Arrival, and first day in Athens

We arrived in Athens and took the subway to the Syntagma Square and walked to the hotel from the subway station, about 5 minutes. The hotel is supposed to be on a pedestrial footpath, and it is, but there's still some traffic! Of course, why would it be another way! The hotel had been full the night before and our rooms were not ready so early in the day, so we left our bags and went to get some food. We found some delicious bourek right near the hotel and sat down to eat and get our bearings. We're getting pretty tired, and of course didn't get much sleep last night, but after eating we walked around Athens and found some ruins of Roman Agora. We bought a ticket package and walked around the Agora. It's fascinating, and the pictures don't even capture the half of it. We did a fair amount of walking in the area of the ruins, and saw the Acropolis from between some buildings, quite an incredible site.



We went back to the hotel and checked into our rooms and washed a bit and rested. I had picked up some free booklets in the hotel lobby on things to do in Athens and they turned out to be helpful. We looked up some of the museums we wanted to see and checked the hours. We decided that after getting a little lunch we'd head over to the museum of Byzantine and Christian Museum:

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/greece/athens/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154654609395



The web page at this url:

http://www.skyscraperlife.com/classical-architecture/1335-byzantine-christian-museum-athens.html



has some great pictures of the museum, both inside and out. There were various marble pieces, including some headstones, some floor mosaics, and many other things to see, including the thing I found most fascinating, icons painted on wood, which had been painted over, some several times. Some of the woden icons also had images had images on both sides and they were suspended in a frame rather than hung on a wall.



There was also a doorway to a church with 2 icons painted on the sides. No church, just the doorway. It's amazing that much of the painting on it has still survived.



After the museum we rested a while at the hotel again and went back out to walk around. We had a little dinner at a place that had live music. I've posted a little film of the musicians at the restaurant. After dinner, we used our second wind to walk all the way up to the acrocopolis. It's beautifully it at night and several others were also walking around.

The trip from Corfu to Athens

OK, so this morning we had the first major screw up of the trip. We went to bed late last night and left a message with the front desk to give us each a wake up call at 4:45. The room was beautiful and I had a great, brief sleep before the alarm rang at 3:45am. Or so I thought. I got up anyway and showered and packed then sat down to write a letter. At what I thought was 5:10 the front desk called, saying that he was sorry to bother me but he knew we had a 7:10 flight and it was now 6:10. "Yes, we have a 7:10 flight, but it's only 5:10". "No, it's 6:10" he said, there is a one hour time difference between Albania and Greece". I asked if he could call us a cab, which he did, and I phoned James' room to tell him what happened. The cab came right away and it was only 10 minutes to the airport, and no traffic at that time of the morning, so we were fine once we got to the airport. I'm so glad that when we had asked about taxis to the airport the night before James had brought the ticket down. The hotel clerk remembered the ticket and noticed that we hadn't shown up in the lobby, so he phoned. We owe him in a big way.

The flight to Athens was on Olympic Airways and was great. We got in on time and took the subway to Syntagma Square where our hotel was. Since the hotel had been full and we were early we left our bags and went out to explore the neighborhood and eat some breakfast. We had pita and coffee for breakfast, a dream come true.

We spend the rest of the day seeing some ruins and walking around town. We ate a little dinner at a place that had live music. I took a little video which we'll try to upload tomorrow.

We have CNN in the hotel room and I watched the news in the evening, trying to figure out what's going on with the financial situation. I had bought an International Herald Tribune earlier in the day and we sat at a cafe and had coffee and ice cream and read about the disaster back home. Most of the people we have met here want Obama and i sure hope they send their good vibes our way.

em

The trip from Saranda to Corfu

This morning we got up early to make a call to my mom in the states. I had e-mailed her last night to say that I would call early in the morning in Albania, around 10:00 pm her time. James and I left the hotel to go to a pay phone to use the calling card I had purchased and the hotel manager ran after us to ask if anything was wrong. We explained that we were just going to a pay phone to make a call to the US and he told us to use his cell phone. I tried to decline but he insisted and in the end we used his cell to each say hi to my mom.

After this we packed and went over to where the ferry leaves because we had heard there was some problem with customs in Greece. The info turned out to be a false alarm and we returned to have breakfast and pack for the walk to the pier. We bought the tickets for the ferry and had our passports stamped and boarded for the 1 1/2 hour trip across the Ionian to Corfu. I took several pictures of the journey, which was beautiful and relaxing.

We had not bought enough Euros in Albania to pay for a cab and figured we'd just hit an ATM near the port. Well, to the contrary, there wasn't an ATM for miles and we wound up walking about 4 km to the hotel, schlepping our luggage all the way. In the end it was an adventure and we went through some beautiful areas of the island.

After a wonderful meal at the Black Cat Restaurant we walked along the shore to the end of the paved path in one direction, and then back in the other direction. We did some shopping in the old bazaar and then headed back to the hotel to use the only WiFi connection we have found so far on this trip.

Oh, I forgot about a funny thing that happened on the way to the hotel after we got off the boat. We stopped every once in a while to ask someone if we were going the right way. At one point James babysat the luggage and I walked up a little hill to ask at a travel agency. Since I still had my heavy backpack on I grabbed a pipe coming out of the concrete wall to give me some support as I climbed the hill. Who would have guessed that the pipe came right out and shot water all over the place, soaking both me and the street! I forged on to the travel agent and she gave me information I wanted. I said, "By the way, this pipe came out of the wall and water is shooting all over the place." "Really?" she said. At this point I'm soaked, with little pieces of concrete all over me. How could she possibly have doubted? Anyway, she came outside and checked for herself and said she would make a call to shut off the water. It was hilarious, and I had a hard time not laughing right there in front of her.

It's been an eventful and adventurous day. This video is from the ferry ride to Corfu from Saranda. It's taken at about 1 hour into a 90 minute trip.
em

Second Day in Saranda and trip to Butrint

Day two in Saranda started out with a breakfast in the hotel and then a trip to the ruins at Butrint. We were supposed to have a guided tour but the guide didn't show up so the manager of the hotel walked us to the bus stop. The bus cost about $1.00 each way (100 Lek) and I was glad we had this experience. There were some old men at the bus stop who made sure we got on the right bus, and once on the bus they turned out to be very funny. They were drunk and yelling from once part of the bus to another. Why they didn't just sit together and not have to yell is yet another mystery. They weren't bothersome, it was just funny.

As on all the other buses, people got on and off along the way, often at places seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally there was someone there to meet them at the stop.

The ruins in Butrint are amazing. We were allowed to walk all over, even on the ruins (!) and it was beautiful and peaceful. There area has an amazing history and they are still digging for more and more ancient buildings. We spent several hours there and once in a while would come upon a tour which we would join for a while to pick up information about the site.

We then waited for the bus back, and when we returned to the hotel there was a phone call from a client of James who was on a cruise and docked in Saranda for a few hours. They came ashore and we met with them for a while and even showed them our discovery of the archaeological synagogue site. They're great folks and we walked with them along the water until we got back to where they boarded the boat. While there we inquired about the boat to Corfu for the morning. We were told it would leave at 10:30 and that we should be a bit early, so this will give us a little time in the morning before taking off. We had a wonderful time walking around in Saranda and it's beautiful and relaxing city. The hotel, the people, and the food was great and we were truly happy we had made this stop.

em

Our arrial in Saranda

We arrived in Saranda about 11:00 am and walked the few blocks to the hotel, which was gorgeous. Saranda is on the Ionian Sea and is basically a resort town. Since the resort season is over we were able to get this hotel for a great rate, and I don't think there were too many people staying there. The folks at this hotel could not have been nicer. What a change from Gjirokaster. We asked about laundry and they said to leave it with them. When we got it back and went to pay they said it was courtesy of the hotel. When our guide for the trip to Butrint didn't show up the proprietor volunteered to drive us (we declined and took the bus). He even let me make a phone call to my mother in the states and refused my calling card. The people in this town were just as friendly as the rest of Albania (minus Gjirokaster) and we had a great 2 days.

After we checked in we walked through the town to see the sites and go get some lunch. On the way to the strip by the water we came upon the archeological dig of an old Synagogue. We took some pictures of the site and even watched them uncover and wash one section of the mosaic. We took the hotel and the archeological dig as good omens, and indeed we were right, we had a great time. For lunch we stopped at a pizzeria (piceri, in Albanian) and talked with the chef an owner, who it turns out is from France and has been in Saranda 3 months. The food was great and afterward we walked along the water for several miles and found a place where I could put my feet in the water. Saranda beaches are rocky, the sand starts at the water line, but even once you're into the water it's still rocky. I found some beautiful rocks and will bring them back to the states. There are some that are black and white and truly beautiful and like nothing else I've even found at a beach. We waited on the beach for sunset and took some wonderful photographs. The sun setting over the Ionian is a sight to behold.

We looked for a place for dinner that would have something for James and also a salad for me. We happend upon a restaurant that had very different cuisine than we had experienced so far. One of the customers helped us order from the menu (did I mention how great the people are? That is, when they're not behind the wheel of a car). James got a lamb goulash and I a salad. It turned out that people we talked to on the way out explained to us that this restaurant specialized in the food of Kosovo. It was wonderful find. Later, back at the hotel I had a Tirana beer and watched some of the soccer tournament.

Saranda-good
e

examples of traffic

Please re check the posting of September 14 as I've added some video of the traffic.

em and JC

The ride from Korce to Gjirokaster

Today we got up early and took the bus from Korce to Gjirokaster. The bus leaves at 6:00am and the depot, if you want to call it that, was right around the corner from the hotel. We left the hotel around 5:15am just to be sure we were at the stop on time and on line, since there is only one bus a day that makes this trip. We waited at the little cafe at the station and i got a cup of coffee. The cafe opens early to serve not only the bus drivers who eat there before the work day starts, but also travellers from the surrounding villages who may have already been on the road for an hour just to get to Korce. There was already stew prepared at 5:30 and many folks ate.

The ride from Korce to Gjirokaster is about 6 hours and 15 minutes, goes through mountain roads and has some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. The top three photos in this entry are taken from this ride. The scenery was stunning and every turn seemed to have a more beautiful view than the last. The road went up the side of mountains for at least the first 2 hours and I was surprised to see how much agriculture there was in these parts. We don't usually think of mountains as having fertile farm land, but it sure seemed to here. There were many fields of corn and other crops, and there were a lot of fields that were being prepared for winter crop. The reseeding was done by hand and in fact I saw very few pieces of farm equipment aside from one or two tractors and a few horses. This goes for the whole time I've been in Albania.

Along this mountain route there were people who boarded and departed the bus, often being picked up on the side of the highway and dropped off in the same manner. I wondered where they would go after being dropped off at the side of the highway, and watching out the back window I saw people slowly head down windy mountain paths to a village in the distance, often a distance that seemed like many more miles by foot. The people here are tough.

We arrived in Gjirokaster a little after noon and took a taxi to the hotel, which turned out to be only a few blocks away. The hotel room was small but immaculate, although there was some confusion about our registration and the taxi driver tried to charge us 5000 lek for the ride, which is about 54 US dollars. We kept saying, "yo, yo" (no,no) and finally he acted like there had been some kind of misunderstanding and settled for 500 Lek, a more reasonable price. This was an omen of things to come.

Since we had skipped breakfast we headed out right away to find food. The pizzaria we went to first didn't seem clean so we went up the street to a restaurant that I'm pretty sure was run by Turks. We had a great meal and this is the only time I've seen rice on a menu since we arrived. After lunch we went to explore the city since we would only be there 24 hours max. Gjirokaster is built right into the mountains and most of the houses are made of slate and stone, and even the streets are laid stone. The architecture is really unusual, even in Albania there is nothing else like it. It's the birthplace of Ismail Kadare, an author I really like, and also of the dictator who terrorized the population for 50 years, Enver Hoxha. It turns out that there is an old section of the city and a new section. Our accomodations were in the new section so we climbed street after street to get to the old section.

On the way to the old section we saw a butcher putting a lamb on a spit. When we passed he said something to me I couldn't hear. As I walked away I heard the work "puta" loud and clear. I walked back and asked him if he had called me a whore. He asked me how much money I had (?) and something else I could undersand. I walked away, but entertained visions of him on the skewer.

We found a tourist office and asked directions to the castle at the top of the city. To get there we went up a steep road that had no sidewalk and NO RAILING! I'm not kidding, and have the pictures to prove it. No kidding, if you stepped one step too many to get out of the way of a car you'd go off a cliff.

We made it to the castle and spent almost 2 hours walking around. It was fascinating and even saw the section of the castle that had been used as a garrison and later as a prison under Hoxha.

Back on the crazy road we tried to find the old Orthodox church. We would never have found it without continually asking along the way, since it turns out it's tucked between houses. We finally got there and it was worth the search. The church (Saint Sotir) was closed, but we walked around the grounds and took pictures.

We also ran into a young couple from Germany and talked with then about their time in Albania so far. They noticed my Obama button and said they wanted Obama to win also. We told them we would definately vote, but they should keep their fingers crossed anyway.

We walked around a little more and at various points we could here little kids behind us saying "hello" in kind of a mocking voice. When we would turn around they acted like they had't said anything.

Later we stopped for a fast dinner of bourek and we could hear someone in the joint saying something about speaking in English. There was pro Hoxha grafitti on several walls and even a swastika. Walking around at night there were young men darting constantly across the street and an active police presence. The traffic was crazy and the energy frightening and we decided to leave first thing in the morning. We caught the minibus to Saranda at 9:30 am and couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Gjirokaster-bad.


This film is short, but taken from the castle high above Gjirokaster. You can see from the flags how hard the wind is blowing.

em





This film is from the inside of the castle. The castle is huge and there's no way to really capture it on film. In this clip you can see some of the weapons used during the Second World War.

Last full day in Korce

This is the last day in Korce and we had arranged with a relative we'd met the day before to drive us to Proger, the hometown of James' grandfather. At the last minute the cousin couldn't make it so Vaska arranged for us to go by cab. The driver was also from the Vlach community, but I could not figure out if he was a relative. Anyway, he is a cab driver for a living and drove us to Proger, which is a village about 30 minutes out of Korce proper. When we got there the driver asked around for the family and we were directed to a street where we knocked on the door of a fence. Someone came out and said that he was a family member. Since we were looking for the family burial area he got in the cab to show us. He took us to the grave sites so we could take some photographs and then we went back to their family house for guess what? Rikia. This liquer was also home made and had to be 100 proof. The cab driver came in with us and even had a toast, although he turned down the second round so he could drive. This sriking started at 11:00am, but luckily we left after about 1/2 hour so we were only mildly smashed. This stuff as strong!

We got back to Korce proper and paid the driver, about $30.00 altogether and he was a real sport to come in and meet the family, and even have a toast. Hw helped us communicate since that family only spoke Albanian.

Back in town we spent the rest of the day walking around taking pictures, and toward the end of the day found the cultural center, where we saw and art exhibit and listed to a band practice. Korce is a beautiful city and I could have spent a lot more time there. It's beautiful and the people are great. The photos for this day are of the family, the cemetery, and a little more of the town of Korce.
em

First full day in Korce-continued

It was amazing that these relatives knew all about the family in the states. Relatives along the way had kept them posted and even sent pictures. I didn't know about this and was very shocked. They all speak a lot of languages (but not English) and have gotten the best education they were able to. They lived through two wars and the dictatorship of Hohxa but have managed to survive with good spirit intact. We stayed quite late into the evening and then our cousin Vasca walked us back to the hotel. On the way we met another relative in the street and Vasca introduced us to him. It was an amazing day. I've posted a few more pictures of this day, since it was so incredible. By the end of the day I was exausted from all the new information, trying to speak in Italian all day, and the fact that we had been toasting with 90 proof liquer for 8 hours. Whew.
em

The first full day in Korce

The morning of our first full day in Korce we had to decide how we would spend our little time here. We decided to call a relative whose number we had been given by James' dad, my cousin Tom. We also had a money gift for them from the states, so we made the call from the hotel, but the cousin who answered didn't speak English. We had the idea to go back to the tourist center and ask someone there to make the call and she was more than glad (and still smoking!). We wrote down the information of who we were and that we had a gift for them. She called and spoke with the family and they said they'd be right over to meet us at the hotel. Our cousin Vasili (Vasca) came for us and took us in a cab to their house. On the way the cab driver stopped so we could take some pictures, since our cousins home is high up and the view is incredible. We got to the house and met some other family who was there waiting for us. This part of the family is quite elderly and doesn't speak English (although they each spoke several other languages) so I spoke mostly in Italian, since neither James or I speak Albanian or Arumun (also called Romaneshti).

I had brought a copy of my grandparents marriage certificate since they were married in Korce and the family loved seeing it. They, of course, were not alive when this marriage took place in 1907, but loved seeing the "dokument" and in the end I left it with them since I have other copies back in Oakland. I had made a list of the last names of relatives in the states and was asking if there were still people from those family groups still in Korce. The answer to most of my inquiries was "yes", and some folks from those families even showed up to meet us when they heard we were in town and asking about them. I have more family in town than I knew and everyone was glad to see us. We ate and ate and of course everything had to be toasted to with Raki, or Rikia, (pr. Ree KEE ah) as we say in our language. Every newly arriving family member had to toast us with the Rikia, which is homemade by Vaska. It's got to be 90 proof, at least, and I have to say it's the best Rikia I've ever had, and I've had plenty since it's the official toasting drink of people from this area (it's kind of like Grappa or Schlivavitz). La Multi Ani (long life) and Sanitati (health) all around and toasts, toasts, toasts. Good thing we were also eating or we would have had to be scraped off the floor. Let me just add that the toasting began at 11:30am.

There was a funny moment after the first toast. There was a plastic water bottle on the table and when we drained the first drink, Vaska filled our glasses from the bottle. We were glad that there was finally some water, but it turned out the water jug was were he stored the Rikia!

OK, the cafe is closing now so I'll finish this post the next time I can get on the net.

em

This is a video of our Shpira relatives recording a message to our family in the United States, especially to my cousin Tom (James' father). Tom gave us their phone number and phoned them in Albania in advance to let them know we were coming. We had spent the entire day with them and this video was made just prior to our leaving. We were the first members of the family to visit Albania in their lifetime, more than 80 years, which is the reason they are so emotional. They are speaking in the Arumun language (sometimes called Arumani, or Romaneshti). I thought they might be hesitant to speak into the little Flip video camera, but they were naturals!

The rest of the ride, Tirana to Korce

During the ride in the mini-bus from Korce to Tirana, we went through some small towns where a few of the passengers got off. By the time we got to Korce there were 4 of us left. The ride took us past some of Lake Ohrid and it looked beautiful, even on a rainy day.

By the time we got into town the rain had let up a bit and we paid the driver 1000 lek each (about $12.00) and asked him to point in the direction of our hotel. We had the hotel name but not the address, and it wouldn't have mattered since there aren't many street signs. The way Korce is laid out, there are a few major streets and then many, many what we would refer to in English as alleys. Down these alleys are not only residences, but also shops and restaurants. It would be a major undertaking to name all these alleys and give the buildings numbers. A lot of times people give us directions by saying, "go up to that building and then ask someone else from there". We have managed to get around just fine. So, when we had gone a few blocks we asked again and someone pointed right to the hotel.

We checked in then walked around a bit to see the area and take advantage of the break in the rain. We found a little tourist info center and stopped in to see if there was a map and get additional information. The info center was tiny, maybe 10x12, and inside all three people were smoking. In addition to the crazy traffic there is the ever present smell of cigarette smoke. There are "no smoking" signs everywhere in Albania and they're meaningless. At one point while we were walking the air in the street actually smelled like cigarette smoke! As James joked once, people are practically striking the match on the No Smoking sign.

This aside, the folks in the tourist center were great. We bought a little book on Korce which contained a map of the main streets and had points of interest noted. The tourist agent also recommended two good restaurants and we tried the first one for dinner that night. She gave us the name, but of course no address, so we kept asking from corner to corner, and when we got near the last person we asked walked us down the alley and up to the restaurant. We would never have found this on our own, since aside from being down a remote alley it was also below ground. We went in and were enchanted.

The room was small but could probably seat about 30 people. It was beautifully decorated and I took pictures plus some video which I'll post back in the states, since the internet connection here is too poor to transmit something like video. We took pictures of all the food and the waiter really enjoyed our enthusiasm. We even took a picture of him. The food at this restaurant, Taverna Vasili, was fantastic, and the best meal we've had in Albania, aside from the home cooked meal with family in Tirana. Korce gets most of it's food from the surrounding villages, including the cheeses, and you can tell. The tomatoes, cucumbers and apples are especially good, but all the white cheeses are also local and delicious.

That evening we stumbled on this internet cafe, so we posted on line and checked e-mail then called it a night.

The pictures I'm including with this post are of Korce and the fabulous restaurant.

the ride from Tirana to Korce

This morning we got up, had some breakfast and took a cab to the place where we were told to get the mini-bus to Korce. It was pouring rain and came down even heavier as we were getting ready to catch the mini-bus, which is like an 8 seater van. There were 7 of us plus the driver. The rain was coming down heavy and we were grateful that our driver was cautious. The roads were mountainous and windy and a less careful driver would have been courting a real disaster. About 1/2 hour into the trip there was a bad odor and the driver pulled over. He got out of the driver's seat and we could see an open flame on the floor of the van, which he put out with his foot. He checked something under the hood, Spoke a few sentences with someone in the van, and then we started up again. I was a bit concerned about this, but in the end the van held up. The trip is about 5 hours, but for the last 25-30k the highway was completely torn up. We swerved to avoid not only ruts, but places where the road was gone. This plus the rain made the trip pretty tense, but every driver on the road was dealing with the same thing. I can't imagine what it did to the driver's car. There were times when the ride was so bumpy you could not stay in the seat, and of course there were no seatbelts. From what we could see through the rainy window the scenery was beautiful, but the view was made difficult with the rain. The piture is of the ruddy roads and a shot from the mini-bus window.

The internet cafe is closing now so I'll finish this tomorrow

last full day in Tirana-visit with family

We got back to the hotel a little before noon, the time scheduled to meet with the family, Yolanda and her husband, daughter, and grandson first, for lunch. They were a little late picking us up because of traffic (big shock!), but we piled in the car and were at their flat in about 20 minutes. It was amazing to see Yolanda's daughter, Ankela, not only navigate the traffic but talk on her cell phone, talking over her shoulder to us in English, all at the same time.

Yolanda's apartment is absolutely beautiful! She works at the art museum in Tirana and has many artist friends who have provided her with beautiful oil paintings for the apartment. We all talked for a while, with Tony and Ankela translating, and then sat down for a beautiful lunch, way more food than we could ever eat, she even make spinach and cheese bourek (pita) for us because she knew we liked it. There was baked okra and baked potatoes, cauliflower and carrot salad, marinated eggplant, green squash in yogurt sauce. Also some sliced beef, with desert of fresh figs, green melon, and pastry similar to rum babas, called another name in Albanian, which I now forget. Also, wine, beer, raki, coke, water and coffee. The food was sensational, by far the best meal we've had so far. They are wonderful company and we talked about everything from travel to music, literature and theatre. Ankela is a television producer, working for the public station and producing documentaries about Albanian youth. She was even nominated for an American Emmy award, but was not able to travel to LA since it was right after September 11. It would have been her first and only trip to the US, so we have to figure a way to get here here for a visit soon.

After lunch Ankela dropped James, Tony, Yolanda and I downtown so we could go to the museum of modern art, but it turned out to be closed for renovation.

We walked around town some more and Tony and Yolanda pointed out various things to us. Yolanda seems to know everyone and we stopped many times so she could say hello to people on the street. She was even waving to people in cars, sometimes seconds before they swerved away from hitting us. Did I mention the traffic is horrid?

We walked next to cousin Eleni's house, who we met the day before and who is the mother of the twins. Eleni was there with the girls Sara and Livia (the translators) and Eleni's husband Jsuf, who we were meeting or the first time. We walked in to a living room covered in original art and drinks and snacks set out in the Albanian tradition. As soon as we sat down Eleni said to James, "Your other aunts are here to meet you", and out they come from their hiding place in the kitchen to make a surprise entrance. They are Angjelina and Eftiqia, who are the cousins of James' grandmother. They know James' grandmother but of course they have never met James. We had some great conversation, and Eleni had made a chart of how everyone was related. Then, ding dong, more cousins show up, Keti, Pati and their mom, plus pati's baby son. It was a full house and the noise level from the conversation was off the chart, with the kids translating for anyone who didn't speak enough English or Albanian. The younger folks were all pretty english fluent, but the older group only spoke Albanian. Gradually prople started to leave and then Eleni and her family and we spoke for a while to end the evening. They wanted to know who we supported in the upcoming election and were thrilled that we were Obama supporters, as are they.

At the end of the evening they walked us back to the hotel, it was around 10:30pm. We had a great time. Eleni is a make up artist for TV, and her husband a phys ed teacher. Keti is a TV journalist, so the conversation was really interesting. In true Macedonian fashion, I'm now their cousin also, even thought I'm related to James on his father's side. They send me away with blessings for my mother and the hopes that I come back soon. They also gave us some CD's of traditional music, and a painting for James and handcrochet doily for me. It was such a great evening. The posted pictures are from both get togethers

our last full day in Tirana

This was our last full day in Tirana and I feel much more at home. We found out yesterday that a light breakfast is included with our hotel room, so we had some food and set out to get our last taste of the city before meeting with James' family at noon. The breakfast was small but tasty, with brewed coffee, bread, cheese, yogurt, and some sweet pastry. Left the hotel about 8:45am and tried to find the post office so I could mail a card to a friend. We wet to a place with a sign that said "postal", but it turned out not to be the post office. We never did figure out what was going on, but there were folks outside with typewriters and customers sitting in front of them. The tiny place was packed, and even though we didn't know what was going on, people there figured out quickly that we were looking the P.O. and tried to direct us.


We went down a winding alley that had coffee shops, a funeral home, bakery, bookstore and a million other little places, including residences. The lane was narrow, but cars still wove their way through, sometimes one in each direction. There were also vegetable stands, but no Post Office and then the alley ended and we were back on the street we started on, about 1/2 block down! After asking more people on the street, we were pointed in the direction of the P.O. While we got close, we didn't see anything. We asked a woman in Skanderberg square and she took both our hands, helped us cross the street, and walked us all the way to the Post Office. Along the way she used her 10 works of English to tell us her daughter has lived in Michigan for 3 years now and is pregnant. I mailed the letter and we went on to try to find the University of Tirana, which I wanted to see, even if just a bit of the campus. We walked and took many pictures along the way. When we finally got to the University, it turned out to be Mother Teresa University, a polytechnic school. We walked through a the Arts Institute next door also and took some pictures.

It started to rain again and was getting late, so we hoofed it back to the hotel to prepare to meet with James' family.

I'll write another entry about our family visit the next time I get some internet access.

em

Our second day in Tirana

Our second day in Tirana started with incredible thunderstorms during the night. One crack of thunder was so strong I thought something had hit the hotel, and the rain was so heavy the sound drowned out the Muslim call to prayer at 5:00am (for an early bird like me being near a mosque is the perfect alarm clock, 5:00am on the dot!)

The rain let up a bit in the morning and we headed out. Before we left the hotel James made a call to relatives in Tirana (relatives of his mom, I'm on his father's side, this is a small fact of little relevance in Macedonian families). We were told ahead of time that his cousin's daughter speaks english and that she would be with them, so we set the time for them to meet us at the hotel (3pm) and then headed out the door to do battle with the traffic. If you think even for one second that I'm kidding about the traffic, hold that thought, I have film to prove it.

We went to the Archeologcal museum and started in the room with the Ilyrian finds and then went through time up til the era when Hoxha died and the economic collapse started. The material in the museum was fascinating, but the first thing that struck us were the conditions. There was no climate control of any kind and it was sweltering. Some of the descriptive lables were stuck right on the artifacts, and the lables were a mismash of languages, sometimes Albanian and French, sometimes Italian, sometimes English, and often the description was not much of anything at all. Some things were completely unlabled. The museum smelled of cigarette smoke and we actually saw a few of the employees smoking right on the museum floor. One room with postage stamps didn't have any lights except what was coming in the window. Make note, I said light from the window. (!) Still, we learned a tremendous amount, especially about the persecution of people during the socialist (or communist, depending on who you ask) era, and obviously the museum staff had done the best they could with VERY limited resources. We copied the names of people we wanted to read more about. We walked around a bit more outside and then headed back to the hotel to meet the relatives.

James' cousin came with I think 6 other family members including her grandson Tony and his twin cousins Livia and Sarah (ages 12 and 11, I think) and the kids translated for the adults, who spoke limited or no English. The kids spoke wonderful English and weren't afraid to dive right in, even when they were not sure about vocabulary. They also felt fine about asking us how to say things. Tony also speaks Italian, and he and I spoke in Italian when he couldn't think of the English words. The picture of the three kids is at top of this entry. We visited for about 2 hours and made plans for the next day, which would include lunch at one cousins house and dinner at another. The family was great, and we pretty much took over the little hotel bar. The bartender said to me later, " for tourists you sure know a lot of people!".

The rain had let up a bit and we went out to see more sights and have some dinner. We went to a restaurant called "Era" which had been recommended by the bookseller we had met the night before in the bookstore. The food was great and we were later told by others that most of the cooks at the restaurant were from Korca. We walked around for almost 3 hours. The area where the restaurant was is completely different from the area of our hotel. Parts of it reminded me of Queens, NY, and other parts had a bit of a Greenwich Village feel. An interesting thing was that there seemed to be no theatre, at least that we could find, and no live music, not in bars or clubs, and we didn't even notice anyplace where folks could go to dance.

Because of the rain the internet connection at the hotel was on and off for about a day and a half so we weren't able to check e-mail or write too much on the blogs.

We got back to the hotel about 11:00pm, and even though the bar was closed we sat at a table, downloaded the pitures to the computer, and talked about what we would do tomorrow
em

Here are some examples of the traffic

This video was taken in Skanderbeg Square, Tirana. It starts innocently enough, but keep on watching. By the way, there are no lines in the road.
em and JC

first day in Tirana

Today we started off the morning with some coffee in the hotel and then went onto the street in Tirana to look around before starting on our tour. We found a vendor with a little shop selling bourek and pispilita. We bought a slice of each and shared. It was delicious.

Back at the hotel we met our guide for the day, Agim, and headed off for the city of Kruja, about 1/2 hour from Tirana. The city is in the mountains and the road there wound around and around. Once in the city we saw the historical museum and learned a little about Skanderberg, who is an Albanian national hero. You can read more about him at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skanderbeg


The town is set in the mountains and the view from there was spectacular, even on a smoggy day. Between Kruja and Tirana are limestone quarries and the major cement factory. Those two industries plus the auto traffic make for a lot of air pollution. It contributed to the smog and I found it a bit hard to breath, but still the view was fantastic. On the way we went through what's called lower Kruja and I snapped some pictures, note the shots of the man carrying freshly slaughtered chickens through the street.

It seems like so far in Albania, not only is the traffic crazy but so are the pedestrians. I had read ahead of time about the crazy drivers, but it's so much worse than I expected! Even when there are sidewalks people still walk in the street next to parked cars. On the highway between Kruja and Tirana people actually crossed the highway in the middle and jumped over concrete medians 3 feet high. I'm told that a lot of people die this way, but it doesn't seem to stop people from doing it. Part of the problem is that there are really no safe places to cross the street, and highways now divide what used to be fairly rural areas. In order for people to safely get across the main road they would have to walk for a mile or more, and then back the other way to get where they're going. There was not much thought given to this when the roads were built and traffic got heavier. In the city it's as bad as the newly developing areas. Even when James and I would walk to a crosswalk with a traffic signal, it still was a dangerous crossing.

From Kruja we went with the guide to Durres, on the coast. It's a very old city and the second largest in Albania. Durres is on the Adriatic, and we got to put our hands in the water and walk on the sand, which is like powder. It's the finest beach sand in Albania, although the area has built up in the past 5-7 years and the beach has become crowded and a bit littered, with huge hotels and housing along the beachfront.

In addition to the beach we went to the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre and church, discovered in the 1960s by some kids playing in the area. Some of the ruins have been excavated, the rest is halted by lack of funds and houses that sit over the area of the ruins. The ruins were fascinating, and it's amazing to think that centuries of people walked over it, not knowing it was there. Check out the pictures of the area, which I'll post with the blog. I also am posting some video of the ruins which shows how close to the surrounding houses the dig is.

From Durres it took about 45 minutes to get back to Tirana, and I rested for a while, then we went back outside to look around.

We attended vespers at an Albanian orthodox church and the chanting was some of the best I've ever heard. It was very humid in Tirana and the temperature in the church was unbearable, even the priest was having trouble. Once outside we walked past the Catholic church where services were just over for the evening and we peeked inside to see the church.

Continuing down the street we came upon a mosque, prayer still in progress. James peeked in but I did not, since the women were praying behind a curtain beyond our view and I didn't want to be a presence on the men's side.

We went to a wonderful bookstore (see photos) where I bought a map of Tirana and a local english language newspaper and we spoke with one of the clerks, who had lived for many years in Clearwater, FL. The selection in the bookstore was fantastic, the political science section in particular was very well chosen. I took a picture with the clerks.

Then over to the opera house to see if there was anything we could see during our short stay, but the season doesn't start until October.

We tried to negotiate the traffic in the square, and I guess we succeeded, since we're still alive, but it was hair raising. I bought a pair of light hiking boots for the trip, who would have guessed I would need them for the sidewalks, often broken up and at one point made of loose stones.

While crossing the street to go to a restaurant, James said to me, "let's cross here, just try not to step in any big holes", and really, no kidding. There are big holes that lead to who knows what right in the middle of the sidewalks. We laugh about it now, but it wasn't so funny where we were trying to navigate with very little light from the streetlamps. Brackman, thanks so much for the flashlight, which we used not only to see the sidewalk, but also to signal to cars that were were crossing the street. We had a late dinner at a seafood and pizza place, the pizza was very good with a nice thin crust. By the time we were back on the street, we had become seasoned pedestrians, walking on the wrong side of the street between traffic and parked cars, navigating with the best of them.

We had some ice cream from a street vendor and I talked with a money changer about the exchange rate, what the figures meant. Even thought he didn't speak much English we were able to get our points across, and he even brought the stock exchange up on his cell phone so I could see the terms in English. It turns out that what I thought was the "today" and "yesterday" figures were actually the sell and buy rates. I changed a little bit of money there and then we headed back to the hotel.

Every encounter we have had with the Albanian people has been positive, and people are friendly and helpful. A lot of folks speak at least a little English, and I met a security guard who wanted to speak for a few minutes to practice his English with a native speaker, even if it was only for a few sentences. I'm amazed at how many people speak a little German, and although rusty, I was able to communicate a bit, and of course a lot or people speak Italian.

We sat in the little hotel bar and I had a "Tirana" beer while we downloaded our photos to the computer, then off to bed.

We did a lot on our first day and were not only tired by the end, but still a bit jet lagged.
I'll post the pictures soon.