Blogs from Albania, Europe - page 23

I have been home since August. I should have written this blog some time ago, but I never felt I could do it or I should say, do it right. Fifty months on the road were coming to an end. I knew I had only two months to go and I couldn't see myself spending three hours on a computer. I really wanted to do everything I dreamed of doing before I left. You know, before you leave for the first time, you are making a list of all you want to do and obviously most of it remain undone by the end of your trip. I was at one of those dead ends. For the first time in four years I was feeling the time passing by. I read that time was the last enemy. ... read more

Exploring the real Albania: You are never really alone. Travelling can open your eyes. I woke up with an overwhelming urge to write. I decided to go to the local park so I could be alone. I had been in the park for ten minutes before I suddenly became aware that I was being stared at by four strange men. They all appeared to be different ages. The younger one approached me and sat down, he tried to talk to me but he couldn't speak any english. The others slowly moved towards me. They all sat down. Their clothes were dirty and torn. I was still writing as they approached. I tried my hardest to appear as if I was comfortable, attempting to smile. English was very difficult for them. We exchanged a few gestures. They ... read more

Lounaalle Albaniaan Muutaman Budvassa vietetyn päivän jälkeen oli taas aika lähteä vähän retkeilemään. Jo aikaisemmin oli suunniteltu, että Albaniassakin olisi ihan mukava käydä – ei siis viipyä mitenkään useita päiviä vaan ihan vaikka päivävisiitti lounaan merkeissä olisi riittävä tällä kertaa. Jo joskus nuorempana oli usein mielessä, että eipä olisi lainkaan hullumpi keksintö lähteä pistäytymään Albaniassa. Joskus 80-luvullahan maa oli vielä suljettu ja vaikeasti lähestyttävä mutta siten tietenkin sitäkin kiinnostavampi. Eipä kuitenkaan koskaan ollut riittävästi sinnikkyyttä lähteä kokeilemaan, että miten maahan olisi päässyt. Tirana taisi olla ainoa paikka mihin olisi edes voinut kuvitella lähtevänsä ja sekään ei olisi ollut helppoa. Mutta haaveeksi jäivät nämä suunnitelmat silloin vuosia sitten ja Albania oli siis edelleen meidän kannaltamme täysin neitseellinen maaper... read more

we were back on the coach today headed toTirana, Albania, it was an interesting drive as the roads were not to well maintained and interesting sights on the way. There was lots of rubbish on the roadside, lots and lots of carwashs and not quite completed buildings. When we got to tirana we got taken on a driving tour which took us past all the brightly coloured buildings with designs. After the drive tour we got taken to our accomidation for the night which was an apartment style with a kitchen, lounge, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We were very spoilt here with the accomidation, and the beds were amazing, I got to catch up on a lot of sleep.... read more

This morning we were up at 6.15am so we could clean our boat before leaving (we had to have inspections)... problem was we were such a great team that we had the boat finished and emptied in 45 minutes... I stood guard of our luggage because our friends (the 'town dogs') may have tried to steal something! After packing up we drove to Tirana, Albania. It is crazy to come from such a pleasant, rich place (Plataria, Greece) to this incredibly poor country. We stopped at a shopping mall and I was not feeling so well. Steve told me I would be ok and I wondered if I had just been sitting funny on the bus... 5 minutes after getting back on the bus I was vomitting into a rubbish bag... not very nice but it ... read more