Eclectic ….

After decades of communist rule, the people of Tirana have let colour into their life, as displayed in their buildings.

We have spent the last few days seeing the sights, walking the streets, the cable car and travelling on local buses.

There is heaps of construction here, on completion it will be amazing. Hotels, apartments are to name a few of developing sites here. The architecture is very eclectic and exciting.

Lots of bars and cafes that are bustling all day and night.

The side streets are full of sellers of all kinds of products, some just from the pavement some in a shop front. Bikes are everywhere with dedicated bike paths, cars are just crazy.

An artificial lake brings a lovely bush walking environment, running tracks and parks for the locals.

The cable car is a 15 minutes ride 1 way, 1613m above sea level, the longest in the Balkins at 4.3km. Unfortunately the revolving restaurant at the top was closed.

Durres is a 2 bus affair, we are locals now; catching buses here and there. The town is on the coast and beaches north and south. The tourist season has finished and it’s Monday so just a sprinkling of people enjoying the coast. Some very plush hotels and some under construction. The town centre has a more relaxed atmosphere than the hum drum of Tirana … it’s a nice break.

The school day finishes at 1pm, it’s quite chaotic traffic increases and then older students fill the streets by the 100’s.

Tirana is lively to say the least.

The bikes are packed, and we are off tomorrow. Unfortunately, we didn’t make Greece as we have had to fly home early.

Maybe next year we will get a look at Greece.

We haven’t broken any PB’s as we stayed longer in towns, enjoying what was on offer.

I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the hills in Italy and Slovenia, and the islands of Croatia.

I have got a taste for Aperol Spritz.

I couldn’t do without my garmin, komoot, downloaded offline google maps and my kindle.

We have been blessed with the weather, we avoided the extreme heatwave and extreme flooding and rain. Today in Tirana it’s in the 30C which is unheard of in October.

A great walking tour today … Albania has such a complicated past.

It was history and politics overload … you feel for this country.

It’s hard to comprehend that the fall of communism was in 1991.

Tirana is in the process of rebuilding, lots of highrise being developed to support their people and the influx of tourism.

A new mosque and Albanian Orthodox Church are near completion. Several new hotels are under construction. Tirana is going ahead in leaps and bounds … look out world!!!

It’s a long process, they will get there. The people are really friendly, helpful and happy to receive tourists.

Maintenance is not ‘his’ forte …

Great start for the morning … bus to Tirana, no problem to take the bikes.

Within a couple of hours we are in Tirina at the bus station, some 5km from the centre. I’m enjoying riding into the city like a local but I have my helmet on amongst the cars. Not long before we are on a dedicated bike lane … nothing flash but a bike lane which is great, all the way to the centre square.

Finding our way to get a lunch stop … ‘Sue … stop!!’ Puncture #6 … a lovely local saw us and suggested there was a bike shop just down the road … however we were onto it … fixed and lunch … followed by puncture #7 …

The bike shop couldn’t help but gave us directions to the Bazaar … several stores to choose from. Lovely people who replaced the tube and tyre. ‘Oh! my stand is broken can you fix it?’ … so with a coffee and search for a hotel, the stand was also fixed, only to find out that the rims are urgently in need of replacement before he has a serious accident … ugh … we won’t talk about me replacing my rims before this trip and having that conversation about his rims on his bike … double ugh!!!

Back to the Bazaar area for dinner, we choose a restaurant, John asked for a big beer … we are halal no alcohol. Well that was short and sweet … we go next door, they have beer and wine … do you want pork chops, pork ribs, pork sausages? We only have pork. Pork is my favourite meat so I’m happy … pork ribs, salad, chips and peppers and cream. Best pork I’ve had for a long time. Followed by a gelato it’s a good day. Not sure if John feels the same!

Back to the comfort of a hotel room … John can’t get the TV working …

Tomorrow we can explore the city.

Stares and whispers … I feel like an alien; out of 100’s of cyclists, I’m the only one with a helmet ...

We took to the streets today, first to see the Mesi Bridge.  Riding on the road, it was semi busy in parts, merging with cars and other bikes. There are no traffic lights, a few roundabouts.  Bikes seem to rule as they randomly push their way into traffic. No helmets, lots of very mature men and  women owning the road.  Some roundabouts there are police on the lookout, it looked like random licence checks.

The bridge is only 7km, we get into the country a bit with the mountains as a backdrop.  Returning we go off in another direction and come across streets with shops flowing onto the footpath, used clothing just dumped on the pavement like a bargain bin, no order at all. Just like a continuous garage sale, with random item, from clothing to electrical and household items.

After that we venture to the lake, the largest lake in southern Europe. Crossing the bridge across the river, a shanty town, young kids running barefooted through the streets, coming from makeshift dwellings built on a hill, a lady cutting up vegetables seated on the side of the road. I’m in a time warp. The road leads us along the lake with the mountains as a backdrop. This is home for migatory bird life, plants and fish. Back across the bridge, John has puncture number 5 …

Returning to the centre, it is around 1pm the traffic is building.  It seems that school is out.  I follow a mature lady as we ride on the road, wow, she just plows through the traffic, particularly the double parked cars everywhere.  Not to mention dinking on the bikes … side saddle with all ages.

On our travels today we have come across lots of different modes of transport, a very well dressed old man on a 3 wheeler with a 2 stroke motor putt putting down the road very slowly. Good on him …  he had his independence!!

We sit in a park, it’s tough to find a bench, bikes everywhere. There are rows of square tables with 4 seats, squares of cardboard on the seats and on the tables.  Men sitting under the shade playing cards, chess, and dominos in groups of 4, no money changing hands, no alcohol, no electronic devices. What a sight to see … . Something we could learn from.

From trepidation to elation …

Another early morning and up with the alarm. A bus at 7.30am to Shkoder. Giving the lady in the ticket office a fit that we want to take our bikes, however we convince the driver that the bikes can fit by removing the front wheel. All good and we are off.

Some serious mountains we are climbing with the most spectacular views of the coast before we head inland.

We stop to pick and let down at Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. A very big town, lots of modern apartment living. Then very flat country with vineyards and orchards.

A border crossing as we enter Albania, same as before, out of bus, passport check, not even a stamp, back in bus, 200m then ditto.

The bus trip took 3.5hrs, the border crossing took about 45 minutes. All of a sudden the bus driver calls ‘Shkoder’ … just after we pass by a gypsy camp … eekkkk! We hurry to get panniers and bikes assembled.

‘OMG … what have I done’, I’m thinking. The driver pointed back down the road to say the ‘centre’ was in that direction. Back past the gypsies … fingers crossed that the centre was better. A cafe to get a coffee and internet. Nice guy says 3km further is centre, I look up Google for centre reviews. WHEW!!! likened to the Caribbean and city of bikes.

So off we go with a bit more spring in my wheels towards the centre, mind you I have no idea what the Carribean is like.

The closer to the centre, the more enchanting this town becomes, the streets are decoratively paved and tree lined, lovely bars, cafes, and restaurants.

So … bikes are plentiful; locals commuting of all ages, bike lanes on the road; drivers/cyclists/pedestrians all work in harmony and not to mention the dogs.

Dogs also have a place in the community in this town, they are ear tagged, vaccinated and sterilised by the council, fed by the restaurants and wander around the streets, just like the cats of Kotor.

We are staying in the Centre, saw a hotel on a side street and John asked if they had a room … great location.

What a wonderful day that has been full of surprises.

A day off is not always a day off …

A lovely morning and after a banana and orange juice we decided to hike up to the Kotor Fortress. The days are starting to get significantly shorter with sunrise as late as 6.42am and the mountain that looms above hiding the sun for even longer today.

As we start our climb the church bells peel endlessly, letting everyone in the town know it is 8am.

A quick look at the port as we climb, the ship yesterday has gone and now a new ship ‘Wind Surf’ 404 passengers has docked. John is back in Fremantle … haha.

The steep rocky steps are not designed for people with short legs, it’s a combination of steps and getting a good hamstring stretch and the no step option. I mainly took the latter.

John said he was not counting, we had read there were 1350 steps. If they were normal sized steps it would have been way more, and 260m above sea level.

There were a few early risers also climbing. The views were spectacular of the bay and mountains surrounding.

About 35 minutes later we are at the Fortress, not to mention the wow factor of the climb, the views and how and when they built this and the walls that we have zigzagedly followed.

The way down was significantly faster … time for a coffee and a croissant in one of the many hidden cafes in the old town. Our entertainment is the cats of course as they wander through the streets … cats rule in Kotor.

We venture out on our bikes around a 42km circuit of the bay. The road hugs the coast in what I call a bow shape. It’s pleasant riding, not too much traffic then a quick 1min ferry ride. I ask at the ticket office, ‘2 adults and 2 bikes, please’ the reply was, ‘It’s free, go go!!’ Well you could have knocked me over by a feather!

Another 12km which I think was the nicest part of the circuit. We stopped at a bakery and sat on the coast with lunch, beer and dessert watching a yacht doing circles and trying to throw the ropes to dock … but very unsuccessfully. The mountains are just mesmerising on the other side of the coast which is quite mistakenly like a lake. Oops, here comes another ship … ‘Armonia’ 2360 passengers … off we go 6km to watch it berth only to find that it is too big for the port so it is anchored out and passengers are bought ashore by tender boats. It’s all very exciting today.

You can’t take a bad photo …

Leaving Dubrovnik at 8.15am. No problem at taking the bikes as long as it was the early bus, the driver had reservations but all fitted nicely.

The cruise ship Explorer of the Seas (4290 passengers) was docked just behind the bus station.

Another day of breathtaking scenery from the bus, I was sort of quietly envious of the cyclists we saw on the road, it wasn’t all uphill.

The border crossing took me back to my Contiki days in 1978, out of the bus, passports stamped, back in the bus. Drive about 5 minutes, ditto. We are now officially in Montenegro. Along the coastal route across a 10 minute ferry with the bus and into Kotor. Perhaps the €25 each wasn’t that bad afterall … but we won’t talk about the same price for the bikes.

We are surrounded by mountains and lucky to be staying in the old town. This is probably the most exquisite old town I’ve come across.

Our accommodation is surprisingly only one flight of stairs and has exposed brick … very nice with views of the mountains.

Cats are everywhere, cat shops, cat museum … everything cat.

A walking tour this morning to get some history and stories about the Old Town. Beautiful old buildings, thankfully most have escaped the many wars over the years.

For Games of Thrones fans, of course there are specific tours.

It’s certainly beautiful here, the weather has been superb. Today, we swam at a pebbley beach in a little Cove. The water is still warm enough to be comfortable. I sort of ‘get’ pebbles, but they seriously kill your feet when you get out of the water … the reason why there are so many people who swim in reef walkers. On the positive side, you don’t get sand everywhere.

There is nothing like night time in an old time.

By the way, cats are everywhere here, they almost get royalty status, read in the link, and they are actually good looking, well fed and healthy.

A very quick 11km ride today into Dubrovnik.  Great scenery of the coast, with a few hills just to work the legs.

Just as we were approaching the Dubrovnik Bridge the German couple (Rebecca and Jonas) came up from behind … 3rd time we have seen them … what are the chances?  Nice to chat again with them.

Over the bridge and down by the port.  Two big cruise ships have docked this morning.  John is excited; he thinks he’s in Fremantle.

We are able to leave our luggage and bikes at the accommodation to walk into the Old Town.  We are approached by a tour scout for an out of town car trip, to the bridge and the mountain for spectacular views.  Before a quick walk through the Old Town; it’s tourist central  … we’ll do a walking tour tomorrow.

Back to investigate the beach nearby, a short 15 minute walk, John is counting the steps …  253, it’s rocky but lovely and clear and refreshing. just as we are leaving from a different direction, another beach is in our sights, small pebbles … that to explore tomorrow.