2020 in review

In 2019 I zigzagged around Europe and even further afield. I thought this year would either be much the same, or completely different. It was completely different - but in an entirely different way than I what I expected. But that was the case for everyone, right?

I posted to my site 4,394 times. I posted 6,017 individual photos into 11 different albums.

tl;dr

Downsized to 35L. Travel stalled. Upsized in order to occupy a part-furnished flat.
I was the Best Man at my friend's wedding.
Did one Vipassana retreat, in Switzerland.
Got trapped by the pandemic for 5 months in Sarandë, Albania.
Returned to the UK for multiple reasons, then stayed.
Started the process for donating a kidney, but then wasn't needed any more.
Decided on something to invest my savings into, but still pending.
Read a lot and watched a lot of TV.
Stood for election to the W3C TAG.

Goals for 2021: Make the most of Fife. Spend time with my IRL friends again, IRL. Try to make myself useful in the local community, and online communities.

Words

I wrote 345 things. On my site I posted 282 short notes or commentary with photos, and 63 longer articles. I also logged non-blogpost writing 29 times. These all comprise approximately 59,593 words in total (9,010 off-site). That's a mean of 162.82 words and 0.94 posts per day.

I wrote about 156 different topics, with the most common being life (122), travel (74), week in review (49), food (40), albania (34), hacking (31), vegan (29), ods (27), coronavirus (27), crochet (24), covid19 (21), and uk (16).

My NaNoWriMo project was Dumping Sky. I didn't write anything else, or finish any previous projects. Again.

Travel

I stopped in an all-time nomadding low of 6 different countries, none of which I had never been to before. A long stay in Albania was a goal I overachieved on, with 149 nights in total. Pre-lockdown I spent 13 nights in Turkey, 2 in Greece, 3 in Bulgaria and 16 in Switzerland (11 of these on a Vipassana meditation retreat). And 177 in the UK by the end of the year.

I spent 6 nights in total sleeping on public transport (long distance buses). Apart from that I slept in 25 different places. I spent the most time in short-term rental accommodation - in Albania and the UK - which was 246 nights. I stayed with family for 52 nights, friends (including couchsurfing and housesitting) for 34, in Vipassana accommodation for 11 (but moved rooms twice..), hostels for 9 nights, and hotels for 8 nights.

Not the most effective year for travel. I'm pleased I was in Albania in March when the European lockdown hit, because it meant I was stuck in a sunny place, in a nice apartment, right by the sea. I try to avoid touristy hotspots or 'seasonal' towns in the main season, so I was also very privileged to enjoy Sarandë in the middle of summer but without the usual masses of tourists.

After overstaying my Albanian visa, I did make an attempt to get overland to Greece, and considered trying for North Macedonia. But ultimately I finally had to return to the UK; the unpredictable border closures (oh and the rampant coronavirus) meant travelling overland was next to impossible, so I had to fly.

In total I spent 1 month, 1 day, 7 hours, 9 minutes and 25 seconds in transit (this includes walking between places), logging 82 journeys. I took 34 train journeys, 34 local or long-distance bus journeys, shared a rental car 3 times (I didn't log car trips with friends and family), bought metro/tram tickets 3 times, took 2 ferries, 1 cable car, 1 taxi, 1 flight, and bought a bicycle!

When I wasn't on the move, I spent:

7 months, 23 days, 7 hours, 2 minutes, and 46 seconds at home;
1 month, 18 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes, and 10 seconds on an adventure;
22 days, 3 hours, and 12 minutes in a meeting;
10 days, 17 hours, 1 minute, and 21 seconds with logging off;
5 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes, and 19 seconds out getting food;
4 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 8 seconds at an event;
4 days, 4 hours, 6 minutes, and 59 seconds out exercising;
14 hours, 33 minutes, and 36 seconds in my office;
6 hours, 16 minutes, and 31 seconds doing a medical thing;
3 hours, 18 minutes, and 7 seconds in a talk or seminar;
and was out helping with something for 27 minutes, and 5 seconds.

Work

Work hasn't changed much. I still work 3 days a week with Open Data Services Co-operative. I started trying out different patterns of engagement with internal Co-op-running work vs. development / client work and found that if I spent larger blocks of time on each rather than the 50% split each week I function a bit better. I was fortunate to see my colleagues in person in January, because all of our other in-person meetups were cancelled after that. I'm also fortunate that we collectively acted fast to enstate special provisions when lockdown started: including unlimited paid leave for any reason related to the pandemic and a guarantee not to reduce pay or cut jobs for a period of time. We were also fortunate to not have to transition out of an office like many people did, so for a lot of the time it was just business as usual (besides the baseline anxiety we all had).

I also continued to contract approximately one day a week for Digital Bazaar, working on things related to the Decentralized Identifiers Working Group. As last year, this came in bursts. This year though there were no conferences or face-to-face meetings to attend :(

I joined the W3C Inclusion & Diversity Community Group - which I'd been in before, but was booted when my affiliation changed and I forgot to re-join - and went to some meetings. I also started to get active in the Social Web Incubator CG again, and did some infrastructure/admin for the Credentials CG.

Code

Green squares from github

Github counted 946 'contributions'. This was 64% commits, 13% code review, 6% issues and 17% pull requests. I don't see any patterns or anything significant. As usual you can see NaNoWrimo in November.

Stuff

I purchased or otherwise acquired something on 495 occasions, spending a total of approximately €10,653.71. I used 9 different currencies (GBP, USD, ALL, EUR, HRK, CHF, RON, BGN, TRY). This is an average expenditure of €29.11 per day, €204.88 per week, or €887.81 per month.

I spent €5,021.09 on accommodation, and €1,449.62 on transit. I spent €1,557.15 on groceries, buying them 121 times. I bought food that was ready to eat on 147 occasions, spending €1,589.74; 56.5% of the time this was in restaurants and 42.9% to take away.

I gave €465.99 away in donations, or spent it on gifts (but I didn't log this accurately; only occasionally when I gave cash to people on the street, or my Patreon payments which is about $15/month). I stopped counting donations under my monthly budget, so they are not included in the overall total.

Some things I acquired the most often were food (147), groceries (121), restaurant (83), transport (79), takeaway (63), and accommodation (58).

On 35 occasions I got something for free. I expensed €109.13 of stuff for work. The most expensive thing I bought was One month's shelter in Kirkcaldy (€611.73) and the cheapest thing (which wasn't free) was - just like last year - toilet use in Arad bus station (€0.21). I spent on average €21.52 per purchase.

Money saved on eating out and living cheaply in Albania was rapidly reclaimed by the cost of living (and partially supporting my brother) in the UK. Even so, I came in under my €1000/month budget overall this year.

January: Cold

I spent the new year with new friends in Bursa (Turkey). After staying up all night, I got the worst cold I've had in years and couldn't get out of bed for a few days. The weather was cold and my house was freezing. Instead of going south, I went north back to the UK. First I met my Co-op colleagues in Manchester for our quarterly meeting. Then I arranged and attended a pre-wedding get-together (a "stag don't") in Perthshire. I found out one of my friends needed a kidney, and began the process of finding out how I could donate mine.

All January posts. Weeks in review:

February: Also cold

Then I was the Best Man at K and M's wedding in Cornwall.

I headed back to the continent again, stopping in Switerzland for a Vipassana retreat, and then spent some days with friends.

I had a route south planned through Italy, but diverted through Croatia at the last minute due to the impending lockdown in Milan. A good decision. Little did I know what the rest of the year was bringing.

All February posts. Weeks in review:

The Long March

Not long after I made it to Sarandë, Albania, the pandemic hit Europe. I had been expecting to stay for a month, but when April rolled around borders were closed and curfews were everywhere. I consider myself very fortunate to have been in a lovely apartment, right on the sea, in a fantastic climate. I managed a couple of relatively local adventures, and met a nice expat community.

There I stayed. I got back into crochet, and started baking a lot. As spring set in, I swam in the sea every day.

Finally, in July, my appointment for tests for kidney-donor eligibility was rescheduled to August. I broke the no-fly rule to return to the UK (if not foolhardy, it would have been impossible by land at that point, anyway).

All March posts. Weeks in review:

All April posts. Weeks in review:

All May posts. Weeks in review:

All June posts. Weeks in review:

All July posts. Weeks in review:

August and September: Still March

I spent precisely the last two weeks of my twenties in government-mandated isolation at my Mum's house in the Lincolnshire countryside. Turned 30, and reviewed the last decade. Then I spent a day at Nottingham Renal Center, having lots of tests.

During a window of eased lockdown, I spent more time in Edinburgh, house-sitting and visiting friends. Expecting to need to stick around for kidney donation, but needing to be by the sea, I made plans to move to Fife for a bit.

Then my friend got a kidney from another source. This was great news! I could leave, but.. European unpredictable border lockdowns made travelling more complicated than I fancied, and family concerns made me want to stay in the UK for longer.

All August posts. Weeks in review:

All September posts. Weeks in review:

October to December: Life in Fife

So I rented a flat with a (medium-distance) sea view in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and my brother moved in with me. I bought a hammock stand again, and had to get a bit of furniture. Fortunately the secondhand shops and Freegle network are here are great! We went on loads of hikes, and enjoyed surprisingly glorious weather and a coastline that leaves me regularly breathless. Bonus: I started to meet the local eco communities here, and have really fallen in love with the place.

My Mum has sold and is in the process of moving out of my childhood home. So I'm glad I got to spend some time there earlier this year, as lockdown means there's no way I'll be able to go back again before she hands the key over to new owners. I'm not that sentimental about it, anyway. I might have been not long ago, but these days I am an unfeeling orb of detachment :)

I took lots of time off in November to make more time for NaNoWriMo, and though I didn't end up writing much, having more time to rest after an a hectic and/or anxiety-filled few months was amazing.

Discovering newly available headspace, I stood for election in the W3C TAG, which turned out to be one of the most competitive elections ever. At the time of writing, voting is still open.

It got cold quite sharply mid-December, but an advantage of being in Scotland over Turkey or Greece at this time of year is that the housing is actually designed to handle it.

Renting for and feeding two has taken me regularly over budget in the latter part of this year, but it was offset by how little I spent in Albania. I'm working on a plan to rectify this in the medium-term.

All October posts. Weeks in review:

All November posts. Weeks in review:

All December posts. Weeks in review:

Reflection on 2020

Compared to the past

Maybe next year I'll make this table into a pretty chart.

	2017	2018	2019	2020
Posts total	4,656	4,817	4,974	4,394
Photos posted	n/a	9,520	9,032	6,017
Coffees (total / mean per day)	471 / 1.3	431 / 1.2	484 / 1.3	462 / 1.3
Nights on transport	n/a	31	17	6
Nights with friends	n/a	56	60	34
Nights with family	n/a	24	24	52
Time in transit	1mo 13d 23h 15m 45s	2mo 26d 6h 56m 21s	2mo 10d 14h 9m 12s	1mo 1day 7h 9m 25s
Time in restaurants	17d 2h 37m 3s	21d 17h 44m 22s	26d 16h 16m 9s	5d 20h 30m 19s
Time exercising	4d 9h 26m 58s	2d 1h 10m	2d 20h 8m 10s	4d 4h 6m 59s
Time in meetings	3d 1h 28m	6d 4h 45m 59s	19d 0h 13m 12s	22d 3h 12m 0s
€ per month	n/a	923.39	1,074.90	887.81
€ accommodation	n/a	4,175.61	5,080.86	5,021.09
€ per night accommodation	n/a	11.44	13.92	13.72
€ eating out	n/a	3,012.56	3,367.91	1,589.74
Words	~159,492	122,401	95,722	59,593
Topics (by tag)	237	217	153	156
Countries visited	13	24	22	6
New countries visited	4	13	8	0
Nights in the UK	~month	34	37	177

Exercise was up but transit and eating out was down... for some reason. Sarandë and Kirkcaldy got labelled 'home' pretty quickly, as is my Mum's house (where I grew up), explaining that massive bump. I started logging long hikes as 'exercise' so there may be a historical underreporting error rather than an actual increase in exercise. Because I certainly dropped the ball on running and yoga this year.

At this time last year, I was looking forward at 2020, expecting to either visit many new places around Eastern Europe, or go back to the UK to donate a kidney. I was not expecting to stay virtually stationary, make a potentially significant career move or find somewhere to invest all of my savings. Everyone who had plans for 2020 found their lives completely upended this year. I've got off pretty damn lucky.

Though I find myself pining for travel and idly browsing wikitravel or airbnb every few days, I also appreciate the extra mental energy I've gained from not constantly planning and moving. I am grateful for having been able to see friends and family this year, and in particular for being able to spend more time with my brother than ever before. I can hardly believe my good fortune at the geography and community I find myself amongst in a place I chose to move to fairly arbitrarily.

I've been able to live more closely in accordance with my values here: minimising waste and shopping locally. This can be hard in the Balkans, when there are limited grocery options, fewer recycling facilities, and old ladies at markets who force upon you plastic bags at every turn. It's also harder when moving frequently as I'm less able to buy in bulk. Shortly after moving, I got a supply of empty jars from Freegle and friends, and shop almost exclusively at the zero-waste shop in Burntisland, and the local high street market. Okay, I go to Morrisons as well, but only for absolute necessities (and cheap vegan cheese. Nobody's prefect alright).

I'm not sure if I've particularly missed eating out. It was quite a significant hobby when travelling, but since I also love to cook I haven't noticed much. I get takeaway from the local vegan-friendly cafes here sometimes because I don't want them to shut down. I've resisted the urge to look up how my favourite vegan places around Europe are doing because I expect to be distraught and find out lots of them are gone for good.

Last year I wrote that I wanted to start logging my journeys properly and generate a map. In the last week of this year I finally found time to tinker with sloph, and have done it! Data is up to date for 2020 and a smattering of existing logs from the past. It helped that there wasn't a huge amount to backfill for this year.. When I'm low energy I'll be filling in gaps from previous years, using my ActivityPub C2S-ish travel logging client.

2021

I hestiate to make predictions! Realistically I'm probably not going to be able to travel again until I can get a covid vaccine, though it worries me a bit how long that might be. And my brother isn't going to be able to go back to Japan any time soon I don't think. So I'll make the most of my time in Fife for a while longer. I've signed up to volunteer at the local community kitchen with Greener Kirkcaldy - I really hope that can start this month.

I'm going to move again, not far, but closer to the sea and further from town.

Whether or not I get elected to the TAG, I forsee my W3C related activities increasing a bit. I'll probably do more to help with infrastructure of the Credentials CG, and take a more active role in reviving the Social Incubator CG in coming months.

Hopefully as the vaccine gets taken up by the most vulnerable it will be safe to travel locally again, and I can hop on trains to explore more of Scotland. Even better, maybe I can spend more time with friends who I am now finally in the same country as.

🏷 travel life hacking week in review #cooplife w3c 2020 covid19 coronavirus albania uk sloph nanowrimo zero waste quantified self digital nomad ods year in review

Mon 4th of January 2021 at 4:48pm (+00:00)

Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary

Vegan in Albania

During five consecutive months in Albania this year, plus shorter trips last year, I have done a lot of eating in Albania. Mostly I cooked for myself, because a large chunk of that was during the coronavirus lockdown. But when things started to open up again, I did eat at restaurants a few times. I'll round up some of these experiences here.

Skip to:

Eating out
Groceries
Tirana
Shkoder
Sarandë
Përmet
The Riviera
Gjirokastër

It's worth noting that 'vegan' is unlikely to be a well-understood word (though some places do know it) but 'vegetarian' is fine. Don't assume that because you start ordering a bunch of vegan dishes, and asking to remove cheese from some things, they'll get the gist of your requirements - be specific about everything. I never had a problem modifying dishes in restaurants, and waiters in touristy places spoke good English. Personally in the Balkans I don't ask too many questions about butter, and like to imagine that since oil is cheaper it is probably used for cooking most of the time. I also look for traditional recipes online for local dishes to get the impression if they're probably vegan before I go somewhere to try them, so I don't have to have too detailed a conversation about it in a restaurant. But that's because I'm conflict-averse and socially awkward.

I drank the tap water in Sarandë and experienced no ill effects. You might hear otherwise from other people. Lots of locals and expats alike buy 8L bottles of water for home (which are very cheap). A better option to both of these, if you have the opportunity to drive into the mountains, is to fill containers up with fresh mountain water from a roadside spring. They're easy to spot and well-used.

Eating out

Traditional Albanian food is limited for vegans, but what options there are typically consistently delicious. Vegetables are fresh, local and seasonal, and Albanians have a habit of baking things for hours using lots of fresh herbs.

One thing I quickly learnt the hard way in Shkoder was that cheese is such a fundamental ingredient it hardly bears mentioning, either on menus or by waiters who are otherwise describing dishes in great detail in perfect English for you. It makes as much sense to mention the cheese as it would to mention the plate the meal comes served on. So always always ask for without cheese - pa djathë - even if you can't see how cheese would have a place in what you're ordering. Trust me, it does.

Getting vegan options at Albanian restaurants (not grill places) usually leaves you with stuffed aubergine (patëllxhane të mbushur or Imam bayildi) and stuffed peppers as main dishes, and a variety of salads plus chips/fried potatoes and grilled vegetables as a side. It's enough to make a meal. I love the stuffed aubergines most of all - they are rich, herby, tomatoey goodness - and the stuffed peppers - packed with gooey sticky rice - are really good as well. In theory, either of these could be stuffed with meat, so it's worth to check (asking "vegetarian?" should do the trick) but I never found a case of this in practice.

Less consistently available, but still not uncommon, are things like potato, okra or green bean stews. You might also find fasule - white beans in a tomatoey sauce or as a thick soup, which is one of my favourite Balkan-vicinity dishes. You may also come across 'wild cabbage' or 'mountain herbs' (or 'wild mountain cabbage herbs' or other combination) which are ambiguous greens that I never pass up an opportunity to eat. If you're really lucky, you'll find dolma.

In my experience, ordering the fried potato side dish in restaurants resulted in the best chunky, handcut deep fried potatoes I've had outside of the UK. Just like I make myself. But I have heard reports from people expressing disappointment in getting served frozen fries, so this might be hit and miss and I just got really lucky.

You could pick something up at a fast food place. Anywhere that has souvlaki can probably throw you together a vegetarian or 'meat-free' souvlaki (even if it's not on the menu), which is going to consist of fries and salad in some chunky pita bread or a wrap (remember to ask for no cheese or tzatziki). Not the most compelling meal, but it'll be fast, cheap and filling.

Look out for bakeries (furre) and byrek places. Byrek is a flaky filo pastry in layers with some filling. They're delicious and hearty and dead cheap (50-100 lek for a big piece) and probably made with oil and not butter, though I'll admit I haven't thoroughly canvassed the bakeries for this information. You can find them filled with onion (gross.. I mean.. if you like that sort of thing..), spinach (yum! and spinaq in Albania is easy to recognise and pronounced the same as English. As ever, do check for cheese though to be sure, sometimes they hide feta in there) and I've seen signage for potato byrek (patate) but never actually found any available. Many Albanian restaurants will also have byrek on the menu, likely translated as 'spinach pie'.

Apart from that, all pizza places have a veggie pizza (sometimes called 'country' or 'garden' if you can't find 'vegetariana') which you can ask for without cheese. If you're there for a while, you can try a few places to look for the best combination and coverage of veggie toppings to optimise your pizza-pa-djathë experience. My tactic was just to look on tripadvisor for pizza places with good reviews, when it wasn't a case of just dropping into the nearest pizza place I found. I don't think I had any of the truly baffled looks from waiters that I had in Bosnia when ordering cheeseless pizza. Perhaps Albanian waiters are just more polite.

Beverages

If you drink alcohol, you'll be plied with local raki wherever you go. This varies from good quality stuff to literal paint stripper, I gather, so beware. There are several local beers which are generally cheap and people seem to enjoy them.

The cheapest coffee to buy to prepare yourself is Turkish style, that you make in a dzezva/cezva/briki (I dunno what they call this in Albania actually). In Sarandë there's a place that will grind it for you fresh an seal it up (Benn Kafe, opposite the big Alpha supermarket).

In restaurants, espresso is the cheapest. It can be 50lek, it is usually 70-80, you should cry if it's 100 or more (but you're probably paying for a view). I've rarely seen Americano on a menu. In the south, at least, they have freddo espresso, which is my favourite espresso format. You're looking at 150 to 250 lek depending on location, and they are usually large with a double shot of coffee and a thick head of foam.

I always take my own bottle of water because besides hot drinks and alcohol, everything comes in plastic bottles, including water. If I forget I'll order tea, but it's usually just cheap teabags which makes me grumpy too. Unless you see mountain tea on the menu - then get that! It's local and delicious. Some places will give you a glass of water with your espresso, but don't count on it. Surpringly few places had fresh juice - always orange, always expensive. I'm in shock that nowhere does limunade (diluted fresh lemon juice) which was my go-to in Bosnia and much of the rest of the Balkans.

Read on for specific restaurant recommendations for the places I visited.

Groceries

In terms of groceries, options are limited. In Tirana and tourist hotspots like Sarandë, even small shops will have plant milks, but be prepared for these to be expensive, dust-covered and possibly out of date. In Conad supermarket in Tirana (and presumably other cities with Conad, but I don't know for sure) there's a brand 'Valsoia' which has cream cheese and margarine. It's expensive and tiny. You might also find some tofu. I discovered late in my stay in Sarandë that the Vitam (BITAM) Greek brand of margarine is 100% plant-based, and isn't so expensive and is available everywhere, so that made baking better going forward. But I'd be surprised if you find solid vegan cheese, seitan, or any processed meat substitutes anywhere in the country (if you do let me know!).

But if you like to cook, then there are lots of things you can do with amazing cheap local vegetables, and dried beans, chickpeas, grains and pulses which abound. The markets are fantastic, and supermarkets and bulk stores offer many dried things by weight, without plastic, as well.

I found flaxseed easily and cheaply, but whole not ground. Coconut oil and tahini are available, but are very expensive and in small jars.

It's worth mentioning Neranxi, a catering wholesaler with stores in Tirana and Sarandë at least. They have lots of imported goods that you can't get anywhere else (miso! agar agar! giant bottles of tabasco sauce!) and sell grains, seeds, dried fruit and beans etc in bulk.

Tirana

Tirana, as the capital, has the best selection of veg-friendly things. There are tons of juice and smoothie bars, and bio stores with decent grocery selections. I'd check happycow to see what's handy for you. If you're passing through Tirana to go to a more remote part of Albania, it might be a good idea to pick up some supplies before you leave.

There's one fully vegetarian restaurant as far as I know, Veggies. It's expensive for Albania, and the menu is a pretty diverse mix of foods from different cuisines (but not Albanian) and uses lots of 'superfood' type things. It's obvious which things are vegan, and the food is good and portions are a decent size. When I've been - at normal evening meal times - the vibe has been strange, with no other diners, and the waiter/chef has nothing to do and nowhere to hide while you're eating, so it kind of feels like you're being watched.

I have also eaten at Çoko, where they know what vegan is and the falafel 'burger' (it's really a pita) is alright and comes with lots of toppings. They also have fancy juice, outdoor seating, and it's on a lively street. There's no point in me including the photos because it was dark and you can't make anything out. Portions were substantive enough that I had leftovers.

Oda is a traditional Albania restaurant with absolutely delicious veggie options. I tried some of everything vegan, basically, which are all the traditional Albanian things I listed earlier.

Shkodër

With mostly Tirana and the Riviera to compare to, Shkoder is seriously cheap to eat out. I was there for a week.

My first meal was avocado toast at Stolia. Despite having communicated very effictively with the waiter, I thought, it came with cheese on that was not mentioned anywhere. I picked it off and got on with my life. I think this cafe is a bit fancy, but it was a really nice space.

At Shega e Egar they knew what vegan is and were able to suggest or adapt dishes for me. One one visit I had a vegetable ciabatta and fresh juice. Another time I had a substantive smoothie. It's also a really nice space, with outside seat, and upstairs too which has power and is a bit quieter.

The hostel I stayed in (The North Hub) partners with Manifatura, the pizza place next door. Hostel breakfast is there, with a couple of almost vegan things on the menu that they will adapt for you (and I took my own plant milk for the museli one day). Since it was handy, and there was a hostel discount, I had pizza there a couple of times too.

I ate Albanian food at Peja Grill, which had enough options that I went back twice. They also had good fresh juice, including lemon. Staff were friendly and I chilled out with my kindle there for a while.

Several people, from the walking tour guide to hostel workers, recommended Pasta e Vino. I'd definitely go back again as there are several vegan-when-cheese-removed pasta dishes on the menu, and the orecchiette with aubergine and cherry tomatoes I ate was incredible. It's one of those meals I still think about, a year later.

Sarandë

All year round

Lots of places in Sarandë are only open in the summer/tourist season, so check on that before you get your hopes up about going somewhere. I called this section 'all year round' but really I can only speak for the March to May portion of the off-season.

Ask anyone for "that cheap Albanian place that's really good with lots of veggie options?" and they'll say Te Beqoa (tuh-betcha). There are two branches, one in town by the park, and another to the south on Rruga Butrinti (the latter only opened this summer, and I don't know if it will close over the winter). The mostly vegan veggie selection is the biggest I found in one place in Sarandë and it's all super delicious, hearty and so cheap. I dream about the potato stew. They have other stews with aubergine, peppers, beans, all rich and tomatoey. They have stuffed aubergine and peppers, of course. They have a great fasule soup, and serve everything with chunky white bread. They also have a salad menu, including a pickle plate which I love. Most of the food is made in advanced and available for viewing in the counter. The staff encourage you to have a look and point at what you fancy. This also means service is very fast. Staff are friendly, and the wifi works well. The only drawback is they don't have tea or coffee, and only provide water in bottles (unless you make a small fuss about plastic, and then you might get a free glass of water which has been poured from a larger bottle so that's a bit of an improvement). If you're not cooking and on a budget, this is a safe bet for a place to eat dinner every day. It's also super popular with locals, so open in the off-season.

My favourite bakery in Sarandë is Furre Kosova, by the bus station / park. Their spinach byrek are the best, and they have a great bread selection, including bread rolls that are just like my all-time favourite Bosnian somun. The lady who works there became a regular friendly face, as I'd stop there whenever I was in town.

Another place in town that's open in the off-season is Bulla's Corner. This is just fast food, but they have a no-meat souvlaki on the menu for 150 lek, and will happily omit cheese and tzatziki and add ketchup instead. It's just fries and salad, but the bread is nice. Not amazing, but a good fast option if you're starving and had enough byrek already this week.

I got a no-cheese pizza from Piceri Alfa one time. I thought they'd be good cos they have a big pizza oven. It was 1000 lek and very mediocre. Don't bother. A veggie pizza should be 300-600lek.

Limani is a popular and spacious restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating sticking out on the water in the center of town. You can't miss it. It's slightly on the pricier side, but it's one of the only places that takes card payments. The service is very good, and the food is really good too. I've tried pizzas, salad, freddo espresso and fresh orange juice there, and had bruschetta for breakfast once (I ate that before remembering to take a photo). It's pretty popular with expats and foreign tourists, so you'll here a lot of English spoken if you hang out there for a while. There's loads of space so I didn't feel intrusive working on my laptop, the wifi is good, and you can sit right by the water.

Summer / tourist season

Things were slower to open up than usual this year because of the pandemic. On the other hand, if not for the pandemic I wouldn't have been stuck in Sarandë and wouldn't have got to try any of these places at all.

Salad Farm is out of town on Rruga Butrinti, which is inconvenient for lots of people but conveniently for me I lived across the road. It's 'traditional Californian' food, and run by real Californians. They grow and pickle a lot of the produce themselves, or aim to, and also use recyclable materials and minimise waste as much as possible. Their officially vegan dishes are a falafel salad, or falafel and hummus wrap, but in fact almost everything on the menu can be veganised. In the case of most of the salads this just means removing the meat and/or cheese because the bulk of the salad and dressings are vegan already. These salads are enormous and have lots of interesting things like curried wheat or noodles or fruit or avocado or beans.. so veganising them isn't a huge loss at all. The wraps are with a fresh homemade flatbread. The lemonade is fresh too, and bottomless in true American style. Almost all of the smoothies can be veganised, as they have coconut milk and soy milk on hand. You can also get a pint of coldpress coffee if you need wiring up for the day! My favourite thing of all is the roast cauliflower; it isn't vegan by default, as they use egg to stick the breading on - but just ask, and they can change this out for whatever other tasty liquids are on hand, in my case a mix of fava water and coconut milk. It's super delicious. Salad Farm is also a nice place to work, indoors or outdoors, and has a friendly local stray dog called Banksy. Vegan desserts coming soon? Stay tuned.

Almost across from Salad Farm is Bake'n'Grill. Not the most appealing name from a vegan perspective, but it was in the base of my building so when they opened late into the summer I thought I should try eating local. Their daily specials menu has baked vegetables on it, but they only do one of the things on the list per day and it wasn't baked vegetables when I dropped by. Instead, they offered to make that tomorrow's daily special just for me. So I ate a really nice lightly spicy penne arrabbiata, some salad and chips, and they brought a plate of fresh fruit as a complimentary dessert. The next day I returned for the baked vegetables - stuffed aubergine and peppers of course - which were delicious. And they gave me fruit again too. Their fresh orange juice is expensive but a big glassful. So there isn't a ton of options here, but the staff are very nice. I wouldn't go out of your way to visit, but if it's in the vicinity you could do worse.

Pizza Roel is mostly appealing because the outdoor seating is on the sea-side of the road, with lovely views across the bay. Their pizza is alright too. They have two veggie options which are, let's be honest, basically the same, with the usual selection of grilled vegetables (it says 'pumpkin', by the way, which is a common mistranslation of courgette/zucchini, before you get your hopes up about pumpkin on pizza..). Their freddo espresso is really good too, as are their prices.

I went for a nice dinner with a group of expats at Haxhi. The menu was set for the large group, but I checked beforehand there would be plenty of vegan-friendly things available, and sure enough I was easily stuffed up on tasty food. They even included a traditional dessert, hashure, made from farro (wheat) and walnuts. It's vegan! I ate a bunch before I realised it had walnuts in, and suffered through the resulting headache later that evening, alas. I'm not sure what the regular menu looks like at Haxhi - it had caught my eye becuase of it's nice decor previously, but does appear to be fish-focussed - but the family who run it speak good English so probably you'd figure something out.

You can get lemon sorbet at Kayak, in town.

Përmet

Lots of nice traditional food options in Pëmet, but I was only there for two nights. I ate wild cabbage, mountain herbs soup, fried potatoes and stuffed aubergine at Trifilia, and dolma, fasule and wild herb byrek at Antigonea. Both great options.

Along the Albanian Riviera

The best place I ate on my Riviera roadtrip was the homemade ravioli at Guesthouse Alberti in Llogora National Park. They have a spinach one as well as tomato and rukola and it was sooo good. They also have a variety of other pasta dishes, as well as salads and fried potatoes.

I ate a bizarrely good pizza on the beach in Borsh, at Ciao Borsh. There's probably nothing else worth mentioning, either to try or to avoid. You can check /eats for May and look for restaurant names in brackets if you really want to know everything.

Gjirokastër

I only spent an afternoon in Gjirokastër, but it gets its own section because my lunch there was so good. At Taverna Tradiçionale, a mostly vegetarian(!) restaurant who understand vegan. I arrived in time for their stuffed aubergine and peppers to be fresh from the oven, piping hot. The spinach byrek they had just made was with feta, but they managed to conjure some cheese-free up later and it was on the house. I'd also heard a rumour (aka read on happycow) that they had vegetarian kofte (meatballs) so they made that for me too! It was basically herby doughballs, but still exciting. And they brought fruit sprinkled with cinnamon as a free dessert.

A vegetarian specialty of Gjirokastër I'd have loved to try is qifqi - rice balls - but unfortunately these are bound with egg.

🏷 shkoder permet gjirokaster tirana sarande albania vegan food travel

Tue 4th of August 2020 at 12:57pm (+01:00)

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All the photos I took from my balcony during lockdown

🏷 travel life lockdown coronavirus covid19 albania

Mon 3rd of August 2020 at 9:54pm (+01:00)

Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary

Week in review: 27 July - 2 August

Drove to Tirana, then flew back to the UK :( Commenced the last two weeks of my twenties, in government-mandated isolation.
Wrote up a post about the 5 months I spent in Albania.
Worked on OpenActive Co-op stuff.
Enjoyed Friday off as a the whole co-op was closed for a self-care day.
Tried to re-engage with DID stuff I've been dropping the ball on lately.
Made a nice list of articles by title on my site.
Cooked for and hung out with my Mum. Enjoyed the one day of summer.
Did some crochet.

🏷 sloph albania uk covid19 coronavirus crochet ods #cooplife week in review vegan food life travel

Sun 2nd of August 2020 at 10:24pm (+01:00)

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Overstaying in Albania

I've been to Albania a couple of times in 2019 for short visits, or on my way to somewhere else. I was looking forward to spending time on the coast, so finally in March 2020 I managed to head out for a month-long stay. Or so I thought. Not long after I arrived, the coronavirus lockdown began. As 3 months approached, I emailed local authorities and quickly obtained a visa extension 'until travel restrictions are lifted'. After a while commercial flights from the capital to some other countries started to run, and I wasn't sure how long I could push my overstay (usually, the fine for overstaying is €500 per day!). But lots of expats kept telling me it would be fine. Around the 4 month mark I was stopped by police in town and asked for ID, and fortunately had my printed visa extension email on me, which was enough for them, so then I was less worried. In the end I needed to head back to the UK for other reasons, and stayed in Sarandë for five months in total.

For the first few months of lockdown, everything was closed and there was no public transport, so I wasn't able to see much of the country. Later when inter-city travel restrictions lifted I took a couple of cautious road trips.

In any case, there were definitely worse places I could have been stuck.

Where?

I spent most time this year in Sarandë. It is a smallish seaside town, quiet in the off season, and a little smelly and loud in the town center from an excess of construction and road traffic. After a week in the center I snapped from this, and managed to move south to the outskirts. It's also smelly in the more rural outskirts from locals burning trash. But at least it wasn't so loud. My new place was right in front of the sea, close enough to hear the crash of the waves from the balcony, and a short scrabble from a little rocky beach that was mostly empty until July.

There was no disadvantage in my opinion to being a 30-40 minute walk from the town center. When running, the local buses stop nearby. There's a surprisingly well stocked supermarket very close, and plenty of restaurants and cafes. Which would have been nice, if everything wasn't closed for most of my stay.

It's easy to find a cheap (€150/mo up) and decent (nicely furnished, sea view) place to stay here, in town or outside, for medium-term lets depending on season. Most of this town is empty apartments, of varying quality. Skip Airbnb and contact some of the local estate agents who manage many short term or holiday rentals, or look for facebook groups for expats and locals if you're into that sort of thing.

In Sarandë there's a small but busy and friendly expat community. I met more of them when the lockdown restrictions lifted. Often people arrange to eat out in groups, watch movies, go for hikes, and there are a disproportionate number of yoga classes. Bob's bar, American Blue (aka the Balkan Education Experience), is one of the major expat hubs (and also has great wifi speeds). Hang out there and you'll be integrated into the community in no time.

In June, things started to open again, but on a much quieter scale than normal. By July most seasonal restaurants and private beaches were up and running, and local tourists were visiting at weekends. 'My' beach started to see more people, even early in the morning. But I'm told it has been absolutely nothing compared to the tourist season in a normal year. I'm quite lucky to have been able to enjoy the weather and the sea without the usual crowds.

On calm, warm days it was lovely to swim from my beach to Secret Beach, past the Santa Quaranta pier. Secret Beach is not at all secret, that's just the name of the cafebar built over it, though you can climb over some rocks to get to a more sheltered part. The other direction, towards the public beach in south where the river flows into the sea, also makes a nice swim. Before the crowds came and they started charging for umbrellas, jumping into the sea from Santa Quaranta pier was a good change of scene too. And the flat rocks between the Santa Quaranta hotel beach and my beach were slippery and mossy and can be used as slides to get into the sea. Getting out again can be a challenge. There's a small pool there too where the sea washes in and out of which is nice to sit in, and standing rocks in the water to paddle and clambour around.

There's not a ton to do in Sarandë besides chilling out on the beach, but that's part of the charm. There's Lekursi Castle on a hill overlooking the bay, which is worth climbing up to. And on the adjacent hill is the Monastery of the 40 Saints, which Sarandë is named after, offering similarly good views and ruins. There are quiet coastal trails to hike to the north of the town and rolling hills inland towards Finiq village.

Since it was lockdown for most of my stay, I appreciated that I was in a place where I didn't feel like I was missing out on much by staying inside all the time. I got to know my immediate surroundings very well. Here is every photo of the beautiful sea and sky I took from my balcony. On the balcony of an apartment in the building next door, lived an enormous beautiful fluffy dog who I called Fluffydog. We would sit and watch the sea together. Fluffydog only barked at night, very very occasionally, and sounded like two plastic cups being hit together. Another regular auditory presence was Chickendog, a huge alsatian who lived in a seaview kennel near the entrance to my building, so named because a family of chickens lived with him and they were often seen together. And then there was Boop and Borp, the two guard dogs of Hotel Visad who greeted me loudly every time I went to my beach. Eventually they started to recognise me, and stopped barking just to stand and wag their tails. I could often hear them all night though. Later on in my stay I met Banksy, who was attached to the Salad Farm cafe across the road. Banksy is very sweet and would bring other peoples' trash that he wanted to eat, but needed human assistance to open. He chases cars, which is not healthy.

A short drive out, along a well-signposted road, is the Blue Eye, Syri i Kaltër. It's a natural spring of unknown depth, with crystal clear waters and sapphire-blue dragonflies. You can't swim, and there's no hiking around as far as I can tell. There's one restaurant and one hotel nearby. It's worth a visit, but don't plan to spend all or even half a day there. It's on the way to Gjirokastër though..

The Sarandë port also, under normal circumstances, provides fast access to Corfu all year round. The ferries stopped at the first sign of lockdown though, and didn't restart again while I was there.

Where else?

Sarandë is wonderfully placed for access to Ksamil and Butrint to the south. The former has beaches galore and islands you can reach by swimming. The latter has an ancient city and secret beaches if you venture far enough. They're hike-able from Sarandë (3.5 hours to Ksamil if you march straight there, or 8+ if you stop at every cove on the way..) but there's also an hourly bus (100 lek each way). You can read about my hikes to and around Ksamil and Butrint here.

Sarandë is also the end of the Albanian Riviera. I had the opportunity to follow the coastal road north to discover many beautiful towns and villages with gorgeous beaches, hills, castles. It's worth stopping in most of them. Borsh has miles of sandy beach (and a fab castle); Himarë has a lovely promenade and great hiking around; in between Jalë and Dhërmi are more coves and beaches you can only get to by boat or scrambling. I wrote more about a roadtrip along the Riviera.

At the top end of the Riviera is the Llogora mountain pass, an intense switchback that made my ears explode at the change in pressure. The Llogora national park is a different world to the coast, with alpine forests and cool air. There are miles and miles of hikes, with marked trails, and some lovely guesthouses to stay in. See photos of some hikes in the Llogora national park here.

For another change of pace, I went inland to visit Përmet and Gjirokastër. Përmet sits on the Vjosë river which is a bright crystal blue, and you can get down to sit on the rocky beach or paddle. It's a small town that seemed to come alive at night. The town is a moderate hike or a short drive from the Langarica canyon which has really beautiful hiking trails. Oh, and natural thermal springs. The water is not hot, but it's not cold, and the various different pools supposedly have different minerals for various healing benefits. Here is a post about my trip to Përmet.

I didn't stay long in Gjirokastër; enough to look all around the castle and the museums inside, which are worthwhile, and to have a delicious lunch. I think it'd make a good base for a longer stay, if you can stand to be away from the sea (more photos of Gjirokaster).

In the north of Albania, I visited Shkodër last summer, which was definitely one of my all time favourite cities. It has lots of history, a beautiful lake, and a pedistrian- and cycle-friendly city center. It's a common stopover for people embarking on Balkan mountain hikes to the north. It's considerably cheaper than Sarandë. But so is everywhere.

And of course, the capital, Tiranë, is an interesting place. I've passed through a couple of times but never for more than a long weekend. I mostly walked around the center, ate at the one vegetarian restaurant, and hiked between bus stations. There's lots to see though in terms of museums, architecture and historical buildings. There's also an artificial lake, and it is in close proximity to good mountains. It's a short drive or bus ride from the seaside city of Durrës. I'd really like to spend more time there, but not at the expense of all the other places to visit in Albania..

Practicalities

Public transport is haphazard but pretty frequent across the country, and well-used by locals. You'll struggle to find information online. In most cities, just turn up to the bus station and ask around. There might be signs. They may or may not represent reality. In Tirana there are several bus stations all located very inconveniently far from each other and the city center, serving different parts of the country, or international routes. Look up the latest on wikitravel, I'm sure anything I write here will be out of date soon enough. The buses themselves may be large coaches, but are more likely to be little minivan things, even for long journeys. They are cramped and hot and only have limited luggage capacity.

Currency is Albanian Lek, ALL. Things are cheap, even by Balkan standards, and Sarandë is the most expensive place by far. Many places don't take card, or they might try and fail. Most ATMs charge extortionate fees, but Credins Bank did not for my TransferWise card.

Languages people speak will vary depending on where you are of course, but I've mostly encountered people speaking very good English, or if not, willing to try and smile and point. On the coast, you'll find people who speak Greek and/or Italian as well. It's been quite hard to pick up correct pronunciation of Albanian greetings by listening to locals, because people clock foreigners at once and say 'hello'. As with anywhere, you should at least learn to say thank you and hello in Albanian..

I don't normally get local SIM cards unless I have a particular reason to. In this case, once lockdown started I was unable to go to cafes for backup wifi, and I needed for a while to be able to send SMS to get permission to go out. Fortunately phone shops were considered essential enough to be allowed to open. Vodafone however would only do topups and not sell me a SIM. ALBTelecom claimed I needed a residence permit to buy a SIM. But T-mobile have a bunch of monthly packages for good prices. I had to show ID to buy it, but could only pay cash. Initially I got 10GB of data, plus tons of local and international minutes and SMS for about €16. I topped up a month later with 1.5GB plus 20 international minutes (and essentially unlimited local minutes and SMS) for less than €8.

I haven't any problems with wifi - bar very minor dropoffs for a couple of hours at most - at any of the places I've stayed so far though. The local supplier for Sarande (1-click.al) is reliable and speeds are good, so it's great for digital nomadding.

Keeping up to date with local happenings during the pandemic, AlbanianDailyNews and Exit were super helpful.

Weather is very different between the north and south, mountains and coast. It probably all evens out in the summer, but if you're in Albania in the winter I definitely recommend Sarande region.

There are a lot of stray dogs, big ones, but by and large seem more friendly and calm in Albania than a lot of other countries. They generally ignore you, but might walk with you for a bit. Feed one once and they're your best friend for life. Once I was escorted all the way home from town by Scabbydog, a limping, scrawny, pockmarked thing, because I was walking with someone who had been with someone else who had given the dog sausages in a completely different part of town some weeks prior..

Food

Eating out in Albania, outside of Tiranë, does not offer as much variety as even other parts of the Balkans. International cuisine is is not abundant. But that's okay, because Albanian food is delicious and tends to be made from fresh, local, seasonal produce. Options are more limited if you have a restricted diet, and to eat at Albanian restaurants a lot as a vegan can get repetitive. It's cheap though!

Other than pizza-pa-djäthë, my go-to was stuffed aubergine and stuffed peppers. They have both been slow baked; the aubergine is stuffed with itself, and a rich, herby, tomatoey mix with garlic, peppers and onion (patëllxhane të mbushur or Imam bayildi); the peppers are filled with rice. In theory either could be with meat, but they were the vegetarian option at every single place I ate around the country. It's definitely better to ask for no cheese though, just in case. To be honest, I have never been disappointed by a stuffed aubergine, and could happily eat it every day.

Bakeries are good and cheap. Byrek - phyllo pastry - with spinach is easy to come by. In Sarande my favourite was from Furre Kosova by the bus station.

Occasionally I found fasule, some sort of white beans in stew or sauce. Stewed or grilled vegetables and potatoes were simple but tasty side dish I could combine into a meal. I also had some excellent side salads (and some soggy ones), fantastic bread and the next best chips (chunky fried potatoes) after those in the UK!

Next time...

Before I got the message to go to the UK, I was half-heartedly thinking about planning a move to Macedonia. The small town of Pogradec is near the border (walking distance, from the south of Lake Ohrid) and I'd definitely have liked to visit on the way. There's the lake, and not a lot else that I can see. It looks peaceful.

Vlorë is the Big City just up the coast from Sarandë. It has beaches and a beautiful lagoon, as well as being a major port, and residential areas trail off away from the coast into the mountains.

Everyone drinks Korçë beer. It's inland, nestled in the mountains, and I've heard great things.

Berat is a famous (by Albananian standards) mountain town, the City of a Thousand Windows. I almost went there on my road trip, but they had a spike in coronavirus cases so I decided not to. It's a shame though. There's a lovely hostel, and guesthouses with amazing views.

The longer you spend in a place, the more you realise there is to see, and the longer you need to stay...

🏷 travel albania sarande lockdown coronavirus covid19 tourism castle beach

Fri 31st of July 2020 at 3:01pm (+01:00)

Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary

Week in review: 20 - 26 July

Worked way too much on Open Active. Ups and downs with nodejs. On schedule if nothing explodes in my face, but things keep exploding in my face.
Swam a lot, it was really hot again.
Ate in Salad Farm a bunch.
Jellified a ton of stuff with agar agar.
Went into the hills to try to see the comet (didn't though).
Baked some good stuff.
Improved what my /eats and /stuff pages look like.
Finally finished all of Stargate Atlantis. So I watched all of all Stargate during lockdown. Except the movies. Will it never end. I like it but I can't believe the sheer volume.
Also finished attaching sleeves to my crochet cardigan.
Hiked up to the Monastery of the 40 Saints for wonderful Sarande views.
Started on a page that lists all my blog articles by title, which really is just highlighting how I've only been communicating by week-in-review and photo posts for a while now. Need to step my article writing game back up.

🏷 albania sarande open active crochet ods week in review vegan food hacking travel

Sun 26th of July 2020 at 11:59pm (+02:00)

Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary

Week in review: 13 - 19 July

Swam a bunch. Generally trying to make the most of Sarande.
Did paddleboard yoga.
Went a few times to Salad Farm, especially when home internet went out.
Worked from balcony, on OpenActive nodejs stuff.
Got some of my ActivityPubish posting clients back up. Refactored a lot of shared functionality into a library (ERH).
Made tasty food, including agar agar adventures.
Watched lots of Stargate and a whooole bunch of movies..
Almost finished my crochet cardigan.
Made plans to leave Albania..

🏷 travel life hacking food week in review ods albania nodejs

Sun 19th of July 2020 at 11:59pm (+02:00)

Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary

Week in review: 6 - 12 July

Finished the terrible merlin book.
Didn't have to move flats at the end of the week; small stress removed.
Started S3 of Dark.
Went to Ksamil for a morning on the beach.
Got my APish food posting client working again.
Did nodejs stuff, sadface.
Made more doughnuts, burgers, a lemon drizzle, other things...
Did paddleboard yoga.

🏷 albania hacking travel week in review sloph food vegan

Sun 12th of July 2020 at 11:59pm (+02:00)

Week in review: 29 June - 5 July

Packed up and cleaned my flat. Roadtripped to the Greek border.. and back again. Unpacked.
Had a little jaunt with Albanian police thanks to walking past the buses with my backpack. Came to nothing.
Not a very productive week; a bit of nodejs.
Attended most of the DID WG remote face-to-face.
Swam in the sea.. Still a heatwave.
Did paddleboard yoga.
Enjoyed a storm at last.
Made more doughnuts.
A bit of hacking on sloph apps.
Watched Shanghai Fortress and Big Fish.. and Stargate.

🏷 hacking albania yoga life week in review travel

Sun 5th of July 2020 at 11:59pm (+02:00)

Storm!! Thunder, lightning, rain! Big waves! Actual breeze! Long overdue after the last stifling, still, sweltering couple of weeks. Opening balcony doors all the way to welcome it in. I feel better already.

🏷 albania weather travel life

Sun 5th of July 2020 at 10:49am (+02:00)

In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/border-2

Still in Albania.

All the border guards were very nice. The Albanian side let us go double check with the Greeks if they'd let us across before they stamped us out which was good of them. The Greeks said they'd love to let us through but Angela Merkel says they can't. They were just letting Greek citizens over at the moment, not even EU. It's very frustrating that with an EU passport I could fly to Athens from Albania, but not cross the land border. I'm not sure what to do next. Going to take a break from thinking about it for a few days.

🏷 coronavirus travel albania greece

Thu 2nd of July 2020 at 12:00pm (+02:00)

In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/border

I don't want to jinx it but ~ there's a rumour ~ that they're letting people across the border anyway today so apparently we're gonna try?!

🏷 travel albania greece

Wed 1st of July 2020 at 10:37am (+02:00)

In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/06/border-2

It's not looking good. Albania dropped from the EU's official 'safe' list, and a minister saying Kakavia land border is not ready due to incomplete disinfectant tunnels..

🏷 albania travel greece

Wed 1st of July 2020 at 7:33am (+02:00)

On Friday the Greek Deputy Minister of Civil Defense said the Kakavia land border with Albania will not open. Today a "spokesperson for the Greek government" said the Kakavia land border with Albania is on list of border crossings that will open. I still feel like it's sort of a complete 50-50 chance if I'll be leaving Albania this week. Makes it hard to adequately buy groceries. And plan my work schedule. And.. maintain my sanity.

I did waste like 3 hours this morning researching alternatives. Or maybe it won't be wasted! Who knows at this point.

🏷 coronavirus albania travel covid19 greece life

Mon 29th of June 2020 at 7:35pm (+02:00)

Week in review: 22 - 28 June

An up and down week of not knowing whether or not the Greek border will open for Albania.
Getting frustrated at nodejs.
Tinkered a bit with sloph posting apps.
Crocheted a lot. I can do a chainless foundation row now! Easily? I couldn't do this before. Did it with a half double crochet.
Realised I can just make doughnuts. Made them twice. So good. Can't believe I never did this before.
Watched/rewatched Man From Earth, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moneyball... Stargate.
Swam in the sea. It got really really hot.
...
i dunno, i lose track. my brain is fried.

🏷 ods nodejs hacking travel albania

Sun 28th of June 2020 at 11:59pm (+02:00)

Week in review: 15 - 21 June

Got offered a ride to Greece a couple of days after the border opened, started prepping to leave, then the border didn't open; prepped to stay another 2 weeks.
Coronavirus cases are rising in Albania, SURPRISING NO-ONE exactly two weeks after they lifted many of the restrictions.
Against my basic instincts, I did go out a lot this week because everyone is acting like everything is back to normal and it's easy to get swept up in. Probably should stop that.
Some of the going out was to work from cafes because my internet went out though. I'm back on nodejs stuff again..
Also did a bit of editorial work on the DID spec, and hacked on sloph apps (it's been a while).
Watched Fargo and Jaws (and Stargate Atlantis).
Swam in the sea and sat on the beach.
Crocheted some things.
Went to a paddleboard yoga class! I didn't even fall off. It was early in the morning and the sea was so calm, but still ridiculously warm.
Fighting an ongoing war with local mosquito population, which is managing to move in droves into my flat even though I keep all the bug nets on the doors and windows closed all the time. I'm very good at catching them in a wee glass and putting them outside, but they thank me by whining around my head at night and eating me.
Got a haircut!!! Communicated with "bzzzz?" and hand gesture. Then the lady was spontaneously inspired to plait the hair that was left and it looked really cool.
Made food..

🏷 ods nodejs food vegan albania travel week in review life hacking

Sun 21st of June 2020 at 11:59pm (+02:00)

albania (16 out of 41)

2020 in review

tl;dr

Words

Travel

Work

Code

Stuff

January: Cold

February: Also cold

The Long March

August and September: Still March

October to December: Life in Fife

Reflection on 2020

Compared to the past

2021

Vegan in Albania

Eating out

Beverages

Groceries

Tirana

Shkodër

Sarandë

All year round

Summer / tourist season

Përmet

Along the Albanian Riviera

Gjirokastër

All the photos I took from my balcony during lockdown

Week in review: 27 July - 2 August

Overstaying in Albania

Where?

Where else?

Practicalities

Food

Next time...

Week in review: 20 - 26 July

Week in review: 13 - 19 July

Week in review: 6 - 12 July

Week in review: 29 June - 5 July

Week in review: 22 - 28 June

Week in review: 15 - 21 June