Adventures in Albania, Meandering in Macedonia (October, 2016) (Also see Albania)

Misti and I recently returned from a one-month trip to Albania and Macedonia, little known and seldom visited small Balkan countries with histories going back several thousand years and seemingly forgotten by the modern world.

With the great wide world available for travel, why choose these two relatively unknown countries?  We had seen most of Europe including little-traveled countries like Belarus, Azerbaijan, Iran and Ukraine.  We had read about Albania and Macedonia, were fascinated by their history, and the fact that Albania had been closed to outsiders until just recently.  We try to stay ahead of the tourist pack and realized that these countries hadn’t as yet been overrun by hordes of American, European and Asian tourists.  The strong dollar and good weather in September were additional incentives - so we booked our flights for this Balkan adventure.

Before leaving we had several concerns: that there wouldn’t be enough to see and do, that accommodations might not be good, that we might have language difficulties, and Albania’s previous dark reputation which caused the country to be closed for many years.  As we’ve found with other trips to “iffy” destinations, these concerns were usually unfounded.

These are two delightful countries and we recommend them highly as travel destinations.  Albania and Macedonia fulfilled what we look for in travel:  touring the countryside and exploring new towns and cities, no need for hotel reservations, lots of history with Roman and medieval ruins, friendly people, good weather, good food and inexpensive.  But these countries don’t have the charm and special attraction of destinations like France, Italy, Spain and Greece.  It’s tough to compete with cities like Paris, Rome and Madrid.

While Albania and Macedonia have histories that go back thousands of years, they are very small countries with populations of about three million each, that have been handicapped by ongoing internal conflicts as well as having to defend themselves against larger neighbors.

Because of their strategic locations, where the Adriatic and Ionian Seas enter the Mediterranean, they’ve been ravaged by neighbors for millennia. These two southern Balkan countries have had the bad luck of being close to belligerents like Turkey, Italy, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia and Iran, all of who had their turn at harassing and conquering these two small countries.  In recent years both countries have suffered through fascist and communist governments and only in the past twenty-five years has Macedonia gained its independence from the former Yugoslavia.  Currently, Macedonia is officially referred to as FYROM, or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, because several member countries of the United Nations, especially Greece, refuse to recognize Macedonia as an independent country.  If you enter Greece from Macedonia, as we did later in our trip, it’s a mistake to say you “just came from Macedonia”; those are fighting words for the Greeks.

While neither Albania nor Macedonia were ever part of the Soviet Union, they each had communist governments for more than thirty years and, interestingly, Albania was the only European country that was a client state of China for most of its communist years.  Unfortunately for both countries, and like many ex-Soviet states, the harsh reign of a communist government left its marks, including poor infrastructure, a weakened economy and some very ugly architecture.

Now, about our trip. 

We had decided Paris was a good way to get to Tirana, the capital of Albania, where we would pick up our rented car and begin our Balkan journey.  We flew United non-stop to Paris and spent four nights getting over jet lag and enjoying the delights of one of our favorite cities.  Misti had found an air bnb in the heart of the Marais and, with lots of sightseeing and great French meals, the four days passed in a flash. 

Four hours of flying on Austrian Air, with a short stopover in Vienna, whisked us to Tirana.   Entry into Albania was easy; a small, quiet airport, few flights, no visas required, short lines through an efficient immigration process and into an inexpensive taxi for a twenty minute ride to the Tirana International Hotel where we stayed two nights.  Our Albania adventure had begun.

Tirana, the capital, is a city of half a million, about a sixth of Albania’s population, and is filled with parks, cafes, bars and restaurants.  While it has a long Ottoman history, the city looks and feels European with a vibrant nightlife.  The people are mostly Caucasian with few minorities in evidence, perhaps because Albania for many years was closed to foreigners and few Asians, Africans or Hispanics made their way here.

Our hotel, which Misti had booked through Hotels.com, was on Skanderbeg Square in the city center next to the opera house, a busy hub with lots of traffic.  The city has a nice balance of activity and nightlife, while also having a sense of serenity.   We were told there is little crime or violence and walking the streets late at night seemed safe.

We had a great restaurant experience our first night in Tirana and it was a wonderful introduction to Albanian cuisine.  We were wandering, as we often do, trying to soak up the feel of the city and saw a sign for what appeared to be an Italian seafood restaurant.  We went in, talked with the owner, who spoke reasonably good English, and came back for dinner later that evening.  No menu and no prices, which we like if we feel comfortable about a restaurant. We were the only diners so had the small restaurant to ourselves.  The owner/waiter suggested a number of fish appetizers and a main dish all of which were wonderful.  Our two hour dinner, with a bottle of excellent Italian wine and dessert, came to about $50, a lot for Albania but about a third of what it would cost at home.

On our first day in Tirana we spent two hours in the Albanian National Historical Museum, the largest museum in the country with three floors of exhibits showing Albania’s history from 4000 BC through modern times.  My overall impression was that this country has been at war and under attack for the better part of the past several thousand years, from before the Greek and Roman eras through the Ottomans and Venetians and into the 1940’s when they fought the Italian fascists and German Nazis.  Room after room displayed maps, statues, artifacts, etc. of the many military ventures, and photos of partisans fighting for their country.  Sad to realize how many people died trying to defend their country’s independence, but I suppose the same can be said for many other countries.  I don’t want to sound like a pacifist, but will the world ever find a better way to solve its problems, other than killing millions of people.

We spent the afternoon going through something called Bunkart which is a massive underground concrete bunker built in the 1970’s to defend Albania’s government against attack.  It was a creepy but worthwhile experience to explore the one hundred or so rooms containing exhibitions and artifacts from the reign of Enver Hoxham, Albania’s communist dictator from 1944 to 1985.  Excellent films and photos showing Italian and German invasions and the occupation of Albania in the 1930’s and 40’s. 

The paranoid communist government built several hundred thousand smaller bunkers to withstand invaders who never came.  They are scattered throughout the country and remain years after the collapse of the communist regime.  It’s weird to be driving in the countryside and through small villages seeing these ugly, concrete bunkers or pillboxes.  We saw one in a schoolyard that had been decorated and painted red to look like a ladybug.

We were lucky to be here in a time of peace with no imminent invasions or battles.  The country seems so tranquil it’s difficult to imagine what it was like in centuries gone by.  Hopefully the only future invasions will be by hordes of tourists coming from Europe and the US bringing their hard currencies, helping this undeveloped country get on its feet.

After two nights in Tirana we picked up our rental SUV, a sturdy 4 WD Mitsubishi  Pajero, and headed west toward Durres on the Adriatic Sea.  Durres is Albania’s second largest city, about a quarter of a million population, and is noted for its Roman ruins, its history as a seaport going back to the 7th century BC, its beaches and the warm Adriatic Sea for summer vacationers (most of whom are Albanians or from neighboring countries) and its excellent seafood.  Europeans, particularly Brits and Germans, are learning about this nearby and inexpensive beach resort;  Americans have yet to hear about it. 

In Durres we stayed at the Adriatik Hotel, a five star we found in our Bradt Albania book (there is no Albania Lonely Planet) and located it with our GPS.  The hotel was  impressive and beautifully situated overlooking the sea.  The cost of $140 was high for Durres, we could easily have gotten a good hotel for $50, but considering that at home we’d pay that much for a nondescript motel in Redding, what the heck, might as well go for it.  It was the most expensive hotel on this trip.

The highlight of our stay in Durres was a superb fish dinner in a small restaurant we happened upon on the beach.  A great Italian white wine, excellent Greek salad, two appetizers, a grilled sea bass done to perfection, wait service the way it should be and a bill of $40 which at home would be less than what we’d pay for the bottle of wine.  And as usual, at the end of the meal since we didn’t order dessert, the waiter gave us a huge plate of fresh fruit as a “gift”.

Before leaving on this trip we had read that both Albanians and Macedonians have favorable feelings toward Americans, based on help given to those countries during and after World Wars I and II and the 1990’s Balkan conflict.

We didn’t think much about this until we noticed that in the Adriatik Hotel there were only four flags flying, one of which was the US flag.  Strange there were no European flags since Albania is a European country and is trying desperately to get into the European Union (it’s on a waiting list).  We found this to be the case in other hotels where we saw US flags, and it gave us a nice warm feeling.

We learned that after WWI the victorious European countries wanted to divide Albania into several parts.  President Wilson interceded and prevented this from happening; as a result there are many streets named Wilson, many boys were given the first name Wilson and people in both countries love Americans.  Note:  In Albania and other countries, no one ever knows you are an American unless you have an American flag tattooed to your forehead.  It’s a myth that people can recognize someone as being American by their dress, mannerisms or accent; it’s just not true.   I’ve tested this many times by asking (English speakers) where I’m from.

Albanian currency is the lek with an exchange rate of 122 lek to one US dollar, as of our 9/16 trip.   Before we left. we knew the dollar had been very strong worldwide with the euro at $1.09.  Given the strong dollar, and the weak Albanian economy, everything in Albania was dirt cheap, roughly a third of the cost in the US. It was refreshing to pay fifty cents for a beer, six dollars for a good bottle of Italian wine and have dinner for two at a good restaurant with a bill under twenty dollars.  This will probably change if and when the Americans, Europeans and Asians, recognize Albania as an attractive destination.

After Durres, we headed southeast to Berat, a World Heritage medieval hill town inhabited since the Bronze Age 4,000 years ago, two hours from Durres.  Because of its strategic location on trading routes the city was conquered, over two thousand years, by a succession of invaders including Romans, Venetians, Slavs and Ottomans.  The city has a strong Ottoman presence, with many mosques, since it was part of the Ottoman Empire for 500 years.  The Citadel, or castle, dates back to the fourth century, sits high on a hill and provides panoramic views over the entire city.  We stayed in the excellent Hotel Magalemi and had a wonderful dinner on the terrace highlighted by a full moon and a warm evening.

From Berat we headed south to Gjirokaster, another medieval city with a massive castle.  We arrived during a light rain and found it challenging to navigate the very narrow stone streets.  When we found our hotel it was up a steep and slippery stone street, and even with four-wheel drive we barely made it up; all part of the adventure. 

It was a small hotel, the Kalemi, with just a few rooms. The room we had reserved had been given to someone else, so the clerk gave us the huge bridal suite, which was fine with us.   We explored the central part of Gjirokaster, which is a World Heritage site and is considered a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town.  A highlight was our meeting a German couple our age from Bremen who had driven from Germany in a small RV.  We had drinks and dinner with them that night, interesting travel and political discussions over good Albanian beer and Raki, and we exchanged email addresses. 

Driving in Albania is easy because there aren’t many cars on the roads and the cars are generally smaller, older and slower.  The drivers aren’t nutcases, they seem to be more skilled than in the US, there aren’t many highways and they’re reasonably well maintained and signed.  The downside is the condition of the secondary roads, which are in poor condition, and many towns and cities can only be reached via the secondary roads. This is, after all, a very poor country. 

We did often notice police on the side of the road who would wave their paddle and pull over cars.  They never bothered us, even though I often was driving well above the speed limit. One time, however, when I passed a car at high speed, a cop waved me over.  He looked at me, I said something in English (my Albanian was limited to just a few words) and, not wanting to deal with a language problem, he waved us on.

Back to our trip.  We were planning to go to Korce in the northwest, near Greece, which was where we would enter Macedonia.  We learned there were two ways to go, one worse than the other.  We could go on a decent highway, which would take perhaps ten or more hours and involved a great deal of backtracking. Or, we could go more directly, through the mountains, which would be a much shorter distance but over a very poor road.  We learned that the mountain route was through beautiful scenery which helped our decision.  We chose the mountain route, which took us more than seven hours on the most difficult road we’ve ever traveled, with curves and switchbacks and rutted roads that were more like goat paths. I kept asking if this was the main road between these two important cities and the answer was always “yes”.

One interesting sidelight:  driving in the rutted almost impassable road in the middle of nowhere, we suddenly came upon two plainclothes police who stopped us, asked where we were from, where we were going, and wanted to see our passports.  We thought this strange and then later realized they were looking for illegal migrants, since we were close to Macedonia and Greece which are jumping off points for Syrian and African migrants.  

We arrived Korce at 7 pm and found it to be a pleasant small city with European style older buildings, thanks to French occupation of Albania at one time.  Misti had found the delightful Life Gallery Hotel, online, where we stayed two nights before heading on to Macedonia.   There wasn’t that much to see in Korce, but it was a good rest stop especially after the goat path road we had just driven.  We weren’t in a hurry since we had many days left and no specific itinerary.

The German couple we had met in Gjirakaster had raved about the Korce brewery and suggested we visit it.  As often happens, when we travel, it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time.  The brewery was closed for tours but we happened to walk in the gate as the manager was standing there.  Perhaps he liked seeing two older Americans driving through Albania on their own, or perhaps he wanted to practice his English.  He invited us in, gave us a forty-five minute personal tour with complete explanations of how the beer is processed, and gave us our own personal tasting. Sometimes the best things just happen spontaneously.

After eight days in Albania, we made an easy border crossing into Macedonia and drove to the city of Orhid on Lake Orhid, a lake which is reputed to be one of the three oldest in the world, going back several million years.

Even though Orhid is a main tourist area, sort of a Macedonian Lake Tahoe, because it was the tail end of the tourist season we had no trouble finding a hotel fronting the lake.  While we didn’t have any Macedonian money (the denar, with an exchange rate of fifty five to one US dollar) paying wasn’t a problem because the hotel accepted credit cards, as did most hotels in both countries. 

We learned that written Macedonian was quite different from Albanian in that it used the Cyrillic alphabet, and looked exactly like Russian.  We also learned that some Macedonian words are the same as Russian, e.g., good morning, good evening, etc.  Since I had recently been studying Russian, it was nice that I knew at least a few words.

While Orhid was a lovely town, we wanted to move on to Skopje, the capital, which we heard was the highlight of Macedonia.   We drove through Bitol, the second largest city, had lunch there and drove on to Prinlip where we spent the night at a small business hotel in the center of town.  We had dinner that night in a restaurant that specialized in Macedonian dishes, where Misti convinced the waiter to give her two espresso cups with the name of the restaurant, as a souvenir.  The next day we drove two hours north to Skopje.

Skopje is a little known European capital that may soon be discovered by American and European travelers, as happened years ago with cities such as Prague and Budapest.  It has the potential to be a world-class travel destination and perhaps will fill that role by word-of-mouth as destination hungry travelers learn about it.

Skopje gets well-deserved high marks from travel writers.  It has a vibrant café and restaurant scene, an amazing number of monuments to Alexander the Great and other Macedonian warriors and massive fountains, including one with water flowing from the mouths of huge stone lions.  The city is in the process of a major renovation project, and many of the statues and fountains are new.  While this leans more toward a Las Vegas rather than a Rome look, it nevertheless is quite appealing.

We stayed two nights at a newly built Marriott Hotel on Macedonia Square, the central part of town.  It was a treat to be in an American hotel with all its amenities, but it lacked the flavor of the hotels throughout Albania and Macedonia.  It was the first place since Paris where we could get good coffee and pastries for breakfast; we learned early on that breakfast in the Balkans has a different meaning, being more Ottoman than European .  While both Albania and Macedonia have an endless number of cafes, filled with men sipping their espressos, it was always difficult for us to find good coffee; it was usually Nescafe instant.  

We spent an afternoon visiting both the Macedonian Historical and the Macedonian Holocaust Museums and came away with a headful of historical and political  information, spanning the period from the 1300’s to WW II.  Lots of struggles in this small but fiercely independent country which, like Albania, is surrounded by giants such as Turkey, Siberia and Russia.  It’s difficult to believe that at one time the now very small country of Macedonia, under Alexander the Great, had conquered much of the known world.

We spent two nights in Skopje and could easily have spent more, but we decided to change our itinerary and rather than go north into Kosovo, to head south to Greece, one of our favorite destinations. After two weeks in Albania and Macedonia, we felt we had a good taste of the Southern Balkans and suspected Kosovo might just be more of the same. 

While driving through southern Macedonia, we saw signs saying we were close to the Greek border; from Skopje it’s only 150 miles or three hours. We entered Greece on the eastern side and chose Thessaloniki as our first destination, since we had been there on a 1990 trip to Greece and liked it. 

Before going into Greece we decided we’d spend another night in Macedonia in a town called Strumica, in the Macedonian wine country.  We arrived in Strumica late afternoon and had difficulty finding the hotel.  We rely on our GPS, but since Macedonian cities don’t use street addresses, the GPS had us going in circles. Several times we asked for directions and were told to look for the big neon sign that said “Sirius Hotel”; what we weren’t told is that the sign is in Cyrillic.  Misti finally matched the Cyrillic letters to what sounded like the name of the hotel and voila- it worked.  It was a big communist era hotel with a wedding party booked that night for 270 people and a busload of 50 Hungarians arrived just after we did.  Misti found a good nearby fish restaurant where we had an excellent dinner, away from the wedding party and hungry Hungarians, so all’s well that ends well.  We also had one of our least expensive taxi rides; fifty cents.

It’s not fair to compare the small and poor countries of Albania and Macedonia with Greece, but nevertheless since our trip took us through these three countries, I feel compelled to make comparisons.  Even though Greece is currently the EU’s problem child, with lots of bad press about its financial problems, it still is a heavyweight tourist destination.   Greece is Greece, one of the oldest cultures and civilizations on the planet, the home of Plato and Aristotle , and the birth of democracy.  For all its faults, it still is a very special place and rivals most other European countries as a worthwhile tourist destination.

We arrived in Thessaloniki on a Sunday during a bicycle race, and had difficulty getting to the Daios Hotel, which is located directly on the Aegean Sea, and which Misti had booked online the previous day.  The hotel was definitely first class, and after the strange communist hotel the previous night in Strumica, we were in a bit of heaven.  Sitting on the terrace of our room overlooking the sea, drinking a glass of wine, watching the sunset, a castle turret in the distance and people out for a Sunday stroll along the Aegean waterfront, makes one realize how good life can be.

We stayed two days in Thessaloniki and loved every minute.  It’s the second largest city in Greece, next to Athens, with lots of museums, art galleries, shops and of course great restaurants.  We were happy just wandering the streets and enjoying great seafood lunches and dinners and shopping in the central market.  Since we weren’t planning to come to Greece, we didn’t have any maps or books, so we bought a Lonely Planet and highway map, and with the help of a very nice travel agent, decided we’d explore the Ionian or western side of the country, which we had never seen.

We weren’t sure how many days we’d spend in Greece, and thought we’d play it by ear.  We looked at the map and decided to head for Ioannina (town of John in Greek), a three-hour drive through mountainous country on a recently completed four lane, divided highway, with an amazing number of tunnels.  We were just about the only car, and we thought this brand new, multi lane highway that is empty, may be a reason why Greece is so broke; why build a highway nobody uses? But we later learned that the funding came from the more affluent EU.

We stayed one night at a hotel Misti had booked the day before, and in the morning met the owner who is the first true “Stalinist” we had ever encountered.  The hotel was covered with posters and photos of Stalin and the guy wore a Stalin tee shirt.  His English was good and we discussed his interest in the infamous Soviet dictator.  When he learned that I knew a great deal about his beloved Stalin, and that I had actually visited Stalin’s birthplace in Gori, Georgia, he hugged me and said I was his brother.  He gave us a wealth of information on where to go in the next few days, including the best towns, beaches and restaurants.

On his advice, we drove to Parga, a small beach town on the Ionian Sea, and we quickly fell in love with it.  We spent two nights in Parga, a heavenly hideaway with impossibly beautiful beaches, a laid back atmosphere and tons of excellent seafood restaurants.  Wooden fishing boats, small offshore islands and a magnificent vista of the Ionian Sea, with a castle on the hill overlooking the small town, whose waterfront looked a lot like Italy’s famous Portofino. I don’t think that Americans know about this place, but that likely will change.

After five nights in Greece, we decided we’d spend two more going south to Lefkada on the Ionian coast, reducing our remaining time in Albania to three nights.  But as we started driving south the transmission on our rental car began overheating and we were concerned about breaking down.  So we changed our plan and decided we’d go north, back into Albania, and spend our remaining time there.  We thought we’d be returning to Greece on another trip to explore the rest of the Ionian coast and the Peloponnese, but doubted if we’d be making another trip to Albania, so might as well see it now.

It was a good idea since about twenty kilometers after passing the border from Greece into Albania, our SUV stopped cold on the highway.  We were in the middle of nowhere and expecting the worst; a nightmare situation and the first problem on this trip.  But it was OK; we called the woman at the Enterprise rental car agency in Tirana, who was our contact and also the owner, and she told us she’d have someone meet us within thirty minutes with another car.  They were there in twenty minutes, moved our bags to the new car and we were on our way to a nearby hotel to spend the night.  The next morning they delivered another newer and nicer SUV to our hotel.  Great service from Enterprise and our problem of breaking down in the middle of nowhere in Albania disappeared.

Our first night back in Albania, after our car breakdown, was spent in the Hotel Livia in Butrint.  We had read in our travel book that Butrint had one of the best Greek/Roman ruins in the Western world, and was a World Heritage Site.  Because of the car breakdown, we arrived early evening at the hotel, which was just several hundred feet from the entrance to the national park containing the ruins.  We decided we’d just as soon rest, have dinner and visit the park in the morning.  Good decision, since when we entered the park about 10 am it was virtually deserted; when we left two hours later there were perhaps fifty tour buses and thousands of tourists waiting in line for tickets.  Smart, or lucky, that we saw the ruins before the hordes descended.  It was perhaps the best preserved example of Greco/Roman ruins we had ever seen, and we recommend it highly to anyone who happens to be traveling in Albania.

Since we likely would not be making a return trip to Albania, we wanted to see what is called the “Albanian Riviera” and the northeastern part of the country including Lake Shkoder and the Albanian Alps, bordering Montenegro and Kosovo.  We drove north, about six hours from Butrint to Vlore, along a winding mountainous road with panoramic views of the Adriatic.  Along the way we passed seaside resorts with nice beaches, all of which were quite deserted, perhaps because it was late in the season.

We stayed one night at the Hotel Bologna in Vlore in a large room facing the sea, and had a top-end seafood meal at the restaurant San Giorgio.  This was another experience where we didn’t order from a menu, rather the dashing waiter brought one great dish after another, accompanied by a good bottle of white wine, and as usual the bill was about the same as just the cost of the wine at home.

From Vlore we drove north to Shkoder, about eight hours away, on a new and mostly straight highway, but through flat and not very interesting countryside, certainly not the prettiest part of the country.  Shkoder is the gateway to the largest lake in Southern Europe, with a third of the lake in Albania and two-thirds in Montenegro.   We got a great room at the Hotel Colosseo across from the Ebu Beker mosque.  A great view from our window, but not so great when we were awakened by the very loud prayers from a nearby minaret at 3 AM.

We were disappointed with the lake and spent no time there, but rather, went up into the Albanian Alps, also known as the Accursed Mountains because they are perceived as being insurmountable and wild.  The excellent new road corkscrews through these desolate mountains with elevations as high as 9,000 feet, and non-stop breathtaking vistas.  Like many other countries, the Albanian government is trying to promote tourism, which explains this new and costly highway in such a remote part of the country.  Word of these mountains will eventually get out, and hikers and mountain climbers, seeking as yet undiscovered trails, will make their way here.

We thought of Shkoder as our final destination, and decided we’d take a three day respite before driving on to Tirana, returning our rental car and flying home by way of Frankfort .

Thus ended our month long Albanian/Macedonian/Greek adventure in which we drove 1,500 miles through three countries.  In retrospect, it was an excellent trip and gave us what we were looking for; being able to wander through these out-of-the-way countries, lots of history, friendly and pleasant people, not much language barrier, great seafood, low cost and being able to travel without advance reservations.  A nice change from some of our recent travel experiences, where we encountered the world on the move.

Art Faibisch

November, 2016