Almost 11 years ago, I left New York City to move to a remote valley in the accursed mountains of Northern Albania. When I moved here, there were no telephones, hardly any roads, and barely any cars. The area was famed – even within Albania – for lawlessness and violence. Foreigners wondered why I would […]
It is 2 o’clock in the afternoon, on a Sunday, after what MAY have been one of the most insanely over-committed weeks of my life. Which, if you know me, is really Saying Something. The sun is strong, enough to make you squint. A few birds – mostly just one – are chirping and twittering […]
When I decided last year to take a house of my own . . . well, it wasn’t an easy decision. I knew it was important, for my personal sanity, but I also didn’t know what it would do to my declared public identity. For years, I had been “The American of Valbona.” Who would […]
Today was the eighth day in a string of oddly perfect days. Even the weather has been ‘perfect’ – if you don’t mind climate change. Warm in the sun outside, just a jacket. Sitting on a blanket on the ‘shpati’ or hill-bank next to my house, with the sheep grazing around me, eyeing the ever-increasing […]
I mean, it isn’t compulsory to drag them up mountains, is it? If you spend a day or two in Valbona first, you can always get a sense of how the kids are doing against some comparable-to-Theth hikes (but don’t leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere if they melt down). In general, I think […]
Dear Catherine, I was looking for information about Albania when I stumbled upon your sweet and inviting website. We are thinking of visiting Albania in August, and we might want your help in planning our trip. But first and foremost I would like to know: how busy is the Valbona valley in August? I […]
Wilderness in Albania in peril! “A short glimpse from the outside can create a feeling that finally at least in this country a large piece of real European wilderness can be secured. Several protected areas have been established in the past years to create conditions for longterm protection of biodiversity and natural values of this country. […]
Just as I was thinking I’d better put more cheerful stuff on here, an email arrived from “Niki and Martin”! “We visited Valbone in October 2014 and had Rilindja all to ourselves one rainy day, at the end of which we chatted to you both while the thunder rumbled around the mountains and the lights […]
It’s winter. And days are long and slow and boring, and silent. And sliced up by sudden changes between sloth and imperatives. When the wind blows, and the snow falls, and various natural things howl, the electricity is prone or likely to go out. In which case, at which time, a small wood stove is […]
About 7 years ago, I uprooted my (hurly-burly) life in NYC and moved to this small, remote, isolated village in Northern Albania. I did this quixotically, with no planning or financial strategy, in a few suitcases. And no legality. After 6 years of uninterupted life here, I am now (I guess) firmly illegal everywhere. Not […]
