Leaving Ourselves Behind

If you’re a betting type, you might want to put your spare investment cash into a pied-a-terre in Albania. It is pretty much guaranteed to increase in value. As one of our recent hotel hosts said to us, “Albania is changing by the day.”

This image of old versus new is Albania in 2023 – playing catch-up after so many years of isolation, poverty and deprivation.

When we first began to read about Albania, we were as intrigued by the promise of crystal seas to rival Greece, magnificent scenery, and rock-bottom hotel room rates as we were by the visiting a country that until 1992 was closed to the rest of the world. After 40 years of a repressive communist regime under Enver Hoxha that forbade travel, religious practice and ownership of private property, Albania has had a long and difficult struggle to find economic stability and equal footing with the rest of the Balkans.

An application to join the EU is in the works (albeit several years from now), and many of the Albanians who fled their country to Italy and Greece after the collapse of communism are beginning to make their way home again. Although wages are still low in Albania, opportunity exists here for young people who want to get in on the ground floor and build their future in their own country.

So, with little more to go on that a half-dozen travel blogs all extolling the virtues of Albania, we took the leap and began planning (amid a number of bemused reactions of “Al-bane-ya???). With more than a little trepidation, we stepped off the ferry from Corfu into the seaside town of Saranda and made our way to our hotel.

Neither Saranda nor our hotel possess the same cosmopolitan old-world charm of Corfu. Streets are a little grubby, buildings a little care-worn, tourists and locals a little less polished. Our highly-rated hotel ($55 a night, including a lavish breakfast) could have been a set piece for a 60s Eastern European movie. Dark red drapes, velvet divans, polished floors, shelves filled with tiny china figurines, and tables filled with tiny Albanian men smoking and drinking coffees. Our host could not do enough for us – his welcome was almost alarmingly effusive. We were marched over to a leopard-print sofa, given water and coffee and within minutes whisked up to our room, with him carrying both our backpacks. Breakfast the next day was hilarious. Coffee, orange juice, bread, jam, butter, honey, donuts, cake, watermelon, pears, grapes, omelette, ham, cheese, tomatoes, – plate after plate arrived. Every time we arrived back in the hotel we were greeted with “water, water” ( two more bottles in hand), and on our last day there, while waiting to leave for the bus, he galloped over to us with more water and two packaged cakes for the road.

This type of hospitality and generosity is typical. You might have a hard time getting an Albanian to smile right way, but once they have decided you’re okay, you’re like family. We have been given a pomegranate from a lady in a coffee shop, generous glasses of raki in restaurants, and overall, felt tremendous warmth and welcome.

We were only in Saranda for two nights; a launching pad for our travels. The town itself is not exactly pretty, but the setting is lovely; a crescent beach ringed with a beautiful promenade.

Although there is a lot of boat traffic in this harbour, including the ferries, the water is surprisingly clean and clear. We spent our last afternoon on the public beach – the water was heavenly. After watching several young-uns diving, somersaulting and cannonballing off the concrete diving stairs, Stephen was not to be outdone. I was one second too soon in snapping my shot – I wanted to get him mid-air.

We went to Lekshuri Castle for the view from its command post at the top of the hill overlooking the town. The castle was built in 1537 during the Ottoman period and although there is not that much to look at today, it does have a stunning view, as well as a restaurant marketed for its sunset vistas. We took a 15-minute cab ride up (at the inflated tourist price of almost $15), and walked back down.

The castle.

And…one of Albania’s famous bunkers. There are reputed to be between 150,000 and 200,000 bunkers, installed during Hoxha’s regime as protection for the citizens from potential attack. I’m so severely claustrophobic I would rather face a firing squad that climb into one of these things, that manage to look somewhat comical and sinister at the same time.

Saranda climbs up the hill from the waterfront and there are several pretty access points along the way.

While the majority of buildings in Saranda are of the concrete-block variety, here are also several lovely hotels and apartment buildings with a more European design.

We grabbed a bus from Saranda to Tirana, Albania’s capital city, to picked up our rental car and begin our travels. Since we arrived in Tirana late afternoon, we stayed the night at a hotel near the bus station and met up with the charming Lorenzo. He is just 26 years old and typical of his generation – born in Italy to Albanian parents, returned to Albania three years ago to buy and run a hotel, and he has a lot of hope for his country’s future. He speaks English well, but wants to have a flawless command of the language. He drove us to the airport the next day to pick up our car, and chatted the whole way.

We are learning a lot – we discovered while buying our Sim Card from a delightful young man that mentioning Enver Hoxha is a no-no – the fear is still there and much like discussing Pinochet in Chile – there is a long shadow cast and you never know to whom you are speaking.

Humour is a strong Albanian trait, and self-deprecating at that. Our server in Saranda, the incredibly self-possessed 12-year-old Suella brought us a half-litre of wine that was filled to the brim, and when we commented on the quantity, she just shrugged and said, “You know. Albanians.”

So, now – on to our rental car story. When we arrived at the desk, a very charming and apologetic young man told us that the car reserved for us had no rear licence plate. “Maybe it fell off?”, but assured us that the police had been notified and if we were stopped we would just phone the rental office and they would straighten it out. Well, this arrangement was not going to work – us at the mercy of the Albanian police, so Plan B produced a much better alternative – this fancy little Fiat Doble.

I think I have mentioned before that I don’t drive standard. I did years ago, but haven’t driven in years and years, so Stephen did all the driving in South America, and now here.

Driving in Albania requires every minute of your attention. Years ago, the roads were in very poor condition, but now all the main highways are just fine. But the terrain is hilly, streets are narrow and it is fair to say that a percentage of Albanian drivers are terrible – speedy, aggressive, impatient and quite unaffected by rules of the road. Stephen has done an epic job so far of being calm and defensive and I have tried to control myself when we are being honked at for stopping longer than 10 seconds – it’s nothing personal.
Parking is a challenge, but there are creative solutions when double-parking just won’t work.

From Tirana we drove south to Vlora, a small city on the coast and the oldest settlement in Albania. We’re staying at a sweet hotel near the beach ($60 a night plus breakfast), and once again, we were the recipients of an almost overwhelming welcome from the restaurant down the street.

He grabbed our hands as we entered, asked our names, where we’re from, (Ca-na-da)with a big smile and ushered us over to a table, where he immediately brought us two glasses of raki. He then told us what to order and made the rounds, patting everyone on the back. We could have all been extended family. As it turns out, we were Canadian, American, British and German and the British couple were here to finish off final details of their housebuild down the road. They see Albania as having a bright future and they want to be part of it.

Stephen follows the International Space Station as it hurtles around the globe at five miles a second. As it turned out, it was passing us by at 7:20 last night and before we knew it, we were all on our feet watching its progress. Everyone was so excited and engaged – these are the moments I live for when travelling.

Vlora is also a mix of old and new, with years to go yet before it really changes. There has been lot put into the 5-km. promenade along the seafront. It is a delight to walk along, stop for food or drinks and see and be seen.

Vlora’s Old Town is a curiosity. It was recently renovated and cleaned up, but it only consists of a few blocks. I wonder why the rest of the city is concrete and just these few streets have some design features. Still, very interesting to walk around and stop for a cafe freddo.

Just down the street from Old Town.

Albania has a long history of being invaded. This very important Independence Monument signifies the triumph of 1912, led by Albania’s first Prime Minister and leader of the independence movement Ismail Qemadi.

A majority of Albanians are Muslim, but religion of any denomination is not actively practiced here. This beautiful Muradie Mosque, built in 1537, still holds service and visitors are allowed to enter, if they remove shoes and are properly attired.

We also visited the Zvernec Monastery, which holds St. Mary’s Church, located on a tiny island in the middle of a lagoon, and reached by a boardwalk.

St. Mary’s Church.

And…one more castle – Kanine Castle, reached by driving up a precipitous paved road, followed by a precipitous gravel path to the parking lot.
On the way we passed this gentleman and his donkey, carrying a load in the hot sun up a nearly vertical slope.

We did our own vertical climb to the castle, which has seen many different rulers from Byzantine to Serbian to Ottoman. It now stands in all its crumbling glory for anyone willing to make the trek.

Phew! And there you have it – our first impressions of this fascinating, slightly mysterious country. For following along this far, I say, ” FALEMINDERIT” – thank you!

I hope to learn a few Albanian words while we are here, and I’m using mnemonics to to help.
I have three words – fallow-men-dairy – and they more or less say thank you in Albanian.

Tomorrow we drive down the coast along the Llongara Pass, billed as one of the world’s most scenic drives, making our way to Ksamil for a few days of beach time. See you again with more Albanian adventures.