Liz, Shelby, Callie and I headed to Dhermi, Albania for a weekend at the beach. We rented a car and drove the four hours on Friday night. We stopped in Vlore for dinner along the ocean--- the sunset was incredible and the seafood was even better. We continued our drive through the mountains to the beautiful Dhermi. Because it isn't tourist season yet, our hotel upgraded us to suites--- yaaas please. We stayed up late Friday night enjoying drinks, snacks and the smell of the ocean breeze. Callie and I got up early Saturday morning and took a walk along the beach. Unfortunately it's a pebble/rock beach instead of a sand one, but I brought my chocos so I was ready! While walking we encountered a huge jet plane on the shore--- maybe they put this in the water for diving? maybe they leave this on the pebbles for photos? who knows. we continued along and came upon a huge rock embankment. We climbed up and found a small cove, tucked away between the rocks. Not only was there sand, but the water was bluer than blue. It was perfect and lovely and we had it all to ourselves. We hung out there for a little bit (Callie was braver than I because she went for a swim as opposed to just dipping her toes in like me) Then we walked back to our hotel. There weren't any breakfast items on the menu at the hotel restaurant, so we sat outside and enjoyed a pizza for breakfast. After, I sat in a beach chair, enjoyed some music, some sun and some of my book, for the ENTIRE day. It was absolutely fabulous. The temperature was in the 70s and the sun was peeking in and out between the clouds. That evening, after showering, the four of us had dinner at the hotel restaurant overlooking the ocean. We were the only ones there for awhile, so we put on our own music while the waves washed along the shore in the background. After dinner we wandered down the main road trying to find something that was open. On the beach was a small wooden shack that consisted of a floor and a thatched roof. There was a dj playing music but no one else was in sight. We wandered down and asked if we could buy some beers and he directed us to the restaurant on the main road. Score. We could order beers from there and then dance in the shack on the beach. We quickly learned that writing our requests on napkins was the quickest way to get them played, so I took control of the playlist and the four of us danced our faces off for over an hour and a half. It was SO much fun! But the best part was that we were home and in bed by midnight. Score. Old lady fun is the best kind of fun. Sunday morning we got up early yet again but this time discovered that not only does the restaurant have breakfast items, but that the breakfast items are free. Say WHAT?! Guess we just had to ask. After a delicious plate of fresh fruit I headed down to the beach to finish my book. Unfortunately, around noon it started raining so we packed up and started our drive through the mountains back to Tirana. We stopped in Vlore for lunch burgers on the beach which were really delicious. Enterprise asked us to drop the car at the airport as opposed to in town so we had a private chauffeur, courtesy of Enterprise, meet us there and drop us at our houses. It was a sweet end to an awesome weekend.
