tirana, so we took a bus to Kruja - the stronghold of national hero Skënderbeu. The sky was so blue and clear, it felt like you could cut your finger on the line of the mountain edge against the sky. It was fun to be the "local expert" even though the trip definitely gave me a sense of the many gaps in my knowledge - especially of Albanian history.  

Then on Sunday we took the kids to Dajti - they'd go every weekend if we'd pay for it, but we've made it a once-a-month treat. Even though we could see from below that the mountaintop was swathed in clouds, they still wanted to go. 

These photos do not nearly do justice to the intensity of the fall colors. So beautiful.

Just as we sat down to eat the clouds rolled in and it started to rain - Terry took Gabe outside to try to punch the fog, it was such a little-boy heaven out there climbing the rocks and fighting the elements. Val got into it a bit too.

I was happy to stay inside and enjoy our delicious meal! The waiter actually knows us now - I think we tip pretty well - and he brought us a carafe of fresh squeezed blackberry juice and a fruit plate of apple and orange slices sprinkled with blackberries, walnuts, and honey - on the house!