Sarajevo has suffered greatly in the decades since it was the center of the sporting world. Photo via Creative Commons Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and the start city of the Great Balkan Ride, hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984. Since then, Yugoslavia, the country of which Sarajevo was once part, has broken up, the […]
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The Great Balkan Recap: Day 5
Day 5 was another exciting day driving through remote Albanian nature. Many questions were waiting to be answered by Day 5 of the Great Balkan Ride: Would all the teams make it back from the mountains? Would Barbara make it to the airport? Would “Lola the Corolla” have survived the night? And most importantly… how […]
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The Great Balkan Recap: Day 4
Day 4 was the most dramatic day of the Great Balkan Ride 2017. Photo by Theodore Marković After a relaxed evening the previous night, the journey ahead on day 4 of the Great Balkan Ride promised to be memorable. And boy it delivered. We were heading to Thethi, Albania’s mountain paradise, and teams were offered too possible […]
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Tito’s Atomic Bunker
In Central Bosnia, deep underground, lies a secret bunker fit for the end of the world. The Great Balkan Ride begins in Sarajevo, and only an hour’s drive away is a historic site which is fascinating for anyone interested in the Balkans. Near the picturesque town of Konjic is a bunker that was built to withstand […]
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The Great Balkan Recap: Day 3
From Peja to Shkodër, on Day 3 teams left Kosovo and made their way to beautiful Albania. Photo by Theodore Marković Day 3 of the Great Balkan Ride 2017 began understandably slowly, after Day 2 had ended with a late night out drinking rakia of the lively boulevard of Peja. Once teams had recovered enough to […]
Continue ReadingThe Big Book of Balkan History
You can read 700 pages in a year, right? Besides the incredible scenery — mountain peaks, tranquil lakes, golden beaches, and more — and of course the warm hospitality, a great attraction of visiting the Balkans is the rich and complex history. There’s no better way to learn about the region’s past than by visiting […]
Continue ReadingThe Great Balkan Recap 2017: Day 2
On the second day of the Great Balkan Ride, we entered the magical country of Kosovo. Photo by Theodore Marković After a busy first day of the Great Balkan Ride, more stunning scenery awaited the teams on Day 2. There was still much of North-Eastern Montenegro to explore, after which we would be introduced to yet another country: […]
Continue ReadingHow NOT to Get Help When Lost in the Balkans
How to NOT make friends in the Balkans. Photo by Cameron Strandberg Every year, the Balkan region is hit by spates of dangerous forest fires. This year has been particularly bad, with sustained spells of high heat with no rain. So when a tourist in Montenegro got lost, his method of alerting rescuers did not […]
Continue ReadingThe Great Balkan Recap 2017: Day 1
On Day 1 of the Great Balkan Ride, teams drove from Bosnia’s capital to the mountains of Montenegro. Photo by Theodore Marković Rocky roads roads, majestic mountains, and a few shots of rakija too many… the inaugural Great Balkan Ride was a lot of fun. From Sarajevo all the way to Thessaloniki, we explored an […]
Continue ReadingThe Great Fire of Thessaloniki
The Great Fire of Thessaloniki changed the city forever. When the Great Balkan Ride reaches Thessaloniki on August 12th, the city that meets us will be quite unlike the one that stood one hundred years before. We will arrive just one week before the centenary of perhaps the most consequential event in the city’s history: […]
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