Hotel Europa Tirana

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 ...

... 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 ...

If you have ever visited Tirana, you know that street life is busy... many people walking, talking or just standing around, others ride their bikes and try hard not to get hit or run over by the cars that seem to dominate the streets. You will also know that many dogs and cats live their lives on the streets. During the day you will notice a few dogs running around, searching for food in the trash dumps, hiding under cars, chasing a cat or just enjoying the sunshine ...

... communism, land was considered an evil of capitalism and was confiscated by the state. When they moved into democracy in 1992 a lot of the land lay unclaimed as confusion reigned as to who were the original owners. Seizing this opportunity many people moved from the villages and towns into Tirane, hastily building homes haphazardly in order to lay claim to the land, and creating the ultimate urban sprawl. Houses sit in blocks more than 10 wide and 10 deep without ...

... an EXCELLENT three course meal for only 1900 Leke (which is like, 16 bucks US). So, after dinner and cleaning up, we felt pretty good for the overnight bus ride to Saranda, which turned out to be hell. The bus was filled to the max with people and the AC didn't work. After about an hour of the bus zig zagging around small towns, hills, etc, driving down sometimes atrocious quality roads (which we were warned about in a travel books ...

... descendent of a language native to the area for thousands of years. The Serbs, Bulgars and Byzantines never settled to any great extent in Albania. The Turks conquered it, but had the greatest difficulty keeping it under control. Albania's history is full of rebellions agaist unpopular measures, like disarming the locals and conscripting them into other armies. Without the mountains, all of this would be inexplicable. But they are so difficult ...

... q em tirana...nesse dia encontrei uns albaneses q me ajudaram a encontrar um hotel barato, q foram 5 estrelas.Um deles falava ingles perfeito.Tinha ido ate londres ilegal, nas casas de banho dos comboios e qd atravessou o canal da mancha pos-se debaixo dos carris qd o comboio entrou no ferry(ou bem q se e boss ou se nao e...) No dia seguinte fui ver tirana...uma balburdia, mais outra cidade tipo medio oriente, sem mesmo nada para ver...a praca principal tinha sido requisitada por ...