Albania.

Luckily the Eurail app sent a notification drawing our attention to time spent in the Schengen travel area because we’d forgotten about that 90-day restriction. Schengen includes most of Europe, so when we arrived from Turkey on May 20th, our time started ticking which means if we stayed in Europe past August 20th (which we planned to do), we would have overstayed our visa. Most of the Balkan countries, including Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia all fall outside of Schengen, so we added time in these countries to our itinerary.

However, when searching for any of the cities within these countries, the Eurail app came back with “We couldn’t find any stations matching in our timetable.” Huh? We discovered the Balkans are, in terms of rail service, a big black hole. So, we flew from Vienna to Tirana, Albania instead and rented a car. The car rental from Albania only allowed travel to bordering countries, so we kept to

Montenegro, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. Travel to these countries was one of the pleasant twists in our travel itinerary; we loved this part of the trip.

Leo turned 12 in Albania and we celebrated just the way he wanted: playing video games and eating cheesecake. For a week we stayed in the beach town of Dürres in a little guest apartment equipped with a Play Station 4. After some concentrated sightseeing in our previous stops, we all appreciated a chill week on the beach.

After our 8-day Balkan driving tour, we returned to Albania and explored the capital city of Tirana for a day. In Tirana, we visited a museum housed in a former bunker (one of 1000s) and learned about the disturbing decades in the mid-1900s of life in Albania under communist rule. Enver Hoxha was the cruel, communist leader of Albania from 1944 to 1985 during which Albania became the poorest country in Europe. An incredible learning experience.

Vienna airport lounge, waiting to fly to Tirana

Italy vs Albania, Eurocup game (Albania lost, 2-1)

National Historical Museum (temporarily closed)

Resurrection of Christ Eastern Orthodox Cathedral

Netherlands vs Romania, Eurocup 2024, (NL wins 3-0)

Happy 12th Birthday to Leo!

Bunker museum exhibit

Driving to Tirana

Tirana traffic light

Tirana street music

Finding our way in Tirana