Blogs from West, Albania, Europe

Dear All Greetings from Tirana! I'm actually really quite excited to be here! After five days in the peaceful and traditional Albanian hinterlands, it was really quite exciting arriving in the country's Big Smoke. The city is buzzing and alive, full of energy - not just from the zippy traffic all around, but also from the vibrant people filling its streets. I believe few places will have seen such a rapid transformation in the last 30 years, from the capital of a completely isolated communist country akin to the likes of North Korea today, to this energetic and happening hub of activity. I felt excited to be there, and excited to explore. On the morning of my arrival, I took a four-and-a-half hour bus from Sarandë in the country's deep south, not far from the border ... read more

Dear All Greetings from Albania! Country number 92, and another one of the remaining few European countries now ticked off my list! Just five more to go now! I arrived in Albania the day after I got back from a wonderful week in Sheffield with my family over Christmas. Gone are the days that I'm away for Christmas, there's certainly no place like home when it comes to this important Christian celebration for me! I flew to Albania on wonderful WizzAir, a Hungarian-based budget airline which is pretty much the Ryanair of East Europe really, but with good customer service (nice!). I'd kind of gotten used to travel delays with train issues both to and from Sheffield just the week before, and this flight was no exception. Because I felt used to it, the 1.5 hour ... read more

I wake up as late as I can for breakfast then head to eat as much as I can before it shuts. I’ve had the best night sleep, firmest beds yet. Breakfast is a buffet so there is sausage, Albanian pancakes, cake, cheese, charcuterie, tomates, cucumber, bread and a lot of fruit. There is of course eggs which I can’t eat and cereal with full fat milk, also a no. Still there is plenty of choice. There is a coffee machine and I’m really excited when the guy thinks it’s powder only to come back saying it’s milk. Gutted, thought I was finally getting a real coffee. I am offered alternative but only soy so I pass. I graze more than eat but I eat a lot and take some fruit with me for the next ... read more

Like with Shkoder to Kosovo this is meant to be my tricky travel day but somehow everything just runs on rails. I am up, showered and downstairs by 7. Mark and the American guy whose name I somehow never get are already there. We are just waiting on Alex, luckily she doesn’t keep us long. We walk to the roundabout. My foot is a mess, yesterday’s walking has put blister on blister and I’m in a lot of pain. We have walked past the taxi rank when we realise and I am all set to plough on when one literally stops and offers us a ride. It is 2 euros to the bus station and an absolute no brainer. The American guy gets his ticket, the rest of us have ours so we order coffee. Alex ... read more

Friday can only be described as a crap day but it turned around in the evening. By the time Charlie got to mine to help with my bags I was a mess, shaking, over anxious and crying but several hugs and a calming chat later we were on our way to Salt House Tapas where Tara, Steph, Jen and Dan were waiting. They had bought me a card and a balloon which was so sweet. I was able to talk out all the crap stuff from the week and listen to everyone else’s work drama which was strangely soothing. We ate dinner which was amazing but I massively over ordered. I had one margarita as I was scared in my mental state any more would be too much. It was probably a wise choice. After dinner ... read more