In and out of Albania

Bright and early Tuesday morning Kim, Oscar, and I head off for our tour of the Balkans with our driver Borce (pronounced Borchey). He picked us up at the dorms and drove us across Macedonia and dropped us off at the Albanian border. We got advice from the Albanians and this is how they get home. We paid the 1 euro entry fee and walked across the Albanian border, no problem. Our friend Irva had arranged a mini bus to pick us up but we weren't sure where or when it was coming so we kind of stood there for a few minutes when suddenly this little maroon van pulled up. The driver hopped out and handed Oscar his cell phone. Kind of odd, we thought, but it turned out to be Irva on the other end, telling us she'd meet us in Tirana when we arrive.



Celebrating our successful crossing of the Albanian border.

Enver Hoxha's bunkers dot the Albanian country side. He was Albania's very paranoid Communist ruler for 4 decades.

So, we take this minibus with 6 other Albanians across the beautiful countryside. Really, the mountains there are gorgeous. It would be a hiker/biker/campers paradise. Riding in that bus on the gorgeous curvy mountain road was a little scary though and the driver had plastic bags of little fish by the door. Welcome to Albania! Interesting fact - Albanians call their country Shqiperise (pronounced Shiperise).

Albania is the 2nd or 3rd poorest country in Europe and this was visible by the piles of trash along the road and dilapidated buildings in all of the villages we passed. We arrived in Tirana and immediately saw Irva across the street. She took us to our hostel, Freddy's, where we were welcomed by Freddy and his mother. Then we headed out to grab some dinner. Tirana is a bustling city under construction, which gives the impression that things are moving forward for the country. The downtown had a lot of nice restaurants and shops and the city has a lively feel and friendly people. We hung out with Irva, venturing to a nice outdoor cafe bar after dinner, and then back to the hostel where we crashed.



Mosque in the main center of Tirana.

Statue of Skanderbeg, Albania's national hero.

Our first dinner in Albania - left - Irva, center - Kim, right - Oscar

The next day Irva came and showed us around in the daylight. We visited the Tirana archaeology museum which was pretty small but had some interesting Ilyrian and Roman artifacts. Then we hustled to the bus station to catch a bus to Shkodra. The bus was leaving the station and we barely made it; the driver barely slowed down enough for us to hop on. The bus was completely full and hot and it took us about 2 hours to get to Shkodra. We were planning to spend the night there but once we got off the bus and walked around for a half hour we decided to high tale it straight to Montenegro. I'm sure there are nice parts of Shkodra but we definately weren't anywhere near them. We found a man who spoke a little Italian and Oscar told him our dilemma and the guy found us a taxi to take us to Ulcinj, Montenegro.

One of the reasons we left Shkodra.

A fortress on a hill outside Shkodra.

We grabbed a quick bite of Albanian food that reminded me of a Runza but in a flat, flaky pastry. Then we rode for another hour and a half to Montenegro. The driver dropped us off in Ulcinj (pronounced Ulsinya) and we decided to catch the next bus to Bar, a town along the Adriatic coast about an hour away. It's dark by the time we get on the bus and I'm reading and Kim and Oscar are sleeping so all three of us are surprised when, 2 hours later, we pull into the capital city, Podgorica (pronounced Podgoritsa), which is about an hour inland from the coast. Oscar asked the driver if the bus was going on to Bar and he looked at us and laughed. Well, Balkan buses stop at the side of the road and you have to know which stop is yours. We had passed Bar and ended up in Podgorica. So, once again, we catch the next bus to a town called Budva, which is another town along the coast.


We arrive in Budva around 8pm and our first item of business is to find someplace to sleep. We follow a sign advertising a hotel and end up finding the hotel Olympia. We score a room for 11 euros a piece, drop our stuff off, and head to the Stari Grad (old town) to find some dinner. Budva is a nice, small sea town and the air smelled so clear. Budva was ruled by Venice from 1420 to 1797 and the Stari Grad feels like a miniature Venice with labyrinthine walkways between white stone buildings and small courtyards with lemon and orange trees. We found a place to eat dinner, hung out there for awhile and then headed back to our hotel.

Spring Break: The beginning

Sorry I haven't written for awhile; I've been away on spring break. Instead of posting one horrendously long post about the trip I think I will break it into a few sections in order to save you from large amounts of reading at one time.

Spring break started on the 1st of March (which also happened to be Baba Marta). I hung out at the dorms on Saturday and did some homework and then on Sunday I went to Sofia to see the city and stay with my friend Savina. It's only about an hour and a half trip and I was there by 3. Savina picked me up at the bus station and I went to her grandparents house where her family was celebrating Baba Marta with a big meal. I got to eat homemade Bulgarian food and it was amazing! They start with the Bulgarian salads of vegetables and cheese then we had cooked pork, rice, potatoes and homemade rolls. Then they had two kinds of desert - a banitsa (feta filled pastry) and a layered ice cream tiramisu cake. I was stuffed. Then Savina's uncle poured me a glass of homemade Rakia (traditional Bulgarian brandy) which is incredibly strong stuff but I didn't want to seem rude by refusing. After dinner we went out and walked around downtown Sofia and saw a huge amount of goverment buildings built in the Stalin-baroque style (which I didn't know existed). We met my friend Svet who also lives in Sofia and he walked around with us.

I stayed with Savina's mom and grandma who were so sweet and hospitable. They kept hugging me and her grandma would give me all sorts of things to eat and drink. The next day was Bulgaria's independence day from the Ottoman Empire so Savina and I went downtown and saw the celebration. I saw the President and the Prime minister of Bulgaria as well as the Bulgarian calvary. Afterwards Savina and I walked around some more, I broke down and ate at a McDonalds there (which is actually a very well respected restaurant in Bulgaria) and we hung out until the afternoon when I came back to Blago in order to pack and get ready for the long haul across the Balkans.

Alexader Nefsky Cathedral at night.

One of the governement buildings in the Stalin Baroque style.

The Bulgarian calvary at the independence celebration. Their uniforms are the second most beautiful in Europe.

Mcdonalds in the European style - cafe tables outside.

Savina's mom, grandma, and I.

Whirlwind tour of the Balkans

Next week is Spring Break and I am going to be taking a mini-tour of the Balkans with some of my friends. We are going to Macadonia (Former Republic of Yugoslavia), Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, and Kosovo. It's going to be a quick trip, with almost only one night in each country, but I'm sure I'm going to have some interesting stories to tell.
We'll drive from Blago across Macedonia to Tirana, the capital of Albania. From there we'll go north to a town called Shkodra. Then we'll head into Montenegro and spend a day in Kotor. From there we'll jump up to Dubrovnik, Croatia (which you should google because it looks beautiful). Then we'll go from Dubrovnik back to Montenegro and into Kosovo. From Pristina we'll head to Skopje (pronounced Skopia) and then back to Blago.
Below is a map of our proposed route. Since we're kind of backpacking it this is subject to change, and who knows, we may love Tirana so much that we'll just stay there the entire week.

If you double click the map it enlarges and you can view the route better.