Back to Durres

We had a good time going to Durres with friends. Arte (Arta) teaches with us at school. She and her husband (Bata) and son (Sokol) also go to the church we’ve been to many times. They are all fluent in English and, more importantly, a lot of fun and an encouragement to us. We really like their company. So they took us in their car to a lovely restaurant on the seaside in the middle of a strip of beach full of hotels and cafes. We had some great local grilled fish, salads, wine, and bread. Then they took us to a really nice hotel for ice cream. After that they took us down the road a little farther and dropped us off in a patch of hotels and we said goodbye.

Durres, Albania

We walked around looking for the right hotel and finally wound up where we started with a nice room and a decent view. We went out for a pizza for dinner at a place called Troy.

Beach Time

After breakfast the next morning we walked the rest of the way, about a kilometer or two, into Durres and hung out along the sea. The weather was fair: sunny with a breeze, but not quite warm enough. We watched some crabs blow bubbles on some rocks and then decided to get a taxi and go back out to the beaches for some beach time.
Finding a taxi, we got out there and had lunch and relaxed on beach chairs for a while and then decided to come home. We didn’t know exactly how to do that since we weren’t near a bus stop. So we crossed the highway and stood there for a while until a white delivery van flashed his lights at us and Travis held out his hand to say, “Yes, please.”The guy pulled over and asked where we were going. We said to Tirana and asked how much. He said, “No money, Pa Lek.” So we said great and hopped in. He took us near town where we caught another bus, which took us into the middle of Tirana where we got a taxi to take us the rest of the way. It was our little adventure. Travis particularly enjoyed the weekend, because I really focused on using Albanian and tried to use new words and our little phrase book. Amy particularly enjoyed the relaxation and just getting away from distractions at home.