Fjoard Hotel Tirana

... und von ein** B**gstadt aus den Ottomanen ein kleines Reich abgetrotzt. In 25 Schlachten mit den Ottomanen ging ** als Sieg** h**vor und sein Reich wurde **st 26 Jahre nach seinem Tod von den Ottomanen besiegt (in 1479). Die Alban** sehen sich als Rett** des Abendlandes, waren die Ottomanen doch zu ihr** sta**ksten Zeit in Schlachten mit Skand**b**g beschaeftigt statt die Truppen gen Wien zu schicken.

Albanien macht keinen sehr islamischen Eindruck, die ...

... have little impact on behavior.

I tour around with the "girls" on the LP Soviet walk. Albania has attempted to escape the dull concrete through extremely colorful use of paint. It definitely helps but is taken to an extreme. My travel partners have a very mellow philosophy about touring. Every 10 minutes or so is a good time to sit down and rest. Not bad but so different than my non-stop approach. There is one nice pedestrian area of cafes (but only a few restaurants ...

... Italian I know, giving the low level of English I've encountered so far. It works. Whether the words are correct or whether they think I'm Italian or whether they use Italian as lingua franca between the local dialects of Gheg and Tosk I don't know, maybe never will. International English sucks till you need it. Anything's better than mute barter. Albanians seem nice enough, though hardly 'the nicest people in the world' as one local describes ...

... a refaire);- je suis fier d'avoir eu la sante, l'energie et le gout de faire ce voyage et ces decouvertes, meme seul, a l'age de 66 ans;-j'ai su equilibrer voyage et repos et je n'ai pas ete malade;- ce que je manquerai le plus: les cafe-bars ou on peut passer des heures a flaner et a regarder les gens passer;- ce que je manquerai le moins: l'odeur de la cigarette;- les bons souvenirs: sarajevo, mostar, kotor, okrid, gjirokastra, berat et ...

... was somewhat alien to the majority of Albanian's and I was going to have to get tough or at the very least assertive or I was going to take the whole day getting into the country. With a new found self-assurance it was not long before I reached the counter but much to the annoyance of the tutting Albanian's in the queue behind me it would be some time before I actually managed to get through. It must have been a long time before an Irish, or a foreign passport for that matter, was ...

... prepared for an imminent attack. From 1950 to 1985 about 700,000 were built and they're nearly impossible to destroy. When the first one was built, the chief engineer was required to stand inside one while it was bombarded by a tank. He emerged unscathed. Now there really isn't much anyone can do about them, so they remain cluttering the countryside. In addition to concrete bunkers littering the landscape, there are also partially built ...

... the English. The capital is a fascinating place, far more interesting than the tourist driven cities of Croatia. Its incredibly cheap, coffee 25p, beer 50p, a 110km journey costs 1.75, a meal for 2 with drinks at a top restaurant about 7 pound, and a late night kebab about 80p. Furthermore if the country continues to grow soon easyjet will be flying here so a whole holiday will be cheaper than a Premiership football ticket. So that was Albania, see you there next year.

... dessert afterwards- rice with cinammon, milk, apple -and meat! Might try it at home, without the meat perhaps. Tasted good though. When we got back to the house, we sat up talking with the kids. They, like many Albanians, wanted to leave, and wished they could swap with us in England. Clare had warned us of this attitude, so we went on about how amazing Albania is- which is true! I love it here.

... sitting in it why it got blown up by a tank. They often paint them to make them look better. You will see them in next entry. Albanians have to be the most friendly people i have met. They help you out with anything. Very polite in the way they speak to you. Always want to know about you. People walk up to you and make sure you know where your going and walk with you without asking anything in return. They almost baby you sometimes to make sure your ok. You get seats from ...

... i think that after this week i will begin to appreciate the smaller luxuries in life a little more, like heat at night, running water at night, regular toilets that werent just holes in the ground and so on and so forth. so that is just the general overview of our time there. i will get you some pictures later on because my internet time is up so god bless you all. Joshua