Kruja

Today our whole group took a trip to Kruja, Albania – it was about a 3-hour bus ride one way. On the way we visited a town called Fush-Kruja – which is the town that George Bush visited when he came to Albania in 2007. They actually renamed the café where he had coffee to the Bush Café (STM). Kruja attracts many tourists (even though so many towns here have huge tourism potential – one of the things volunteers work on). The biggest attractions are the Skanderbeg museum and the castle- we visited both of these and also walked around the town, which had amazing views. There is also a market (bizarre) on cobblestone streets – here you will get your fill of traditional Albanian clothing, souvenirs, and basically anything with the Albanian flag icon on it. On the way back from Kruja we stopped in Durres – one of the biggest cities in Albania, located on the western coast. Everyone loves when we can get some time near the ocean – plus there was a beautiful hotel right on the beach –with an amazing pool and outdoor dance floor/café. Looks like the weekend road trip plans to the beach are starting to come together…


Since we were in Elbasan all week last week, I didn’t get much time to hang with Albi – so I brought him along on the bus trip. He slept a lot on the bus, and he made a new friend – my teacher’s 7-year old son. The two were inseparable and had me chasing after them the whole day (which was quite interesting considering he doesn’t speak any English). At the hotel in Durres I actually collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, until the hotel guard yelled at me for sitting on the grass. On the bus ride home Albi fell asleep on his lap, and I handed him my iPod (which he loved) - he fell asleep listening to music he can’t understand.