June 13th, Kruje Castle, shopping and a long walk around the lake

A man taking his goat for a walk. 

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 Somewhat of a restless night, different bed, different sounds. Woke after 7, and Xaku had left for a doctor's appointment. He had left a loaf of bread and some margarine, so we had some breakfast and then Bruce and I set off to the village to find a supermarket. We had decided to buy sandwich fillings for the bread. We took shortcuts and got lost a couple of times but eventually found the place. 

The cheapest drink is beer - 89 lek for a 500ml can. That's about 40c. 

We bought some luncheon meat, cheese, snacks and fruit and then met Lydia and Ana at the door, quite by surprise. That saved us the trek down the hill, at which time we collected Selah and went back up the hill and to the castle. 

We decided on seeing the history of Albania - there's two museums, the other one showing life in Albania in the 19th century, so we paid our 1000 lek (500 each for Bruce and I, Selah was free) and wandered around the museum. It was mostly about Skanderbeg, the defender of Albania from the Ottomans, but it was pretty interesting. 

We then went to a great hotel for lunch, which ended up costing only 3000 lek - about $50 for the 4 of us. That's including a tip. Lunch was pizza, a linguini, bread with the best olive oil, and an Albanian baked dish of tomatoes and veal. I can't remember the name. We also had Peroni's and juice. 

Feeling suitably revived, I headed back to a slipper merchant I'd seen on the way, and bought some slippers for 1800 Lek - about $31. The clever shopkeeper then suggested that it would be cruel to leave Selah without slippers so I parted with another 1800 Lek. My money is dwindling. 

Albania is a cash based economy and the ATM's know about this. My first withdrawal of 12000 lek (NZ$200) cost $12, and then today having under estimated how fast I could spend that I withdrew 20,000 lek at a cost of $14. 

I think it's not going to be the last time I visit an ATM here. 

After all this, we went home for a siesta and then around 4.30 headed out for a 5km walk around the lake to take the dogs out. Bruce got horribly stung by 8ft high stinging nettle and I found myself in a flock of sheep. 

We are eating bread and 2 min noodles for dinner and crashing. Tomorrow is a big day - Tirana and Durres. We've hired a driver as we are all too scared to drive. 

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Comments

  1. Jenny14 June 2024 at 18:46

    Well that is smart, hiring a driver. Love the pics, look forward to seeing the slippers.

    ReplyDelete

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