Saturday, 12 July 2014

Albania - Montenegro

After getting stitches I decided that it would not be the brightest idea to cycle 85 miles so went and loaded my bike into the back of  a furgon (essentially a minivan) which would take me across the country to Tirana. There were points on the journey where I was sad I had decided not to cycle, such as during the elongated downhill sections. However there were moments where our little van was teetering along small mountains roads in the pouring rain with unguarded death drops on either side of us that I thought that maybe I had made the correct decision.

Tirana was really good. A few years ago the mayor had realised that the communist era buildings that make up most of the city were not very appealing. Unable to build new buildings he decided to paint them in bright colours, often adding stripes or interesting  patterns. It gives the city a unique look that I enjoyed. Due to how cheap everything is out here I decided to buy myself a vaguely expensive meal. I had a massive swordfish steak for just under 20 pounds, which came cut fresh was a massive swordfish they had on ice. I was in a hostel and was looking forward to talking to people for the first time in a while. Unfortunately, the first people I talked to gave me a little bit of weed that made me very sleepy and unsociable for the rest of the night. Ah well, my book is pretty good.

Racing stripes in Tirana
 
"How can we improve this murky brown area?"
"Put some colourful triangles on the pipe"
 
Today during my cycle to Montenegro I got two punctures. That was poo. A nice friendly Albanian man helped me with one of them and pulled a spiky object out my tire that was causing the issue. Everyone is Albania has been really friendly. However, at one point a car pulled up and someone handed this man a large roll of Euros that gave me the impression he was also involved in some untoward business outside his roll of roadside bike helper, which I had previously assumed had to be his job. I crossed the border and cycled to meet Poya and Paya, who had gone out and bought very cheap mountain bikes not suitable in any way for the cycling we plan to do. Any fear I had that they might get super professional bikes and always zoom ahead of me dissipated quickly. I went and got thinner tyres put on my bike from a man who spoke very enthusiastically about pitball terriers and all was happy.

Poya and Paya

Kit Kat Ice Cream – Similar to a Cornetto but with chocolate ice cream the Kit Kat Ice Cream initially impresses with its neat presentation and single Kit Kat stick going down the centre of the cone, peaking out of the top of the product. The lack of chocolate at the end obviously disappoints but due to the chocolate ice cream it isn't as glaring an omission as on other similar products. 4 stars.

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