Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I'm a little behind on the blogging. This past weekend was packed. Saturday, I went shopping in Kruja (it was so cold but no snow!) and bowling with Tracey, Entela, Will and Casey (I broke 50, hooray!). Then, we went to play soccer with people from Hash. Turns out I'm not a bad goalie. I think it's because you don't have to run very far... We went to dessert with our buddies and were home by 12:30! Early night, finally!

Sunday was another "best" day. Berti took us hiking up Djati. I wasn't thinking and wore a long sleeve t-shirt, a sweatshirt and pants. Nobody really told me that when it is 7 degrees C in Tirana, it's probably 0 degrees C up on Djati. (If you are wondering how to convert C to F, just double the number, then add 30! Tracey taught me that trick.) Luckily, I still have all my fingers and toes! It was such a beautiful hike, and so much fun. Snow was on the ground and flakes were starting to fall. There were amazing icicles that froze in a swirly pattern. The bottoms of my pants were still frozen solid by the time we came off the mountain! Berti decided to walk with me down because he was concerned that I would fall (which we all did because it was so slick). Too bad we didn't have sleds.

Later that night Tracey, Berti and I went ice skating. I really don't understand why I'm ok at some athletic pursuits, but horrible at let's say...walking (or bowling). I'm a pretty fast skater and I didn't fall once, even when the electricity went out! I told Tracey that skating is when my Dutch genes come out. She thought I was referring to jeans and wanted to know what made them good for skating..

So, here are the Djati pictures. Are we tired of Djati yet?


Snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you enlarge this picture you can see how intricate these icicles are.

Berti is everyone's big brother. He's fun for a laugh.
Tracey and Berti with their cameras. We took pictures simultaneously. Berti is working on photographing Albania for postcards....all part of the growing tourism industry.

Irene (from the German Embassy...totally fun and I want her job!), me, Tracey and Entela at the top of Djati.

2 comments:

Jocelyn said...

Looks like so much fun. Have you even had time to be lonely? WHat's your Thanksgiving plans? Do ALbanians eat turkey?

Anonymous said...

what a great time you all had! do remember your warm clothes however, we don't want you ill for your trip home! have a lovely Thanksgiving, we will miss you...