We picked up our mini van at 9am on Friday morning. In Albania drivers regularly drive over the curb so I should not have been surprised when we went to retrieve the van and it was on the sidewalk. I had to back over the curb-- doesn't that hurt the tires or something?- to get onto the street. It wasn't smooth sailing after that. The seatbelt sensor chimed for 3 full minutes before shutting off even though Mark and I tried buckling, unbuckling and rebuckling our belts more ways than one. We came to later find out that every time we turned the car on the sensor would sound for a three full minutes. The day was absolutely gorgeous, so we started our four and a half hour trip with the windows down. About two hours in the sun had gotten incredibly hot so we opted for some A/C. The only problem... was that it didn't work. We thought maybe it was just malfunctioning like the seatbelt sensor so we let it run and run and run. There was no cold air filling the car, just hot sticky outside air blowing through the vents. I got what I like to call a Stew Sunburn, which means that only my left arm and left leg were red from driving. Never fear though! Despite a few car faux pas we made it to Cocktail Dreams Hostel while there was still sun in the sky. We had stopped at the grocery before checking in so after making ourselves some sandwiches we headed down to the beach. The water was clear, the sun was hot and the chairs were comfy. What more could we have asked for?
The rest of the weekend continued just like that. Friday night we walked to the other side of Sarande (it's shaped like a giant 'U') and had dinner at a seafood restaurant overlooking the water.
On our way home we walked by a carnival, so Mark and I did bumper cars and shot the air rifles. Of course Mark knocked down every single one of his cans. I knocked down two. There were two small girls behind us who looked like they could barely see over the counter, much less hold the rifles, yet they had their money in hand ready to play. Mark and I gave them the stuffed giraffe we had won on our way out, hoping this may pacify them.
After beaching for the day on Saturday, we met friends for dinner. Jen and Kelly were living in Tirana in March when we did an expat games night. We've kept in touch with them even since they've moved to Sarande, so we decided to catch up at a local zgara Jen recommended. We really enjoyed seeing them and hearing about their beach life. Maybe post Albania Mark and I will live on the beach somewhere 😁
Sunday was more sun and sand, with homemade sandwiches for lunch. For dinner we tried a hot local spot called Haxhi's, known for its mussels. It didn't disappoint. The mussels were awesome and the grilled shrimp came with a special homemade tartar sauce that was out of this world. Mark and I really enjoyed our experience there, especially because our waiter was so friendly (he even knew Jen and Kelly!)
Monday Mark and I drove to Ksamil, a beach about 30 minutes from Sarande. It wasn't a pebble beach but was instead a super, super fine rock, almost sand beach with beautiful coves and crashing waves. The water was nice and warm and the breeze was fantastic. In Sarande getting in the water was an absolute must because of the intensity of the sun, but because of the constant breeze in Ksamil I was able to get in the water because I wanted to, not because I had to.
We stayed well into the evening and on our way home stopped by "Beer House" because it advertised German beers. We were so excited because everywhere we had gone either didn't offer Paulaner or was out of it, so we figured this place would have it. However, when we ordered they told us they were out of it. Mark and I settled for Hofbrau (the only other german beer they had) and decided that there must be one single truck that drives around Saranda to deliver the Paulaner and that someone must have hijacked it. (Wish we had thought of the idea first 😉) We ate dinner at a not so memorable meat and seafood joint and then headed home for a few beers and a few fierce games of dominoes on the balcony.
Tuesday we got up, had breakfast and started our drive back to Tirana. The lack of A/C was a bit more impactful this time around because Mark had to be on a work phone call which meant we had to drive with the windows up. Talk about hot boxing ourselves. Woof. Enjoying the sun and sand was an awesome way to start our summer.
I'm so glad we were able to get away for a few days. Next up, Italy with Mark, my mom, dad, Candace and Jimmy. Stay tuned!
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