Albania - black & white

Fate brought us to Albania faster than we wanted. We had just met dear people in Montenegro, from whom we could have learned a lot about their country. But after the fatal accident of our four-legged friend Moritz, it felt good not only to change the place or flee to another city, but to leave the country altogether!!!

As civilized and calm as we entered Montenegro, it was all the more uncivilized and chaotic at the Albanian border. Full of joy, 200 meters ahead of us to cross the next border, we were allowed to spend over an hour in a sinking exhaust fumes in a confusion of cars trying to find a lane to the customs officer. It didn't help us much in the mass of vehicles that we had a German license plate. After the customs office, at the request of the customs officer, we passed by zig-zag and without any control into the country as soon as possible. At least there the big "D" helped us then.

Our first stop was a ruin of a castle, where campers can stand in the four preserved remains of the wall. On the way there, we were welcomed by a river full of garbage. Great welcome!!! :-/ Later we learned that northern Albania is much dirtier than the south. In addition, the closer you get to a city, the more garbage there is. It was fortunate that we wanted to stay rural for the time being. The emphasis is on WANTED. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the ruin in the dark, we were faced with a construction fence. But such surprises no longer knocked us down so quickly. The children were already asleep, so we just pulled them into a lying position on the sofa and made ourselves comfortable in bed. We couldn't change anything for today anyway.

The next morning our arrival did not go unnoticed. Still from bed, I saw an old man pedaling quickly on his old bicycle into the village- Not even 5 minutes later, a vehicle arrived with a couple who belonged to the nearby small snack bar - towing the old man on two wheels.

After the first timid Albanian words, the ice was broken and we were served a simple but delicious omelette with bread and garlic spread. The omelette seemed amazingly orange to us. Was that because of the Albanian chickens? I speculated more in jest that they probably took the eggs from the geese waddling around us. "From fun became serious and Ernst is now roasted on our plates!!! Well then; cheers to our first goose omelette! Enjoy your meal ^^ The couple told us that the ruin needs to be restored and that toilets and all kinds of camper amenities are to be built next spring. Nevertheless, we were allowed to explore the courtyard of the castle walls and then made our way to the "City of a Thousand Windows".

As always, on the first day at a new parking spot, we first "acclimated" and did NOTHING. No. We have ARRIVED. That's something... This time at Elisabeth's motorhome parking lot in the middle of the city. There were cats to get to know, Felix found a bike ramp, Leonie found a tiny kiddie pool that needed to be activated, and what did we find? Warm showers!!! There was also the first persimmon from the tree that we had to taste and of course sniff the new neighbors...

"Berat" is an ancient city that has also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is located on steep slopes, between which the Osum River flows. Due to the buildings, which are characterized by hundreds of windows in the river valley, the city got its nickname "the city of a thousand windows".

Fittingly, there was a wine festival in Berat this weekend. The pedestrian zone started with a big stage, followed by countless small decorated wine huts on the right and left. The children's program in Albanian was unfortunately not so exciting for our kids, but the long-awaited pink cotton candy was 😊

We even found a photo shop where we wanted to print out a few photos of Moritz. What we could do ourselves in 5 minutes in a drugstore in Germany took about an hour here with the old man and his even older computer. The result also seems to be from the old man's youth. But at least you can recognize Moritz and us in the pictures. That should be enough for us!

After bad photos, worse coffee, and even worse ice cream, we finally tried the worst WARM white wine of all time in the evening. Well, so far I would say it's been a lousy harvest...

In addition to the many piles of trash, we also noticed the many fancy cars in the city. While drinking MONTENEGRIN!!! wine in the evening with Elisabeth and our new neighbors, we learned that many young Albanians go abroad after school to work there for a few years. Many of them in clubs, discos, and thus also in drug trafficking. With the result that when they have enough money together, they buy a fancy car to return home as a "doer". That may also explain the enormous number of gas stations on the highways. It felt like every 1.5 km there was another gas station. Only that the fuel prices were shockingly high. Until today, we do not know how all the young unemployed car owners entertain their passion... Elisabeth just shook her head about it.

We also noticed that there are many oil drills in Albania. According to our research, the country is said to be sitting on one of Europe's largest reserves of black gold, which the giant "Shell" is already working on. The "little man" will probably not benefit much from it...

To complete the tourist program, we made a day trip to the castle of the beautiful city of Berat. Inside the castle walls, there were small stalls and even smaller restaurants. In front of one of the restaurants, we ventured onto the metal chairs, which had to be balanced again and again during the meal because we were sitting on very rough cobblestones on a slope. But the food was finally thoroughly local and very delicious!!! Even as a vegetarian, I found something and even the children dug in. That says something 😊

After five nights in Berat, we set off with four new friends, three motorhomes, and two dogs to the Albanian mountains. Warm thermal springs await us there in an adjacent gorge. As good Germans, we first spent the night at the nearby official camping site. With our new companions Jennifer and Lars from the "Heldenmanufaktur" and "Oma Biene" with KlausiMausi, we discovered the warm springs, where we splashed around longer than planned. We quickly got used to the sulfur smell, almost as if we were sitting in our own stench and only noticed it when we got some fresh air from outside 😊 Even the local doctors repeatedly send their patients for a several-week cure to the mountains to bathe. We learned that there is a "heart pool" and a "stomach pool". You should give yourself a little sip of the latter. Well, after all the Albanians and tourists soaked in it and who knows what else they did in it, with such warm waters, we just wrinkled our noses. Clever as I am, one morning, before anyone was in the water, I went there with a bottle and took a fresh family portion. So we all finally had a sulfuric stomach bitter together. Who knows what it brings...

The hike in the gorge was another highlight of the Albanian landscape. Leonie especially enjoyed the time with her "replacement grandma" and "grandpa Klausi", which I think was mutual. The fact that our youngest lets herself be carried across the river by someone like Christopherus must have really grown on her.

The water was turquoise blue over and over again, and when you felt like your feet were freezing off from the cold clear river water, somewhere warm springs bubbled up from the ground again and you became a natural Kneipp hiker. The gorge narrowed and narrowed until there was no chance of going further and we had to turn back. On the way back, we found a lonely pool and all of us jumped naked into it to warm up. After another local culinary highlight in the garden arbor of the two camping field owners, our friends said goodbye to us FOR THE TIME BEING. We had spontaneously decided that we wanted to stay here for as long as our supplies lasted. The break from saltwater and wavy surf did the children and us good, and so we all went to the front of the springs like the rest of the brave and settled there for a few days. My family highlight was that we had lost Leonie's arm floaties and her big brother, who only wanted to wear his swimming belt "for psychological reasons" by now, finally gave it to her. After initial skepticism and hardcore clinging to me, Leonie understood that the swimming belt also keeps her afloat and that she can finally use her arms freely. That the arm floaties would later reappear, was apparently fate. Sensibly, Leonie later gave them to her younger friend...

On the way back to the coast, we made a stopover in an old city in the mountains that originated in the 15th century, called "Permet". It was Saturday and the place was already full of life in the morning. The sun was shining and people were sitting in cafes and bustling on and around the market. Everything was surprisingly calm, which made the whole hustle and bustle feel so pleasantly relaxed. hardly any cars and no calls from the market or anything like that. We got various böreks for breakfast at a kind of "döner stand", and once again the kids eagerly grabbed them. At least then we knew that Albania could definitely impress with its landscapes and cuisine.

Unfortunately, our last stop put everything a bit in the shade again. Do you say that when you are looking for the opposite of "to highlight"? Well, you will know what I mean shortly.

Oh yes. We arrived at our last stop with a slightly damaged left side mirror. Yes, I was driving again and yes, I'm sorry that I didn't make an emergency stop on the narrow roads after the curve to avoid hitting the oncoming Pole, so that I wouldn't cause an accident. It's all not so bad with "Hees' duct tape". Woman behind the wheel... Nobody got hurt... Where there's muck, there's brass... Never mind. Let's continue with the story now!

Our app, which shows all sorts of smart parking spaces for campers and co., had a great spot at a palm-tree-lined town right by the sea. Basically, it was like that, only that this was a shabby parking lot on the outskirts of an abandoned tourist town, full of unfinished buildings. The toilets were in a tin hut, half broken and probably draining into the sea. You could only reach the shower via an unstable and broken jetty over the water. We were greeted by a friendly lady who always demanded the money in advance and sat in her car in the parking lot all the time. Day and night?!? At least we didn't notice her leaving. :-/ Strange... Once you stood under the palm trees and looked out to sea, everything was as described 😊

Exploring the city was also very strange. The entire district consisted almost exclusively of abandoned hotels, holiday apartments, and unfinished buildings. After a long walk through the city, we finally found a few people and a crepe for the kids. We had to pay to let the children play on a plastic playground with artificial turf... That was new! Well, it seems that the Albanians have caught the scent of tourism and are now putting everything on it. We just wanted to get away quickly, so it didn't bother us that our dear friends from Unteruhldingen were waiting only a day's drive away on the Peloponnese. So, everyone back in and away from here...

Moment! It wasn't all bad at the parking lot. We flew kites for the first time there, coincidentally at acquaintances two blocks away from our hometown, so we were finally able to do the laundry properly (thanks Joel M. 😊) AND!!! We discovered a last bunch of bananas among the palm trees, from which the children could pick two small green bananas, which turned yellow and were very delicious a few days later!!! Thank you dear nature.

Our conclusion about Albania: The landscape and the food were great. The people and the structures were rather tedious. We didn't even want to go to Tirana. That would probably have spoiled everything... But we have more beautiful memories than bad ones, thanks to our new friends in pairs! Somehow black and white, I would say...

Off to Greece, to our friends "theroamingfoxes"!!!