Hotel Kastrati Kavaje

... army to various victories against the Turkish empire.
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!).

... 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 ...

... Stempel in meinem Pass, entweder von der Ausreise aus Mazedonien oder von der Einreise in den Kosovo, ist so schwer zu entziffern.

Die Strasse auf der Albanischen Seite war erstaunlich gut, teilweise bereits ausgebaute vierspurige Autobahn, teilweise noch im Bau. Wo das Geld wohl herkommt? Ich nehme an, aus der Tuerkei.

Gruss
Ralf

... car les bolcheviques dirigeaient partout: par exemple, il y avait un sovietique qui "accompagnait" chaque ministre albanais dans son travail... quant a la chine, c'est sous le regime de mao que s'est faite la rupture car hoxha s'est rendu compte que la chine exportait ses biens de premiere classe a la france, l'allemagne, la grande bretagne, et les biens de 3e classe a l'albanie (comme quoi la solidarite entre pays communistes peut avoir ses limites ...

... supposed to go. On the way to the bus I bought 200 cigs, for next to nothing, and that would be my last ever box. Tirana is a charming city and despite the pollution from the rapid increase in cars the city it's actually quite beautiful in a strange way. It reminds me more of an Asian city as opposed one that's European. Its manic, its traffic chaos, its dusty and dirty and sweltering hot, I absolutely love it. The people are very friendly even if very little English is spoken. As the ...

... shore! As we lay on the beach one day, we could see in the distance a rock breaker breaking up the limestone rocky shore to physically make more beach area - unbelievable! Lovely cheap seafood though - heaps of calamaris, mussels and fish, salad, beers and local wine, all for about $30. Near Ksamili was Butrint, a Greek trading city from 6th century BC, which later became a large Roman outpost ...

... generators outside. And lastly Albanians driving is like Gizmos getting a dose of water or eat after midnight. All of them are Gremlins. The roads are in horrible condition so I am not sure if the swerving is due to the driving, the lack of stoplights (from blackouts) or the huge potholes in every road. They turn into monsters who drive with their other hand on the horn. Honk left and right. It's even worse than L.A. traffic. Quite a nightmare. It ...

... Eastern Europe. There were indeed examples that Albania was formerly communist including a statue of old leaders in the center of the town. Thankfully, it now a parliamentary democracy, though there are still a few from the former communist time that are involved in current politics . I'd like to say that I find the history of Albania very interesting. From what little I have read (and I will be reading much more in the future), I ...

... kansaa: taalla perhe on erittain tarkea, ja ihmiset todella valittavat toisistaan. Monta kertaa albanialaiset ovat olleet jarkyttyneita ja kyselleet, kuinka aiti jaksaa elaa erossa perheestaan ja saalineet hanta kovasti. Suloista <:) Huomenna tai ylihuomenna menemme bussilla Kreikan halki Ateenaan, ihanaa! :) Taalla on muuten tosi lamminta, mut pilvista. Ei kuitenkaan haittaa, voi silti hypella ulkona topissa ja hameessa :D xoxoxox, Liisa

... and encounters with very interesting people both local and foreign nationals. The flight here was pretty uneventful except I was forced to totally empty my bag and a checkpoint. Turned out that they picked up on my travel magnetic chinese checker game. We may pitch it if it caused more problems. We needed to go through customs in Tirana and pay $14 each to enter the country. We are staying at the Bethany Orphanage in Sauk (south ...