drita's chronicle: Weekend escape (part 1)

Tirana is extremely hot these days, and we haven’t seen any rain lately. Additionally, since last week, I’ve been experiencing a couple of environmental problems in our building: lack of water for most of the day, and the a/c unit’s malfunction, which drips condensation water inside the apartment, instead of outside! All these occurrences, on top of other business related tribulations, made me more prone to accept a friendly invitation to flee the stress of Tirana and relax for a few hours in more pleasurable settings. The mere fact of riding in my friends’ comfortable, powerful, and well equipped car is a real bliss.

We encountered very heavy traffic when we left Tirana, on the way to Durres, also due to lots of ongoing road work. In that city we made a short stop for drinks and began to enjoy the refreshing sea breeze under the canopy of one of the many bars along the coast, while watching the beach activities and the swimmers. In perfect English, and with business card in hand, a gentleman even approached us offering a complete apartment, if we decided to stay.

We, instead, proceeded eastward toward the town of Pogradeç, on lake Ohrid, where we planned to lodge overnight. I had been there 9 years ago, as part of an American delegation, passing through on a business visit, and remembered only a nice restaurant where we were treated for lunch by the town Mayor, who was a woman at that time.

As we rode along the new road that follows the contours of the mountains, we could see the rail line that is still functioning, but was built during communist time thanks to everyone’s labor. Both my friends (husband and wife) were pointing out to me the places where they actually worked as teenagers, in the steel mills and in laying down the rail beds, assisting specialized crews that were drilling the mountains tunnels.

These old factories are now completely broken down and unusable, especially after the looting and riots that erupted in the 1990’s. They are an eerie sight that repeats itself in many parts of Albania.

In the area of Librash, we stopped for a late lunch in a lonely, rustic restaurant, called ‘Gjaktari’, perched up along the Shkumbin river. The name of this place means “Hunters”, and their specialties are based on all sorts of meats, indeed excellent, whether grilled, baked, or cooked on the rotating spit. My friends, as usual, invited me to try new dishes. This time I enjoyed tasting the ‘terrine’ of corn bread, which is soaked in chicken broth, topped with chicken livers and baked in terracotta. Taste wise, it reminded me a lot about a very flavorful ‘Italian polenta’. The outdoor setting was very peaceful, and while we ate we watched children playing in the river.

Before reaching our overnight destination, we visited a resort, called Volorec, which is an idyllic place, in a large shaded park, with small lakes, touring boats, and beautiful swans completing the picture.

Here, we were pretty close to Macedonia, and I was informed that a duplicate of this site is now part of that state to which it was ‘donated’ by the ex King Zog of Albania around the 1930’s.

The town of Pogradeç is now much larger than I remember it. The shore line is flanked by many hotels on one side, and by lovely trees, benches, and gardens on the other. As we rode along it we witnessed a never ending stream of the evening strollers!

In the outskirts of the town proper, we reached our hotel, located in the village of Tushemis, not too far from the Macedonian border.

pastoral setting in back of hotel

After a refreshing shower and rest in the comfy brand new hotel (we were in a new wing just completed a month ago) at 10pm we crossed the street to consume a light dinner in the restaurant owned by the same proprietor. Both the restaurant and the hotel were filled with Albanians (many were the cars with Tirana plates), quite a few foreign tourists, and a dozen German business men.

The hotel bedding was extremely comfortable, the bathroom facilities and the a/c performing beautifully, and the place’s quietness super! In the morning, when I opened the balcony’s curtains, I noticed a large number of swallows that kept coming and going around the hotel. I thus realized the serenity of this area was perfect. No swallows would lodge in highly trafficked places, as I well remembered since my early years in Italy. In my grandparents house they would re-appear every spring, and rebuild their nests in exactly the same places that they knew they were completely undisturbed.

After a walk along the beach where the lake gentle waves pushed an unfortunate garbage pile up, I and my friends had a lovely, unhurried breakfast, right over the water, and under the shades of brightly colored umbrellas.