Hotel Besani Durres

... army to various victories against the Turkish empire. <br>On the road from the bus station (stop) there is a street of wooden shops (that ironically looks very turkish and was selling predominantly turkish goods!).

... von Envar Hodscha jedenfalls ist heute eine Disco, Envar Hodscha, d** Albanien 40 Jahre lang regi**t hat, ist heute in einem namenlosen Grab auf einem gewoehnlichen Friedhof begraben. Seine Statue ist ebenfalls z**truemm**t, auf dem Zentralplatz steht nur noch die Statue von Skand**beg, dem nationalen Helden.<br><br>Albanien geho**te auch zum ottomanischen Reich, ab** ein Alban**, d** von den Ottomanen in Byzanz ausgebildet wurde, hat einen Aufstand ausg ...

... so for a lot of other countries mind you). We ferried back and forth between two wooden huts at the border, where they just said in broken English "Welcome to Albania, you'll love it!" and waved us on. We were in two minds whether to get the insurance given the crazy driving, but don't even think it was available! Hmmmm, we better not crash then - easier said than done given what we'd been ...

... doubt, the highlight (no pun intended) of our time in the city, a city we've already noted is totally devoid of pure sights and is best enjoyed, in our opinion, from its comfy cafe chairs. So that, as they say, was that from Tirana. We get the bus in the morning to our next destination, Ohrid, a small town on the shores of Lake Ohrid in Macedonia. The bus departs at 9am and we hope to be resting by the lakeshore sometime early tomorrow afternoon. Oh yeah, we ...

... the Albanian kind I commented to our hosts (the hotel owner and David, who translated our conversations for the not-a-word-of-English owner) that "Albanian cappuccinos were nicer that Italian ones". Of course they are not, but that white lie was a welcome complement to our hosts. Even Meg picked up on that lie. I just hope they didn't. · Cold What's with this weather? We're on the Adriatic coast in early September and its 12 degrees. And it was raining ...

... blog that told much of what we needed to know, including that we had to had to take a taxi to the border and get a local minibus (or furgon) from that point to take us to Tirana. So, from, Kotor, leaving mid morning, we took a 2 hour bus ride to the capital city of Montenegro, Podgorica. We had stopped there the previous day at the bus station on the way to Kotor, so this was now familiar territory. Once at that Podgoica bus ...

... assuming that the heat doesn't beat you into the ground. It nearly did me. After less than two hours out in it, I had to track down the closest shop for a big bottle of cold water to guzzle down. And guzzle I did . . . the 1.5L bottle lasted maybe 20 minutes at most. Albania's a hoot so far though. This marks the first time I've been someplace where I've 1) seen a guy riding a bike while carrying an electronic fan (that was inexplicably running!) and 2) seen an ...

... damaged by Allied bombing during the war and the port installations were blown up by the retreating Germans in 1944. The Communist regime of Enver Hoxha rapidly rebuilt the city following the war, establishing a variety of heavy industries in the area and expanding the port. It became the terminus of Albania's first railway, begun in 1947. Following the ...

... back through the stunning mountains and wasting water stalls. We needed to get to Korça to get over to Greece which proved to be a little more difficult. We had no map so didn't know where anything was so relied on asking those few who could understand us to direct us. All the mini buses departed from a different place in the city depending on where you were going. We passed an Aussie Bar and I had to restrain David from running over! Eventually a mini bus found ...

... from discussions with Sandi: 1. Typical day while in school is 8-1 at school (2-10 min and 1-20 minute break), home to eat, homework from 2-7pm, recreation with friends till about 10 and bed. Of course, Sandi is an honor's students, is fluent in 4 languages etc., but for him this is it. 2. On entering High school, they are assigned in cohorts of 20 students and maintain this group for the 4 years of high school. They have no say in the curriculum, everyone ...