We’re staying at Hotel Kastraki, a small hotel in Meteora. It is comfortable, but my favorite thing about our room is the little balcony in the back. We can go outside and admire the views of the beautiful mountains, and Ethan loves playing on the balcony.

Today we walked down to the main part of Meteora, and enjoyed doing some shopping and eating. I had to try some Baklava, and it didn’t disappoint. It was so delicious – I enjoyed every bite! Meteora is a very cute little town with some fun shops and delicious restaurants. Ethan found a flute he wanted, and we were happy to pay the 5 euros for it. (The only problem was the paint started chipping off, and we were a bit worried about lead poisoning, so unfortunately we had to take it away from him…we’ll have to get him a plastic one for Christmas!)

We’ve loved our time in Greece – there has been so many fun and interesting things to see and do. Meteora is a very cool and fun little town to visit – and the food is great anywhere you go!

We flew from Vienna to Pristina, Kosovo today and have enjoyed spending time in such a beautiful country. We’re here visiting Preston’s dad, Bob who does work with USAID in helping with court reform. (Bob – correct me if I’m wrong!) Kosovo is the newest country in Europe, having been founded in 2008. It is part of the former Yugoslavia, bordering Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. It was a humbling experience meeting people that just 10 years ago were fighting for their freedom and their lives. We were told by one of our drivers that 80% of the homes are new, and people are working to rebuild their houses and their lives after the war destroyed so much.

We had the privilege of eating dinner with a local family, and the food was among the best I have ever tasted. There were little children that Ethan loved playing with, and they kept him entertained – he had so much fun. Even though they didn’t speak the same language, it didn’t keep them from having fun and communicating.

An interesting thing about Kosovo is how much they seemed to love Americans – especially Bill Clinton who helped them out in the war back in 1998. They have billboards everywhere that say, “Kosovo Honors a Hero” with a pictures of him. Those billboards are located on none other than Bill Clinton Boulevard. I’ve loved the time spent in Kosovo, and I hope that they will be successful as they continue to battle for their independence.

Preston, Ethan and I are on our way to Europe. We flew to Detroit for an overnight layover, staying at the Springhill Suites. The hotel was great – the staff really went above and beyond to help us out. We actually took the wrong airport shuttle to the wrong hotel, but once we figured out where we were supposed to be, the shuttle driver took us to the right hotel. The breakfast, which was included, was very good, and was much bigger than a typical continental breakfast (waffles, muffins, cereal, fruit, yogurt, etc.).

We were really impressed with Detroit. The airport is spacious without feeling overwhelming, and it’s easy to get to the different terminals. They had a children’s playground that kept Ethan occupied, which was great since we ended up spending quite a bit of time at the airport.

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