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2005 BALKANS TOURBen Oostdam |
Progradec |
| Around 14:00, I got off the taxi saying goodbye to my German fellow traveler who wanted to catch a bus to Tirana this afternoon. I had decided to take the train across Albania, but the one departing at 13:00 the next day, rather than at 05:00. I registered in the Eurokorca Hotel, which was practically empty and was given a good room + breakfast for 10 Euros. |
| The manager, Vladimir ("Miri") suggested I take a walk along the promenade between the Hotel and Lake Ohrid. By contrast to Ohrid, this town had sandy beaches. I stopped at an attractive outdoor restaurant named "1 Maji," and ordered an excellent beef soup with bread, icecream and coffee. |
 eglitollaku@yahoo.com | My waiter (left) was 18 year old, spoke English very well, and was a Muslim recently converted to Christianity by a black South African minister. He was preparing to study medicine and also wanted to get into politics. |
| I went back to the hotel just after 17:00 and did my laundry and recording. At 20:00 I took a longer stroll along the double pedestrian boulevard towards the center, together with hundreds of locals. It was a pleasant atmosphere with subdued flirtings and a goodly number of older gents and ladies all neatly attired and accoutered.I appeared to be the only obvious tourist, but could imagine that the place would be quite lively in full season, starting early June. |
| When I returned at dusk, the manager invited me for a drink at an outside table, and we were joined by the two men leasing the 60 bed hotel from a Workers Syndicate, and by the lady housekeeper and her husband. After several strong Turkish coffees and rakis, and tales of a dry Mediterranean, Atlantis and the oldest Albanian civilization, I was invited to go to the house keeper's home for some dinner in the husband's 1990 Mercedes Benz. Fortunately, their 14 year old son spoke a little English and while being plied with fried eggs, sausage, bread, warm milk with sugar (and more raki), we watched some home videos of recent family outings. Slightly before midnight, the husband dropped me off at the hotel, where Miri just came off duty and insisted to guide me around tomorrrow on his free day. |
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