Tirana, Kruja and a big surprise

When you leave Saranda, you are immediately in the outskirts of Tirana, the capital of Albania.

About a third of the countryˋs population lives in the wider city area, roughly one million people. And they all seem to be on the road, beeping their horns.

Itˋs pretty fascinating how all the Balkan people are really friendly in personal contact, yet are some of the most reckless drivers you will ever encounter. Anticipatory driving doesnˋt seem to be taught in driving school.

Both of us were very glad indeed when I was settled and my human could go on by foot to explore the city, which has been inhabited since prehistoric times.

During the obligatory walking tour, she learned a lot about the history of the country and also about some of the more interesting architecture in the city.

Art, I guess

He just woulndˋt go away

From this house the citizens were spied on during communism

An original piece of the Berlin Wall, gifted to Tirana after the fall of communism in the country

One of many bunkers in Albania; estimations go from 17.000 to 750.00 bunkers

This bunker was the entrance to a vast underground network of rooms and corridors in case of nuclear attack

The city park

You might recall the "Project 2014" we talked about in Skopje, North Macedonia?

Well, here we have a similar enterprise, "The Ten Towers". 

Ten skyscrapers, which are meant to give the city a modern and futuristic touch, have been built in recent years or are still under construction.

Each one is backed by a different investor, so the official version. The laundering of drug money is another. 
Either way, they do make for an interesting cityscape.

The windows stikcking out on this one form the outline of the country and also its topography

The two mayor squares in the city are Skanderbeg Square and Mother Theresa Square. Yes, Albanians are also claiming Mother Theresa for themselves. To be fair, she has been born into a Kosovao-Albanian family.

Skanderbeg Square, at the moment home to a huge fan zone for the Euro 2024

A rather impressive screen

Skanderbeg

Mother Theresa Square turns into a place to see and be seen at night, especiall for high-tuned car lovers

Skanderbeg is an Albanian national hero. Born in 1405, he was a feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.

To do so, he sides with the Venetians and fought in the first Ottoman-Venetian war from 1463 until his death in 1468, which either resulted from a Malaria infection or poisoning.  

 

From these days arise the strong connections between Albania and Italy, which is very evident in the many Italian tourists you encounter in the country and especially here in Tirana. 

Some night time impressions of the city

The Tirana Pyramid

The city is full of fancy bars and restaurants...

... and people are out and about making full use of them.

Driving on through the outskirts of the city, you soon reach Kruje, seemingly without ever leaving Tirana. 

In 1190, Kruje became the capital of the first Albanian state in the Middle Ages and later the capital of the Kingdom of Albania. 

The City beyond the Sky, a rather lofty claim for being only 600m above sea level

In the early 15th Century, Kruje was captured by the Ottoman Empire, but later recaptured by aforementioned Skanderbeg. 

Kruje Castle, built in the 5th or 6th Century, which withstood three brutal sieges by the Ottomans, towers over the town to this day. 

So naturally, this is the first place to visit when you get here. It offers nice views over the town and, on a good day, you can see the ocean in the distance.

The Skanderbeg Museum is located within the castle walls. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside, and this rule is enforced rather strictly. 

The view from our camp

And now for the big surprise!

From Kruja, we drove in a northerly direction.

Those who have paid attention will now ask: "Why North? Greece is in the South!"

And they would be right. Thing is, we are not going to Greece anymore, we are going home!

Why? Well, thatˋs a question with a complicated answer. 

Letˋs start with the most obvious: it is effing hot in Greece. Now, thatˋs not exactly breaking news, I know. And we had our doubts at the beginning of the trip if July and August in Greece would be a good idea. 

But my human, ever idealistic, figured, weˋve been to Spain and Portugal in Summer, so Greece would also be ok. 

But she seems to have lost a bit of appetite for very hot weather over the past couple of years.

And 38 degree days mean 30 degree nights, which, in a metal box like me, if a truly amazing metal box, isnˋt all that comfortable.

The softer side of the complicated answer is that my human began missing her folks, family and friends, and simply had a feeling that it would be a good idea to be home for the summer. 

This is it in a nutshell. To describe all that went on in her head over the course of a few weeks would go way beyond the scope here, so we will just leave it at that. 

But, on our way home, we made two more stops.

Brief stop in Bled, you have seen this view before

Firstly, Slovenia. We were here last year in November when it was extremely wet and windy and the Triglav National Park was more or less closed because of the weather.

Triglav is the highest mountain in Slovenia, though, my human was very keen to climb it. So now we returned for her to do just that.

She left me in the closest village, Mojstrana, and took a free shuttle bus at 5am to get into the Vrata Valley and to the beginning of the trail.

First, it just ambled nicely through the valley along a river, then got steeper and more rocky. After about an hour, she got to the start of a Via Ferrata, called the Bamberger Weg.

She had rented a Via Ferrata-set in Bled the day before, although there were accounts of people who had done it without. But being on her own, she figured better safe than sorry.

As it turns out, she didnˋt need the set after all, it was all pretty easy and straight forward climbing.

The formidable North wall of Triglav

Enjoying some amazing views along the way, she reached the summit after five hours and 1800 height meters, having watched the clouds move in for quite some time. And, to no-ones surprise, she was engulfed in fog as she reached the 2864m peak.

The plateau before the last effort up to the summit

She could be a stock photo producer for the category of foggy pictures

The way down was hard on the knees and required a high level of concentration because it was a very steep route in rather demanding terrain.

After 9 hours, she had made it back down to the river, sweaty and feeling accomplished.

Our second stop on the way home was in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee in Austria. 

We came here to visit Jenny and Robert, a couple we had met on the very first day of our trip this year in Croatia.

Jenny and Robert when we met in Croatia

At the time, they invited us to their place if ever we were in their neck of the woods.

We were! And they welcomed us in a way that we immediately felt like we had known each other for a long, long time.

Klagenfurt lies in the very South of Austria and is the countries sixth-largest city.

The "Lindwurm" was the first inhabitant of the area and had to be slain before humans could settle here

"Wörthersee-Mandl", a funny story if you want to look it up

Besides the charming city center, the Wörthersee is the jewel of the region, shimmering in many hues of blue and green.

The lake is over 16km long, up to  85m deep and has drinking water quality.

Two nights, two barbecues, countless stories and an allover wonderful time later, we left Jenny and Robert with a heavy heart.

And so, after five splendid months of travels in the Balkans, only four more hours of driving lay ahead of us before we would be home once again.