Trip

On the train to Krakow

Oh, it’s good to be back in Albania. My trip was great, but as happens with all traveling, I was much more exhausted when I got back than before I left.

I left on Thanksgiving and flew to Prague. Spent 3 days in Prague, 2 days in Krakow, and 3 days in Budapest. The rest of my time was spent on trains and buses going from one place to the other. Finding the right transportation steadily got harder as I moved further south (I still don’t read Cyrillic), but somehow I managed to make it back not too much worse for wear.

My time in Prague was definitely the highlight of the trip. The city is gorgeous and people are quite friendly as well. Plus I was able to meet some fun people at the hostel, and that always makes the days and nights a little more interesting. Other good times from the trip were spending time in cafes watching people, learning history, seeing snow, visiting Auschwitz, good conversation with people from all over the world, eating Chinese and Greek food, and having enough cash left at the end to buy a bus ticket from Macedonia to Albania.

There were also some lowlights, of course. Food poisoning in Budapest, almost running out of cash with no ATMs in sight, having to turn down three prostitutes per block in downtown Prague (they were very nice though), visiting Auschwitz, forgetting that just because someone doesn’t speak English doesn’t mean that they speak Albanian, realizing ten minutes after the fact that I had accidentally booked a ticket Warsaw instead of Krakow, and the sleep deprivation of traveling on trains at night.

It really is good to be back in Durres though. Understanding some of the language and culture always makes it easier to be in a place. Plus, until I left and came back, I didn’t realize how much this place is starting to feel like home.

I’ve posted the pictures from my trip, but like always, they do very little to portray what the trip was really like. Oh well, memories are better anyhow.