Well! Have we got some stories for all of YOU! First off, by the title of this post I'm sure you already get the sense it's going to be the best one ever and SO TOTALLY AWESOME. Ha, think again!
First off, if any of our lovely blog followers/readers are from the countries of Masadonia, or Albania...the LAST thing we want to do is offend you or put your country in a negative light. We go to every single place with an open mind, so this didn't necessarily have to do with the country itself, we're just simple writing of OUR experience.
That said, we didn't have much fun. We really wish we could say we had a blast, we really really do. But that just wasn't the case. It all started with us being situated in Croatia, trying to plan our route to get to Santorini Island, Greece. It has been a place we both dream of going, so we tried REALLY hard to make it work. After many tiring and confusing hours, we realized that since there weren't any trains running into Greece, and the bus route was way to complicated and way too long, we had to give up. It sucked. It was a moment neither of us wanted to come too, but looking back we really did save a LOT of money and time, so we've come to accept that that's just the way the cookie crumbles. But! We didn't realize Greece was out of the question until we were already a quarter of the way there! We took a bus to Skopje, Masadonia; which was the coldest bus ride of our entire lives and to our delight we were stuck in the back with a dude who insisted on smoking while in his seat. Ugh. (Told you!) So, we were kind of thrown into an Eastern Europe culture shock stepping off the bus. No one spoke English, you're instantly bombarded with guys wanting you to support whatever business they're throwing out at you, and it's just a complete different atmosphere from everywhere we had been so far. We missed the bus we wanted to catch by literally 10 minutes, so we were kind of forced into spending a night there. We did so at a hostel called Art, which had good intentions and a super cool vibe, but holy dyna were those beds NASTY. We're talking so bad that we used our own clothes as pillows and blankets. To top it off, our room had a beautiful broken window! (We can just feel the jealousy oozing out of you!). Although, we did have a really cute, giggly, dimpled-cheek Mexican woman staying with us. And we got free breakfast. And Masadonia is incredibly cheap. We went out for supper, which we estimated would be about $60 in Canada, was only $13! The 10 bills also have really pretty peacocks on them, so we made sure to each keep one. The weather was really cold, dreary and grey when we were there so we fixed our homesick woes by going to Amigo's Cantina! (Saskatoonians will pick up on this one). We stuffed our faces with chimichangas, rice and beans for REALLY cheap. It ruled.
So, because we cancelled Greece, we decided to head straight over to Italy. We were to get there by Ferry, but had to take it out of the port in Durras, Albania. Hmm, there really isn't a lot to say about this place other than the fact we really wanted to leave. Something to keep in mind is that we ARE two young, Caucasian females, and the only travelers in sight. We make sure to keep safe wherever we go, but when little children come chasing after you literally digging in your purse trying to steal your belongings, it's pretty hard to keep a calm mental state. The most heartbreaking thing is having to tell starving children to leave you be. Ugh! (Again!) Durras isn't pretty either. Not compared to all the other breathtaking places we've been in Europe. People harassed us, men stared, and we didn't have anywhere to go for about 15 hours because our ferry didn't start boarding till 8 pm. But, after seven cappucino's and two RedBull each, we FINALLY were able to hustle our butts onto the ferry. We practically ran up the ramp, smiling super big. It was relieving to get into our teeny tiny, but oh so cute room on the boat. Very "Titanic". It might have been one of the best sleeps of our lives. And once we woke up and had breakfast, we were docking into Bari, Italy's port!
We truly wish we had better things to say about these places, because we HAVE heard good things about them. Unfortunately, our experience just wasn't a good one. But! To not make this entire post depressing, we'll leave you with a funny little story...
We first arrived in a city about half an hour from Durras, so in order to get there we had to take a minibus. What is this you ask? Well, one would think it would just be a smaller version of a bus, right!? Kind of. It is. But it's run by two guys, one driving, and one with his head out the window yelling at passerbys the destination of the bus to see if they are wanting rides. It only cost us the equivalent of $2 to drive almost forty minutes. But those forty minutes, OH DEAR LORD. We were lucky to be some of the first ones in this ten person ride, because we were thankfully able to sit down as it would have been impossible standing in there with our huge backpacks. I think we each both had about an inch and a half of room to ourselves. The thing should have a warning on it: CLAUSTROPHOBIC PEOPLE; GET LOST. WE PACK THIS THING LIKE A CAN OF SARDINES. If bad driving, too many people in one space, lack of oxygen and your feet falling asleep isn't just the cherry on top, this is. A boy about 12 years old, who runs down the road and every chance he gets; bursts the back doors open. It became about a ten minute painful struggle of the boy opening the doors, the driver getting out to close them and the boy continuing to be a little shit-disturber. (Excuse my French). At the time, we just sat there wondering what the heck we got ourselves into, but now we look back on it all and realize we got some pretty good stories!
M & B
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