Durrës, the Largest Port of Albania

We visited Durrës this last weekend and several things struck me about the city. Durrës is much less busy and much more quiet a city than Tirana, a city roughly 30 minutes away. Durrës has less than a third of the population of Tirana. As we were walking down the streets of this port city, I noticed the constant lining of palm trees along the streets, a marked difference from Tirana.

We paid a visit to the Durrës amphitheater; it was fantastic. It's only 400 leke per person, which is less than $4 per person, to get in and it was well worth the money. The edifice had the same feeling that parts of Rome did. There were ancient tombs and ancient Christian mosaics. The Byzantine forum, just a few blocks away from the amphitheater, was also beautiful.

It was interesting to see those things with their beautiful ornate columns and grand arches, and then a short while later see the severe, austere architecture of the Communist era just a short distance away. Its hard, concrete edges, unadorned metal, etc., provide a stark contrast to the older items elsewhere in the city. 

Straying away from the topic of architecture, we stayed at a very nice hotel there in Durrës -- one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at, and yet it was cheaper than the average hotel in the U.S. We had a view of the Adratic Sea (as pictured above) and it was only a short bus ride from the center of the city. The people at the hotel were so incredibly nice and hospitable.

We had some delicious food there as well! We had gelato that would have given the stuff in Italy a run for its money; we had amazing pasta and sea food that was to die for! Durrës was a great experience; an experience everyone should have!

Big City; Small Town Feel

The thing that's struck me about Tirana while I've stayed here is that the streets have never felt crowded to me. Even in the middle of the afternoon, you never have to vie for space as you sit at a table in Tirana's central park and share a drink with a friend. Tirana looks like a big city, and by most accounts it is a big city, but it feels smaller than it is. In fact, the only time I've ever felt crowded is on the city's public transportation, which is a relatively nice system, albeit a sometimes overburdened one. 

Also contributing to this feeling is the fact that, by and large, everyone seems to know each other, especially in the neighborhoods and more enclosed streets with the smaller markets and other stores. Kids play around the city constantly, making it feel more like a suburb than anything else. While walking down the main streets, people stop suddenly when they recognize a friend and stop to clap hands and talk for a while. 

Tirana is an amazing city with a friendly air. Add on top of this that the country and the city are not yet inundated with tourists yet—not like Rome or Athens, etc. The people of Tirana aren't fed up with the constant flow of tourists that plague so many other places and so they're much more welcoming to the ones they do happen across. In my time here, I've seen perhaps three or four other tourists. Not many tourists come to Albania; but it's their lost. Albania is a great place with many amazing things to see.