General: Albania

The year was 2003, the month was February (then April), and I was chasing after a lost love whose immigration papers had expired long after his welcome here in England. He had told me he was Greek, because, claimed he, most people he met frowned upon the fact that he was Albanian if he told them so. I certainly frowned when he came clean about his background, but merely because he'd lied to me. Call it a moment of temporary insanity, call it a twist in my sobriety, call it a moment when there was a full solar and lunar eclipse all at once, but whatever it was, I was certainly very determined ... more

I visited Albania last November with some trepidation. After all, the news broadcast here did not represent it as a perfect holiday paradise. Plus everyone associates Albania with the Kosovan crisis, so I was prepared for bombs, guns and possible kidnappings all over the show. I was actually visiting my boyfriend and his family who I had met working in greece in the summer, so I had the advantage of knowing natives and someone could meet me at the airport. I staying in the capital Tirane, flying via Budapest from Heathrow. I was scared for the whole flight, as in Greece Albanians get bad press ... more

While on holiday in Corfu this year we took a day trip over to the small town of Saranda in Albania. Security was very tight, passports were scrutinised and armed police were swarming all over the port when we arrived. We were quickly whisked away by coach to a very posh hotel for coffee and to buy postcards. We were then taken by coach to the acient ruins of a town called Butrinti. The roads were terrible, some no more than dirt tracks and they passed through or by small villages with tiny shacks for living in and decrepid old bulidings all but fallen down. The ruins at Butrinti were ... more