28 June – 2 July 2018
After my brief visit to Ohrid in the south-western part of Macedonia, it was time for me to move on and cross the next border. At 4:30 a.m. I took the bus that would take me to Dürres, a coastal city in Albania. Initially I had intended to only visit Shkodër in the north, but a friendly guy on Couchsurfing named Cleon had invited me to visit him in Dürres. So I decided to change my plans and stay there instead. The bus dropped me off in the most southernmost part of the city, so I still had to walk for quite a bit.
Dürres has one of the longest beaches in the country, that stretches out for over 10 kilometers along the Adriatic Sea. Along this beach you can of course find lots of hotels and resorts. It was also this part of the city where my host lives. North of the beach there’s the city’s old town, with some interesting buildings from the past. Some of the most notable being the Byzantine city walls, the Roman amphitheater and the Venetian Tower. Dürres is one of the oldest cities in Albania and was founded by Greek colonists from Corinth and modern-day Corfu. Nowadays a lot Albanian people from the middle and northern part of the country come here to relax. It is also a popular day-trip destination from the capital Tirana, that is only 30 kilometers away. The city is also popular among tourists from the neighboring countries, including Italy that is even reachable by ferry (which takes about eight hours).
My host Cleon wasn’t home yet, since he was visiting Shkodër. He told me that I could leave my bags at the restaurant below his apartment, since he knew the people who work there well. I was feeling a bit drowsy since I had only a few hours of sleep that night, so my priority was to find a cafe where I could relax for a bit and have a coffee that would hopefully wake me up. After I felt recharged I started walking along the beach towards the old town. The beach in Dürres is unlike any beach that I’ve seen so far. First of all, the whole beach is covered by beach beds and parasols from all the restaurants. Also, there was no real space to spread out your beach towel, unless you want to be trampled by all the people walking there. The beach is used as a walkway and there are lots of vendors selling their stuff, like beach toys, corn and petulla (an Albanian snack made of fried dough). There were also two guys walking along the beach, while making music on their drums. While walking along the beach, I bought some petulla with chocolate sauce to fill my empty stomach.
On my map I had highlighted some places of interest in the old town, like the historical buildings I mentioned earlier. The weather was cloudy and at some point it even started raining a little. Still it was a nice walk and within an hour I had seen most of the old town. This is when I got a message from Cleon, saying that he was almost back home. I started walking back to his place, which took me about 40 minutes. Cleon has been living in Albania for several years, first in Tirana and later in Dürres. He moved there from the States, where he was raised, although he was born in Guyana. I also met his two pets; two tiny turtles (they’ll probably grow, though he wasn’t sure) whom he had gotten from a friend. One of the turtles is now named Jeffrey while the other one still remains nameless. That night we went to Cleon’s favorite restaurant that is located next to the beach (the reason why it was his favorite restaurant was obvious, since the service was excellent and they kept refilling our glasses). We had some mussels (first time for me!) and some white wine. Some people might say that we ruined the mussels with ketchup mixed with Tabasco, but I don’t mind as long as it’s tasty.
The following day Cleon took me to Krujë, a city located in the mountains northeast of Dürres. It is a beautiful place with sweeping views over the mountains and the valley. We walked across a cobblestone street with small shops until we reached the castle of Krujë. First we stopped for some food at a restaurant that was built right on the edge of the mountain, which was why the view from our table was absolutely stunning and might have been the best view I’ve ever had from a restaurant. I ordered fergese, which is a sort of Albanian stew with tomatoes and pepper and it was absolutely amazing! Without a doubt it was one of the tastiest dishes I’ve had on this trip. After lunch we continued to walk to the castle, where we were first greeted by a boy playing the accordeon and later by an old man playing the çifteli; a traditional Albanian instrument. It was nice to hear the old man play traditional Albanian music amidst the ruins of the fortress in the mountains that were covered with a blanket of clouds; it definitely adds to the ambiance. We continued to walk around the ruins until it was time to return back to Dürres.
On Saturday we visited the capital, Tirana. I must admit that I wasn’t very charmed by the city at first sight. It was a hot day and the streets were busy with traffic. Here’s a fair warning when visiting Albania: think twice before entering the chaotic mess on wheels on the streets of Albania and be prepared to risk your life in an attempt to cross the road. Oh, and another tip: don’t waste your entire holiday by looking for a pedestrian crossing, because you might not find one (except in the capital). Other than that, you’re perfectly fine. I actually love the Albanian people; they’re very friendly and they’re always willing to help you. In their culture it is also very common to walk arm in arm with your friends or with an arm around their shoulder, despite the gender. This seemed a bit strange at first, but I actually like it. We in Western culture can often be quite distant to each other, even though we’re friends. After spending some more time in Tirana, I actually started to like the place more. Cleon told me a lot about the mayor’s steps to make the city a better place by creating special lanes for bicycles and adding a lot of new green areas and artworks. As I walked around the city I noticed a lot of these improvements and to me the city felt very progressive and eager to become a popular and attractive place for young people to settle. There’s always something to do in Tirana and often they have concerts at the main square. In the Grand Park of Tirana you can also find a very large artificial lake that looks beautiful with the mountains in the background. Once we got back in Dürres in the evening, we bought a large plastic bottle of beer and walked across the beach in the dark. There were still lots of people and vendors were still busy trying to sell their last corn and ice cream. We sat down on one of the beach beds and watched the dark sea in front of us with the reflection of the city’s lights in the water. It’s a nice way to end the day.
The next day I spent doing. . . Well, not doing much actually. I started to plan my trip to Prizren in Kosovo. Cleon told me that there’s a bus leaving just across the road, but it would leave very early the next day. But that would be my only option. That, or hitchhiking. But I chose to take the bus. That evening we returned to Cleon’s favorite restaurant where I ordered pasta and he ordered a pizza. Naturally, we also had some wine. That night we said cheers to our friendship, because I had really made a new friend here in Albania. The next morning I had to get up early to get on the bus to Kosovo.
Dawn Under 