November 3-10, 2017
November 2017 was not an easy time for Andy (the degu), as his newly discovered teeth problems forced him to eat out of a syringe, a process which required at least three human hands to feed him. Since neither Zosia or I have three hands ourselves, we had to be there together to feed him (up to 5 times per day). But November is also the time for my annual "work trips to places I normally wouldn't visit," so I had to leave Z and Andy at home. Luckily our friends were super nice and literally lent a hand a couple times per day, for an entire week. Of course I was then obligated to bring back extra sweets.
Since I had the weekend to explore Albania, I wanted to hire a guide to take me outside of Tirana; to Berat, a 2400 year old city, and Durres, a town on the Adriatic Sea. It was actually hard to find a guide when you're alone, because online companies required paying for two people when booking it. Calling the tour companies worked better. Who knew that human interaction was actually an important concept? My new friend-for-hire Elio picked me up in the morning at the Rogner hotel in Tirana, and we were on our way.
My first lesson from Elio was regarding the name of the country. "Albania" isn't used by the locals anymore. They call it Shqipëri - or "land of eagles." I can see why they give us an easier word to use, because I have no idea how to pronounce their version.
It was a beautiful day for sightseeing, around 70 degrees and sunny, and Elio gave me some insight to Albanian history and culture. He started by saying that "everyone starts their day with coffee and a raki". I know that raki is a very strong (and sometimes nasty) alcohol, and started to worry once I realized it was early morning and Elio was driving me around the country. I wondered if he had started his day like this as well. He turned to me and gave me one of those "just kidding" smiles. At least I hope that's what it was.
He talked of corruption during the communist era dictatorship, the low morale but propaganda that told them they were the happiest country in the world, the suppression of religion, and the hungry and oppressed people. And then he casually mentioned that his grandpa was the dictator's chef. I thought he was joking at first, or that I misunderstood. After some awkward probing (verbal probing, that is), I realized I had heard correctly - his grandfather used to make sammies (or probably some other fancier food) for the long time head of Albania. He didn't actually refer to the dictator by name, which was interesting to me; maybe it was a sore subject. His family was well taken care of, he said, but his grandfather seemed to struggle with working for a man who many viewed as evil. But I guess when the dictator tells you to make him a grilled cheese sandwich, you do it.
I had learned so much, but we weren't even to our first destination. We finally reached Berat, which although is over 2 thousand years old, has an Ottoman feel to it due to their rule for several hundred years. The castle overlooking the city was inspiring, as were the stories about the codex (the 6th century biblical manuscript that was kept in a church there). Throughout history, bad guys like Hitler and other "collectors" wanted to find the codex, so priests went through great lengths to keep them safe and hidden. Gandalf asking Frodo if the ring was secret and safe came to mind.
After Berat we headed to Durres for a walk and some lunch. I couldn't see it, but the boot heel of Italy is just across the Adriatic Sea from Albania. There has been a lot of Italian influence in the country over the years, and a lot of Albanians speak Italian. I even remember eating at an Albanian pizza restaurant when I lived in NYC, not realizing why Albanians made pizza. Walking along the waterfront, we found a restaurant where we got fresh grilled fish, shrimp, wine, soup, sides and dessert for 10 euros each. I could get used to that.
As Elio swerved through traffic, he warned me about the bad drivers on the roads. Many drivers have bought their driver's license on the black market and never learned properly. Not Elio though, he claimed. And they all have nice cars. It seemed that every second car was a Mercedes, many of them new, which raised the question (to Elio too) of how everyone can afford them. He hinted at possible unsavory activity, but didn't go into more detail. He was happy and proud of his Opel.
While we were talking, he also convinced me to watch the movie "War Dogs" because a) it was an entertaining movie, but b) it showed a bit of the recent history about Albania's weapons and ammunition stockpiles. In short, there were literally tons of weapons and ammunition stored around the country which were received from Russia and China after WWII. This was sitting unused, and after some political unrest in the 1990's, a lot of it was looted and sold on the black market, while a significant amount sat in storage for decades. War Dogs showed how arms dealers were able to access some of this supply and make millions of dollars on it. As part of the deal to join NATO, Albania had to methodically destroy these reserves, but in 2008 there was a big accident when explosions at one of the storage facilities basically caused a massive fireworks show. Anyway, watch War Dogs. Good movie.
Back in Tirana I found a bar, Komitet, to try local raki. It was in the old communist style, with dozens of flavors of raki. I asked for something easy and got the honey cinnamon version. Yum! I was alone so decided I shouldn't drink too many more. Then I remembered what Elio said....
The next day, my work colleague Petr, from Brno, Czech Republic arrived, so one of our local hosts took us on some more sightseeing. Jonid is a nice guy with a family at home, but he somehow found time to spend his whole Sunday with us, taking us to Kruja. Kruja is a city in the mountains, and one of the first things I noticed were all of the towers built around the mountains, far into the distance. It reminded me of the towers in Lord of the Rings, when they light a fire in one of them to send a signal to another tower, who passes on the warning, which continues through a series of towers spanning distances farther than the eye can see. And that's exactly what they were for (in the old days, not now...they just use Twitter now).
Kruja is best known for being the center of Skanderbeg's revolution against the Ottomans in the 15th century, which turned him into a national hero. Initially part of the occupying Ottoman army, Skanderbeg led a years-long rebellion of Christians against the Turks. There have been rumors of a future Hollywood movie about him, but nothing confirmed as far as I can find.
After a bit more driving, we ended up at a restaurant called Rapsodia in Shengjin. Jonid recommended this place and it did not disappoint. It was a fancy 7 course meal, very slow food. Everything was artistically designed and based on some seafood. The Albanian red wine was terrific as well. I don't remember the final price, but it was definitely a small percentage of what it would cost in NYC or SF, and at the same quality. Back in Tirana a couple other recommended restaurants were Oda, a tiny traditional place where we went with all the bosses and squeezed elbows around a small table that resembled a family's living room, Otiom which had great service, and Ejona for nice lunch. In every place we went, the service was outstanding, with friendly and attentive servers. And great prices. Overall the quality of the service was worth the slight annoyance of having to pay cash in a lot of places: even in restaurants, shops, and the weekend tour. I'll just appreciate the country and the experience as one that far surpassed expectations.
November 2017 was not an easy time for Andy (the degu), as his newly discovered teeth problems forced him to eat out of a syringe, a process which required at least three human hands to feed him. Since neither Zosia or I have three hands ourselves, we had to be there together to feed him (up to 5 times per day). But November is also the time for my annual "work trips to places I normally wouldn't visit," so I had to leave Z and Andy at home. Luckily our friends were super nice and literally lent a hand a couple times per day, for an entire week. Of course I was then obligated to bring back extra sweets.
Sweet Andy. We miss him so much!
Since I had the weekend to explore Albania, I wanted to hire a guide to take me outside of Tirana; to Berat, a 2400 year old city, and Durres, a town on the Adriatic Sea. It was actually hard to find a guide when you're alone, because online companies required paying for two people when booking it. Calling the tour companies worked better. Who knew that human interaction was actually an important concept? My new friend-for-hire Elio picked me up in the morning at the Rogner hotel in Tirana, and we were on our way.
My first lesson from Elio was regarding the name of the country. "Albania" isn't used by the locals anymore. They call it Shqipëri - or "land of eagles." I can see why they give us an easier word to use, because I have no idea how to pronounce their version.
It was a beautiful day for sightseeing, around 70 degrees and sunny, and Elio gave me some insight to Albanian history and culture. He started by saying that "everyone starts their day with coffee and a raki". I know that raki is a very strong (and sometimes nasty) alcohol, and started to worry once I realized it was early morning and Elio was driving me around the country. I wondered if he had started his day like this as well. He turned to me and gave me one of those "just kidding" smiles. At least I hope that's what it was.
He talked of corruption during the communist era dictatorship, the low morale but propaganda that told them they were the happiest country in the world, the suppression of religion, and the hungry and oppressed people. And then he casually mentioned that his grandpa was the dictator's chef. I thought he was joking at first, or that I misunderstood. After some awkward probing (verbal probing, that is), I realized I had heard correctly - his grandfather used to make sammies (or probably some other fancier food) for the long time head of Albania. He didn't actually refer to the dictator by name, which was interesting to me; maybe it was a sore subject. His family was well taken care of, he said, but his grandfather seemed to struggle with working for a man who many viewed as evil. But I guess when the dictator tells you to make him a grilled cheese sandwich, you do it.
I had learned so much, but we weren't even to our first destination. We finally reached Berat, which although is over 2 thousand years old, has an Ottoman feel to it due to their rule for several hundred years. The castle overlooking the city was inspiring, as were the stories about the codex (the 6th century biblical manuscript that was kept in a church there). Throughout history, bad guys like Hitler and other "collectors" wanted to find the codex, so priests went through great lengths to keep them safe and hidden. Gandalf asking Frodo if the ring was secret and safe came to mind.
After Berat we headed to Durres for a walk and some lunch. I couldn't see it, but the boot heel of Italy is just across the Adriatic Sea from Albania. There has been a lot of Italian influence in the country over the years, and a lot of Albanians speak Italian. I even remember eating at an Albanian pizza restaurant when I lived in NYC, not realizing why Albanians made pizza. Walking along the waterfront, we found a restaurant where we got fresh grilled fish, shrimp, wine, soup, sides and dessert for 10 euros each. I could get used to that.
As Elio swerved through traffic, he warned me about the bad drivers on the roads. Many drivers have bought their driver's license on the black market and never learned properly. Not Elio though, he claimed. And they all have nice cars. It seemed that every second car was a Mercedes, many of them new, which raised the question (to Elio too) of how everyone can afford them. He hinted at possible unsavory activity, but didn't go into more detail. He was happy and proud of his Opel.
While we were talking, he also convinced me to watch the movie "War Dogs" because a) it was an entertaining movie, but b) it showed a bit of the recent history about Albania's weapons and ammunition stockpiles. In short, there were literally tons of weapons and ammunition stored around the country which were received from Russia and China after WWII. This was sitting unused, and after some political unrest in the 1990's, a lot of it was looted and sold on the black market, while a significant amount sat in storage for decades. War Dogs showed how arms dealers were able to access some of this supply and make millions of dollars on it. As part of the deal to join NATO, Albania had to methodically destroy these reserves, but in 2008 there was a big accident when explosions at one of the storage facilities basically caused a massive fireworks show. Anyway, watch War Dogs. Good movie.
Berat
Durres on the Adriatic Sea
Back in Tirana I found a bar, Komitet, to try local raki. It was in the old communist style, with dozens of flavors of raki. I asked for something easy and got the honey cinnamon version. Yum! I was alone so decided I shouldn't drink too many more. Then I remembered what Elio said....
Wandering around the city led to some nice sights
The main square
The next day, my work colleague Petr, from Brno, Czech Republic arrived, so one of our local hosts took us on some more sightseeing. Jonid is a nice guy with a family at home, but he somehow found time to spend his whole Sunday with us, taking us to Kruja. Kruja is a city in the mountains, and one of the first things I noticed were all of the towers built around the mountains, far into the distance. It reminded me of the towers in Lord of the Rings, when they light a fire in one of them to send a signal to another tower, who passes on the warning, which continues through a series of towers spanning distances farther than the eye can see. And that's exactly what they were for (in the old days, not now...they just use Twitter now).
Kruja is best known for being the center of Skanderbeg's revolution against the Ottomans in the 15th century, which turned him into a national hero. Initially part of the occupying Ottoman army, Skanderbeg led a years-long rebellion of Christians against the Turks. There have been rumors of a future Hollywood movie about him, but nothing confirmed as far as I can find.
The mountains around Kruja
Cool guys
Kruja
After a bit more driving, we ended up at a restaurant called Rapsodia in Shengjin. Jonid recommended this place and it did not disappoint. It was a fancy 7 course meal, very slow food. Everything was artistically designed and based on some seafood. The Albanian red wine was terrific as well. I don't remember the final price, but it was definitely a small percentage of what it would cost in NYC or SF, and at the same quality. Back in Tirana a couple other recommended restaurants were Oda, a tiny traditional place where we went with all the bosses and squeezed elbows around a small table that resembled a family's living room, Otiom which had great service, and Ejona for nice lunch. In every place we went, the service was outstanding, with friendly and attentive servers. And great prices. Overall the quality of the service was worth the slight annoyance of having to pay cash in a lot of places: even in restaurants, shops, and the weekend tour. I'll just appreciate the country and the experience as one that far surpassed expectations.
Slow seafood
Final city view
