Blogs from Tirana, 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

Exciting to be on the road again and traveling in a new country in Europe. Arrived around 1am this morning from Naples where we had a few days visiting Pompei (bucket list, check!) Today was planned as rest day as our next section to the north starts at 5am. Staying in the lovely E'bel hotel, very close to our pick up point in the morning and an easy, if long, walk into the centre. Wandered around to get our vearings. Getting used to the busy crossings, somehow people, bicycles, e scooters and cars weave around each other. If you are unfortunate enough to have a UnionPay ATM card we found no ATM that would accept it! Packed that card away for our stay here. As we will be returning here for a few days we didn't ... read more

YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT - RECOMMENDED - THEN GO BACK TO THE BLOG OR GO THROUGH THE 72 PHOTOS IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT.- CLICK ON NEXT OR PREVIOUS OR ON A NUMBER BENEATH THE PHOTOS. I PUT LOTS OF INFORMATION IN THE PHOTO CAPTIONS SO YOU CAN SKIP THE NARRATIVE, JUST LOOK AT THE ENLARGED PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS AND YOU'LL STILL GET MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU EVER WANTED. TO RETURN TO THE BLOG ENTRY, CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON OR ON THE NAME OF THE BLOG - BELOW THE NUMBERS ON THE LEFT. As you have probably figured out, these travel blogs are a way for Bernard and me to keep track of our adventures. I can't tell you how many times we've referred to one of our over 80 travel blogs ... read more

We headed to our normal table for breakfast. We were the only guests, apart from another guy who bizarrely sat and ate with his backpack on. He was either very wary of being parted from his possessions or it was surgically attached to his back. The coffee man did his duty and we asked him to translate an article on our intended football match for the day. It transpired that the fading light of the game yesterday had prompted an earlier kick off in the absence of floodlights at KF Kamza. Despite the rather confusing internet article in an online sports newspaper entitled the "match with the forgotten organisation", we also ascertained that the game was to be played at the stadium in Kamza. We set off to see the sights of central Tirana. A few ... read more

We get up and have breakfast. The food’s not great but at least the chef has gone to the effort of writing the hotel’s name in HP sauce on my plate. The old man is usually the master of the all-you-can-eat buffet, but today he meets his match. An elderly lady at our table manages 6 plates to his 3. He says this an unfair comparison as she poured the entire first plateful into her handbag. I am keen to stay and see if she can manage a 7th but beat a hasty retreat when she starts stirring Nutella into her tea. We depart for a day sightseeing in Tirana. Most points of interest are on Blvd Deshmoret e Kombit; a wide, tree lined boulevard which runs between two squares, Mother Teresa and Skanderbeg. Our first ... read more