Albania - Part 1 - Durres

A couple of years ago, actually in 2009, some friends and I joined an interesting group of people. Their main goal was to rediscover and walk along the ancient Roman road Via Egnatia. Centuries ago the road was one of the main roads in Europe – it connected Durres (then Dyrrachium) in Albania and Istanbul (then Byzantium) in Turkey. The road crosses Albania, Macedonia and parts of Northern Greece and Turkey. More about this adventure you can read on the page of the Via Egnatia Foundation  which arranged and ran the trail. 

The whole journey was scheduled for about two months but we joined just for a week for the Albanian part. It was in early May. At that point I had absolutely no idea what Albania could offer. For me it was a country about which I knew nothing, although it was very close to Bulgaria. I only knew we need to get maximum one bag of clothes, a sleeping mat, tent, and some other camping stuff and to meet others in Durres, Albania where the adventure would start. 

Therefore, we crossed Macedonia, left our car in Struga and took the bus for Durres. We got there in the early morning. The city was still sleeping and we could enjoy its waking up.

All roads go to Rome

I'd been reluctant to see Rome for a long time. I’d find different excuses not to do so but finally a couple of years ago I did it. Wizz Air had just come to Bulgaria and offered prices it’d be a sin to miss. So we packed and hit the road (air in that case). It was February and the weather was great for sightseeing – sunny and warm. We spent 5 beautiful days there. We saw all that was recommended for newbies to see in Rome and still had time to drink wine in small restaurants in front of the Pantheon. The results were lots of great memories and a week of sore legs afterwards. Unfortunately I took just several pictures at that time.

To Venice and beyond

What connects regatta with movies? It’s Venice in early September. If you happen to be in Venice in the first days of September you might find yourself among the most famous Hollywood stars. Venice Film Festival is an international annual event with lots of famous people coming to the city. I’m not so much in the movies but I’d watch Pierce Brosnan in Sussane Bier’s comic romance Love is All You Need; they say it’s the festival’s sunniest surprise.

Then you might feel like in a time machine because Regata storica (Historical regatta) turns you centuries back. On every first Sunday of the month you see teams of gondoliers racing a course along the Grand Canal. It’s been done like that for thousands of years. 16 century-styled colourful boats with gondoliers in appropriate for the period costumes carry the Doge, his wife and all the highest ranking Venetian officials up the Grand Canal. If you are really in the mood to see all that glory from the first row, you might want to buy a thicket and join the others on the floating platform. We didn’t do that, we chose to get lost in the tiny streets of the city, where we could escape from the thousands of tourists.

  

Venice has striking contrasts – glorious palaces on Grand Canal, homes of the richest men of its time, and abandoned houses in its tiny streets. But it is a place that must be seen. We will be back one day for sure, but it will be better planned and definitely not in high season.

This time our trip to Venice happened unexpectedly. We were planning a vacation in Rome and Southern Italy, and Venice was not on the list at all. But driving straight from Sofia to Rome is not very wise when you go on vacation and sleeping somewhere in the middle seamed better.  I found this gorgeous 16^th century villa in a small village called Mogliano Veneto and fell in love with it right away. The village is just 19 km away from Venice and has excellent train connections to the city (20-30 mins by train, several times per hour). If you prefer, you can drive to Venice and leave your car in the huge parking there but taking the train is hassles free and much cheaper. Once on the train, you need to get off at Santa Lucia Station. You get out of the busy station and find yourself in a beautiful square right in front of Grand Canal. Venice is connected with all the main Italian cities. For further information check:  www.trenitalia.com.

You can find more about the villa here: Hotel Villa Marcello Giustinian. 

The villa had a beautiful green yard with statues and small ponds. Totally relaxing!

If you decide to take the plane instead, book well in advance and you will get really cheap thickets (www.wizzair.com). The nearest budget airport is Treviso, not far from the city either, and a good point to spend the nights as well. It is well-connected to Venice by train (same trains pass through Mogliano Veneto).   

One of the most busy European airports is Marco Polo. It is situated some 12 km away from the city and has various road and canal connections to it. 

But if you decide to go wild and choose the comfort of your own car, be prepared for the busy highways and sometimes unpredictable drivers in Italy. Overall we didn’t have any traffic or parking problems. Every now and then you see a gas station with a nice food corner. Well, food corner is not what you call the separate building, entirely dedicated to food and rest. The size of the gas station doesn’t matter, the food area is always bigger. That is why we like the country so much.

See you in Roma! 

Lissana