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Hello all
Well Albania has been an interesting time - a real mix of good and 'bad' - it's been fun to experience such a different country again. As with my previous blog, the driving is particularly crazy - the main rules of the road appear to be :
1. Drive whilst on the telephone at all times. You can also smoke, eat or hold a baby on the drivers lap in addition to being on the phone - hands on the steering wheel are an option but not a necessity.
2. Hoot, toot, honk your horn at every opportunity - there is no rhyme or reason to it, just do it - we have been joining in with this !
3. If the weather is stormy, or raining heavily, increase your speed or maintain your usual crazing driving. Make no concession for the weather at all and continue to make additional lanes in roads, undercut other drivers and jump the traffic lights.
4. Indicators have no purpose. If you decide to stop, just stop - particularly if you are on a 2 lane highway and you suddenly need to buy something. Just stop - no need for any other driver to have advance notice and this includes random stopping in the middle of the roundabout.
So, you can see the fun we have had ! James spends most of the journey saying 'oh my god' at the condition of the roads and 'Jesus Christ' every time someone pulls out on us (we think the Golf has an 'invisible car' super power)
Anyway, Tirana was good - despite the fact it rained most days - we went to a museum and up the mountain in a cable car and yesterday we came south to Berat which is very pretty with lots of Ottoman style houses up the hillside, a snow topped mountain backdrop and a big castle complex on the top of a hill - which people still live in as a little village.
Food has been 'fun' in Albania, we have struggled to find restaurants and have eaten only pizza or kebabs for the last few days. Last night after walking for about an hour we found a half decent looking restaurant and went in - ooooh the menu has 'roast lamb meat' (as most of you know, my absolute fav) so we both ordered it. The waitress suggested a salad which seemed odd but we agreed to share a salad. So, we tried to ask her what the lamb came with but there was no common ground in our lack of Albanian and her lack of English . . . and out came a plate of lamb. Yes, just some lamb - complete with all the bones, on a piece of lettuce and with a slice of lemon ??!! At least the salad was nice - it's good for the diet plan though !
Hope I've cheered up your Monday !
xxxx
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