July 23, 2024
GOOOOD MORNINGGGG from the Albanian Alps!!!!
We woke up bright and early this mighty fine morning ecstatic to get outside and get hiking! We circled around the table for breakfast and enjoyed eggs, sausage, veggies, bread and jam, crepes, doughnuts, etc. Madeleine and Baker of course decided to down an energy quick each to get them hyped up for the trail. We laced up our boots, threw on hats and sunscreen, and grabbed our cameras! Off we went! We began hiking through the outskirts of the town, passing a couple of other hostels, farms, and lots of roaming animals! The roosters running was a highlight. We followed the trail over a couple on bridges, through a wooded area, and down a rocky ridge. The group chatted and chatted, entertaining one another on the trail. Hays quickly became the leader of the trial talk, telling life stories from home and explaining the plots of his favorite movies and books. We had to stop many times for water breaks and snack breaks, trying to stay hydrated in the insane heat! Kate kept reloading her pink zinc sunscreen on her face. She had two thick lines under her eyes, ready to go and conquer this trail. Cole and Kate took up the front of the pack the whole first half of the day, setting the pace for everyone. Eventually, we turned on the trail and headed uphill! We locked in and pushed through. I (Parker) luckily got into a lengthy conversation with Sophie, Katie, and Parker W, and we kept each other incredibly entertained going uphill. Although we were all out of breath telling stories, it kept the vibes high! Finally, we saw the sign for the Blue Eye, our desired destination! We kept on chugging along and finally saw crystal-clear water! We had made it! The Blue Eye is a famous Albanian waterfall and swimming area that is SOOOO blue and freezing cold. We cooled off in the shade and enjoyed the sandwiches and protein bars we had packed. Cece had gotten a European bruschetta cracker snack previously that she passed around and shared with the group! It was a big hit! We all have loved trying so many new fun snacks. After eating, the group was eager to jump in the water! Jayden and Cece had no fear whatsoever, despite the intimidating cold water, and so they grabbed hands and leaped into the water. Their excited faces said it all, and so the rest of the group quickly followed their lead! Everyone was jumping in left and right. Sophie and I had to wade into the water and take it slow, but eventually, we went fully under. The boys spotted an awesome cliff-jumping spot and so we of course all had to go. Sam, Cole, and Hays jumped from high above with no hesitation. Coming up to the surface dying laughing and screaming with excitement, the girls followed. Kate and Jayden took a deep breath and went soaring through the sky. The other girls climbed up and jumped too. After realizing everyone had jumped, Madeleine was not about to leave without doing it too. However, she needed some extra encouragement. Sam kindly jumped again before her and treaded water below, waiting for her. Trying to coach her in from below, Madeleine got closer and closer to the edge. After lots of back and forth, the other girls, who had come up to cheer her on, started singing our song of the session “Unwritten.” Madeleine knew this was her chance! We grabbed hands and started singing along and just went for it! All in all, we had 13/13 get into the freezing water and complete the jump! A successful pursuit you could say. We dried off and hit the trail back to our hostel! An afternoon thunderstorm rolled in, ruining absolutely nothing. We just had a big ole trail rain dance party singing and laughing. We stopped for ice cream in town and Baker somehow managed to get chocolate everywhere. It gave everyone a good laugh. Finally, we arrived back at the hostel with tired feet, wet clothes, and happy hearts. We showered up for dinner and the group played cards. Turns out Parker W is sneaky competitive. Better watch out. Afterward, we wandered down the road to a delicious restaurant with an even better view. We had pasta, meats, veggies, tzatziki, etc. Cole adventurously got the trout and was excited when his plate came out with a whole fish on top! Sam immediately cleaned his entire plate and so resorted to trying everyone else’s plates, letting no food go to waste! After dinner, we circled up for Moonup where Parker W and Kate got us talking about our spirit animals. Some honorable mentions are Katie as a chinchilla, Sophie as a seal, and Cece as a wild horse. We then talked about a situation we grew from within the past year and loved hearing everyone talk about their growth. After Moonup, we headed to bed, looking forward to another day on the trail tomorrow.
Goooooooood morning from our little mountain town of Theth! We had a big day ahead of us so we were up before the rooster crowed to get ready to head to Valbona! We were hiking up and over the mountains into a new town! The crew slowly slipped down for our last meal in our beautiful mountain hostel. We had pastries, eggs, bread, fruit, and crepes! A few grabbed a coffee or energy drink to help get them ready for the hike. After breakfast, we packed our bags in the van and sent them off on the road where they would meet us at our new hostel! We then made our packed lunches of PB&Js or ham and cheese sandwiches. Before we hit the trail, Cole led a quick group stretch to make sure everyone was ready to attack the day! We headed out, waving goodbye to our favorite furry friends from sheep to miniature horses to adorable little dogs we met here, and hit the trail! Kate and Cole were our fearless leaders at the front of the line again. They never seemed to get tired! The crew had a lot of energy at the beginning despite it being a steep climb. We were in the sun for most of the first part, but eventually, the trail took us into the shade of the trees to help cool us off. We had some sweeeeeeet views as we made our way up! We stopped in a field and the group stopped for lots of pictures. The views here were insane! Moongram (Moondance Instagram) cover photo here we come! Katie snapped several shots of the views and the crew with her disposable while Jayden and Kate used their GoPros to get those professional shots. We wrapped up the photoshoot and kept on chugging along. Hays, Sam, and Cece struck up story time with their nearby friends on the trail and that carried us all the way to our extended stop by this restaurant on the mountain. There was a clearing in the trees that opened up to the most breathtaking view of the valley below! We cooled off in the shade and munched on some trail mix and Pringles to help fuel our push to the top. We refilled our waters and jumped back on the trail, eager to reach the saddle! On our way up we passed dogs and a lot of horses. There were about 6 horses carrying people’s duffles down and we had to make room for them on the tiny trail! Talk about a traffic jam. It was wild! We rounded a corner and saw the top! We made it!! We hiked up just a little bit more to have the absolute best view possible for our lunch break. The view of Valbona Valley was absolutely stunning! Everyone’s jaw was on the floor. We plopped down, tired but thrilled to be at the top and opened up our sandwiches while we continued to soak in the view. After lunch, we had yet another photoshoot with our unbelievable backdrop. Unfortunately, this photoshoot was cut a little short as some rain clouds started to roll in. We threw on our rain jackets and pack covers and started our trek down into the valley. We had a very light rainfall as we descended down the mountain. We welcomed the rain as it cooled us off after our hot, sweaty push to the top. It was sooooo refreshing! Once again, Hays, Baker, and Katie kicked off some more story time as we headed downhill. We have learned that Hays is quite the storyteller! Everyone is tuned in when he’s telling a story! As we reached the bottom of the mountain, and our trail flattened out, we could tell we were close! Parker threw on some good tunes to keep the energy high as we rounded out our big hike. While we were headed towards the dried-up river bed, Parker and Madeleine gave us their best impression of Miss Albania walking out onto the stage. They sashayed across the trail, struck a pose, and yelled “Albania!” It was hilarious! We made our way across the rocky river bed, and back up into the trees. We went up a hill and arrived at our new hostel! We cheered and high-fived as we walked into the courtyard. We checked in and everyone headed up to shower and relax before dinner! After hanging out and exploring our new home, we settled down at the table for dinner. Tonight we had salad, bread, and chicken and potatoes with a phenomenal cream sauce over top! For dessert, we had chocolate cake! The perfect meal after our big hike! Once we finished our meal, we headed out into the nearby meadow for Moonup. Cece led a great Moonup where we talked about our happy place or home away from home and a mistake we made that has helped us grow! It was a great end to a great day! Baker and Katie were named LODs for our final hiking day!
The next morning, we woke up nice and cozy in our beds and strolled down to breakfast in our pj’s. Beyond excited for a chill, calm morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and coffee time followed by reading, journaling, and card games. Mid-morning, we geared up for hiking and hit the trail! Fabian, a local boy whose family owns the hostel, decided to tag along and lead the way! We hiked down a long road and then headed straight uphill to our destination! Fabian was entertaining us the entire way. Eventually, we made it to our spot: the oldest building in Valbona where we had a delicious lunch. We had soup, a rice dish, salad, and homemade bread. After eating, we ventured out to the porch where we sat looking out at the beautiful view. Cece was extremely excited to see iced lattes on the menu so recruited the girls to get them with her. I (Parker) got one as well and they were delicious! Katie then got us started on a game of Mafia, being the narrator first. I had the entire group fooled and somehow managed to win! The group was beyond invested in Mafia, tricking each other left and right. After, a competitive hour, we grabbed our things and hit the trail towards home. But of course we stopped for ice cream along the way! Sam upon seeing an ice-cold Coke in the fridge, opted out of ice cream and chugged the Coke in a few sips. Madeleine, Sophie, and Katie also got some cool souvenirs like bracelets, postcards, and stickers! After exploring the shop and eating our frozen treats, we finished the last of our trek. We continued to have our early evening card games, where Parker W proved her competitive side once again. After showering, we gathered for dinner. We dined on short ribs, veggies, potatoes, salad, and bread. A couple of folks were feeling adventurous and opted in for the trout! Katie was in pure shock when the waiter delivered an entire fish, head included, to her. She was laughing so hard at it that she started crying. Martina luckily is an expert on how to tackle a whole fish, and so taught Katie how to cut it! Cole showed off his skills across the table, diving right into his trout, no questions asked! Fabian then built us a fire outside in the pasture, where we migrated towards post-dinner. We chatted and laughed before winding down for Moonup. Katie and Baker led us in Moonup where one of our questions was about our comfort shows. Turns out we all love similar shows!
We woke up in the Albanian Alps for the final time. The crew was so sad to leave the mountains but pumped for Greece and the beach! We had our last breakfast and waved goodbye to our favorite, Fabian! We hit the road, and headed towards our second capital city of the trip, Tirana! To start off the drive, we had some chill napping and reading time. As the group napped, read, or journaled, we rolled into another country (Kosovo), our 5th one of the trip! During our short drive through Kosovo, we stopped at a gas station to fill up on snacks and of course energy drinks. We rolled back into Albania and had our amazing lunch stop. Here we had chicken, fries, salad, pita, and cheesecake for dessert! It hit the spot! We finished up and hit the road to keep on moving towards Tirana. With some good food in our bellies, we had a wave of energy come over the group. We had song requests and sing a longs that carried us most of the way to the city. We arrived in Tirana, checked in, and Parker W and Parker headed out for a quick visit to the dentist for some medicine! The rest of the crew waited for a little while at our hostel until we headed out to explore and catch up with the others. Baker got a card game started with Katie, Hays, Jayden, CeCe, Madeleine, and Sophie while Sam took a nap. We headed out to meet the Parkers at the town square after some intense games of Presidents. We walked around the square and found a DJ booth and had to go dance on the lawn in front of them! We danced our hearts out! We started a dance circle and everyone stepped in and gave the group their go-to dance move! It was hilarious! We were having so much fun, a little toddler wanted to come join our circle too! We continued our stroll around the city before heading to our dinner place. Tonight we were having pizza! Everyone ordered their favorite and we dug in! After another phenomenal meal, we HAD to go prowl around for a sweet treat. We stumbled upon a gelato stand on our walk back and everyone was so happy! We made it back to the hostel after a fun night of exploring, and had a great Moonup led by Sam and Madeleine! We ran off to bed for another travel day tomorrow, but this time final destination was the beach!
The next morning, we woke up in Tirana beyond excited to head to the Albanian coast! We enjoyed French toast, fruit, and a tasty breakfast like cake before loaded up the bus! Hays and Baker of course had some legendary aux requests and so we jammed out to Adele, Bruno Mars, Megan Moroney, Gracie Abrams, and Taylor Swift. The highlight was Taylor Swift’s All Too Well 10-minute version, in which the entire bus, including Jake on some lyrics, was giving it their all. Although Sophie absolutely flamed Hays for messing up half the lyrics, he won the award for being most invested in the song. We eventually saw the crystal clear ocean water from afar and couldn’t contain our excitement! We pulled into our hotel shortly after and checked into our rooms. We headed down the street to lunch, where we grabbed gyros. The group devoured them in a matter of minutes. After a delicious lunch, we headed straight to the beach. It was too hot to be on the beach, so we raced into the water. Sophie, Parker W, and Parker cheerleading stunted Cece and Katie in the water! They got up with ease and it was so funny. Of course, Jayden and Kate had their GoPros out filming everything, not wanting to miss a moment of our first beach day! Kate also kept asking everyone what color mermaid tail they would have and we all got a laugh out of people’s answers. After swimming for a while, the group spotted a nearby crepe stand. We had to get them. They had fruit, Nutella, chocolate, cookies, candies, and more to choose from for topics. We quickly devoured them and boy were they good! After getting our beach fixing in, we headed back to the hotel to shower up and get ready for dinner. We wandered the streets of Sarande pre-dinner looking at all the cute stands we passed and window shopping. We arrived at our restaurant: a classic burger joint and the group was beyond excited. We got burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, sodas, and more! We left feeling incredibly full but also happy. Afterward, we grabbed some much-needed gelato on the way back to the hotel. Parker W went for her classic berry sorbet and Madeleine hunted down the hazelnut flavor. We arrived back at the hotel and gathered in the courtyard for Moonup. Parker W and Sophie led us in Moonup where we talked about our dream vacation and something about ourselves we are working on. Jayden wants to go on a world cruise, Hays wants to do a “Euro summer” adventure, Katie is heading to Australia, and Madeleine and I gotta get our vacay booked because we both said Patagonia. After Moonup, we fell fast asleep in our crispy air-conditioned rooms, beyond excited for GREECE tomorrow!
Last day in Albania, hello Greece!
We woke up at our hotel by the beach and headed down for one last breakfast in Albania! We snacked on eggs, croissants, cereal, and fresh fruit! We ran back to our rooms one last time to pack and head down to the port to catch the ferry! We had a short wait on the dock before getting in line to board. We found some seats inside, and plopped down, excited for our final country of the trip! Baker started a game of ERS that eventually turned into a game of presidents while we floated toward Corfu. Cole, Kate, and Jayden played hangman in one of their journals during our card game. During our games, we cracked open our snack bag and dug into some chocolate croissants, pretzels, and of course some paprika Pringles! As we approached the dock, we strategically headed towards the exit to be the first ones off. We docked and headed to customs. Everyone received their final stamp on their passport and we were officially in Greece! We had a short drive to our accommodations across the island, so everyone piled in the van. On our drive, we blasted some Mamma Mia to get into the Greek mood! We arrived, but our rooms were not ready, so we quickly changed into bathing suits, packed a beach bag, and headed to grab lunch! We found a spot overlooking a cove. It was beautiful! The water here is so blue! We ordered sandwiches, pizzas, gyros, salads, and smoothies! Hays ordered his favorite Greek dish, Moussaka! An all-around great first meal in Greece! We had our fill and headed straight to the beach after lunch. We found a spot to set up, and ran straight for the water because it was HOT! We saw a cliff nearby and thought it had to have a good jumping spot, so we headed out to explore. It did in fact have a sweet spot to jump and everyone got up there to splash down into the cool, crisp, and blue water of the Ionian Sea! We wrapped up our cliff-jumping adventure to chill on the beach. The group wanted a sweet treat to help cool off after being in the sun for a while, so they found an ice cream spot nearby. Afterwards, Martina took them to a cave she found and everyone tagged along to explore! After the cave, we headed up to our place for showers before dinner. We made a pit stop at the market to grab breakfast for tomorrow, and our LODs Cole and Jayden made shopping a breeze! We showered and regrouped to head to dinner. We went to an Italian place where everyone ordered the pesto gnocchi, pasta, risotto, or a pizza. It was delicious! Martina even surprised us with a Nutella pizza for dessert! The best way to end our first night in Greece! We strolled along the beach after dinner before heading back for Moonup. Cole and Jayden led a phenomenal Moonup before we headed to bed for our boat and snorkel day tomorrow!
Here are some thank-you’s from the students!
Parker – Hi mom and dad!! Thank you so much for sending me on this trip I am having so much fun!! These experiences are amazing. I am feeling so much better! Love you all and miss you all! Thank you!!
Katie – heyyyyyy!! thanks so much for sending me on this trip, i am having the best time and am so happy I got to come here! love and miss y’all and can’t wait to see you! tell Bailey and Murphy I say hi!!!
Sophie- Hiii mom and dad!! I’m having so much fun and seeing such cool things, thank you for sending me on this trip! See you soon love you guys!
Baker- heyyyy! Love u guys and I miss the dogs! See u soooon! I love my group and am having funnnn
Madeleine – Hi mom and dad! Thank y’all so much for sending me on this trip I’m having so much fun and doing the coolest things! I love and miss y’all and can’t wait to tell y’all about the trip!
Hays – Hiiii, I am having a euro summer. Thank you for sending me, I am having the best time.
Cece- hi mom dad and Edith!!! I am on the way to Greece right now and having the time of my life!!! I miss you all so much and can’t wait to see you soon. Thank you for making this trip possible for me!!! I love you guys so much xoxo
Jayden – hi guys!! we are on our way to Greece right now!! We are having such an amazing time on this trip. thank you so so much!! love y’all
Kate – hey fam! Thank yall so much for sending me on this trip! I can’t wait to tell y’all all about it on Saturday. I miss y’all and love y’all. See y’all soon!
Cole – hey guys! I’ve been having a great time on this trip! We’re on our way to Corfu on a ferry right now. Thank you for this opportunity and I’ll see y’all soon
Sam – Hey Mom, Dad, Charlie, and Zeus! I am writing to y’all on a ferry headed to Corfu, Greece! I feel so blessed and I am so incredibly grateful to have this opportunity! I am savoring every moment, finding heart shaped rocks, and doing my best to bond with each person. I cannot wait to see y’all when I get home. See you in 5 days!