We really didn’t know what to expect when this trip began. Most of the stops weren’t really high on our to do list and some we simply just never considered as a vacation destination. For example, growing up Kosovo conjured images of a war zone to me, not a place to holiday. To be honest, Croatia with it’s growing popularity was really what brought us to the Balkans. The other stops were added since they were on the way to Greece. Slovenia was only added because it was the cheapest flight from the US in this region. After 3 weeks I am shocked we waited this long to come here. Our journey began in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The city was a perfect starting point. It’s small, walkable, clean and safe. We spent our time exploring it’s few but interesting attractions like the castle and puppet museum. We enjoyed walking along the river and settling into the European curbside café vibe. Our next stop was Croatia. Since renting a car in one country and returning it to another can be very expensive and traveling by train wasn’t an option in most places we decided to do the trip by bus. Bus travel turned out to be inexpensive and easy. Even the border crossings weren’t difficult. We choose Split as the first stop in Croatia because it offered a seaside historic old town and a national park with an amazing waterfall. The old town was the first of many on this trip but the marina, upbeat vibe and spectacular waterfalls at Krka National Park made this stop a must. From here we rented a car and drove to Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina and spent 3 days in another old town. From the famous stone bridge to the Bruce Lee tolerance memorial statue to the genocide museum there was plenty to see and do in a country I was pleasantly surprised by. We then drove back to Croatia and dropped the car off in Dubrovnik. This city offered another walled old town with lots of history that seems to be pushed aside. It’s new claim to fame and draw for tourism is all about the Game of Thrones TV series, something we never watched. We did enjoy the over priced wall walk and the cable car to sunset point. So far the sunset was the best on this trip. Next we took a short bus ride to Kotor Montenegro. This old town was different. Kotor bay tucked into a backdrop of mountains was visually spectacular. We spent time enjoying the town with it’s slow paced vibe, then spent the next day climbing to the top of the Ladder of Kotor, a giant climb above the fortress to the top of a mountain to soak in the view of the bay from above. The last day we ended up making new friends on a boat tour of the bay. We loved the little town so much. By chance we met two other vloggers in the town square that we are planning a big adventure in Spain with next month. Another bus ride and we were in Albania. We didn’t plan enough time here. Our one day was spent in Tirana on a walking tour with a private guide we met when his tour group never showed up. He took us to his brothers restaurant where he helped us order a true feast of local foods to try. The meal and conversation were so good we decided to hire him at a discount price to show us the town. What a blast. Our only regret was we didn’t allow time to explore Albania’s southern beaches. The next stop was Peja in Kosovo. The little town was ok but didn’t offer much that interested us. Again, by chance we ended up meeting a guy who was willing to take us an adventure scaling the side of a mountain just outside of town. That turned out to be an out of our comfort zone day that we will never forget. Next we headed to Skopje, North Macedonia. This ended up being a fun but weird little town. All the attractions around town were free and easily within walking distance so we just spent our time there wandering around sightseeing and eating. The highlight for me was while waiting for Alyssa to use the restroom in a small café. I saw someone making a weird looking dish so I started filming him. He was so surprised he ended up showing me how he made it then insisting I try some. It was a vegan rice paste wrap with cucumbers, tomatoes and 40 spices. Delicious!! Only vegan dish I have ever loved. That alone made the stop worth it. This review barely scratches the surface of all we did and saw. I went into more depth in each cities blog. We will definitely be back to most of these places. My favorite part of the trip was the friends we have made. Now it’s off to Greece for 3 weeks! First we want to take this chance to thank everyone who has been following our adventure. Your comments, tips and advice are so appreciated. Postcards will be in the mail as soon as we get to Athens.