Europe #10: Durres impressions
Thursday January 26th.
I’ve been here over a week now, so I’ve had a chance to look around and take some more snaps.
Albania used to be communist, a sort of satellite soviet state, until the fall of the Soviet Union. It was very underdeveloped at the time but is now undergoing westernisation. This is clear when looking around the backstreets, which are full of old decaying buildings mixed with brand new developments. So it’s a mixture of very old and very new, as you can see from the photos. The main streets are full of modern shops and restaurants and are connected by old alleyways that show the old stuff. The front and back of main street buildings are quite different.
Internet connection is important for my tuition work, which has been going well up to now. The WiFi in the flat is very good, but there has been one problem which was solved fairly quickly. But there’s free WiFi everywhere. My favourite place is a coffee shop called Mon Cheri where you can get cheap coffee and use their hot desk. I know I can go there to work if necessary – it’s usually quiet in the early evening.
About food. No problem buying food, just getting used to Euros and Albanian Lek; both are accepted. Credit cards are generally not accepted except in the largest stores and the poshest restaurants.
I’ve eaten out a number of times – pizza, sea-food salad, burgers, kebabs, meat balls. Always good quality and large amounts – no nouvelle cuisine.
