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PeaceJoyAustin

Budget traveling around the world for 5 years

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Category: UAE

1 Post

Middle East, UAE, World Trip

Seeing Skyscrapers & Identifying Inequality in the UAE

January 26, 2022 — 0 Comments

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Macedonian food was so, so delicious—one of my favorite cuisines yet 😋 I devoured 20 new dishes, 12 new desserts, and 5 new drinks in just 10 days. 1) Kacamak (polenta) with the best cream ever 🧴 2) Polneti piperki—stuffed peppers 🌶️ 3) Pleskavica—a Balkan burger 🍔 4) Selsko meso—pork & mushroom stew 🍲 5) Pastrmajlija—Macedonian pizza 🍕 6) Tavce gravce—baked beans 🫘 7) Turli tava stew 🍜 8) Chevapi with ayvar & gjomleze 🌭 9) Palachinki—honey walnut crepes 🥞 10) Ohrid cake—a delish caramel walnut cake found only in the city of Ohrid

Random things that delighted me in Macedonia 🇲🇰 1) This brutalist post office ✉️ 2) A very curvy Orthodox church ⛪️ 3) This 19th-century stone bridge 🌉 4) This green man holding a church in his hand 🖐️ 5) This floor art 😱 6) This very multinational highway sign 🪧 7) The absolutely lovely Macedonian flag 🇲🇰 8) This Yugoslav-era Zastava car 🚙 9) This glamorous white blossom tree 🌸 10) A bustling end-of-day Ramadan dinner in a plaza ☪️

40 years after an earthquake destroyed most of Skopje’s historic buildings, the government decided to rebuild the city center with a bunch of grand monuments that look impressive but have no historical significance. Most locals hate it but I’m here for the weirdness! 💁🏼‍♂️

A road trip to some of the country’s most unique sights 🚙

The highest town in N. Macedonia, Krushevo was home to a fierce independence movement from the Ottoman Empire (it declared itself a separate republic after a successful uprising) and the delightfully bizarre virus-shaped Ilinden Monument commemorates this. Nearby Prilep is surrounded by arresting rocky hills and mountains 🪨 🏔️

In one day, I hitchhiked to a new country, hitchhiked again up a desolate mountain road, hiked to the top of a peak with views on either side of huge lakes, and then hitchhiked again into a lakeside city with an ancient Hellinistic ampitheatre, colorful churches, and a fortress on a hill that dates back to the 4th century BCE 🙏🚙🥾⏳

I tried 28 new dishes, 13 new desserts, & 3 new drinks during my time in Albania 😋 Some highlights: 1) Perime në Zgarë (grilled veggies) 🤤 2) qifqi (rice balls) 🤤 3) Patëllxhan të Mbushur (stuffed eggplant) 🤤 4) Fërgesë (a casserole) 🤤 5) Dolma (stuffed vine leaves) 🤤 6) Speca Te Mbushur Me Oriz (rice-stuffed peppers) 🤤 7) Pispili (veggie corn bread) with kadaif (a nutty pastry) & salep (an orchid drink) 🤤 8) Speca me Gjize (cheese-stuffed peppers) 🤤 9) Trilece (caramel milk cake) 🤤 10) Sultan’s Delight (rice pudding) 🤤 There’s a bit of overlap with Turkish and other Balkan cuisines since they were united under the Ottoman Empire for centuries ⌛️

Random things that delighted me in Albania 🇦🇱 1) One of the most exquisitely-decorated cafes I’ve ever seen 🫖 2) Bow tie chandeliers 🎀 3) A fire emoji bridge 🔥 4) This 19th-century diva 👸🏻 5) This toilet which is so done with flying toilet paper 🚽 6) Goading my friend into ordering a Mickey Mouse pizza from the kids menu 🍕 7) A smiling map 🗺️ 8) A bust of Hillary in this USA-loving land 🇺🇸 9) The worst-named bar ever 🥃 10) An infinity hall on the way to a cafe’s bathroom 🪞

Way out in the middle of nowhere, Korçë is known as the City of Serenades - apparently back in the day there used to be people on balconies singing love ballads all the time but I was not lucky enough to receive one 🎻😛

Thermal waters with a view of snow-capped mountains, pink trees, and a 400-year-old stone bridge are a big highlight in this quiet mountain town known as the City of Roses ⛰️🌹

Home to the most impressive castle I’ve ever seen (that dates back to the 4th century), this small “City of a Thousand Staircases” consists of stone houses that look like mini castles, cobblestone streets, and epic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

I’ve never seen a sea with so many shades of blue 💦 💙

This city’s UNESCO heritage site is a castle complex that has been continuously inhabited since the 4th century BCE! 🤯 It still has residents today 🏡

In 2000, Albania’s capital was a dirty, crime-ridden city. Then the mayor (who was a trained artist) decided to have a few walls in the city center painted bright colors and people started to spend more time on the streets, they stopped littering as often, and the crime rate rapidly declined. Today, it’s a vibrant city with bold architecture and not a criminal in sight 🌈 (I read about this in a book years ago so I was very excited to be here and experience it! 🤓)

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