There are a few places worth mentioning which get my recommendation if anyone is heading to the Albanian Riviera. First stop Saranda!

We stayed five nights at the Apartment Globus in Saranda.

This building features 13 apartments of various sizes, all of them very well equipped. The building is seven years old and offers all the modern conveniences. They also have free WiFi and air conditioning. Free parking is available and you cannot, and I repeat, cannot beat the view from the private balconies. Corfu (Greece) is a constant fixture in the daily panorama and it is stunning. They are steps away from the beach, however the better beaches are found in Ksamil. The downtown area is about 2km by car and parking is very easy. Our hosts, Dimitri and Laura Ferrari, were most welcoming and accommodating. Their two children, Andrea and Rebecca were adorable and I just have to mention Geneva, their little Canis Terrier, sweet! If you plan on spending a few nights in Saranda Apartment Globus is definitely worthwhile.

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We found a couple of lovely Tavernas just walking around. If you don’t want to eat at the typical tourist places, like Limani, which I found overpriced and lacking in cordiality, I would recommend the following:

TAVERNA FREDI

 

This Taverna is located directly across from the Saranda port where you would go to book your tickets for the Corfu ferry. We just happened to walk by and as we like to try local restaurants rather than touristy ones we went in and were pleasantly surprised. The owner Fredi speaks very good English and the menu is all home cooked, by him of course. We sat on the veranda and enjoyed a rather inexpensive lunch including beer, overlooking the port! The prices range between $3.00-8.00 per person. If you go you must try the boiled cabbage and rice croquettes as an appetizer. Yummy!

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TAVERNA TSAKAS

This restaurant is located one street beyond the waterfront on Rruga Mustafa Matohiti. The owners Andrea and Ermelinda were extremely hospitable and the food was superb. We had the grilled lamb and fish with some very good house wine. The view from the veranda is exquisite, as you can see from my photos and overall it was a very pleasant dinner with great atmosphere. For better directions or to inquire about their menu you may call 0693656389 (Vodafone) or 6972241181 (Cosmote).

Today, just by Divine Intervention, I had the pleasure of meeting Albania’s Prime Minister, Sali Berisha and his wife Liri. I was staying at the quaintest of hotels in Gjirokastra, Hotel Gjirokastra www.hotelgjirokastra.com, and the Prime Minister made a 2 hour stop in the afternoon prior to attending a speaking event in the city. I wished him and his wife best of luck in the upcoming elections. It was truly one of those magical moments that don’t come by very often.

Ksamil Beach!! Now that’s what I call a beach…clear blue water, spotless, quiet, a bit hidden from view and with a great restaurant. We spent our second day here and it was wonderful. The water was quite warm and super clear. The beach itself was mostly rocky, however there was quite a large patch of sand. The beach chairs and umbrella cost 450lek a day to rent, that’s about $5 and well worth it.

The restaurant, Gjiri i Hartes, has a great selection of seafood at very reasonable prices. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the beach, so much so that we came back again two days later!

If you’re planning on going to Sarande this is definitely the beach I would recommend. Sarande itself is great for walking on the “boardwalk” and dining, but the beach there is small and in my opinion not very relaxing as there is a lot going on. If you want a quiet, relaxed time Ksamil beach is the way to go. Make sure you go to the one you come upon first… this one, there are two others but they’re on the point and it’s extremely windy there. No matter where you go though you’re bound to enjoy it, the area is spectacular!

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Monday June 10th we left Shkodra for our first Albanian vacation!! We headed out about 7:30 am and made our first pit stop for Coffee outside of Durres.

Here’s hubby Vince enjoying his break from driving. We got back on the road and really started to make headway. The traffic was light and the roads are very well maintained and updated. We arrived at Llogora just in time for lunch, about 1:30 and stopped at a recommended restaurant, Panorama. Let me tell you, if you ever make the same trip this is a MUST stop, not only was the food delicious and reasonably priced, but the view was priceless!! After lunch we started back on our journey. Next town we drove through was Dhermi, this too as lovely although we didn’t have a chance to stop. Followed by Vlore. This was a charming place and I did manage to take some photos as we were driving through.

We reached our destination at  around 5:00 pm. I had booked the Apartment Globus in Saranda. This is  a lovely apartment building, with four stories, and privately owned. It’s about 5 minutes outside of the center of Saranda, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The unit we rented had a lovely balcony overlooking the sea and the island of Corfu. The owners, Dimitri and Laura are very gracious and obliging, the apartments are tastefully done and very clean. I highly recommend it.

Our first night was quiet as we were a bit tired, and so were our poochies, Mimi and Toby, so we just walked down to the market, picked up a bottle of wine, cheese and salame and had a lovely dinner on the balcony overlooking the sunset! Stay tuned for the rest of our trip….

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Not to give the UK a bad rap but….this has been a very rainy spring, even my doggies are beginning to wonder if they shouldn’t be wearing British collars instead of Albanian ones. We’re well into the third week of  May and I think it’s rained for half of it, which is pretty bad considering we are only supposed to have an average of 300 sunny days a year, with rainfall occurring mostly between late autumn and early spring, did you read that? early spring, that would mean March and April. Well, January, February and March were pretty much a wash out, so I’d say we’ve met our rain quota for the year! Which brings me to my poochies…

Mimi, my 6 year old Schnauzer (seated on the left) and Toby, my 3 year old Schnauzer/Yorkie mix. The poochies traveled to Albania with us in November and have adjusted to life here quite well, for those of you who know my doggies you will see that they are well fed :). The house we live in affords them ample room to roam around, both inside and out, especially outside. The grounds are quite vast for a city dwelling, with fruit trees and a flower garden and they just love to chase away the few stray cats who are brave enough to wonder onto the property.

We also have an abundance of lizards, which keep Mimi especially happy. Toby on the other hand is quite content lying in wait for Mimi to chase them out of their rocks and then attack! Oh yes, lest I forget the 3 or now 4 turtles that mosey on from tree to tree to shrub and rocks. This is a bit of a challenge, not for the dogs, but for me to keep them away from the turtles. Toby especially….there’s a baby turtle and lo and behold the minute I let him loose he immediately finds it, no matter where it is and promptly gets a hold of it and puts it in his mouth. I have no idea what his intentions are because he can barely fit it in there, but off he goes with it in his grip, at which point I have to chase him down and forcefully extract the poor creature from his stubborn mouth. I am sure the little turtle is more than thrilled at having experienced the inside of a dog’s mouth, but nevertheless he survives each time (yes this happens whenever he’s out).

Well the time has come to brave the rain and take the poochies out for their walk. The turtles will be safe today as I’m sure Toby will be in a hurry to get back inside out of the monsoon!

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