zofka's Guestbook

trip to albania
i liked your honesty in this blog. It is not easy to travel alone, especially in Albania. I was born and raised there and i still find it difficult to travel alone there. In many cases people are not used to dealing with tourists and that's where their ignorance comes out. But trust me you were lucky nothing happened to you. It is a very nice place to visit if you know where you are going and with whom. People in Albania are not used to see outside of their box. People with backpacks are not normal because it is not compatible with their trendy style in the muddy streets. In the capital, Tirana things are quite different, but it is still far from having a great experience comparing it to a weird one.

Very nice
Hello Evryone , my name is Enio and i am Albanian , well if you like to know abou our country , first of all you need to learn somthing about our culture our story. In a few thousand years before the europe called us sons of eagle. There begin our true story ..... :)) For years this country was isolated from the worl for different reasons. But i am honored to read your words about Albania. Well who knows maeby one day you will travel here . Paqe dhe dashuri mes jush - Peace and love for all .

Pretty Cool!
It was interesting to hear your perspective on some cultural differences between what you call your culture and that of a typical Azerbaijani, if there is such a thing. I think you will find that as you leave the city and travel to different corners of the country, people's attitudes and behavior change as well. I will be going back there again next year(hopefully), but I found Azerbaijan to be a magnificent experience, so much that by the time it's time to leave, you start to feel sad already. I laughed when I read about the honking(so true) and avoiding cops. I don't know if they are still as corrupt as they were a few years ago, but it definitely helps knowing some locals that can show you around and escort you. I look forward to hearing more about your experience there and hopefully see more photos. Cheers from the US!

thank you
zofka i just wanted to say thank you very much for writing this essay, as i will be going to albania on the 1st of febuary to get married, i needed some infomation on the accomadation and the people there, after reading your essay i have booked another ticket for my mum to come with me for support and and friendship as after reading your essay i became very unsure about going. i just wanted to thank you again jade x

brussels
Hey Anna, actually Brussels belongs to the Flemish part of Belgium, it is officially bilingual, but 80% of the population speaks French (and this is a still a very simplistic presentation of the situation). Grtz, Marino

The answer is...
To solve the riddle on busses Ulcinj-Shkoder: 14.30 is correct.

portuguese patriotism
Well, you're totally right about our way of being. The lack of plans, the going out till late, the absolute no respect for traffic rules, the "this is portugal" thing. Exacly the opposite of northern countries, such as yours, which our politicians always point ou as the rolemodels we ought to follow. However, about one thing you are not completely right. A once i heard a friend saying, the portuguese are only patriotic in two different ocasions: whenever someone foreign talks trash about our country or whenever the national football team plays. The flags thing only started in 2004 when we hosted the european cup, and only returned this summer during the world cup season. The flags may still be hanging for a couple of months, but the sad truth is that until the next big football event we will pretty much tend to let that patriotic wave go... hopefully this will because i do love my country

My Tirona!
Dear Anna, perhaps you described Tirana (Tirona as called in acsent) as it really is. Same impression gave to me that i missed it from 6 year. First of all the albanian language belongs like armenian at it own language tree, it's the oldest indo-european language. Our culture have strong otoman and turkish style cause we have been under them from 1398-1912. The ppl are mostly muslim (77 %) but so less beliver. Albania is a melting pot of turkish-oriental tradition, with our europian roots, it's wonderfull like ppl climate but indeed our economic problems to let us express as well our culture. When you stomach is empty there no time to think. Another problem is that we are a country that have been in alla existence as population in continuos war, physical war, agaist turks, serbs, greek, bulgarian, and spiritual one, against the poverty and the feudal slavery. We are well-known for our hospitality and good hearting persons. Lord Byron was impressed by albanians as he described us: Smart the sons of the eagle, so good with the guest and so rude with the enemy. Hope this information can make your ideas clearer for you next journey in our land. You are wellcomed.

Congratulations
Congratulations Zofka. From someone born in Madrid it´s great to hear the best thing about my city is that you can find beer and cheap booze all around. Sure you got the spirit. Keep the same...

was interesting read u culture sintes about albania. i lived there for few years and i find that place wondersful, old style and kind of mix traditions. i really enyoj. albania is a fresh, new country, everything is in continue chaing and thise is the interesting part of that. Shkoder is full of hotels, may bee u choose the chiper for that u have ''visitrs'' :))

very helpful
this blog is not only interesting but also very helpful for people who might go to albania .

Nice
Hey, Nice photos and honest un-bias accounts of your travels, really nice. I am a Serb and you should have stayed in Belgrade or Novi Sad they are so nice cities you won't believe it. I love Greece and Greek people are like the same as Serbs, so advanced race, with beautiful country, culture, food and religion. Anna you are sooooo right!! I hate England (london) i guess you are living in London as well and I hate it, it's dirty, has too much graffiti, people are stupid and unfriendly and it is so unsafe you can get killed if you go out at night it is worst than Albania! ----------->> http://www.pbase.com/stefan_serb <<------------------- CAO!!