Albania is one of the top touristic attractions in rise. This hidden gem in Europe, is the ancient Illyricum. Located in north of Greece and south Montenegro, across Italy, and bordered by Macedonia and Kosovo in North East, Albania makes a great connecting point to a tour in the Balkan region. You can start driving from Italy to Slovenia, Croatia coast, Montenegro either the coast or through the mountains, both are breathtaking, to Albania then Greece. This region has a breathtaking nature; aside of Croatia coast that is developed; Montenegro and Albania offer a rich virgin lush rocky coast.
Albania even though is a bit more chaotic in terms of infrastructure, it is a very attractive blend of three epochs: the ottoman occupation, short Italian protectorate, Communism and then the democracy era. Albania has Mediterranean weather, warm winter and 300 of sun days, which makes it a solar country. People are very friendly especially toward foreigners. Albania has been known for the Besa is a code of honor, which makes an oath or promise holy. You have to keep your word even with your life. Foreigners and guests are under besa, thus it is a great disgrace if you break your besa. Even though the concept of besa has unfortunately diminished in the last two decades of the democracy, while the young people are embracing more the western individualism, it is still highly respected as a concept.
Food in Albania is rich in flavor, a blend of Mediterranean cuisine, and it is very cheap comparing to the surrounding countries. You can have a great full meal for $10. Organic and traditional food is very popular now in many of the Albanian restaurants, where you will find an impressive architecture as well delicious food.
Another thing that makes Albania special are coffee places. It is said that in Albania there is a coffee shop in every corner. The culture is built around coffee. Albanians would sip an expresso shot or macchiato (expresso latte) for an hour or even more while passionately discussing the daily events, especially politics. Coffee places and restaurants are indeed very curated. Albanians love beauty, thus they invest a lot not only on the quality of what they serve, but in decorating their restaurants or coffee shops. The concept of a take away coffee is new, as Albanians are relational. A coffee or meal tastes better when you are in the company of your friends. Many institutions and companies would be served coffee in person, from the coffee shops nearby. You can call them, and they will send a waiter with your order in a tray, on real porcelain cups. I just love sitting on a business meeting and be served a real macchiato in a porcelain cup!
You can pay in cash, as well use your card. In most of the cities and popular touristic areas you can pay via card. Cash though is always preferred by vendors as it saves them taxes. Ok, here is an important detail about driving through Albania. You can rent a car in Albania as there are many car renting companies as AVI etc. What I love is the availability of gas stations. You will never get stuck somewhere (unless you are deep in the Alps) due to fuel shortage. This might sound a funny detail, but after driving through Greece border to Thessaloniki, I got surprised that there was no gas stop on the highway. We run short of fuel and thank to Google Maps we could divert in time to a small town, 15 minutes far from the highway, to refill the tank and then continue our trip. In Albania while you drive in the national roads or the highway, you do not need to bother of running short on fuel. The choices are plenty, the only thing you need to worry about is know where to refill your car :)
More to come on my next post. Please comment below your questions, and I will try to answer them in the best of my knowledge.
