Hotel Bela Vista Durres

Kruja was a short day trip out of Tirana. <br><br>There is a well preserved fortress that has now been converted into a museum on Albania history of Skanderberg - a prominent Albania figure in 14th century who lead ...

Hallo zusammen,<br><br>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.<br><br>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 ...

... I was thinking that he was probably making a break for a better life, when all of a sudden he was joined one after another by a line of puppies. I was dumbfounded when in total 20 puppies made the crossing. When I still hadn't been joined by any of the Albanians from the bus I contemplated the fact that it was easier to get through if you were a dog as opposed to being Albanian. When eventually everybody made it through we got back on the road leaving Albania to fade into the background, it would fade from sight but never from mind or memory.

... on our backs and embarking on a 4 hour cross-border bus ride. That said, Meg was felling well enough earlier this afternoon to be able to leave our hotel room (for the fist time in 36 hours) and she made it to a café for a little food. And this evening, after another few hours in bed, she was even recovered enough to enjoy a whole meal, one we had in a fancy panoramic restaurant overlooking the city. Considering the past two days the meal was ...

... 1 per passport... seemingly it's a local tax but to us it looked like pocket change to the very unofficial 'officials' doing the officiating. We're just lucky we had &euro;2 as we'd spent most of our remaining &euro;'s on cappuccinos in the ferry bar minutes before leaving the ferry. · No Italy Speaking of cappuccinos, the cappuccinos we were treated to in our hotel just after checking in were okay, but nothing like the ones across the water in Italy. Upon ...

... pointed that there was no direct method to get into Albania from Montenegro. I came across one particular woman's travelogue here on travelpod that provided some useful information indicating to expect difficulties at the Albanian borders, such as to expect our bags to be investigated. However, after further review, I saw this girl flew into Tirana and went from there. So, after a little more searching, I found another gentleman's ...

... shapes and long, alternating streaks. Some of it's gotten a bit bleached by the intense summer sun, but overall Tirana is somewhat like stepping into a Communist showcase city on heavy psychedelics. Oh, and left to decay for twenty years somewhere in between. It's interesting, but it certainly ain't beautiful. You'd be hard-pressed trying to find much that can even be described as "attractive." What little history remains in the city can be seen in a day's stroll ...

... and the rest of Albania being annexed to the Kingdom of Italy between 1939-1943, then occupied by Nazi Germany until 1944. Durrës's strategic value as a seaport made it a high-profile military target for both sides. It was the site of the initial Italian landings on 7 April 1939 as well as the launch point for the ill-fated Italian invasion of Greece. The city was ...

... it was more of a colosseum. We've seen enough to know what we're talking about and both agreed it was a colosseum not amphitheatre. More like the shape of the one in Rome but only small in comparison. Pretty ruined but still good. There were some old mosaics and a chapel too and we climbed all over the place. There were some chickens to keep us company as well. That was the main attraction so picked up our bags and headed out. Getting the mini bus to Tirana was ...

... democratic party had won by a landslide. Then I found out later that the votes will not be counted for about 3 months (this is a big improvement over the last elections two years ago which took 6 months to count......progress!!) We were out driving on Sunday night and everything was pretty quiet. Some car surfer (this was descibed as many, many people on one car, inside..outside..on top etc.) were making a big ruccus. Some tidbits about the educational ...