A picture of Albania

How to create a written picture of what we saw while driving through Albania. There were many things that we encountered repeatedly, which shaped our hearing and sight in the country. At least where we drove. Maybe imagine it like this:

It's always green and mostly mountainous. Not always mountainous right where you stand, but at least in the distance, the surface of the country rises somewhere. The villages, and there are countless of them, sometimes consist of twenty houses, sometimes over a hundred, but then it's already an Albanian small town. In the countryside, the houses are always beautiful. Colorful, with balconies, ornaments, and other decorations. The roof is often missing and concrete nails protrude. In some countries, you get tax breaks until your own house is completed. Maybe it's the same in Albania. Everyone has gardens. There grow fig and olive trees, and grapevines that artfully twine around lattice bars.

No matter how many houses, there is a minimarket that looks like a neighborhood grocery store, a gas station, and at least two car washes (lavazh) in every village. Often there is also a mosque, whose white minaret can be seen from a distance, and from which a muezzin can be heard now and then over the wide landscape. Even in the mountains. Not so rarely, a church can be found a few meters away, simple and not necessarily recognizable as a church from a German perspective.

People drive cars or buses, but those are actually just larger cars. Most cars are loud, everyone honks. Actually never to complain about misconduct in traffic. There are many other reasons to honk: to encourage people on bicycles, to express respect, to warn "Be careful, I'm about to pass you" or simply to say "Hello".

If you don't hear the cars honking, it's the bells that mark the sheep and goat herds. They graze everywhere in the country, through the mountains and fields, even in the natural green areas of Tirana. A cuckoo calls everywhere.

And if you need a break from cycling and all the impressions around you, you can always get a good Italian espresso somewhere nearby, no matter where you are - on a dirt road, between meadows, or on the highway.