Albanian hospitality

From Florians Guesthouse in northern Albania we go to Tirana, the capital of Albania. There we have a room for three of us, because Julia, a friend from Freiburg, is currently visiting. However, we only know the street of the address and not the house number. A little lost, we stand in this 2 km long street in search of our accommodation. We approach a lady to ask for help. Since she does not speak English, she stops two girls who are passing by. Since they can't really help us either, another passing woman is asked. This results in a group of 10 people suddenly standing around us, trying to figure out where our room is and attempting to call our host Victoria. Despite the many helpful Albanians, we don't make any progress and have to go to an internet cafe from where we call Victoria. Quirky, curious, and warm-hearted, she welcomes us into her apartment. She is married to a German man and spends three months in Germany and then three months in Albania due to the limited 90-day stay period. With her, we can finally take a warm shower again, do laundry, cook independently, and feel right at home. Unfortunately, all of us are unwell during the days in Tirana, but we spend cozy days with Victoria, who takes care of her sick guests and provides us with tea, fruit, and lemons. We explore Tirana a little, climb the rundown pyramid of Enver Hoxha, visit the museum, enjoy delicious food, and go to the Christmas market. Meanwhile, Victoria is knitting Santa hats for us, which she plans to send to us by mail.

One evening, the neighbor Napoleon comes to visit, who is our age and can tell us a lot about politics and even organizes a student protest against tuition fees the next day. Victoria makes a fire in a bowl every evening and we play cards. After a few days, we say goodbye and head to Berat, which is also called the city of a thousand windows and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008. New buildings are prohibited in the old town center. Fortunately, we have all recovered, so we explore the landscape, the ruins of Berat Castle, and discover a small cave in the cliffs during hikes. While hiking, we reflect on our past, present, and future.

When we leave our apartment, we quickly strike up conversations with strangers who always speak very kindly to us. People are curious about what tourists are visiting their country, where they come from, and how they like it here. Many want to move to Germany, and over 50% of people say they would rather move abroad, one of the highest rates in the world. Especially younger people learn German in order to be able to work in Germany later on. In search of denatured alcohol for our cooker, we end up in a small mom-and-pop store. Unfortunately, our chances of finding denatured alcohol are not very high, as most people here cook with gas. A friendly customer who speaks English well understands our problem and accompanies us through the city to explain to the other people in Albanian what we need. We actually find denatured alcohol in a pharmacy, and the pharmacist even gives us two bottles of the high-percentage alcohol as a gift, so we can cook vegetarian spaghetti carbonara at home in our shower. When we return hungry from a hike and look for something to eat in a small restaurant, we are given a byrek. When you go to a restaurant here in the evenings, you are served Raki after the meal, and once even a whole bottle, which fortunately an Englishman drank for us. The small restaurant was very fascinating, as you cannot see from the street that it is a restaurant and there are only 3 tables. The owner introduces us to the menu, but it resembles more of a lecture at TedX. The homemade sign has pictures of the individual dishes glued on it. We decide on fergess and homemade wine. Two Englishmen then join us in the restaurant, one of whom has Armenian roots and the other speaks 6 different languages, including Austrian German. We have a lot to talk about and laugh a lot. The restaurant owner also drinks a few Raki shots with each of his guests. We feel very comfortable in Albania and are grateful for the many wonderful encounters. Unfortunately, Julia will be leaving soon.

Spontaneously, we have decided to take a detour to Macedonia to Lake Ohrid.