Everything is happening in Tirana this weekend, and I will miss it

The circus is in town, Miss Albania is being hosted on Sunday, and we might even get some snow in town. But I am going to miss it all because it is time to head home. Goodbye Europe and hello Sinny.

Ottoman Skopje

Here are some shots of Ottoman Skopje - they were here for a long time, but many of the buildings were destroyed during the 1963 earthquake, so only a few remain. The Ottomans' had one design for a bridge and they built it everywhere (see same bridge design in photo from Sarajevo), but it was not a bad looking brdige. Also, there is a shot of the baths, two of the old caravanserais from about 1500, which has been turned into a restaurant (fittingly), and one of the little streets that make up the old part of town.

Another chilly day in Kiev

Last shot of Kiev for the time being. Do I look like a Russian peasant with that hat?

Keeping warm Ukraine style

A snap from our field visit to Odessa. It was chilly, but our friend in the middle managed to combine style with warmth. Clever girl.

Odessa

A very quick trip to Odessa to visit the Opera and Ballet House (where we saw Swan Lake) and the famous steps from Eisentein's 1925 Battleship Potemkin. It is a lovely 19th century city on the Black Sea with a long history - the Greeks were there, then the Romans, then the Byzantines, then the Ottomans, then the Russians, and then me.

Not everyone has given up on socialism

Here in Kiev, under the statue of Lenin and in the cold autumn weather, are a few true believers - red flags, hammer and sickle, the whole bit. Nice to see that someone still has a bit of faith. One policeman seems to be enough to keep the crowd in order.

Sunday afternoon in Sarajevo

Here are a few shots from my afternoon walk, including the lovely old Ottoman era bridge, buildings along the river, and the museum just near where Archduke Ferdinand got assassinated.

Leaning Tower of Gradacac

It is not just Pisa that has a leaning tower - they have one (at least) here in Bosnia. The town of Gradaca has lots of other old buildings too - great fun - including a castle on top of the big hill in the centre of town. We had lunch at the top of the tower.

Lunchtime in Banja Luka, Republic Srpska, Bosnia

The Serbs (and everyone else in the region) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE meat. It is meat paradise. This was the dish served as the main course for four people today. As you can see from my face, it was genuine shock at how much meat they could fit onto a single plate. Almost every domesticated animal was represented. My new friend Dragan (to my left) took it in his stride.

Inside Ceauşescu's palace of the people

I have always been to scared to visit this building - it is so so big (second only to the Pentagon) and intimidating. It is a bit Dr Who. But, with a little help from my friend Marcel at the Romanian land registry office, I braved both the building and the security to go on a tour of the building. It is big - big rooms, big halls, big everything. The one hour tour showed us 7% of it (according to our guide). Lots of marble, gold, wood and carpets.

My favourite destination in Bucharest Romania

When I am in Bucharest, there is only one destination - one way to go: the Carrefour shopping centre, just near the National Agency for Real Estate. It has everything from French cheese to Argentinean wine to clothes, TVs and tyres. Sometimes I think I could survive in there for a couple of months.

A fitting tribute to Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa grew up in Skopje, Macedonia before going off to India to live a penniless life caring for the poor, sick and young. So what better than to erect a monument to her penniless life of helping others. This is what the architects in Skopje thought would reflect her and her ideals.

Macedonian parking

Macedonians love to park. They park everywhere, including the footpaths. They even manage, sometimes, to completely block access for pedestrians (not easy) as this photo shows. But they do have nice cheese, so I guess that makes up for all the inconvenience.

Remains of Socialism in Tirana

I went for a walk past the National Art Gallery this morning, and at the back I saw these old sculptures/statutes. The look spooky being parked out the back. Lenin's arms are missing, and you can only just see his head. Kinda strange. Stalin seems to have survived a little better.

Albania

The Albanian language is very hard for me. Almost all the words are different from English, as this sign shows. Actually, that is a problem just about everywhere I work. Still, the people are nice and very friendly.

More Soviet luxury items

They really went in for art (particularly public art) in a big way during the old days. Here is a lovely, enormous and very colourful mosaic just by the side of the road in Bishkek.

So why don't we have caviar chippies?

Those crazy Russians - who would have thought of caviar flavoured chips? Obviously they did, because here is the proof. Think of all those wonderful consumer items that we must have been missing during the Cold War. I am yet to actually taste them - the packet and the idea are enough at this stage.

How not to take a photo. And meet my friends

Greetings from Bishkek. I was searching through my old photos, trying to find something to put here, and discovered this photo. It is perhaps about as bad a photo composition as you could imagine, don't you think? Everything seems to be wrong (except maybe the lighting). Funny, I guess.

Also, this photo is good because it shows two of the Kyrgyz guys I work with - Bakyt (pronounced Bucket by us, but I am sure it is a little different) who is a registration expert (head of the department) and Melis, who is a lawyer. He is the tall one. Melis was a popular name during the Soviet times - it stands for Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin. I wonder if he has thought of changing it?

Beglrade fruits

What great colours! And shapes. I could not help taking photos of these boxes of fruit outside some corner stores in Belgrade. Perfect weather too.

Earthquake Albania style

I have always wanted to experience an earthquake (a little one), and last night I got my wish, as the following report shows. As happened when I got my wish to see what a car accident was like up close, it was a little unsettling. It was a bit hard to fall into a deep sleep knowing that the 6 floors above could easily come down on me.

A strong earthquake, 6.0 on the Richter scale and 5.4 on the Richter scale, according to separate media reports, struck Albania and Macedonia at 11.49pm local time, 0.49am on September 7 Bulgarian time, Focus news agency has reported.

Seismologist reports have pinpointed the tremor's epicentre near the town of Bulqize, Albania, close to the Macedonian border.

The earthquake, which was followed by as many as 58 aftershocks, was felt in Tirana, as well as Macedonia, but it was not felt in Greece.

Walking the dog BA style

The people in Buenos Aires love dogs. It seems that everyone has one. And almost everyone lives in a small apartment. So dog walking is a big deal, and also an employment opportunity. The dogs seem to like it a lot.

Architecture in the Argentine

I was expecting great 19th century architecture in Buenos Aires, and there is plenty. But I was not expecting the great Modernist buildings - of which there are even more. Here are two that I particularly liked, although the photos from my phone-camera do not do them justice.

World Bank to the rescue (again!)

Victoria from the Bank office in Washington DC came down to Buenos Aires for a few days to see what all the excitement is about. Ever the humanitarian, she can be seen here advising the locals on how to blow their noses (nicely) in front of one of the many government-sponsored bird flu sign around the city - la Gripe A (H1N1) as it is affectionately known here. As these shots demonstrate, even on holiday, Victoria just cannot help helping - a pin up girl for the Bank.

On the (redeveloped) waterfront

Continuing with my new look of the tough guy Argentinean fisherman/peasant/labourer, I was down on the redeveloped waterfront here in Buenos Aires. They have a very nice new pedestrian bridge, which you can see from both angles in these shots.