Albania: Tirana and Shkodra

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23.07.2015 Tirana (Albania)

An hour and a quarter of flight is how long it takes to go from one coast to another... and here we are in the Albanian capital: Tirana. The airport is modern, clean and well organised. With an unlicensed taxi, we reach our hotel: London, right in the centre. The red flags with the black double-headed eagle flutter imperiously in Skanderbeg Square; we wander aimlessly, eat a "byrek", and then slip into "Oda", a traditional little restaurant with typical Albanian dishes, specialities from another time that delighted us, in particular the excellent lamb barbecue (mish qengji) and peppers with ricotta (fergese tiranse)... delicious!

24.07.2015 Tirana (Albania)

[Stefy]: "Early in the morning we look for a café to have breakfast, but we find nothing to eat (I mean something sweet), so as usual we happen upon a bakery and buy two big biscuits and a bottle of liquid yoghurt, and on a nice bench, in front of the stone Tanners' Bridge, we have breakfast in the open air! Passing along Blvd Deshmoret Kombit we see "the Pyramid", a structure that was once the Palace of Congresses but is now dilapidated and left to slowly die. We reach Mother Teresa Square. We slip into every little alley and market, eat lots of tasty street food and drink excellent local beer. We wander far and wide around the Blloku district, with its venues and fruit and vegetable markets. We come across a market in Shyqri Berxolli where a bit of everything is sold, from beauty products to costumes, from souvenirs to pots.

Meanwhile, outside, prayer is taking place in the Et'hem Bey Mosque. This mosque is one of the oldest buildings left in the city and certainly also the most particular mosque we have seen, the first with all-glass walls, thus giving the possibility of admiring it without entering. We have lunch at "Zgara Korcare", where we drink three beers and eat excellent skewers accompanied by warm grilled bread and a mix of Greek yoghurt, peppers and extra virgin olive oil". We spend part of the afternoon at the National Historical Museum of Tirana, right on Skanderbeg Square. 200 lek to immerse ourselves in the history of this country, from prehistory to the warrior to whom the square is dedicated, to the dictatorial regime of Hoxha, to Mother Teresa, up to the present day.

Most people speak Italian very well; they say it is thanks to television, but if you dig a little deeper you discover that very many have had life experiences in our country, directly or indirectly, and you hear stories of people who "gave it a try"...

25.07.2015 Shkodër (Albania)

Today is my wife's birthday, happy birthday my love! This morning we wake up slowly and little by little make our way towards the square from which the furgons and buses leave for Shkodër, or Scutari for Italians. We move north and, in two hours, arrive in Shkodër at midday. Outside it is 40° and, with our backpacks like sandwiches, we struggle quite a bit, also because the bus leaves us at a point quite far from our hotel and, shortly afterwards, we discover that it did not actually exist at all! Yes indeed, even though we had booked it on booking.com, this hotel has not existed for some months! Nearby we find another one that welcomes us with pleasure! [Stefy]: "In the afternoon it is really impossible to walk the streets, the heat is oppressive. As evening falls the little town begins to come alive and fill up. It seemed another place compared to the early afternoon.

All the shops open, events, exhibitions... after dinner we go to listen to a French-Israeli group playing jazz, all accompanied by an excellent cold local beer... just what was needed on a hot Albanian summer evening!"

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