Albania

Prior to staying on Lefkas, Mister E and I toured Albania. Ever since I spotted its mountains on a visit to Northern Greece, I have been intrigued to discover the country that lay within them with its isolated and closeted past. We were not disappointed although I would struggle to describe Albania as a conventional holiday destination. Just over twenty years since it rid itself of the dictatorship by which it was governed, it has made strident progress in turning itself into a modern nation with an application for EEC membership pending. It is not however easy to turn yourself from an impoverished and friendless nation into a modern 21st century democracy, but Albania continues to work on its challenge.

The people are not only hospitable but also exceedingly funny; they dress smartly, use the Latin alphabet (with a few additional letters) and the English language is widely spoken. I had expected to run into difficulties when I read that Albanians shake their heads to indicate "yes," but the imagined dilemmas never emerged.

In exploring a country under development, one might expect to discover a unique and historic culture. Sadly and in its rush to forget Enver Hoxha and the fifty year period of socialist dictatorship, Albania has instead, or so it seems, rushed headlong into a dash to embrace Western culture. Unlike Greece where you never stray far without hearing bouzouki music, in Albania the bars and radio seem to play an endless stream of Western influenced rap and noise.

There are modern hotels (although, I do wonder why they didn't consider increasing the diameter of their toilet pipes) albeit with leaking shower cubicles and, whilst there does not seem to be a culture of eating out, there are numerous bars and pizzerias. A restaurant, once identified and we usually found the best in hotels, generally serves good food. 

Religion was prohibited during the dictatorship but churches and mosques now flourish, and the people  mix freely regardless of their faith. Indeed for a country where statistically there are more Muslims than Christians, the hajib is a far more familiar item of clothing in the UK than on the streets of Tirana.

It is, like so many Balkan states, feverishly nationalistic, although, and save for a few decades in the 15th century, it has until relatively recently always been ruled by others, with significantly Hellenic, Roman and Ottoman periods. Whilst the concrete bunkers built across the land to help resist invasion remain an indelible stain on the landscape the name of the dictator as carved into the mountainside above Berat has been altered from Enver to Never, As a tourist you may be interested in learning what life was like during the dictatorship but the Albanians prefer to look forward and if they do dwell on the past, they are more likely to tell you about their national hero Skanderbeg who earned them independence in the 1400's or Ali Pasha who successfully fought the Ottomans and played host to Lord Byron whilst leaving a legacy of  late 18th century castles across the country.

Albania does have holiday resorts of which Sarande not far from the Greek border is probably the only one attracting visitors including some foreigners,  in any numbers. It does not however share either the lush countryside or for me the pleasing light of its southern neighbour. 

Some aspects of a less complicated life are still evident there with goats, pigs, horses and chickens wandering freely and even sleeping on major roads. Sheep and turkeys were generally shepherded and donkeys still pulled carts and ploughs.

Mister E and I found our journey intriguing but like so many facets of our life now it again raised questions as to what we want  in retirement, in this instance from touring. Do we want to spend our time trailing UNESCO World Heritage sites and other ancient monuments or are we looking for cultural, spiritual or environmental experiences? What we can agree on, however, is that Greece is always a good place to end up when you are tired from travelling and all you want is simple, no-fuss relaxation.