AL (Albanian Lek)
AL 500 for the pizza
AL 150 for the beer
AL 170 = £1
is less than £4 for them both!
Wednesday, July 2
Albanian food
The room
The Albanian couple on the boat insisted on organising my hotel. It's a bit upmarket from what I am accustomed to and has cost €60 for two nights. I would have prefered to have wandered the streets and found something for myself but that might have been a mistake because on the car ride here the town looked a bit bleak.
Everyone that I have spoken to so far has been exceptionally kind and friendly.
As I walked up to my room a youth appeared and almost snatched my arm off as he grabbed my bag and insisted on carrying it up a flight of stairs.
Approaching Sarande
Nearly there! The picture was taken by a boy called Dennis who is the son of an Albanian couple. They emigrated to Dublin in 2004 and are returning to see their family. He's about eight I guess which is why the photo is a bit wonky.
Decaying Venetian architecture
I've spent two hours wandering around the town and its pretty unimpressive. Cheap shops and a general state of decay.
Made it.
I thought that I was going to have to wait until tomorrow to get the ferry but I've walked along to the port and discovered that there is one at 4:30. So I've just got to kill 4 hours which is difficult with a rucksack.
Priority boarding
If you pay a surcharge of about £5 per passenger you can walk down the side of the queue and get on the plane before everyone else. Sitting here watching people boarding it is interesting to notice that the only people to have taken advantage of this offer seem to be the the poorest members of society. Is there a connection between being easily separated from your money and being poor?
