Italia 2023 (and Albania). Day 12 - Durrës and Tirana

Like magic I went to sleep in Bari and I woke up an hour before we touched port in Durrës (or Durazzo in Italian). Once again I felt the thrill of being in a new country with a completely unknown language, and after passing the gauntlet of the many offers for a taxi ride I crossed the bridge and found myself at the "bus station" (a parking lot with an assorted cluster of buses from every make and color, clearly bought second hand from Spain, Germany, and other EU countries). I stopped at the first travel agency I saw and learnt that no, there were no tours in offer at Durrës, but if I followed the street to the left I could walk into downtown of this small city. A nice lively place where at 9 am there was already a good number of men reading the newspaper on the outdoor cafes, and well-dressed women buying trays of assorted baclava delicacies (perhaps a tradition for New Year?). 

Durrës was also an important port in antiquity, so it has remnants of a Roman amphitheater and a byzantine market place, and a small fort from the time the Serene Republic of Venice ruled the Adriatic. Outside these old remains of times past the city looks relatively modern.

After a long walk along the seaside promenade I found my way back to the "bus station" where I took a bus for Tirana. I believe that bus is the main venue of travel within the country, because it is cheap and because Albania has no railway system! Shocking, isn't it? The ride to Tirana was pretty, as we crossed over small mountain ranges formed by folded sedimentary rocks. I imagine that these ranges are but the fold-and-thrust belt of the Balkan Ranges, which are kissing cousins of the Alps and the Carpathian Mountains.

It was a sunny mid-day when we reached Tirana, which is a very pretty city in a modern kind of way. Lots of trees and parks, wide clean avenues, modern skyscrapers, and lots of people walking around (today is Sunday December 31, so the end of the year spirit pervades the air). The only issue is that the Tirana "bus station" is out on the outskirts and not close to downtown, so I had to take a taxi to get close to my B&B. This is going to be an issue for me because, as I said before, the bus seems to be the main mode of transport to move within Albania, but I will cross that bridge tomorrow. Today I very much enjoyed walking through the city, people watching and ogling the handcrafts in display at the street markets. I had to do a double take at a shop with one of those large rotisseries where in addition to the normal spit with golden brown chickens there was a spit with delicious-looking sheep heads. Seems I am not the only one who enjoys such delicacy. 

There is a street, Rruga Mine Peza, where there is an unusual concentration of travel agencies, and I walked there in the hope that one of the outfits would be offering day excursions out of Tirana and into the mountains. Alas, I was disappointed that I found none. The many travel agencies will arrange for you to visit Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, or Disneyland for what seem impossibly low prices, but none seems to be particularly interested on taking you around the country. I think I am going to have to create my own itinerary by simply taking the regular bus (of whatever color or brand it might be) first to the south to the city of Sarandë tomorrow, and then north to the laketown of Skhodër the day after tomorrow, from where I will move farther north to Croatia. Disappointing not being able to see more of this country.

Let me finish today's entry by wishing you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. May 2024 bring good fortune to us all!