#Albania… Where is it?

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What occurs to you, when you hear the name of the country “Albania”? “Kosovo?” “A country on the Balkan Peninsula?” “Is it a country?” Many people associate Albania with war and Albania for them is a dangerous place to visit. However, do you know that this country is situated between two extremely popular touristic destinations: Montenegro and Greece? Albania has a coast on the Adriatic Sea and on the Ionian Sea.

Nevertheless, why do plenty of people prefer spending their vacation in Montenegro and Greece rather than Albania? In this article, I would like to tell you about my visit to Albania.

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Albania was chosen as place to spend my summer holiday in 2014. As usually, people discuss their plans for summer with relatives, friends, colleges. And I was asked the same question in spring 2014. “Where are you going in summer?” My answer, as you already know, was Albania. And their reaction was “Why?” I think you also would like to learn my answer to this question. The truth is that in March 2014 I started choosing a place to go to in summer.

I had already been to different countries and I wanted something new. What do you think I did? Started surfing the Net? Yes, of course, I asked Google to help me. Unfortunately, that time the closest friend of all the people wasn’t able to help me. When I had switched off my laptop, I decided to have a bit and at that very moment, I saw the map on my bedroom door. Yes, I have one! So, I started examining it.

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My aim was to find a place by the sea in Europe, which would be absolutely new for me. My attention was drawn to the country about which I had known so little. When I had discovered this country for myself, I had no doubts that it was solution of my problem. After that, the next step in preparation for the holiday began. I had to find plane tickets to the capital city of Albania- Tirana. To my surprise, there were no direct flights from Moscow to Tirana. Fortunately, several European airlines offer flights with a change.

When the tickets had already been purchased, the question of our accommodation was the next one. I believe that absolutely everyone who is going to Albania will find a place to stay in. In this country you can find posh hotels with luxurious rooms and a gorgeous lobby. Speaking about myself, I prefer small guesthouses, where the hosts treat you like an old friend. As it turned out it wasn’t a problem to find such a place in Albina. To sum up, I can say that there are hotels, nice for any taste. To my mind, I found a perfect guesthouse.

It is by the sea in the town, which called Durres. Durres is the closest town on the seaside to the airport of Tirana. It took us 1 second to get from the guesthouse to the beach. I’m not joking!!! There isn’t any road between the hotels and the beach.

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We literally lived on the beach. In most hotels by the sea you don’t have to pay for seabeds and umbrellas, as they are included in the price of your room. I am sure that every time you go to a new place you ask yourself: “Where are we going to eat out?”. You can be sure it will not be a problem in Albania. Along the beach, you will find a great number of cafes and restaurants. Fishlovers, attention, please! Most of restaurants serve various fish and seafood. We are used to the fact, that fish is expensive.

However, in comparison with other European countries, in Albania you will find cheap and, what is even more important delicious (no, sorry, a wrong word) yummy fish and seafood. OK, the topic of food we have discussed, logically you will ask me about drinks. Answering this question, I’ll tell you that in Albania you will find Albanian beer and wine which are tasty and of good quality. http://i.imgur.com/uq80Tyt.jpg

Reading my article, maybe you’ll have a thought “ohhh, come on, everything can’t be so ideal”. You’ll be absolutely right. Albania has recently started developing their tourism industry. That’s why travelling around this country you may face some difficulties like public transport. For a person who has come Albania for the first time it can be a challenge to find a bus stop, timetable etc. People, who speak English, may think that it isn’t a problem at all.

Because they’ll just ask local people to help. Despite the fact that native people in Albania are very hospitable and do their best to help you, most of them don’t speak English. At all! However, don’t forget that the language of gestures is international.

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In short, if you are puzzled and don’t know where to go for youк long-awaited vacation( by the way beach season lasts for 6 months in Albania), if you want to spend your evening strolling along sandy beach and listening to the sea, if you are not afraid to get off the beaten track, at least think of visiting Albania.

I’m absolutely sure that you’ll not regret it.

Believe me, a person who has been to Albania twice and wants to return there again and again. http://i.imgur.com/8mSziwj.jpg

Follow me @natako