Local, Near and Far: Our journey of exploring the world.

Category: Travel Tips (Page 1 of 3)

tips or hacks to make traveling easier and less stressful

Why You Should Visit Kosovo: Day Trips from Prishtina

Guest Blogger and my good friend John Seale bring us a four part series on his recent journeys, beginning with a brief layover in Vienna, a look at Kosovo’s capital city, and continues today with day trips from Prishtina into the countryside of Kosovo. John is one of my frequent travel partners, from across Texas to the other side of the world (2 trips to Kenya). From Texas to Beyond is excited to bring you his unique perspectives on travel, along with some fascinating locations in Kosovo and Albania.

Prishtina is where you will most likely begin your vacation in Kosovo, but it isn’t where your trip should end. Add some day trips from Prishtina to your itinerary! The rest of the country has plenty to see and do, perhaps even more than the capital city. While Prishtina is a very cosmopolitan city, where the culturally Muslim population looks and behaves much like the rest of Europe, as you get out to the smaller cities you’ll find great diversity.

Kosovo has beautiful sights and wonderful culture. While getting around to these destinations can be challenging (see the previous post), if you make these journeys, you will be rewarded handsomely.

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Why You Should Visit Kosovo: Prishtina

Guest Blogger and my good friend John Seale bring us a four part series on his recent journeys, beginning with a brief layover in Vienna and continuing today in Prishtina, Kosovo. John is one of my frequent travel partners, from across Texas to the other side of the world (2 trips to Kenya). From Texas to Beyond is excited to bring you his unique perspectives on travel, along with some fascinating locations in Kosovo and Albania.

Europe is a small continent where numerous ethnic groups are smashed together in close proximity. The Balkans are the same way, but on an even smaller scale. The sheer number of countries that Yugoslavia broke into (7) tells you how diverse the region is. My wife and I had the opportunity to visit Kosovo and Albania in 2015, as my sister has lived there for a number of years. Kosovo is ethnically and linguistically Albanian, but for several years it was yoked with Serbia, with whom they share almost nothing except mutual dislike. Since their independence, Kosovo is now a nearly unknown destination for tourists.

Prishtina, Kosovo - The Newborn Statue, a Make-Your-Own-Art Kind of Thing

The Newborn Statue, a Make-Your-Own-Art Kind of Thing

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The Art of Paris: The Top 5 Experiences at the Louvre

In continuing our series The Art of Paris, one must include the Louvre. With this impressive and giant museum, the only way I could think of tackling a blog article about it was to create a top 5 must see list.  You could spend months inside the museum and still not view every object.  So when you go, it is helpful if you do a little research, figure out what you want to see, it’s location, and everything in between is a bonus.

Originally the structure was built as a fortress in the 12th century.  Since then, it has had a history of never ending remodeling to meet the needs of various purposes with its latest addition in 2012.  It was once a home to Francois I and later to Louis XIV, which he found to be too busy so he built Versailles just outside of town as a retreat or place to get away.  The palace was established as a museum in 1793.

Top 5 Experiences in no particular order…

Musée du Louvre - The Flying Carpet Structure of the Islamic Gallery

The Flying Carpet Structure of the Islamic Gallery

  1. The Islamic Galleries “Flying Carpet” – This beautiful addition was complete in September of 2012.  Located in an internal courtyard, the roof or flying carpet, does not touch the original facade of the Louvre.   It is a beautiful marriage of traditional architecture of the Louvre, and valuing progress with a modern structure.   The exhibit space is submerged 40 feet into the ground to provide light sensitive objects a safe viewing space.  I am not sure how much time I spent looking at the structure.  It was truly stunning.

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The Art of Paris: Top 5 Experiences at the Musée d’Orsay

Continuing our ongoing series looking at Paris’ colorful art scene, the Musée d’Orsay houses France’s largest Impressionist art collection. If you love art, you absolutely need to schedule a visit to the Musée d’Orsay on your next trip to Paris.

The Orsay’s artistic focus ranges from 1848 to 1914, boasting countless works from blockbuster artists such as Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin, Cézanne, Gauguin and van Gogh.

Naturally, the Orsay is a large museum, and the sheer volume of beautiful pieces of art can be overwhelming (not to mention the crowds). For example, the Musée d’Orsay owns 23 paintings by Claude Monet alone.

Musée d'Orsay - Clock Inside the Old Train Station

Clock Inside the Old Train Station

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Paris City Overview

On the final leg of a European vacation, Rebekah and I flew from Prague to Paris on EasyJet, one of many budget flight operators in Europe. We found that flying was the easiest and cheapest way for us to connect from Czech Republic to France.

Detail of the Eiffel Tower

Detail of the Eiffel Tower

While one of the primary reasons for visiting Paris was a convenient direct flight home to DFW using frequent flyer miles, I was excited to experience first-hand the magic of Paris. Rebekah visited Paris on a multi-day layover before we were married, but was eager to share this enchanted city with me. Playing the part of tour guide, Rebekah planned our itinerary based on her prior knowledge of this massive city.

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