We've been punting the last two days as to what to do so today was just checking out different things in the area because we're on deck for our flight early in the morning tomorrow. Dan had trouble sleeping, so he spent some time doing a little research about what we could do: Shkoder Castle, Ottoman Mesi Bridge, Bunk'Art and maybe a cable car up a mountain. We wanted to do a hike that looked fun, but our rental wasn't allowed to drive on the road (and we were told that there was a GPS tracker on our car so they would know). But that first order of business was getting Dan an affogado which he was very excited about.
Mother Teresa was Albanian and lived in Shkoder for a while.
Dan was very excited to get an affogado in the morning. The place opened at 7:30 and we were there at 7:29.
According to Dan, next level affogado
That is one very happy man.
I think an affogado is just a fancy way to say "I'll have gelato for breakfast."
The streets of Shkoder are super interesting and very different depending on what time of day you are walking on them. In the morning, they were very quiet except for people biking to their destinations. We also walked past what looked sort of like a farmers market type area along the streets where farmers came to sell their fruit, veggies, animals, milk and other kinds of produce. When we returned to our hotel, there was quite the spread for breakfast.
Bikes are a major form of transportation in Shkoder.
The streets of Shkoder are so quiet in the morning.
A sort of farmers market was set up in the morning on this street.
Chickens, zucchini, milk, etc.
This might be sheep's milk.
Here's a photo of the castle we were going to check out. But, parking got complicated, so this is about as close as we got before we decided that we were really were not interested in seeing the castle.
After the failed attempt to see Rozafa Castle, we headed to the Mesi Bridge which was built in the mid 1700s. The plan was to check out the bridge and swim in the crystal clear water of the river that flows below it (based on what Dan read). Unfortunately, there wasn't really any water flowing - it was just kind of stagnant. The water was very clear though so we walked down to check it out for potential dipping. The plan was abandoned quickly when we saw 2 snakes in the water, one of which was quite large. Not all was lost because we got to see cool architecture and a cute puppy.
You can see that the water isn't really "flowing."
Me shortly after we had seen 2 snakes in the water.
A cute puppy. There are lots of stay dogs in Albania.
The stray dogs are so sweet looking and they are very friendly. Most of them have a tag on their ear which means they have been picked up by the city to be vaccinated and spayed or neutered.
A yummy sufllaqe "fast food" place - typical Albanian street food that consists of marinated grilled meat, fries, tomato, lettuce, onion and tzatziki all wrapped in a pita.
These yummy sufllaqes were $2.30 each.
Our next stop was Bunk'Art. Dan had researched this, so I had no idea what we were getting into (I don't think Dan did either). It turned out to be a really interesting massive old nuclear bunker that has been turned into a museum. With almost 3000 sq metres of space underground spread over several floors, the bunker was built for Albania's political elite in the 1970s and remained a secret for much of its existence. Now it hosts exhibits that combine the modern history of Albania with pieces of contemporary art. When we arrived, we walked through a long tunnel just to get to the entrance. Once we were inside, we wandered through the rooms which were intended for the communist elite. It detailed the history of Albania beginning with the 1939 Italian invasion and ended with the overthrow of communism. We learned a ton and it was nice and cool inside the bunker.
Walking through a very long tunnel just to get to the entrance of Bunk'Art.
Lots of doors in the bunker for extra security.
All of the doorways were low - kind of Kara sized.
Part of room for the dictator, Enver Hoxha
Solders marching through the snow with their skis.
Old letters, photos, uniforms, etc.
This is a display about the escape of 30 Americans from the Nazis with the help of an Albanian hero.
Many books are written about the escape of the Americans.
A display of a typical store during the years of communism.
Check out how thick this door is.
There are figs and fig trees everywhere.
Another great guesthouse - this one even had fluffy towels. We did not have a guesthouse that cost more than $60 the entire trip and they all included breakfast.
Our guesthouse in Kruja.
For our final dinner in Albania, we went up the the castle again in Kruja to eat at a farm to table restaurant. Before we ate, we strolled through the bazaar - such an interesting cultural experience.
The streets of the Kruja bazaar.
Carved pieces from olive trees.
An Albanian woman weaving a rug.
The castle where we had dinner.
Making our way to the castle for dinner.
This farm to table food was some of the best food we had in Albania.
Last year, Dan bought a book about canyoning in Albania, so that's how we ended up deciding to go adventure there. I read about the beautiful mountains, but what tipped the scales in Albania's direction was what I read about the food - it's kind of a mix of Greek, Italian, Turkish, and more. And with a mountain range named the "Accursed Mountains", we kind of HAD to check it out. Before we left, we had to get our ducks in a row, including creating our "geriatric garden" (raised beds) and putting the plants in the garden, getting and training a puppy, packing a lot of gear, wrapping up things things at school for my work and putting together the master spreadsheet for our trip. And before we knew it, it was time to depart. It was a long travel day, but we finally made it to Dhermi, Albania. We said goodbye to our pups, Maya and James and then headed off to catch the Concord Coach with a quick stop to get the salads that we always get for flights at Market...
There was not time to be jet lagged because we had things to do today. The weather and wind cooperated, so we grabbed some breakfast at a bakery on the beach and then headed to meet the paragliding folks. Because, why not go paragliding on your 1st morning in Albania? Plus, today we got proof that Kara and Dan were on a beach during a vacation - unheard-of. Check out the color of that water - it really is that blue! A delicious breakfast from a bakery on the beach. A bakery on the beach The paragliding launch spot One of our pilots using some flagging tape at the end of a stick to figure out the wind - very high tech. Setting up the paragliders We did introductions with our pilots, set up the gear, waited for the right wind and figured out who would fly with whom - they divided up our weight, so I went with the bigger pilot named Guisne. I was told that all I had to do was run when I was told to run and then hold the camera. That sounded easy. So, I was excited, but not nerv...
Dan thought it was a good idea to do Benjes Canyon today despite the fact that it is a more technical canyon and very few people even do canyoning in Albania. So, I was a little anxious the night before thinking that we might die in a canyon in Albania. I am writing this blog now, so we obviously didn't die - yay. The morning started off well with a yummy breakfast in the garden of our guesthouse. Then we packed up our gear and headed off to find Benjes Canyon. We had to go several kilometers on a dirt road which would have made our rental car company very unhappy. We drove very carefully though. Breakfast in the garden of our guesthouse Our guesthouse There were even little pizza fritta - just like I learned how to make from my Italian mom and Nana We parked at a church that was tricky to drive to. The approach to the canyon was about an hour of hiking in the hot sun on a faint trail. It seems like we have spent a lot of time sweating since we have been in Albania. Eventually, we...
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