Not far from where we are staying in Durrës is a Mexican-style restaurant in a touristy part of town. In the US, we would avoid this type of place at all costs and head to a more authentic place… but here? Thousands of miles away from Mexico and the west coast of the US? All bets are off. Haha.
During our stay in the city of Durrës in Albania, we set out the explore the ancient amphitheater in town. 
In the morning, we woke up to this amazing view of the fortified city of Ulcinj, Montenegro from our parking lot camp spot. We also woke up to an older gentleman asking us for money for parking. It sounded a little fishy to us because it is supposed to be free in the winter and he kept adjusting the price we “owed” him.
This one wakes up before the rest of us and usually climbs onto the bench seat while she waits for us to get out of bed.
One of the reasons we chose to stay at a campground instead of wild camping is to test out our little electric heater. We bought a small heater from in Croatia for when we have hook-ups instead of using up our propane for heat. Plus it has a thermostat unlike our Olympian Wave 6 heater and that means we can leave it on all night without worrying about getting too hot.
We left the town of Kotor after a weeks stay with loose plans to head to the next ancient fortified city down the coast.
Landed in the city of Kotor, Montenegro for the week. We didn’t know much about this little European country before we arrived but have learned a ton in these last couple of days. One thing we noticed right away is this is one of the only countries in Europe without a highway system. Driving around with a large Sprinter van has been interesting to say the least.
After a week’s stay in Dubrovnik, we inched closer to the border of Croatia and Montenegro. Instead of crossing over right away, we decided to spend one last night in Croatia to take advantage of our unlimited internet plan and get some work done. Once we cross into Montenegro, our data plan will not work since it only covers Croatia and other EU countries.
Dan and I visited Dubrovnik a couple times pre-kids but this week we get to explore the ancient city with the entire family in tow.
We’ve been in Croatia for a little over 3 months, enjoying our time in Split and on the islands of Hvar and Vis, sailing the Adriatic, waiting for some residency paperwork and spending the holidays here with family and friends.
My grandparents hand built this home in Zastražišće, stone by stone, the year my father was born. With the help of a magarac (donkey), my grandmother hauled these stones from the hillside as my grandfather pieced them together. They finished it a few years later and it served as the family home until the clan moved to the US in the late 60s.
We have the strange feeling of rhythm and routine here in Croatia which makes me quite uncomfortable and antsy to hit the road. Fortunately, our stay here will soon come to an end as we have gotten word that our residency documents have been approved. We will be headed out shortly after the new year. Being that it is the day after Christmas today, we are looking at maybe a week longer here. During our time in Croatia, we have spent about half of our time in the city of Split and the other half in the little village of Zastražišće on the island of Hvar since we have been here.
