Drinking coffee with the Albanians

In Albania, many people asked my why I chose to go there, simple, I hadn't been there before!

After a cold overnight ferry journey from Bari, on a ferry with no more than about twenty people I arrived early morning in Durres, a port in Albania. First observation of Albanian life is that it seemed no one had a job and everyone sat around drinking coffee all day. There were lots and lots of cafes and all had plenty of customers inside and out on the pavements, all drinking coffee. So first thing I did was join in. Durres is nothing to write home errr, a blog entry about, other than it's fine, friendly and the people helpful. The seafront is a bit of a mess and does nothing to encourage people to the sea view tourist restaurants and hotels that have and still are being constructed there. The remains of an amphitheatre are ok, the old Byzantine city walls are worth a quick glance and there are plenty of places to drink coffee and eat doner, souvlaki, hotdogs or hamburgers . Worth mentioning is the amazing guesthouse, Tuschenis, which I, after roaming lost, was guided to by a friendly old lady. The house used to be home to the embassies of Italy and Austria and pictures of famous people, museum like furniture and mementos from around the world made it an interesting place to stay, and the lovely owners Josef and Alma were kind and helpful and made a decent Albanian breakfast.


After some hard work finding the right place to pick up a mini-bus, (every destination has its own bus stop in Durres) I took a trip to Kruje, perched on the hillside with castle, museums, old bazaar and good views. It was a decent day out. The kind and friendly Albanian hospitality shone through when trying to find a connecting mini-bus at the junction of Fushe-Kruje, I was guided to the right bus by a friendly lady who insisted I took the best seat left as she crammed herself onto the edge of another and then paid for my trip as we alighted! There was no arguing, she just would not let me pay. I lunched in a hillside cafe, surrounded by begging cats, dying to taste my yogurt and spaghetti napoli. Back in Durres, I found a bar showing Champions League football and had a fine doner kebap complete with fries inside, something I haven't had since Central Asia, yummy..

During my first few days here, I became aware of two more things about Albania. Firstly, they get regular power cuts, apparently controlled and with the intention of saving power, by switching off for around three hours a day, randomly, at any time, sometimes more than once a day. The result is a peaceful walk along a street can turn into a bit of an ear bending experience when all the businesses' generators kick in. Secondly, it's very useful to learn the words for yes and no (I learnt too late), because head movements are confusing and do not indicate what you think they do. From Durres, I went to the capital, Tirane.....