Summer in Albania

As soon as June arrived the temperatures started to rise. It gradually became unbearable for us poor British and Irish folk, till August came and it was ridiculous at 40-42 degrees......even the Albanians shut up shop, office, stall, market and went to the beach.

 At first, the day would start off okay, then we had to rest indoors from the sun or faint!! This lady is an opera singer and conducts the music at church.

Evenings were the best time when it was cooler. Everyone, young and old, would come outdoors and sit and talks. We could see how strong the tradition of extended families was. This child is with her grandmother (in the white headscarf)! She is practising her english and I my Albanian!



                         We have grown very fond of the 'regulars' we meet in the evenings.

                                  These ladies are all married to the men in the picture above.
                            As you can see they dress up for the occasion of their evening out.

                             Alexandria and Polcrun (centre) have been married for 68 yrs. 

The other couples are similar. We printed some of the pictures we took to give them which they loved.

 We met these gorgeous children in Albanian dress in Vlore which is in the south...the occasion was the opening of a new road tunnel and the prime minister was coming. It just happenned to be right beside where we were staying!

 

They danced for hours while waiting for the PM, fortunately,it was evening and right beside the sea.

                                                               Love this one...............

 

 

These cyclists were also waiting having cycled 500kms from Kosova to present a plaque to the PM.

Back in Tirana...as always,you never know what/who you're going to meet as you walk along the street! Dave decides to try the figs, but they have to be weighed accurately......

                                            City scenes, sea scene and a now country one.

                           We were forced to go to the seaside due to the high temperatures!!!
This is Dave deciding if he will go in the water, having not been in at all yet since we arrived, or maybe just grab a roasted corn cob from that little stall instead.

In the end he decided  to test the deep-sea diver watch he got when he retired from work to see if it really worked in deep water!!

                                                                     It works!!!

         .....and the water's not that deep but now that he's in there he didn't want to get out!

                                                                Young love xxxx

                                                 This is one of our favourite beaches.
            We only got there twice in the summer, although its less than an hour away from Tirana.

                                                                           Oh well.........

                                                                    Back to work...............