4 - 5 September 2013 - Shkodër

So first of all, this trip seems to be doomed with bad sleep. Once again, Saya woke a million times last night, and when she woke, we did too of course. It was all topped off with me having a coughing fit that last perhaps 1 hour in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we were all pretty tired this morning and Kristian was the first one to get out of bed this morning (as usual) at eight, I woke half an our later, but Saya didn't wake till 10! I am not sure that that has ever happened before!  She must have needed the sleep!
Since we were out of the room so late, breakfast at the hotel had come and gone and we had to find something to eat in town. We ended up combining breakfast and lunch and had a burger which made a pretty nice change to the Italian food we have been getting almost everywhere since we started this trip.
After our lunch we decided to take a taxi to the Rozafa fortress just outside of town. The taxi driver was hands down the worst driver we have been driving with so far - his driving was close to what you can call reckless!
My thoughts this moment are distracted by the minarets calling for prayer. Shkroder has quite a few mosques and at the moment I'm sat at the rooftop terrace above our room and they are all going off at the same time. I think that one of my favourite things in the world are the muslim prayers. There few more beautiful moments in this life, than to be sitting on a rooftop somewhere in the world on a warm summer's night, listening to this beautiful singing.
Anyway, back to what I was saying. We barely made it to the fortress alive and climbed the remaining 100 meters to the top on a steep slippery cobbled road. The fortress itself was a really big and beautiful fortress with great views over the whole of Shkroder and the river. We had arranged with our driver to pick us up after two hours and the visit included a guided tour in the museum that were inside the fortress. Saya did wonder many times throughout the time we were there, what the purpose of our visit was. I guess she had a hard time understanding why anyone would find it interesting to walk around some old piles of stones.
After 1.5 hours we were really thirsty and for the first on our trip we had forgotten to bring water, so we walked a bit down the mountain, to find a little cafe. The lady there turned out to have been living in Germany for 15 years and we could have a bit of a conversation with her using our very rusty German.

Our driver picked us up again (well he nearly took off without us with someone else in the car, before we managed to stop him.) and again we barely made it back to town alive. 

From there we decided to try and find the restaurant that we couldn't find yesterday  - Tradita G&T, so that we could go there to have dinner. We found it and had a little walk round and decided to once again let Saya have some playtime in the bar we were at yesterday.

The playground wasn't quite as interesting today as it was yesterday though, but nevertheless she enjoyed herself it seemed. 

After a couple of hours we went to have dinner and that tuned out to be the best food we have had so far! The restaurant which is also a hotel and something that resembles an ethnographic museum was very cosy. There were a lot of other backpackers and it seems that this might be the place to hang out when you are in Shkroder. We decided to put some trust in the waiter's recommendation of what to eat, despite of our dubious dinner last night. We didn't regret it! The food at the Tradita G&T is delicious and there were far too much of it! We started with some antipasti that consisted of pita bread, stuffed peppers, olives, grilled vegetables, some traditional food I don't know the name of and lots of other things. As a main we chose the traditionally cooked fish which was absolutely delicious as well. As so may times before we got food that could have fed 5 or 6 people and we are starting to wonder of it perhaps a traditional thing to bring in loads of loads of food. With the food we had a really nice white wine, that could have been home made. 

We ate till we could hardly move, but since it was getting a bit late and we have a long day of travelling tomorrow, we decided to make a move. We had also promised Saya that she could have a go at a carousel that we have passed several times during the last couple of days. She was excited to have a try, but when she was finally sat on it ready to start she lost her nerve and wanted to get off. We waited for a bit and then trued again, but the thing happened and she got so upset. To comfort her and to try and make her forget about the disappointment, we got her a little colouring book with stickers in for the trip tomorrow.. that did seem to help a bit!

Back home at the hotel we are once again shattered and ready to sleep. It's our last night in Albania and it's been great! I am really fond of this beautiful country where old meets new, where people are extremely hospitable, friendly, warm and welcoming and where everybody looks at your child with such an affectionate look that your heart melts. Albania is changing rapidly and I'm glad that we got to visit now, when so many traditional things are still here. I'm also really glad for the Albanians though, that the country is developing. There are many many poor people here and hopefully a growing tourism industry can help with that.  But like Dorian told us about the horse and the man that got killed on the motorway – change has to happen gradually so that everybody can keep up. I will definitely be back, but for now I am ready for Macedonia tomorrow – a country I have absolutely no idea of what is like. I am sure that I won’t be disappointed though since the whole of The Balkans have been one amazing experience so far!

3 - 4 September 2013 - Shkodër Dansk Version

Så - jeg skriver dette morgenen den 5, fordi vi kom hjem lidt sent i aftes og ikke brugte tid til at skrive på bloggen. Jeg tror nu alligevel ​det vil være en kort en alligevel.

I går nat fik mig og Saya en ganske god nats søvn , og det gjorde os godt. Desværre sov Jannie ikke så godt. Dette er et fint hotel, der er nok plads i værelset, men det bliver varmt hurtigt, og vi havde aircon på det meste af natten, og Jannie er ikke så god med lidt træk, og når der er lidt køligt. Vi stod op og fik morgenmad, der er identisk med alle de andre dem, vi har fået hidtil. Jeg savner havregrød til morgenmad. Der var en lille forskel, der var hjemmelavet marmelade til vores hvide brød.

Vi havde lovet Saya , vi skulle bruge lidt tid på legepladsen , og det gjorde vi . Vi gik hen til en stor en, vi havde fundet i nærheden af ​​hotellet - det var faktisk uden for et fem-stjernet hotel. Det er lige ved siden af ​​en udendørs cafe (hvis der er én ting Albanien har så er det udendørs cafeer) Der var masser plads og Saya kunne lege som hun havde lyst. Vi tilbragte nogle timer der, jeg forsøgte at finde ud om at tage til Lake Komani, noget vi har drømt om siden sidste år. Desværre ser det ud til, at vi er nødt til at afsætte hele dagen, hvis vi ønsker at se den, herunder mindst 3 timers kørsel. Vi besluttede at droppe det, da det ikke er fair mod Saya. Så måske næste år vil vi få en chance for at gå se det. Ved siden af ​​planlægning, læste jeg, mens Jannie leget med Saya.

Vi havde en kort pause, hvor vi fik nogle ting fra lejligheden, spiste frokost (sandwichs) og gik lidt rundt. Vi kunne se en masse små firben, meget til Sayas morskab og interesse. Derefter gik vi tilbage til legepladsen. Som vi havde for os selv, mere eller mindre, til sent på eftermiddagen. Saya elskede det, flere timer dedikeret bare til leg, og vi skiftedes til at leger med hende. Vi var der indtil hun sagde, hun kedede sig. Vi gik bare omkring i byen og kigget. Det er meget flot her, meget forskelligt til f.eks . Sarandë , da alt faktisk er i orden her, og det synes at virke. Efter at have gået omkring blev det aftensmadstid og vi ledte efter en specifik restaurant, vi ikke kunne finde, besluttede vi os til at på toppen af ​​en nærliggende højhus med udsigt over byen, hvor der var en restaurant.

Stedet var rart, lad os sige det. De forsøgte virkelig at gøre det eksklusivt, de forsøgte at få det til at ligne en fancy restaurant, og med delvist succes, det havde en generelt dyr restaurant udsende. Men nogle af det indvendige design få en til at spekulerer. For eksempel hvorfor alt det plastik? Hvorfor have et tv med sport og nyheder kører? Ret meget en moodbreaker . Ud over det havde vi en rigtig nervøs og virkelig rart tjeneren. Vi endte med at gå efter den helt store, de lavede en specialitet for os, havtaske, og vi fik den dyre vin(Pinot grigio) Noget kød og grøntsager til Saya. Første fik Saya hendes mad, som udløste en meget lang diskussion om mad, og specifikt gourmet mad. Grunden til det er, at de virkelig forsøgt at få maden til at ser fancy ud, og det mislykkedes. Jeg tror, ​​at Jannie og mig er enige, om betydning af god mad, og virkelig god mad er virkelig godt. Jeg har heldig at være på nogle dyre restauranter, og når det virker virker det. Men når du forsøger at være noget, du ikke er, og forsøge at over komplicere og overdrive din præsentation (ud over dine evner) er det lidt trist. Hvilket de forsøgte at med Sayas ret. Lang diskussion til side. Endelig fik vi vores ret - efter at have ventet i mere end en time, fiskene var god, ikke virkelig god, men god, jeg har aldrig spist havtaske før og tekstur af kødet var interessant. Der var tomater og kartofler til kødet, og det var godt. Hvis de bare har at give en smule citron og nogle sort peber ville have hjulpet denne skål og gjort det fantastisk. Vi har betalt for vores måltid - en kæmpestor 13000 lek (600 kr) mere end 3 gange mere end noget andet, vi havde her . Det er peanuts for os, men det var er bare ikke det beløb værd. God service og alting.

Det var virkelig sent, så vi fik Saya hjem i seng, og hun faldt i søvn noget lignende 9.30 og vi talte i ca. 30 minutter om at tage til Marrakech til nytår, og derefter var det sengetid (som blev endnu en urolig nat, men Jannie vil fortælle og det i aften ).

3 - 4 September 2013 - Shkodër

So - I am writting this the morning after (the 5th) because we came home a bit last night and did not spend the time to write the blog. I Think this will be a short one as well.

Last night, me and Saya seemed to have quite a good sleep and that did quite well with us. Unfortunately Jannie did not sleep as well. Its a nice hotel, there is enough space in the room, but it becomes hot fast and we had the aircon going the most of the night, and Jannie is not that good with a small draft and it being cold(er). We got up and got a breakfast, that is identical with all the other ones we have gotten so far. I miss my oatmeal for breakfast. There was a slight difference, there was homemade jam to our white bread. 

We had promised Saya that we were going to spend some time at the playground, and we did. We went to a big one we had found near the hotel - that actually was outside a five star hotel. It is right next to and outdoor cafe (if there is one thing Albania have, its outdoor cafes)There was plenty room and Saya could play as she liked. We spend some hours there, I tried to figure out about going to Lake Komani, something we have dreamed about since last year. Unfortunately it seems that we have to set aside the whole day if we want to see it, including at least 3 hours drive. We decided to drop it, since it is just not fair towards Saya to put her through this. So maybe next year we will get a chance to go see it. Beside the planning, I did some reading while Jannie played with Saya.

We had a short break where we got some stuff at the apartment, got lunch (sandwiches) and walked around a bit. We did see a lot of small lizards, much to Sayas amusement and interest. Then we went back to the playground. Which we had for ourselves more or less until late afternoon. Saya loved it, several hours dedicated just to play and we took turns playing with her. We stayed there until she said she was bored. We then strolled around the city and had a look. Its very nice here, a lot different then eg. Sarandë, since everything actually is in order here, and it seems to work. After walking around it became time for diner, and after looking for a restaurant we could not find, we decided to go to one on top of a nearby building with view over the city. 

The place was, nice, lets say that. They really tried to make it look exclusive, they tried to make it look like a fancy resturant, and they where partially successful, generally it had a expensive resturant fell. But some of the interior design makes you wonder. For instance why all the plastic? Why do you have a TV with sports and news running? Quite a moodbreaker. Besides that we had a really nervous and really nice waiter. We ended up going for the big one, they made a specialty for us, monkfish, and we got the expensive wine (Pinot grigio) And some meat and vegetables for Saya. First Saya got here food, which sparked a very long discussion about food, and gourmet food. The reason for that is that they really tried to make the food look fancy, and it kind of failed. I think that Jannie and me kind of agree, that it's important with good food, and really good food is really good to. I have the good fortune to have been at some really fancy restaurants, and when it works, it works. But when you try to be something you are not, and try to over complicate and overdo your presentation (beyond your abilities) it gets kind of sad. Which they tried to with Sayas dish. Long discussion aside. We finally got our main course - after waiting for more than an hour, the fish was good, not great, but good, i have never had monkfish before and the texture of the meat was interesting. There were tomatoes and potatoes to the meat, and it was good. If they had just added a bit of lemon and some ground black pepper it would have saved the dish and made it great. We paid for our meal - a whopping 13000 lek (600 kr) more than 3 times more then anything else we have had here. Its peanuts for us, but it is just not worth that amount. Nice service and everything. 

Well - it was really late, so we got Saya home to bed, and she fell asleep something like 9.30 and we talked for about 30 minutes about going to Marrakesh for the new years this year and then bed time (a very sleepless night, but Jannie will tell you that tale tonight).