Photography

7/25-27 As our last trip of the summer Tori and I traveled, just the two of us, to Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. These are some of the pictures from the trip, one of our favorites. To read about it in my blog post, click here.

The fortress wall
On the boat ride
View of the sunset from our hotel room.

7/18-21 This past weekend we traveled to Dubrovnik, Croatia to have the time of our lives. We did so much, including exploring the old town, riding a cable car to the peak of Dubrovnik’s towering mountain, and driving dune buggies through the Croatian outback. Click here to read my blog post about the trip.

You Game of Thrones fans should recognize this pic…
The massive staircase leading down to the old town.

7/11-13 Here are some pictures of my weekend trip to Istanbul, Turkey with Tori. Though we didn’t like it very much, we did have some fun times and I got some good pictures out of it. Scroll over the pictures to read the captions. Click here to read my blog post about the weekend.

Conservative is the new black.
The cistern
Conservative is the new black.
The Blue Mosque
The bridge that connects Europe to Asia.
The cistern
Probably the most tourist thing they could have done 🙂
The Blue Mosque
Tori and Emily
There were tons of street performers.
The bridge that connects Europe to Asia.
The Blue Mosque
Emily and Matt
The view from our hotel room (Europe AND Asia)
Selfie on the cruise.
Sisters
Probably the most tourist thing they could have done 🙂
Rooftop dinner
Tunnels of the Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque
More cats…
More cats…
More cats…

7/4/14 Here are some of the pictures from our day trip to Peja, Kosovo. During the trip we stopped at the Adem Jashari Memorial, the Peja Brewery, and a beautiful secluded spot by a river in a mountain gorge. It was a fun day. Click here to read my post about the Jashari Memorial, and click here to read my post about the Peja Brewery.

A bit of life from a bird in a pool of death.
The artillery used in this attack exploded on impact, then exploded again once inside the house. This is how most of the family was killed.
An eerie picture that reminds us that this crumbling, bombed house was once someone’s home.
The tractor and wall of the Jashari house littered with artillery holes.
A mom and her puppies
Thousands of cans and bottles are produced daily.
The traditional Peja draft.
Adem Jashari Memorial
When we toured the production line, a German beer was getting canned alongside the traditional Peja draft.
One of the many graves. This one in particular is Blerim Jashari’s grave, a 6 year old boy.
Some nice long exposure rapids
The mountain gorge
Two KLA soldiers stand on either side of Adem Jashari’s grave at the cemetery of his family.

6/27-29 We spent this weekend in the beautiful Budva, Montenegro. We stayed in a mountainside hotel, spent a day at a secluded beach and ate some of the best food I’ve ever had. Click here to see my blog post explaining the whole trip.

The view from our fantastic dinner.
The view we had during a stop we made on the journey.
The view we had during a stop we made on the journey.
Three kittens and their mom we found at the bus station.
Three kittens and their mom we found at the bus station.
Three kittens and their mom we found at the bus station.
Three kittens and their mom we found at the bus station.
Three kittens and their mom we found at the bus station.
Three kittens and their mom we found at the bus station.
Three kittens and their mom we found at the bus station.
The view from our hotel.
The view from our hotel.
Anyone know what this might be? I found it in the woods on the mountain slope. My guess is agricultural leveling that was used long ago.
The secluded beach we found and spent our day.

6/20/14 Today we spent the day exploring Prizren. Some of the pictures I took are below, but where we went, what we did, and more pictures can be found on my post about Prizren by clicking here.

The Prizren Castle overlooking the city.
A local Albanian man peers through a window of the Tekke. Inside this particular window is the mausoleum where bodies of the most important Tekke leaders rest. He struggled on his cain across the city to get just one peek of people so important to both his history and his religion.
50+ windows line the walls and ceiling.
The dome ceiling.
The separate worshiping area for the women is because of the pure, clean focus that needs to be achieved within the mosque. The segregation still raises some questions in my mind about how, in some ways humans are stuck in the traditions of hundreds of years ago.
The view from a guard tower. See other views in the gallery below.
Walking up to the castle.

6/14/14 Random pics from a walk today.

6/13/14 Photos of a quick day tour around Prishtina. We went to the Ethnological Museum of Kosovar History, watched a woman prepare a traditional Albanian dish, Flija, and toured Albanian homes built in the 18-19th century. Other than that, we wandered the back streets of the city.

Yummy 🙂
Preparing Flija
Typical guns used in the recent wars.
Two kids playing where they can between the crowded streets.
The traditional setup and ritual for an Albanian death. For hundreds of years, family and friends would place the body on a slightly raised bed and gather around to mourn. Mostly women would sit to pray. The deceased would be dressed in clothing that represented them throughout their lives. They would also be placed with one materialistic object that represented them, in this case a musical instrument. Finally, a green apple was placed to represent life after death. After about three days, the body would be buried or burned in traditional Albanian ways, but the setup, as you see above, will remain until the family feels they have moved on and the deceased has successfully completed their death.
Most of the members of our group this summer.
A house built in the 18th century
Yummy 🙂

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