Ambasador Hotel Tirana

Hallo zusammen,

von B**at ging es wied** zurueck in die Hauptstadt (**neut 45in Wartezeit und etwas ueb** 2h Fahrt, wenigstens sind die Strassen in Albanien recht gut). Hatte dann nur ein paar Stunden Tageslicht, ab** das reicht aus, um Tirana zu sehen.

Das Nationalmuseum ist ganz nett und etwas groes** als das Museum des Kosovo. Die Geschichte Albaniens ho**t mit 1945 auf, man schein noch nicht b**eit zu sein die kommunistische A**a zu bew**ten. Das ...

Hallo zusammen

und Gruesse aus Tirana, Albanien, Land Nummer 124:-) Bin um kurz vor 9 in Tirana eingetroffen, die Strasse im Kosovo war schrecklich, der Grenzuebergang ziemlich merkwuerdig, es gibt zwar Kontrollposten, aber niemand hat die Paesse der Passagiere kontrolliert (weder auf der Kosovo noch auf der Albanischen Seite). Habe bisher nur ...

... the country's long isolation is somehow justified as a consequence of its own geographical fences. We disembark into the Tirana morning cool but crisp. At least it's not raining and the sun is up, so I've dodged a bullet. Part of the challenge in this space in this time is dodging weather. Winters can be unpredictable even without global climate change, but this one's been especially so, one of Europe's worst in years, even chilling the North ...

... square to a little place called "Bar Fly". Here, in a fridge full of Turkish, German and Dutch beers, sat Korca. I eagerly ordered one for 98p and sat down to bask in it's 4.5% glory. It was pretty good actually (although after Tirana lager even WD40 would taste reasonable). I headed back to the "bus station" behind the museum that my bus would be leaving from (it was only passing through Skopje on it's way to Kosovo) and sank a few ...

... to try and put as much distance between me and the shop as possible. I felt terrible doing it but id would have felt a lot worse if id got caught for robbing and ended up in an Albanian prison. Unfortunately in my haste to get away I got completely lost and didn't have a clue where I was going. Struggling to find a familiar reference point I stopped a guy to try and get directions but when I showed him the map he started turning it around and looking at it upside down, I don't actually ...

... a sidewalk. Most of the times these dogs don't hang out together, however sometimes they'll travel in packs. At night however, it's a different story. The dogs start travelling in packs more, more barking can be heard and you don't want to come up behind a dog in a dark and scare it.... a visit to a doctor to get a tetanus and rabies shot will then be necessary. Stefan and I (the animal lovers) have a hard time not adopting any of these street urchins yet, mainly ...

... Germany. I have no doubt. People in the cities drove cars from the 90's while people in the villages drove the 70's model. All cars are equipped with spanking new stereo systems. Sat in a taxi once that had the newest Kenwood DVD video player attached. While the drive was probably not the safest, the taxi driver and I watched a video of Italian pop. Though I feel quite removed from technology and retail industry at this point of my travels, I can't ...

... had insisted that every air vents be closed. It was already warm and stuffy in the bus, now this? People pushed them open again, then they were pulled closed again and many of us on the bus started to debate the issue, myself included. I got furious I could easily gotten into a fight with this guy. The small child was in no danger and there was air pressure differences anyways from altitude changes, so their claims were ridiculous ...

... that we had light every time we drove under a street light or a car passed. Inside Tirana it was a bit more easy and I was able to read it. The driver asked us where we wanted out but we had really no idea and rode along toward the final stop. Sill, we tried to orient ourselves by the streets around us, and traffic was thickening and we were slowing down. Looking at the map and reading the hostel's address, and said to Bro to keep an eye out ...

We intended on getting a bus to the capital of Albania, Tirana but were convinced by a taxi driver (who would naturally be making a few Euro's out of us) that the easiest way to get to the capital was to take his taxi to the Macedonian/Albanian border and walk across. From there we get another taxi to the mini bus station (a rickety intersection in the middle of no-where) where we could then get to Tirana. We decided to go through with the plan and as soon as we crossed the ...