Howdy,
On Saturday morning we met at the base of our building at 8:45 to meet our van driver and Alfred for our trek to Tirana, the capital city. The drive to Tirana takes about 40 minutes. We used the same van driver on several previous trips. The van is a Mercedes make and boasts of being "air conditioned" on the windows. True, the van is air conditioned but the output is minimal. Every once in a while those in the back seat feel a cool puff of air but riding with the windows open would be more beneficial. Our driver speaks no English but is very professional. The van is always clean. I guess none of us Americans have the heart to tell him not to roll the windows down because he always makes a special effort to turn on the a/c and roll the windows up for his passengers. (We probably couldn't make him understand our request anyway because of the language barrier.)
Upon arriving in Tirana our driver dropped us off at a busy street corner. Alfred dropped off the OC students at the same corner and then went to find a spot to park his Cherokee. A good 20-25 minutes later Alfred called me on the cell phone to tell me he is coming, "two minutes away". A parking spot was hard to find. Our group then trudged a good 35 feet to the first ice cream (akalore) stand and were treated to 2 scoops of ice cream apiece -- we had worked so hard! We then continued our walk to the national museum on the main square. (The main square houses the Opera house, museum, national bank, governnment buildings and an old mosque.) On the way, Quin rode on one of the OC student's shoulders -- a brave act considering Quin was eating his ice cream cone at that lofty position. I think Quin managed to not drip ice cream on the young man's head.
The museum was quite large and not air conditioned. For $3 each we had a guided tour through Albania's history. Alfred translated while we looked at maps and artifacts. Albania has been under the control of various empires over its 2000+ year history. Skanderbak (the national hero -- I'm sure I buthered the spelling) is regarded with special honor in all of Europe for stopping the spread of the Ottoman Empire into Western Europe. The most interesting and disheartening part of the tour was in the section about Albania's communist years. After WWII the Communists gained control and the dictator Hodja isolated Albania and killed many Albanians in the process. Not until 1992 did Albania have a democratic government. After a few souvenirs were purchased in the museum gift shop we headed for the park.
Alfred retrieved his vehicle and took my family to the park while the others walked (the park is less than half a mile from the museum and main square). Once at the park we made a path to the casino/restaurant building in the middle of the park. We were delighted to find an air conditioned restaurant -- "The Pasta House". If one weren't careful, one might think he was in an American restaurant at this location. The air conditioning, English menus, and decor spoke of western culture. Better yet, the food was quite yummy! This was our most expensive meal in Albania -- $22.00 -- but well worth it. We were hungry, thirsty, and hot!
After our lunch we walked toward the Sky Tower. This building is close to the park and rises about 25 stories. Alfred informed us that a coffee bar/observation area is at the top of the tower. We thought it would be a good place to see Tirana. When we inquired at the front desk we were given a laminated sheet of paper that explained to tour groups that a 2 euro fee would be assessed to access the observation area. Thus, we opted out of the Sky Tower observation deck and walked a bit more. In front of the parliament building we met up two of the AIMers from Durres. They were visiting Tirana on their day off. The AIMers made plans to meet our college students that evening and then headed off for the movie theater. (Shrek III is playing in Tirana!)
From the Parliament building we headed up the way past the president's residence and to the main campus area for the city's university. On this campus there is a restaurant that is doing its best to imitate another famous restaurant -- McDonald's (McD's is actually supposed to arrive in Tirana in September). The fake McD's was in an inflatable and enclosed tent like structure but had the golden arches (tweaked a little bit), french fries, hamburgers, and other McD's specialities. We opted out of visiting the restaurant. After walking past the restaurant we saw the outside of the national football stadium and walked up a hill to the Sheraton Hotel. The bottom two floors of the Sheraton building are composed of shops, restaurants, and a new theater. We went up the escalator and sat down at a coffee bar. Amelia and Hallie ordered milk shakes, Jill had iced coffee, Alfred had an expresso, and the rest of us drank water. The girls' milk shakes were yummy -- lots of flavor! After our pit stop we shopped in a grocery store on the lower level and headed out of the Sheraton.
Our van driver met us at the base of the hill and our family along with Helen and Quinton boarded the van. Alfred and the OCers walked back to his Jeep. Most of the Martin's took a nap on the drive back to Durres Beach. In the evening Jill, Hallie, Quin, and I walked southward down the main drag. Alfred had told Jill that some of the hotels had play areas for children. Before we spotted these areas we stopped by an outdoor flea market type area that had some kiddie rides. (Darin didn't want to walk any further anyway since Quin was riding piggy-back and threatening to take an evening nap.) Hallie and Quin jumped on a trampoline for 7 minutes (50 cents) and then Quin rode on a turtle-train. We then headed back. On the way we ordered a pizza to go. While Hallie and I waited for the pizza Jill and Quin walked down to a pastry shop to get a little dessert to go. Quinton, Helen, and Amelia were at the shop eating ice cream. So, we all got together and walked back to the apartment. (On the way back I stopped by the church building to pick up a fan. One of our two week-old fans had stopped working. Alfred, Quinton, Quin, and I had earlier gone to the store that sold us the fan. They tried to fix the problem, couldn't, and then told us "so sad, but thanks for the business." We may have to buy another fan, ugh!)
On Sunday morning our family was planning on joining the others for a trip to Durres to worship with the main Durres church. This journey would require a bus ride to and from Durres. As the morning progressed, Jill and I decided to let our kids sleep after our long day on Saturday. (Sometimes we actually listen to God's wisdom!) Earlier in the morning I had gone out for a run, gotten lost, and thanks to the help of some friendly Albanians, made my way back to our apartment.
Jill made French toast this morning! We didn't have maple syrup but made a fruity strawberry syrup instead -- not bad.
The sounds one hears around here are something. Sometimes we hear cows mooing, sheep bahhing, and donkey's donkeying (what is it that donkeys do?). One sound we always hear is car horns blaring. One cannot drive here without the persistent use of the horn. Here, as in many other countries outside the USA, the horn is not just to get the attention of a dog in the road, it is an extension of the voice box. "Watch out, move, pardon me, I'm coming through, leave me alone", are just some of the phrased expressed by the horns in Albania. And, depending on the situation, everyone knows which message is being communicated. What's more is that some of horns are jazzed up so that the normal "honk" is a stacato three-tiered "honk, honk, honk" or some other tricked-out horn noise. I guess some have figured that if the horn is going to be used a lot it might as well be special. (I've already written about the noise we hear from 8:00 p.m. to midnight -- the LOUD singing/music of the multiple bars/restaurants that sandwich our building.)
As in most eastern European countries, things are done is small increments here. When we wash dishes, we do a little at a time after every meal -- the lone sink is quite small, no disposal, and little space to set out dishes to dry. Laundry is done in little loads. (We are very grateful for our little washing machine.) Trips to the store are short and frequent. Shopping carts do not exist in the little grocery stores and oncewe've bought our food and drinking water we have to walk back to our aparment and up 3.5 flights of stairs. So, carrying a Wal-mart basket full of food would mean death.
Tonight we plan to attend services at our church here in Durres beach.
Later and God bless,
Darin