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Day 3: Little India and a lot of walking
Sometimes I really suck at this travelling thing. Those who’ve travelled with me will know that I can be prone to indecision when it comes to picking a place to eat, so that a small hunger pang can often be a tired and hangry by the time I do find somewhere that’s just right. And I’m only marginally picky: I usually want somewhere that isn’t a chain or franchise, is serving a local cuisine, and looks like it won’t give me some sort of internal upset. This morning I ended up walking way too far, got way too hangry, and missed breakfast entirely. I did discover a bunch of interesting…
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Big tour Day 17: I’m in Tirana, still / luggage sweep
Today I’m spending the day partaking in the national pastime. I’m sitting in a street cafe, drinking espresso and water, watching the world pass by. I’m actually writing blog posts and postcards, so am probably over doing it by local standards, but what o you expect from a tourist? Brunch was byrek and an icecream, chocolate i think, all for 80 leke. Here the icecreams come in a cone with a plastic shovel/spoon. they are cooling and refreshing, but a little lacking on flavour, i’m yet to find a reallly strong flavour but will try some of the more fruity ones before I go. Ah, all good things come to…
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Big tour Day 16: Tirana, Kruje, Stuttgart
I’m beginning this entry up a mountain, in a place called kruje, drinking Sprite and waiting for my pizza con prosciutto e funghi. I guess it’s as big a tourist trap that Albania sets; castle ruins, views, pizzerias, souvenir stalls run by friendly, pushy locals. I could be wrong, but again these seem like folks whose friendship extends as far as my wallet. I did have one guy offer me accommodation in his house, and possibly his daughter too, for all i know. I’m getting better at the language and must have all of about 6 words down pat by now. There’s my air conditioned hotel room in Tirana waiting…
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Say it slowly tour Day 14: Tirana, there is no such place
For dinner i went looking for Serenata, recommended by the Lonely Planet. I ended up with Pizza. To cut a long story short, it goes like this: stray cats, stray dogs, long walk, confusing map, wrong turns, wrong side steets, asking for directions, “It is closed”. Then find pizza.
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Say it slowly tour Day 13: Pristina and Tirana, italian efficiency, and no luggage
Was briefly reunited with my luggage at Pristina Airport, long enough to carry it over to the departures terminal to queue for my flight to Tirana. Belle Air are an efficient Italian company, i.e nothing like an efficient German company. The checking desk was a shambles, but at leastm the didn’t charge me for the extra couple of kilos. Had to run to customs, then skipped to the queue for my flight. Showed boarding pass, was then hustled into an outside greenhouse area (it was around 30 in Pristina today) with the other passengers to sweat some. The plane sat about 100 metres off on the tarmac, but would they…
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Say it slowly tour Day 8: Edinburgh, Irn Bru and defying gravity
Woke up feeling better that I probably should have, but maybe it’s one of those things: whisky drunk in Edinburgh during the festival doesn’t give hangovers. it’s a theory anyway. Head a little fuzzy, but nothing that a full breakfast and Irn Bru at the Whiski Bar on the Royal Mile couldn’t fix. Full breakfast wasn’t really full, no black or white pudding, but the bacon was perfect. Admired the whisky menu, too. Then I went off and climbed the Scott monument, all 270 steps or whatever. Rankin calls it a gothic phallic symbol, or something similar. It’s a fair description. Having climbed the Wallace monument, built around the same…
