Vila Park Hotel Tirana

... 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!).

... was in turmoil most of the time, so much so that just a few years back, the people had robbed all the military depots in their neighborhoods and took all the weapons. So today its people is very well armed (NRA must love it), and a lot of them got rich by selling what they had to their kinsmen in Kosovo when there was arm conflict there. <br><br>I arrived at the capital, Tirana, in the afternoon and immediately knew that I would leave the next day. The city is ugly and has nothing to offer ...

... s where a lot of their revenue comes from. I tried to sleep through it but found myself being prodded by a group of Albanians about my age. "Hey man, come off bus". Conceding that I wasn't going to get any peace from them unless I did, I got off and instantly had about twenty cigarette packets thrust in my direction- which is basically the universal Balkan language for "hello". After eventually convincing half the buses passengers that I ...

... Od granicy do najblizszego miasteczka w Albanii bylo 6km. Przez jakis czas szlismy z pewnym Belgiem, ktory byl bardzo podeksytowany faktem, ze przeszedl do "trzeciego swiata" i wlasciwie tylko dlatego znalazl sie w Albanii. Skrecil jednak do najblizszego pubu; mial wrocic jeszcze tego samego dnia do Ohrydu, by pochwalic sie znajomym, czego "dokonal"... Uszlismy juz spory kawal, gdy zatrzymal sie pierwszy samochod na pustej drodze i zawiozl nas do ...

... alleyway I concluded that it was time to admit my failings and seek the help of the most foreign looking person I could find, hoping for the best that it wasn't a local, but that if it did happen to be a local that they would be to speak English. My directional radar might have been on the blink but my ability to read people was spot on as the guy I stumped for was John, an American school teacher working in the city. Luckily for me John knew the whereabouts of the hostel and its route ...

... s college student who offered me to use her apartment but after I refused, showed me the way to a hotel. As my friend, you always challenge me to become a better person. When was the last time a stranger off the street has challenged you to be better? At least for me, it's rare. But in Albania, I am inspired by its people to be better on a daily basis

Albania was a struggle from start to finish. Granted, it was a communist country, but I just couldn't believe how difficult it was to get there from a city that was just an hour away in Montenegro! After spending hours online and researching the options, we learned that we basically had no options. There were no buses that crossed the border, and though the Albanian train website, which was looking quite fancy and accurate, showed a train that could get us into ...

... shopping. The air conditioned (ahh) restaurant had a huge menu- with English translations and I ended up getting 'risotto tres', which was a huge plate divided into 3 sections, with a saffron, seafood and vegetable risotto in each part. Was delicious! Great to catch up with the rest of the team too, lots of fun. We went to sleep that night with the constant entertainment of Tonin, his key phrases being 'I love beer. Beer ...

... have been able to sleep on my feet, I was that tired, had it not been for the excrutiating, wailing noise that passes for music in Albania that the driver insisted on playing at full volume through a speaker right next to my ear. Even worse, he only seemed to have five "songs", which were played on a continuous loop. I swear I must have reached some place of inner enlightenment on that journey; had I not, I would have ripped out the speaker and battered the driver to death ...

... were indeed expected by the monks and...were allowed to enter! Not only that but, we would be driven to the front door in the KFOR Vehicle! Cool! Into the back we hopped...accompanied by another Italian Soldier with a AK-47... Riding in a military vehicle to a UNESCO World Heritage Site Monastery...an armed escort to our home for the night...now that is something new! Felt like important dignitaries! And...the night just kept getting better! (See Part Two!) Paul