ALBANIA

After driving through Macedonia, we drove up to the Albania border and headed into their country. The area near the boarder is not somewhere that I would recommend staying as a tourist. PJ related it to his time in Iraq, where people lined the streets with water flowing from hoses to wash peoples cars. I have never been to Iraq, so I cannot say for sure. The winding hills of the area were beautiful though. We happened to be driving at sunset, so the pink skies made the area seem pretty. I would do it again, and we even stopped for a coffee near the boarder when we drove back through. I think it was more strange for them to see English speaking tourists, as I am sure it is not a common occurrence in that area. 

Albania was a great experience. It wasn't uncommon for us to come across sheep and other animals crossing the streets. It was so strange to see people waiting on major stretches of autostrada for a bus! We had read a lot of things before traveling there and while it is true that their road systems are not as advanced as many other places, they are making great strides on their roadways and infrastructure. We only hit one area under construction [a dirt road area] but the rest was smooth and well kept. They are in the middle stages of building a true autostrada based on the Italian road system. Because the roadways are in process there were no tolls, which was nice. I do think they should be given a lot of credit, as it was only 1990 when the communist regime collapsed. The Republic of Albania was founded in 1991 and the communist party was defeated in the elections of 1992. In 2005 the Democratic Party went into government and a lot of work has gone into infrastructure. Albania became part of NATO in 2009 and it became a candidate for accession into the EU in June of 2014

On to our trip. After driving through the beautiful landscape to Tirana we settled into our hotel. The currency exchange works in our favor and you can get A LOT for a little bit of money. During our first night PJ and I went out to dinner and got a meal each, a beer and a wine and our total came to the equivalent of 8 euro! We also discovered that practically everyone that we came across spoke perfect English [the only exception was a man who was working at the gas station we stopped at]. It seems that a lot of Albanians also speak Italian. There are ferries that run from Bari and Brindisi, Italy over to Albania. Apparently a lot of Italians bring their cars over and vacation there. Everybody was extremely friendly, happy and went out of their way to help if you needed it.

Welcome to Albania sign at the boarder crossing

Right across the boarder

Tirana is nice. It is extremely clean and we felt safe and comfortable walking around day or night. There are a lot of restaurants, nice hotels, a casino, galleries, memorials, and beautiful green park areas. If we had more time I would have liked to explore more of the museums. There is also the University right in the city center. Apparently, about 15-20 years ago there were many Stalin monuments, etc… but most of these things have disappeared over time. You can still find the homes that Hoxha and other party leaders lived in at one time, but even Hoxhas remains were dug up in 1992 and sent away to western Tirana. Mainly, if you want to see communist era items, you need to visit the galleries and museums.   

View from our hotel roof

Breakfast at the hotel

TID tower

Skanderbeg square with Skanderbeg statue.

Skanderbeg statue

Et'hem Bey Mosque

The peace bell - located in front of the Pyramid.
Made in 1999. The bell is made of thousands of
bullet cartridges fired off during the 1990's

Pyramid - it was a museum in the 1980's dedicated to Hoxha. It was 
designed by Hoxha's daughter. After the regime collapsed, it became a
conference center. It has fallen into disrepair and they are debating demolishing it

No trumpets?? honking?

Statue of Mother Teresa,
located in front of the university

Bomb shelter along Bulevardi
Deshmoret e Kombit

The Berlin wall - PostBlloku - placed at the entrance
of the former off limits neighborhood  where
Albania's Communist elite resided.

The Berlin wall - PostBlloku - placed at the
entrance of the former off limits neighborhood
where Albania's Communist elite resided.

Tanners bridge

Bazaar

We also took a trip down the Albanian coast! The drive brought us through some interesting towns. We also drove past many road vendors selling fruits, vegetables and things of the like. There were a lot of grilled corn stands as well. We were initially trying to get to the beaches of Dhërmi. The beaches of Dhërmi look gorgeous! However, due to traffic we only made it to Vlorë. Still beautiful, but not Dhërmi. We managed to find a parking spot right on the main street and headed into a beach bar with a pool and steps into the water. It was a great find and a perfect place to relax after the traffic we hit.