Tirana to Saranda: A Castle, the Albanian "Blue Eye", and a WET NAPKIN OH GOD NO!

Oof. Another early day. We were to travel from Tirana to Saranda, a coastal city on the opposite side of the country. Our guide approximated our travel time to be eight hours. EIGHT. HOURS. ON. A BUS. WITH NINA. GAAAHHHHHHHHHAHA:DSLHg:SLDKGH:l

So I stocked up at brekkie. I got a ham and cheese pancake thing, an omelet, feta cheese, and a melon. EGG, MEAT, CHEESE, AND FRUIT. A poetic way to describe ME through food.

After the meal, we gathered our things, climbed aboard our private magic school bus, and set off towards southern Albania. Our guide said that depending on traffic, we should be able to make several stops along the way, so that we wouldn't be cooped up in a bus for eight hours straight.

After a much needed nap, the bus let us off for a quick rest at this epic statue.

I took a picture because I liked his shoes.

The statue above is of Ali Pashe of Tepelena, a Muslim Albanian ruler who served as an Ottoman Pasha. Ali Pashe, through skill, cunning, and perseverance, started as a leader of brigands but was able to rise through the ranks to eventually become the ruler of the westernmost territories of the Ottoman Empire. Though he achieved many things, including relative stability in the region, he was often criticized by contemporaries and historians for his brutality. And we were in his hometown! HOW CUUUTE. Then we hopped back on the bus and continued towards the mountains. We drove to the center of a small city, and the bus let us off again.

Hello, little mountain city!

From the drop-off point, we walked up a large hill. Our guide told us that our lunch would be served at a restaurant nearby. We knew we were in for some home-cooked authentic Albanian cuisine. Once we got to the restaurant, we sat down at a long banquet table. The waiters for this "mom and pop shop" brought out our food and drinks. It was a set menu, so we were gonna eat EVERYTHING THEY PUT IN FRONT OF US AND WE WERE GONNA LIKE IT.

We had a seemingly endless spread of grilled veggies, salads, cheeses, meats, savory pastries, and a ton of other things I don't even know how to describe. They were all DELICIOUS. There were a lot of homeless cats running around though...

We were told that there was a castle just a bit further up the hill. Looking at our watches, we saw we had time to kill before we had to meet the bus at the drop-off point. So, of course, we went to explore!

The somewhat unnerving entrance to Dracula/Bowser Castle...

We were actually entering the Gjirokastër Castle, a fortress dating back to before the 12th century.

There were endless corridors and stairs leading to... um... hell?

There was also an artillery museum within the castle. Various war artifacts littered the cavernous halls, many of them from the Communist era.

If you weren't paying attention you could thwak your face on a cannon barrel. Yeesh, buy me a drink first, cannon.

We continued on through the fortress while also trying to make sure we could find our way back.

But man, the layout for this place was confusing... Oh, also, it used to be a prison during the Communist regime...

At a certain point, we reached a large terrace. It had a dazzling view of the city below.

Who knew I'd be climbing so many mountains and castles on this vacation??

Suddenly we noticed the wreckage of a fighter jet on the terrace. We thought that was odd, so we walked over to check it out.

Yep, definitely a hollowed out fighter plane from... I'd say the sixties or something?

According to the descriptions, this was an American spyplane which had been forced down. My heart stopped. My first thought was what happened to the pilot? Fortunately, the crewmen were returned to the U.S. However, the jet was confiscated and torn apart for research and intelligence purposes, and then put on display. As an American, I was unsure how to feel about this exhibition...

According to the U.S. though, the plane was never "forced down". The pilot requested an emergency landing due to several mechanical complications.

Who do you believe?

All I know is that I'm full of Albanian beer.

From the creepy spyplane exhibit, we saw an entryway into another area of the castle. 

While Alex was busy taking photos of dark rooms.

We went through an arched tunnel, and found this huge expanse of ruins.

Needless to say, this place was gigantic.

At the end of the field there was a huge stage. During the summer months folk music concerts would be held here.

Kinda makes you wanna look up Albanian folk music, right? Do it! DO IT I DARE YOU.

Further beyond the stage there was an ominous yet picturesque clocktower.

Is this real life?

That's when we noticed the time. We were running late! We had to be back down at the drop-off point in ten minutes! We saw a few others from our group, and together we rushed back through the castle, down the hill, and into the city.

On our way I spotted various clothing and artisanal shops.

We got to the drop-off point and saw the rest of the group. Whew. We hadn't been left behind. The bus pulled over and we got inside.

After a few more hours of driving, we arrived at our next stop.

A bar/restaurant??

The bus dropped us off at the entrance, which was rather far from the actual "Blue Eye". We walked for about 3/4 of a mile along an unpaved road. We were tired and hot by the end of the journey. Luckily, our destination was this:

A beautiful lake! AUGH AND A LAKE MONSTER RISING OUT OF IT... oh wait that's just some dumb kid.

So this was the Albanian Blue Eye.

A spring that originates from deep within the ground.

The water was stunningly beautiful.

After such a hot, muggy walk through the forest, it felt like we had discovered an oasis.

And guess who was READY AND WILLING to jump on in...

That's right, our Nina, over here, posing before a swim.

Although the water looked fantastic, it was actually FREEZING. I cannot fully describe how cold it was. I couldn't stay in the water for more than a minute or two before my legs and arms started to feel numb.

This wasn't a, oh you'll just get used to it. No, this was a, OH MY GOD HYPOTHERMIA I'M LIKE JACK FROM TITANIC.

Then one of the crazy dummies from our group climbed to a wooden perch above the deepest part of the spring and jumped in!

And then he died.

Then we tried to peer pressure Nina into dunking her head in.

Didn't work so well. I got curious, and took my camera to see how deep into the underwater cavern I could go.

Answer? Not far. The current was surprisingly strong. Even when I was trying to swim my hardest into it, it would still push me back. 

After a while, as a group, we decided it was time to start heading back to the bus. Along the way, I saw the river that the spring turned into...

Not so much a river, more of a perfectly tranquil pond...

We climbed back aboard the bus and set off for Saranda, which was not far. Once we got to the city, we were, once again, lost. Turns out, there were three different hostels/hotels in Saranda all with the same name. The first two we tried were not correct. Finally, after much searching, we found the right one. Of COURSE it was the last one we tried. Nina and I grabbed a double. Our view was of the street below, and just beyond the buildings across the street we could see the Adriatic.

If you look closely you can also see a rainbow. How gay is that!?

We took a quick shower (once again, no shower curtains, so to be more accurate, we flooded the bathroom and got ourselves somewhat wet) and met the gang at a restaurant down the street. We sat down at a table and, oddly enough, one of the first things we were given was a wet napkin on a saucer.

Was this... an Albanian custom? We didn't want to be rude but... what??

After about ten minutes of staring at this wet napkin, we finally decided to ask a passing waiter what we were supposed to do with this. He looked at it curiously. He had no idea what it was or how it got there. So he smiled apologetically, and took it off the table.

Then we took a picture to commemorate that bizarre interaction.

As a first course, Nina and I split this delicious marinated octopus.

It was the freshest and most tender octopus I think I've ever had.

Then I got an entire pizza for MYSELF.

It had all the meats and veggies on it. HEY, AT LEAST THERE'S VEGGIES.

I looked at our table and noticed we all had a HUGE spread.

Everything looked and smelled delicious.

Thinking back, we did a lot that day! Even though it was essentially an eight hour bus ride, you CAN have a road trip and still have adventures! I paused from stuffing my face and looked up at the scenery. For the first time I noticed how beautiful it was here.

This is what I think of when I think of vacation. It was perfect. Especially that lady looking right at me with the cigarette. Lady, you do you. Keep on keepin' on. Now get the hell out of my shot.

We saw some of the others at a table nearby. After we finished our meal, we approached them to ask what they were up to. They were planning to head down the road. Apparently, there was a bunch of bars and nightclubs not far from where we were staying. We decided to join them, and quickly found a bar along the coast with cheap beer and an amazing view.

You can't really beat that, can you?

After a few rounds at the bar, we were getting all worked up. So we left and walked further down the road to see if there were any other places to stop.

Of course, all we saw was poopy tavern. Yeesh.

We saw that alongside a hotel there was a staircase leading to a small beach. Under the cover of darkness, we walked down to it. A few of us decided that this was a perfect time to go for a swim. So in our underwear, we jumped in, and had a past-midnight dip under the moonlight in the Adriatic.

Alyssa, shout out to you for being a great "skinny dipping" companion! "I'm chafin', I'm salty, and I'm gonna let it drip-dry!"

What a great day.