It's raining...like really raining. And I was silly enough to think that the rain would not touch me on this adventure - no rain gear and no rain cover for le bag. So as I decide what I will do next (move on to the beach or wait it out here), I'll share a little update:
Sept 1 and 2 - Tirana, Albania: I wrote about this intriguing city a bit already last time, but the next morning I went for a long run along the river and through a park which was incredible. I've had this on and off tradition (i.e. did I remember to pack my running shoes or not??) while traveling to go on an early morning run in a town I'm visiting. Why you might ask? The morning gives a new perspective to the city before the hustle and bustle of the day begins and I can cover more ground if I am running. Plus it is an excuse for me to exercise and I don't have as many people staring at me. In especially "touristy" towns, this morning run is great because it gets me out before the tourist groups hit the town. However, over the past few years, I have been traveling to places that lack the tourist groups (fine by me), but the morning is still my favorite time. You see the women sweeping the streets and the early risers on their way to work (walking, biking, scootering, mopeding, busing, driving). You see the little old ladies shuffling their way to their street corner to set up shop (usually selling fruits and veggies). If you are lucky and in a Muslim area, you can hear the morning call to prayer. Plus the light in the morning is unmatchable.
In Tirana, the soviet style buildings have been spruced up with a paint job - and not just a brown, but pinks, greens, oranges, blues, reds, purples, turquoise - all done in a variety of designs (now would be a great time to show a picture...hmmm...still no camera cord). The women dress way up and so do the men - hair gel is very big in this country and so are weekly haircuts. Berber (Barber) shops are on every corner to assist with this and car washing stations help keep the REALLY nice cars clean and sparkly. When I say nice car, I really mean it - BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, etc - if it is black with chrome and leather, someone here is driving it. And the common entrepreneurial venture is to open your very own road side stand. They can be commercial or private (i.e. 2 kids with a bucket and a hose). This is a first among my travels and I'm curious to see if it is only here in Albania. The other thing that is new are the roasted corn stands - people will throw together a grill and set up shop anywhere to roast corn. It smells fabulous, but the taste and texture leave something to be desired. It certainly isn't the sweet corn of America, but a heartier corn (that probably requires a few hours of boiling to soften up).
Sept 2 - Kruja, Albania...eventually: A trip wouldn't be a trip without getting horridly lost on the way somewhere to do something. But thankfully, the people I have met in Albania have been incredibly kind and welcoming - plus I've met a few that spoke some English (even though most people know Italian very well...Tina I could use your help out here!!). I had heard of a small town with a castle just north of the capital and decided to trek on out there and "buzz" on back to leave Tirana (all in one day). I got off the city bus to look for the Kruja bus and couldn't find it. So I wandered near a mini-bus and was asked my final destination (I'm really only assuming what he asked me). When I said Kruja, he told me to hop on (again...assuming) - so I did. And here the adventure begins. They weren't going to Kruja (a city perched on a hill), but to a city even further north than Kruja. So after working up the courage to ask someone, I realized my mistake and was told by a fellow passenger that it'd be better if I went with them to the end of this trip and then caught a ride to Kruja on the way back. Needless to say the 45 min trip there turned into a 2.5 hour trip, including meeting a family of 7 kids that helped me find a guy who used to work in England and was going to Kruja. I went...walked around for an hour at the castle and the streets of souvenirs and caught the bus back to Tirana.
This adventure to Kruja makes me realize that it really isn't what you are seeing that makes a trip (unless you are going to see the David in Firenze), but it what happens along the way and who you meet. I have met some amazing people along this trip and had I done the traditional route where you catch the buses you mean to catch and quickly get to where you need to go (boring), I wouldn't have met them. Through these experiences, I learn more about the culture, the way people interact, the history of the people, the less formal traditions they do everyday, and the society as a whole. If I didn't wander around occasionally in the towns I was visiting, I wouldn't see these aspects of the people. I welcome these minor speed bumps along the way and hope the more will come my way (maybe not all at once though).
Sept 3 - and finally...Berat, Albania: After an unsuccessful attempt the night before and another night in Tirana, I found the bus to Berat and made the journey to this city that was newly stamped as a UNESCO town. Though part of traveling is being in a city and experiencing that place, another part (an essential part) is traveling place to place the way the locals do. This bus ride was reminiscent of the rides I used to have in Ukraine - long, rural roads (= potholes), too fast on narrow streets, and stopping at the unmarked bus stops along the road. The drivers here honk...ALL THE TIME. Sometimes it is because they are angry, but most of the time it is just to inform other people on the road (pedestrians or cars...or horses and children), that they are coming and it would be in the other person's best interest to MOVE. I didn't understand this on my first day, but the more I drive around, the more I am thankful that someone else is driving me and I don't have to navigate this place alone.
The driver knew where to drop me off and I found the hostel easily (thanks to really good directions). This town was marked as a UNESCO heritage site because of the historical part of the town. The main road follows a river and along either side of the river extend two large hills. On one side, the traditional Christian area is surrounded by a large stone wall and has many ruins of churches inside. The roads are all marble cobblestone and there are a few fun towers to climb. Since lunch hour is from 1pm - 4pm, I missed out on some of the museums, but the walk around the area gave me plenty of time to snap 100s of pictures - mostly of doorways and alleys. Trash is everywhere and it is sometimes hard to swallow - a picturesque place with candy wrappers, broken beer bottles and plastic bags flying about - but it comes with the territory (well this territory at least). After spending a couple hours on the hill, I made my way down the hill (carefully...marble is slippery!), and walked around town at the bottom of the hill. One of many mosques sits right next to the Orthodox church, serving as an example of Albania's complex history. The streets were fairly quite on my walk through the town - this could have been the hour (still before lunch ended at 4pm), the day (it was friday and people leave work early), or the rain (well, more like sprinkles, but still). I wandered and walked for sometime before I got tired of walking and getting stared at by the groups of men that sit everywhere. It is something I'm still not used to - groups of men sit everywhere and do...nothing (or at least that is what it looks like from an outsider perspective). At all of the bars and cafes, men will sit and drink coffee or beer and sit and watch, talk and commiserate. I've only seen groups of women a few times, and usually they are mothers and daughters or women with small children. I haven't worked up the courage to go to a cafe by myself and sit (I haven't seen it done by other women), but this phenomena is one of those ever so subtle reminders that I am in fact, female.
The rain hasn't stopped, but the beach is calling my name. We'll see if I make it that far....
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