Neon Green Mosques

Yesterday at the crack of dawn I boarded a bus for Shkodra, Albania, just over the border. I had to pay 10 euro at the border crossing and got a passport stamp from Albania....on the Endorsements page of my passport.

Shkodra has a fortress that I wandered up to for the views, having left my bag at the city's 5 star hotel. It was really not developed for toursits; I climbed down into a secret passage way but I didn't go further than the sunlight could reach.


I was amused by the above bar's decorations (see next post on evil eye) and by the below version of a roundabout/rotary.




Then I went to Tirana. I really like this city. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Boston. It's the same size, population-wise. It's a cultural center. It's got parks and a river that crosses through it (albeit a much smaller river). I love Skanderbeg square as well. The only unpleasant aspects of my stay have been the man jerking off by the river and the street named for George W. Bush.



The mosaic on the front of the national museum features Albanian heroes from throughout history, and I like that women appear prominently.

Albania's reputation is completely wrong. People think it's dangerous, full of theives, etc. But the people are really helpful and friendly. Food and transportation are really cheap, but accomodation isn't. The Albanian Byrek that I had today during my visit to the port city of Durres was full of a very good cheese. There are German flags all over the place for some reason. There are frequent power and water outages at the hostel and in the city (and the wide streets are even more of an adventure when the traffic lights go out). I'm amused by the random assortment of english-language music I hear everywhere.

My favorite part about Albania, and Tirana especially, is the architecture. There has been tons of development recently, and there is a lot of construction around. There are all these great modern buildings with wild colors on them. And old communist-era buildings have been spiced up with lots of color as well. It's one of the things I've most enjoyed and gives a great atmosphere to the city.

(There's a Hundertwasserhaus in Tirana?)





Last night I went to a club with several other hostelers, including a British guy who is about to start a hostel in Berat (a little south of Tirana). The social interactions were interesting to watch, but I was mostly amused by the random music. At one point it went from a Greece song to Bon Jovi to a country song to a 80s poppy song to a Latin song to a rap song. They also dip the stems of the Coronas in salt, which is a little gross.

Today I went on a day trip to Durres, Albania's main port, and took the train back.Gas is expensive everywhere, but really expensive at this chain!