Today I was leaving Tirana for a day trip to the coastal city of Durres. Initially this was to be my next overnight stay. A travel buddy was going to join me for the next few days and had logistics problems of getting to Tirana and then to Durres to catch up with me so I agreed to stay one extra night in Tirana to meet him.Leaving the Muzeu Historik I made my way back to the Sheshi Karl Topia roundabout to get a furgon (minibus) to Durres. Being 30-45mins away de...

Returning home from Kruje I went walking looking for the Parliament which I didnt see yesterday to space things out. Perpendicular to Skanderbeg Square is a pedestrian zone not mentioned on wikitravel.Here they had beer and food vendors more reminiscent of Oktoberfest which I'd just left behind in Munich. They were grilling fresh meats and this district seemed more alive then the 'hip' street mentioned in wikitravel.This was part of a revitalization zone paid for...

Today I was taking a day trip to Kruje about an hour north of Tirana. Kruje is famous as the seat of Skanderbeg who led a revolt against the Ottomans and gave Albanians the first sense of a national identity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skanderbe gAsking for directions in the hotel the girl said she has never been, she would have to take a day off work, she will have to stay overnight, she doesnt have the money. I wondered, why such a big deal, its only an hour...

This Sunday afternoon having arrived in Tirana I was going to do a walking tour of the sights in the centre. Where the street with my hotel meets Skanderbeg Square is the city Mosque. I thought it would just be another Mosque but I was amazed by the detailed artwork.This incorporates the Balkan tradition of intricate hand painted artwork. This is not common to Mosques except a few in the Balkans.The outer walls had city illustrations. At first I thought Istanbul ...

This morning I was leaving Macedonia and travelling across the border to Albania. Trying to find online information about how the make the crossing was problematic. Yesterday I had been able to buy a ticket for today from the nearby town of Struga 12 km away.As I left my hotel early on Sunday morning the church bells were ringing across Ohrid. I had left the guesthouse at 730 to leave plenty of time to get to Struga for the 930am bus.I walked back to the main str...