Back Inside Albania

I am back after spending just over a couple of weeks in Iraq. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and things seemed to be better than what we see in the news. There were things I believe Iraq can learn from Albania and vice versa but I shall come write more about that when I have given it a bit more thought.

I was very pleased to see the Blue Eye or Syri Kaltër written about quite positively like most of Albania’s natural beauties. I have to confess that I have yet to visit the Blue eye, so if any of you have been there before please give me tips on where to go and what to do there and where is the best place to eat. All your recommendations are welcome, and hopefully you will convince me to go there very soon.

Another interesting piece of news which if true is a definite step in the right direction concerns wind generated electricity. The article states that Albania plans to become a ‘major’ wind energy producer, and aims to sell some of the energy to Italy. I like the idea, I mean dont get me wrong I am not one of these Green freaks but its clean, and Albania really doesn’t need more pollution. Its also obvious that Albania has some energy problems, and why not utilise wind to produce some clean energy as well as that nuclear power plant that they are planning to build in Vlora. Now that I am completely against, only because I cant trust them to run it safely. So wind is good guys, I just hope they deliver a wind farm instead of pocketing the money and giving us a windmill.

Finally a shout goes out to the National football team, good result against the Swedes, more of the same and you never know………………….

From Tirana to Baghdad

I just wanted to inform you that I will be going to Iraq for around 2 weeks. If I get the opportunity I will let you know how I am doing there and post some photos. They say its very hot there now but hopefully there will be electricity to power the air-cons.

So take and hopefully you will be hearing from me soon.

Nato, Berat, and Pollution

Waking up yesterday morning I walked out onto the balcony to have a coffee and was saddened by what I saw. Now, I have to tell you that I live on the seventh floor of a building and have quite a nice panoramic and unobstructed view of Tirana, however yesterday the visibility was so bad that I could not see some of the hills to the east of the city. In fact the Dajti which is just over a 1km from my flat was barely visible. This was not due to clouds or fog, but a mixture of dust and smog. On a nice clear day, I can actually see cars travelling up the Dajti, but as you can see from the photo below that wasn’t the case yesterday. Lying in a valley and with all the fumes and dust Tirana really has its work cut out when it comes to air quality, especially in the summer. So I think a nice rain storm would be called for in the next couple of days to settle things down a bit. So lets all pray for some rain (I cant believe I am saying this).

Big thick smog

On another front, the news regarding the signing of the NATO accession protocols are on all major news outlets but you can check it out on a  not so major news site. One step closer to the EU I hope, which will probably happen early in the next decade. An interesting view was also published regarding the NATO membership by on Radio Netherlands Worldwide entitled Albania is a nation without memories which is based on the views of an Albanian physics graduate who was imprisoned for many years during the communist era. It is an interesting read, and I found the views posted on Stepping Stones interesting.

Berat has also been in the news recently because it has been added to the list of world heritage sites by UNESCO. Berat is a town in Albania that I have heard many pleasant things about (it is also the most visited by tourists) but have so far not had the pleasure of visiting. I shall make an effort this summer to give it a visit and see the famous castle which dates back to more than 2000 years.

Swimming in Velipoja

The weather over the past weeks has been wonderful, blue sky with the odd fluffy white cloud, and the warm temperatures are very far from what I am used to back home. So last weekend me and some friends decided to go to Velipoja for a swim. The drive from Tirana took about two and half hours but that was mainly due to traffic, and I have to mention the roads were of good standard unlike those on the way to Vlora. As we passed Lezhe the scenery became much more beautiful and the drive more pleasurable as we passed through fields full of horses (and cows but they dont beat horses so who cares) on both sides. Arriving at the beach was a bit of a disappointment for me because there were so many people (I like quiet beaches). However this feeling did not last, because the beach is very very very long, and all the people were concentrated in on area of the beach because of the close proximity of the Bar/Cafe/Restaurant/Pizzeria/Fast Food/Hotel/Motel/Lavazh/shops etc.. So we bought what we needed and drove to the left side of the beach and after about 1 mile we arrived at a quiet spot close to the mouth of a river that runs into the sea.

After an hour or so of swimming we decided to walk further east along the beach, as we crossed the mouth of the river the were four or five people fishing, but once we passed them the beach was deserted for all the way till the end (2 km approx). There no one on the beach except for us and the rubbish that was probably washed up by the sea. And although we passed debris, plastic bags, flip flops, cans and other bits of rubbish it really didnt matter, because the beach was so long and so wide that the rubbish wasnt really staring you in the face, and most important of all it wasnt in the water, it was just lying there scattered on the beautiful beach.

Overall Verdict

The water was blue and clean, unlike Durres, and we had a great time swimming in peace and I would recommend it to those who want to swim somewhere nice but not as far as Vlora or Sarande. Has plenty of hotels, shops etc for all the things you may need but is relatively undeveloped and long may it stay like that.

The mouth of the river

Empt sandy beach till the end