Hotel Villa Belvedere 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 ...

... rooms. Back in Tirana, I am surprised to walk into the hostel's candle-lit kitchen (no power again) and find the northern Alberta girls from a week ago. We have a lovely back-together-again dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant. I love places where I can get smart-looking waiters who will put my linen napkin on my lap for me and good Italian food for $7. Tomorrow, the girls will head for Montenegro and I will travel south to Berati, but for now, it's fun to have met up again.

... in the water. We stopped again in Vlora for the night, the water was a lot nicer here and the beach only had a small amount of rubbish on it, although it was rocky not sandy. We had been seeing heaps of meat being roasted on a spit since we hit Croatia but had yet to try some so we sampled the local restaurant's selection (actually there was no selection, it was lamb, lamb or lamb!). It was good, but NZ does it better! The next day we had about ...

... stones throw away. We could literally see it across the water, yet it wasn't quite close enough. The first ferry of the morning didn't leave for another 2-3 hours, so we sat around grumpily and waited, struggling to keep our eyes open. We finally made it onto the ferry. I think we both slept through the hour and a half ride that got us to the greek island of corfu around 11am local time. Greece was 1 hour ahead. But our day was still not over. Having been awake ...

... shutter-clicking. I've just got tonight in Tirana and then I catch a bus to Struga, just across the Macedonian border in the morning. The ticket only cost me 10 Euros, which isn't too shabby for a three-hour, international bus. In Struga I then have to change for a connecting bus to Ohrid, the biggest tourist hub in the whole of Macedonia, sitting smack on the eastern edge of the ancient Lake Ohrid. With a couple nights there, I should be able to ...

... 000 (2003 estimate). The city of Durrës is home to Albania's newest public university, the Aleksander Moisiu University. Name In the past few decades, the Albanian name of the city, Durrës (Durrësi), has gradually replaced the widespread use of the Italian name Durazzo. The city has been known by many other names in different languages due to its varied colorful ...

Today we visited Durrës (Durezzo) on the Adriatic coast with a Californian named Kev. It was 28 degrees out and sunny. The city didn't have that much to offer, but it was Albania's capital once, and an important Roman town, back in the day. We made a quick visit to the Archeological museum. It had a fair selection of items, all the same as hundreds that I have seen elsewhere. As we left, a group of Albanian school children came in for a visit ...

... we liked it, despite Tirana being Europe's most polluted capital in 2004 and a complete inability to communicate. So, why does nobody else in the region like it, and why does nobody come here?? The mayor of the city is an artist too, so many buildings are gaily painted, giving what would otherwise be a grey, dull city a nice colourful air. The national hero, Skenderbeg, whose statue stands in the middle of the main square, would surely approve.

... it. In five minutes we had seen all the town. We took the obligatory photos and had dinner. Then it happened. The locals all came out, dresses in their finest. This was passagiato Albanian style. Not as good as the Italians, but I did see some idiot dressed up like John Travolta !!!!! And that was Albania. Short and sweet. Don't think I would ever return as I can think of better places to go. But we had to leave as we have to get to Istanbul as we need to get some Iranian visas