Visited long time ago also by such notables, as British poet Lord Byron and British traveler and writer Edith Durham, these areas can now be freely rediscovered after more than half a century of forced isolationism.
Visitors, enjoy!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Albania: intriguing east
Albeit this article by TravelFY was written to market tourism, it has a very appropriate title and it provides an excellent description of the still unknown, but worth visiting, mountainous hinterland of Albania.
Visited long time ago also by such notables, as British poet Lord Byron and British traveler and writer Edith Durham, these areas can now be freely rediscovered after more than half a century of forced isolationism.
Visitors, enjoy!
Visited long time ago also by such notables, as British poet Lord Byron and British traveler and writer Edith Durham, these areas can now be freely rediscovered after more than half a century of forced isolationism.
Visitors, enjoy!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Year End in NY
After three busy months of planning and development work in Albania I am back home in NY, where now I am coping with a huge accumulation of paperwork that needs to be appropriately disposed of before year end.
The return trip from Tirana was smooth and uneventful, but tiring for me, as usual. Left my Tirana apartment at 3AM, in cool and drizzling weather. After a 9 1/2 hrs transatlantic flight, landed at JFK, on time, at 2PM, where the temperature was below zero centigrade.
The lengthy connection time to be spent at Vienna's airport is always quite comfy, though, due to the well organized and structured atmosphere there, followed by an excellent service on board the very efficiently run Austrian Airline. Arrival in NY can be shocking, however, due to the always enormously jam-packed and chaotic environment at the influx terminals. Thank goodness my taxi ride home was pretty speedy because it was Sunday afternoon and the vehicular traffic on the highway into town was light.
I still need to normalize my daily hours, get rid of the remaining jet lag, and catch up on much needed sleep, but, overall, so far, I have managed to put everything under control. Now I just want to add here the best of wishes for a wonderful holiday season to all my friends, relatives, and acquaintances living around the world.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!
GEZUAR FESTAT dhe VITIN e RI!
BUON NATALE e FELICE ANNO NUOVO!
The return trip from Tirana was smooth and uneventful, but tiring for me, as usual. Left my Tirana apartment at 3AM, in cool and drizzling weather. After a 9 1/2 hrs transatlantic flight, landed at JFK, on time, at 2PM, where the temperature was below zero centigrade.
The lengthy connection time to be spent at Vienna's airport is always quite comfy, though, due to the well organized and structured atmosphere there, followed by an excellent service on board the very efficiently run Austrian Airline. Arrival in NY can be shocking, however, due to the always enormously jam-packed and chaotic environment at the influx terminals. Thank goodness my taxi ride home was pretty speedy because it was Sunday afternoon and the vehicular traffic on the highway into town was light.
I still need to normalize my daily hours, get rid of the remaining jet lag, and catch up on much needed sleep, but, overall, so far, I have managed to put everything under control. Now I just want to add here the best of wishes for a wonderful holiday season to all my friends, relatives, and acquaintances living around the world.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
A Christmas Story - Journey Of The Angels/Silent Night by Enya.wmv
I normally don't do this, but this beautiful, very touching story, emailed to me by a friend, needs to be shared and watched to the end.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Street cleaning in Tirana
Modernization in the capital of Albania has been and is evident on a daily basis. I have watched its progress for almost two decades now, as described from time to time in this blog, but I am still amazed by how certain city services are still conducted today. Street clean-up is one of the services I am referring to.
The garbage trucks are of European standard and the metal collection bins are emptied twice a day (at midday and at midnight). Other mechanized equipment includes also water spraying vehicles that wash down the streets every night,following the trash pickups. But,to my knowledge and observation, I believe that the city is not yet equipped with mechanical sweepers. At least, I have never seen any of them around.
As done traditionally, all street and parks cleaning is still done manually, and it is performed at all hours of the day and night. I suppose this should help unemployment, but, interestingly, the cleaning crews are largely formed by women.
With this week total sunny days are being replaced by mixed weather conditions that include loud, but short storms, alternating with sunny intervals throughout the day, with, at times, very strong, unusual winds. The wet season was very late this year; the color turning of the foliage was beautiful, however, but is not lasting very long because the winds made the golden glow of the leaves disappear quickly.
During the day the women collect the leaves, and then a truck comes by to pick up, while during the night I watched two lonely men, working under pouring rain, one collecting the leaves and the other loading them onto a metal bin on wheels that he pushed by hand along the boulevard…..By the morning the road was clean, but thanks to the wind the process had to be restarted a few hours later.
The garbage trucks are of European standard and the metal collection bins are emptied twice a day (at midday and at midnight). Other mechanized equipment includes also water spraying vehicles that wash down the streets every night,following the trash pickups. But,to my knowledge and observation, I believe that the city is not yet equipped with mechanical sweepers. At least, I have never seen any of them around.
As done traditionally, all street and parks cleaning is still done manually, and it is performed at all hours of the day and night. I suppose this should help unemployment, but, interestingly, the cleaning crews are largely formed by women.
With this week total sunny days are being replaced by mixed weather conditions that include loud, but short storms, alternating with sunny intervals throughout the day, with, at times, very strong, unusual winds. The wet season was very late this year; the color turning of the foliage was beautiful, however, but is not lasting very long because the winds made the golden glow of the leaves disappear quickly.
Friday, December 02, 2011
Celebrations
Two days after successfully running a reception at work to celebrate the beginning of Albania's centenary, I received an invitation from friends to a birthday dinner at a local restaurant.
It was my first visit to this establishment, where, I found out, one would entertain foreign guests because of its ambience and good food. Upon arrival, I was impressed by its décor and atmosphere. The rustic setting has in its center a huge working fireplace used for cooking, and its light fixtures are covered with handmade linen covers, which are woven in the northern city of Shkoder, as well as their beautiful red tablecloths.
As the party gathered I realized I was the only ‘outside’ member, totally unrelated to the birthday person and his entire family, but I was honored to be considered by all part of their extended family, which I have known now for almost two decades.
The individual being celebrated is married to a vivacious and energetic wife (a psychologist), and they have two daughters.
There are now grandparents, so far from one daughter, of two beautiful grandchildren.
Various courses of foods (including some exceptionally delicious grilled meats) were served by an attentive and friendly staff.
The conversation was lively throughout the evening, and by the time the cake was served everyone also joined in singing and dancing.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!
It was my first visit to this establishment, where, I found out, one would entertain foreign guests because of its ambience and good food. Upon arrival, I was impressed by its décor and atmosphere. The rustic setting has in its center a huge working fireplace used for cooking, and its light fixtures are covered with handmade linen covers, which are woven in the northern city of Shkoder, as well as their beautiful red tablecloths.
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