Elton has told me so much about Albania, that I've wanted to go for years, so I was very excited to be finally going. Great trip started with meeting Elton's mate Dave who happened to be on the same flight as me. Spent the first night in a hostel, which reminded me why I never stay in hostels anymore. Had to climb over a 8ft high wall to get in, in the first place, then didn't sleep much. The next day I moved on to the Tirana International Hotel (where the wedding was to be later held), much more appropriate as I didn't wake up with bite marks. Elton's family live across the road, so it was very convenient. Spent the first day with Elton and his cousin Arsen. We ate, drank, went to the beach and generally caught up on old times.
The next day Elton had his first wedding to go to. Yes, in Albania they do it twice, with two cakes, two dresses, two parties, etc, etc. One for the bride's family and one for the groom's. So we didn't see Elton for a couple of days as he traveled to the other side of Albania to "get married". The real wedding which we were invited to, was a lot of fun and not too different from a British/Canadian wedding, dancing, eating and drinking, no speeches and no long drawn out ceremony thank goodness, just the fun part.
From L to R, Dave, Elton, Voltisa, me, Jason. Jason, is Elton's best mate from uni and only told he was arriving from Korea the day before the wedding. A great suprise for Elton. Notice the funny Korean outfit Jason is wearing? Nobody batted an eyelid, but they all thought I had either just landed from Mars or was a lady-boy from Thailand.
Traditional Albanian dancing - went till 3am.
Tirana main square with the museum telling Albania's complex past.
The view from my hotel room. Can you count all the Mercs?A great trip apart from getting a nasty bug I've cleverly named Tirana Tummy, which I then brought home for Ashley. (sorry - I keep shouting to the toilet)
Special thanks to Elton and his family for their very kind Albanian hospitality.
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