Hotel Luna Tirana

... 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!).

... one of those days away.

After asking around and getting different info, I determined that a bus left Struge, Macedonia at 11:30pm for Tirana and that I could take another bus from Ohrid to Struge and then somehow find where the bus to Albania leaves from. Luckily two really nice girls from the hostel were heading into Tirana and we split a cheap cab to Struge. That is about the best bit of luck that has hit me in my travels in a while.

The ...

... to be comedy, it didn't look that funny to me. I'll admit the blend of pop music that has evolved in Albania, which seems to be heavily influenced by Turkish music, is slightly soothing the first few times it's heard, but over and over again it quickly became fairly annoying. I decided that the only way to ignore the music and the frankly disturbing videos that accompanied it and attempt to get any sleep was to pretend I was ...

... fait une semaine aujourd'hui que je suis entre en albanie et je continue a trouver ce peuple bien sympathique malgre quelques defauts: tout le monde fume partout malgre les indications de ne pas fumer; plusieurs crachent (andre le. sait bcombien je deteste ca), a tirana, la circulation est folle ( c'est comme si on s'etait donne le mot pour tenter de frapper les pietons ...

... computer didn't seem to like my details and proceeded to crash. Judging by the length of time it took to re-boot if there is such a software as 'windows 1976' id be quietly confident that it's the software the computer was using. As I glanced back at the blank stares coming at me from the rest of the queue I was convinced that behind those eyes the thoughts of these Albanians was probably something like "pesky foreigners". There should have been a Eur10 entry tax charged to me but in ...

... out at anyone who passes by the graveyard. There seems to be a bit of an obsession with the selling of live turkeys. In each of the cities/towns I visited, people lined the streets with their turkeys for sale. I'm guessing that this is either for Christmas or New Years (since religion was outlawed during communism, there aren't many Christians or people of any religion in Albania, so New Years is more likely). Women and men are treated ...

... of Albania. The fact that he turned down the offer always made me think that there must be something odd about the place. Initial signs, from the time we head across the border and into the Albanian countryside, are that the impression I gleaned from CB Fry might have some basis. The people look a bit peculiar, such as the guy on the bus who looks like Mel Gibson circa Lethal Weapon, massive mullet and all, crossed with Sylvester Stallone at the end of a Rocky ...

... building this boat, and when it was finally ready, he proudly set it sail on the lake. A big gust of wind came though, and blew the boat away. He was so upset, he ran straight home and locked himself in his bedroom. The next day, he was walking into town, when in a local shop window, he spotted his boat- with the name he had inscribed on the side! He rushed in and gladly handed over all his pocket money to buy the boat back. Moral of the story.... this is like what Jesus did for us ...

... give it. I found it some food. Cheese pastry thing. It was scared of me, running away when i called it. Eventually i got close enough and put the food on the ground. I have never seen a dog so happy in my life. It gave this big smile and wagged its tale so much, and as it ate, it kept looking at me and wagging its tale. I was going to get it more, but it moved on. I stalked it some more and saw it found some other doggie friends, so i was happy enough with that. Made me ...

... the church was our reward! An amazing 13th Century Church...with a monk to show just the three of us inside! From the first steps inside...a oh-so-quiet-hushed-in-amazement prevailed... Frescoes from floor-to-ceiling...blue the favorite color. Chandeliers of candles... Icons... From the first section we were led through a door an into the second... This larger chamber contained the remains of St. Stephen enclosed in a crypt...more icons...more ...