Blogs from Tirana, West, Albania, Europe - page 5

I was joined by my chums from Skopje on the bus to Tirana but their hostel was full so ended up in the Albania Hostel, which was a most agreeable place. On the taxi ride to the hostel the driver advised that you don't have to wear seat belts in taxis only in Private cars, I did ponder explaining the merits of wearing seat belts (especially in Albania, as the drivers are crazy) but decided against it and resumed the conversation about Manchester United:-). The hostel had a bar and a puppy, what more could you want:-) The next day I had a walk round the centre of Tirana but like Skopje, it was also a building site, I think there has been an influx of money into the Balkans countries and they seem to be ... read more

So, what the hell am I doing in Albania? Well, it’s because of Eng. I first met her in Ecuador in October of 2009. We travelled south eating everything from giant roasted pigs in the markets to guinea pig together. She met me for my 8 hour layover in Heathrow on the way to Africa and we knew we had to travel together again. She planned for a month off work and had her heart set on Eastern Europe – and she thought Albania sounded cool. I’m game for just about anything so off set a celiac and an Asian girl from London for an Albanian adventure. Tirana - the capital city We landed in time to catch the once-an-hour local bus to the capital Tirana. Our bus was a rocking pink number with a dark ... read more

Mother Teresa, Enver Hoxha and George W Bush all in one blog entry The last leg of our trip in the Balkans was Albania. To be honest we actually began this journey in Albania because that is where our initial flight went to. But we then only spent one day in Tirana before we continued to Sarajevo and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. So for us it is easier to write about this day in the Albanian capital here together with the rest of our stories from Albania. Tirana is a quiet place. Parts of the town are slightly run down but it is not a bad place to visit. But there is very little there to see and to do so in one day we pretty much saw everything worth seeing in Tirana. First we ... read more

Welcome to Albania, the quirkiest country in the world What a strange place. Brightly painted poverty, the worst roads in Europe and Mercedes-Benzes everywhere. Throughout the Balkans, I encountered squabbling people with petty disputes with their neighbors. The Slovenians didn’t trust the Croatians. The Croatians mistrusted the Bosnians. The Bosnians mistrusted the Serbs and the Montenegrins. But all of them agreed on one thing: Albania was the most dangerous, perilous and shadiest place in the world – or so they shared with me. None of them had ever been there. “There isn’t a dumpster in this town that some gypsy hasn’t laid claim to.” There are more cops than trees in Tirana and urban Albania. In fact the only quantity that compares is the number of scabby homeless dogs. The funny thing is that besides standing ... read more

Hi guys, Just a quick note to say we are alive and well and in Albania. Its not a bad place. Very friendly but about 30 years behind (and they cant drive AT ALL!!). Will update more later. Hope you are all well - please send updates as I miss you all. xxx... read more