Category: food

Mixed Feelings – Tirana, Albania

On By Rick McIn food, government, hiking, travelLeave a comment

Albania is cool in 2026. Especially the Albanian Riviera.

Almost every tourist online has a lot of praise for Albania.

Once the “North Korea of Europe“, Albania is frantically trying to become the next Greece for tourists.

Inland Berat is great. I hear Gjirokastër is terrific, too.

The capital, Tirana, is NOT one of the tourist highlights. Fly in and leave as quickly as possible. The airport is terrible in 2026, by the way.

Taking walking tours of the centre on a hot day, I concluded this must be the most boring capital city in the world.

The only attraction to write home about is weird and wonderful Pyramid of Tirana. On top is the place to be at night.

Children sliding down the pyramid.

The inexplicable structure was co-designed by daughter of former dictator Enver Hoxha — and nobody has settled on best function. Numerous proposals to demolish the thing have been pitched — but I hope they keep it.

There are some impressive religious buildings.

Resurrection Cathedral, Tirana
The Namazgah Mosque near Skanderbeg Square

This thing was closed.

I did enjoy walking the Grand Park of Tirana close to the city centre.

Tried to go to the Botanic Gardens — which seemed to be closed — so bought a ticket to the animal prison. The zoo is bad, as I expected, needing funds for reparations and animal care.

After a week hiking Accursed Mountains, crossing between Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro — some of our group finished the trip with an excellent meal downtown.

Food fantastic.

Walking town on Saturday night after dinner, I started to see why tourists like the lively cafe culture, and budget-friendly, high-quality food.

That night I stopped in at the government Flamingo Revolution protest. It started against luxury tourism developments, one backed by American investor Jared Kushner.

Expanding nationwide into an anti-government movement focused on corruption, land rights, protected areas, strategic-investment laws and political accountability. Most of the signs I saw were calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.

Tourism is booming everywhere in Albania — and I expect things will keep improving quickly.

Don’t count on good toilets or showers. 😀

Visiting Ohrid, North Macedonia

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

Ohrid in North Macedonia is a super popular tourist stop.

Designated a Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. 

Samuel’s Fortress is the biggest attraction. You can walk parts of the ancient walls.

By kallerna – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=139070032

The many Byzantine churches were what I liked best. So impressive.

Ali Pasha Mosque is the most important of many in the city.

This is St. Clement of Ohrid, celebrated here for creating Cyrillic scripts — the alphabet confusing me so severely while traveling in the West Baltics. 😀

At night, everyone walks the lake front. ESPECIALLY when it was 35C+ during the afternoon.

Mmmm. Pizza.

I Have a Drinking Problem

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

I like a glass of dry red with dinner — but find myself drinking less and less over the years.

This might help. The cheap wine in Montenegro is Plantaže Vranac. Dark, robust.

Not quite as good as my favourites: Syrah and Malbec. But close.

I carry it in a Diet Coke bottle. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. 😀

Visiting Vernon, B.C.

On By Rick McIn cycling, food, friends, travelLeave a comment

Friends moved from Vancouver to Vernon in the sunny Okanagan.

What do you think of their new vista?

We were working on a Gymnastics project, taking breaks with good food.

One highlight was visiting gorgeous Ellison Provincial Park.

Friends are improving the rock climbing routes nearby.

Who are my friends, you ask?

From Vernon, I started my ride back to Calgary.

Visiting Syracuse, Sicily

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

Syracuse had far fewer tourists than the other places I visited in Sicily in March.

Yet it once rivalled Athens in power and splendour.

Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrated for its seamless blend of 2,700 years of history, ranging from massive Greek ruins to golden Baroque architecture.

Click PLAY or watch some drone video on YouTube.

I started with a GPSmyCity walking tour of Ortigia Island (Historic Center).

Beneventano del Bosco Palace
Holy Spirit Church. Under reconstruction. No surprise.

Underwhelmed. Not sure why. Everyone else seemed to really appreciate having the place to themselves.

I did enjoy it more at night than in daylight.

BETTER was simply wandering the narrow streets of the old city.

Stumble upon random historic sites not mentioned in my tourist bumf.

Next day I paid 18 Euro to tour the Roman Amphitheatre, one of the 3 largest in Italy.

This and the surrounding grottos were more interesting than the old city, for me. BUT the site is badly organized. Poor signage. Confusing navigation.

Museum quite good, however.

You’ll enjoy Syracuse more than me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood.

One HIGHLIGHT for me was a small, unpretentious restaurant called PASTA RUN.

Inexpensive. Small portions. Tasty.

Here’s their Pasta Alla Norma, a signature dish of Sicily. It was named in honour of a native of Catania, Vincenzo Bellini, the composer of the opera Norma.

I went back the next day to try their arancine, Italian rice balls that are stuffed, coated with breadcrumbs and deep-fried. 

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Visiting Palermo, Sicily

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

Palermo is Sicily’s cultural, economic and tourism capital. Rich in history, culture, art, music and food. 

Just outside the train station are the Quattro Canti (Four Corners), a Baroque intersection that captures the city’s, ornate, historic, and bustling character.

I started with a Palermo city walking tour using the GPSmyCity app.

Palermo Cathedral

There’s no end to interesting architecture. But — as in the rest of Europe — some are under endless renovation.

I do feel that Sicily makes less a big deal of their tourist attractions. No security. Anyone can do anything they want, even in Cathedrals.

Massimo Theater. 3rd largest in Europe after Paris Opera and Vienna State Opera.

I stayed in an excellent, expensive hostel ➙ Ostello Bello Palermo.

Best was the large guest kitchen which provides all the ingredients to make your own pasta.

The hostel was by the waterfront so I made several trips along the (still being developed) coastline.

It almost never rains in this part of the world. BUT I did get some weather in March.

Click PLAY or watch Rick Steves on YouTube.

Visiting Valletta, Malta

On By Rick McIn food, hiking, travelLeave a comment

Valletta is the capital city of Malta, the European Union‘s smallest capital city.

UNESCO World Heritage site. A LOT of history.

Founded by the Order of St John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitaller.

Ruled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the nights of St John. Valletta’s 320 monuments, all within an area of 55 ha, make it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.

Today the strongest influence is from 150 years of British colonial history.

About 30% of the population of Malta are expats ➙ British, Italian, Indian, and Filipino most prominently. You can buy a EU passport with a minimum €600,000–€750,000 contribution. 😀

Population of Valletta as of 2021 was 5,157.

At any given moment, there are far more tourists than citizens. More than 3 million tourists arrive in Malta each year. Most of them visit Valletta.

I started in the afternoon with a scramble around nearby, dilapidated Fort Manoel.

Fort Manoel should be a major tourist attraction — but, as of 2026, most is closed to tourists. Some project renovations to be finished by 2033.

I didn’t get to Valletta until after dark. More evocative than during the day. Mysterious. Even spooky in places.

I do recommend you visit at night.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Another day I joined a free hostel walking tour to Valletta.

We started with 13 tourists from around the world.

Paty, our leader from Brazil, took us to many interesting spots.

We unexpectedly crashed wedding photos.

AND we had a birthday girl. Actually it was the day after her birthday — but the couple had been on the plane flying to Malta the day before.

Over the course of several hours, some of our group took off to meet friends. Or stop for dinner.

Only 6 of us were left by the time we got to Paty’s recommended restaurant, Alexanders by Zizka. Excellent.

I ordered that weird, delicious thin crust pizza. The rest had pasta, some with rabbit — a local favourite dish.

I loved Malta. But the highlights were all on hostel walking tours.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

We did take the ferry over to the Three Cities, but only had about an hour there. Time allowing, it would be even better than Valletta being so much less crowded with tourists.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Visiting Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

On By Rick McIn cycling, food, travel1 Comment

Nobody’s favourite tourist city, Dar es Salaam is sprawling and congested. Largest city in East Africa by population ➙ approaching 8 million.

The capital since 1996 is Dodoma.

Best news is the Dar es Salaam bus rapid transit system under construction. It reminds me of the excellent system I used in Rio.

Unfortunately progress has slowed after the death of President John Magufuli who initiated the program. Locals blame corruption.

Best thing I did in Dar was a personal half day cycling tour of the city. We visited very local coffee shops, candy shops, digital movie library, African herbal medicine shop, ghetto movie theatre, 2nd biggest market, and much more.

Making Peanut Brittle. This entrepreneur sells coffee and candy on the street, especially at bus stops.

We finished with a soft drink in my guide’s local bar.

A walking tour of the downtown business centre wasn’t all that interesting.

Better was the Kijiji cha Makumbusho, or Village Museum, an open-air ethnographical centre showcasing traditional huts from 16 different Tanzanian ethnic groups. 

It’s right in the middle of the city.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.