Videos

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Photo Walk - Gjirokastër, Albania

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I went on another photo walk, as I have the habit of doing when visiting a city in Albania. It’s not only a way for me to practice one of my hobbies, but it also provides content for me to create a video for my YouTube channel.

In Gjirokastër, I spent basically the entire walk wandering around the bazaar area. It’s the main attraction of the town and most tourists only see this part of it. So much so, in fact, that sometimes I forget that there’s much more to the city further down the hill. In any case, I elected to go with a particular color this time which was yellow (in case you couldn’t tell from the photos below…).

I really pushed out of my comfort zone on this one. First, asking the owner of the restaurant I ate dinner at if I could take her photo. I just had to because the yellow shirt she was wearing just fit too perfectly into the entire project that I was doing. The fourth photo has a fun story behind it as well, that you can see if you watch the video, but simply put a guy saw me taking photos and when I explained in broken Albanian I was taking photos of things with yellow in them he led me into the upstairs of his shop. His son came running in to translate for us, and it was really just a lovely experience.

As I mentioned, if you want to see the interaction with the shopkeeper and his son, or if you want to watch me wander around struggling to find decent frames that had yellow in them, the video is linked below.

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Selcka Waterfall - Experience Gjirokastra

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About every 6 months I travel to the southern Albanian town of Gjirokastër. The NGO I work for operates a soup kitchen and after school program for some children there and I go in order to update the photos we have in our archive. For the last three or four times I’ve made the drive, I have tried to connect with a friend of mine. He runs a tourism agency called Experience Gjirokastra that explores the area surrounding Gjirokastër, Përmet, and Tepelenë. Because of weather, other responsibilities, or even just lack of time, we were unable to go out exploring. We had met a couple of times to have a coffee and chat, but never left the main bazaar area of the city. That is, until a few weeks ago…

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Hotel Nertili

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I’ve been trying to use my platform and craft to help promote tourism in Albania, and featuring places to stay around the country seemed like it fit perfectly with that goal. After dozens of messages to hotels and guesthouses around Albania, I finally got a positive response; Hotel Nertili.

Hotel Nertili is a family owned hotel, restaurant, and bar in Sarande, Albania. It was originally built in 2001, but has some ongoing renovations that began in 2020. The management of the hotel kindly offered me a three night stay to experience the hotel and to show it to the world in my own unique way. 

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The Road Less Traveled

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Because of where Pogradec is situated, to get to the southern parts of Albania there are two options. You can go north, to Elbasan then across the center of the country (where there aren’t any mountains) and then down a relatively new highway to the south. According to Google, it would take about four and a half hours. The second option is to go south along SH75, a windy, pot-hole filled road that is typically about one and a half lanes wide. It skirts the border of Greece, while passing by village after village and through the mountains in the south. It typically takes closer to five hours, if not more. If you know me, you know which road I take.

Driving this route had me thinking about an article I published a few weeks ago about why, if you’re visiting Albania, you should get outside of Tirana. More broadly, though, the kind of traveling I’ve fallen in love with. Granted, it would be a much easier, simpler, and smoother drive to go the northern route. It’s the route that almost everyone takes to get to Gjirokaster, and has some nice views along the way. It’s also the route that has exactly what you would expect along the way. That’s not me. Why take the highway when a more exciting route exists? Not only that, a route that you’re not quite sure what the next turn will bring. One that the majority of people in Albania have never been on, nor ever want to try. That sounds like a real adventure.

As I think about these two routes in terms of my life as a whole, it’s a fitting example. Although some day to day things can get monotonous, I like to think that my life is far from ordinary. When I think about the fact that my monotony is happening in this tiny country on the Adriatic Sea, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Little decisions throughout my life and my travels - like taking the road that other people wouldn’t want to just to see what’s along that journey - has shaped and changed my entire existence.

After all, didn’t Robert Frost say “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” If I could go back to my 16 year old self sitting in American Literature class and show him this practical example of these poetic words, I would have immediately understood.  

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Photo Walk - Tirana, Albania

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A few weeks ago, I had a few hours in Tirana before my flight to Germany. So I decided to try to spend some time practicing one of my favorite hobbies; photography. Because I had to be in the city anyways, I elected to go on a photo walk and see what sort of images I would be able to capture.

I decided to challenge myself. In more ways than one…

First of all, my go-to way to take photos is to just wander around and snap as many frames as I possibly can and find the good ones later. So the first way challenge was to only allow myself 5 frames. I did not use a burst mode, or try multiple angles of the subject, I found the frame I wanted, and waited for the right timing.

The second challenge, was confining myself to a determined space. In the center of Tirana you have Skanderbeg Square. A large open area, mostly for pedestrians, that many people will pass through on their way to and from work. I set the square as my boundary, and forced myself to find the five photos in the confines of the general vicinity of the square.

And if you’re interested in watching me try to pick out the frames I wanted, the video is below.

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Before Visiting Albania

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Before traveling anywhere, most people search for a few insider tips on what to expect, how to conduct yourself, and the best times and places to visit. In this video I went over all of those things so that anyone who is hoping to visit the country will get all the information they need. I discuss the currency, how to get around, the language, where to stay, and more!

If you have ever considered coming to Albania, be sure to watch this video before you arrive!

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A week in Germany (and Switzerland...)

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After a car ride to the Tiranë airport, flight to Munich, bus to Nuremberg, then car ride to Hubmersberg, I finally arrived at Hotel Lindenhof. It’s a 150 year old hotel that was built seemingly in the middle of nowhere, that has been added on to throughout the last century and a half. Because of the restaurant and bar at the hotel, many of the farmers from the surrounding area would come to have a drink or to eat with their families eventually resulting in the village of Hubmersberg being built surrounding the hotel.

Because this hotel is a partner of the organization I work for in Albania, I was asked to go and take photos in order to update their website, and have social media content. I spent a couple days at the hotel, before traveling to Switzerland and another part of Germany to take event photos for other partners of my work.

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How to get from the Tirana Airport to the City Center

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There are two main ways of getting from the Tirana International Airport to the center of the city; taxi and bus. I will give a quick rundown of both of them, but I’ll be honest, the video is very short and simple and easy to follow.

Taxi

A taxi from just outside the center to the airport cost me 2000 lek ($17.50 USD) when I last went. It was super easy, simple and quick. Just found a taxi driver parked on the street and hopped in asking him how much the trip was. The pros of the taxi are that you can get them anywhere in Tirana, they take you right to the front door of the airport, and they are usually quicker than the bus. The con, however, is the price. It may not seem like a lot to tourists, but to those of us living and working in Albania it’s a bit expensive.

Bus

You can catch the bus from the middle of Tirana to the airport for 400 lek ($3.50 USD). There is a specific Airport-Center bus that parks behind the opera building right next to Skanderbeg Square (https://goo.gl/maps/AET3nGtrUTqV1eFf6). This is both the pick up to go to the airport and the drop off when you’re coming back. The bus leaves every hour, basically on the hour, from here to drive to the airport. Pros of taking the bus are that it’s very inexpensive… And that might be it. The main con is the location. If you’re staying nearby it’s fine. If you’re staying further out of town you might need to walk a bit. The bus drop off/pick up at the airport is just outside the doors next to the rental car kiosks. It’s fairly easy to find but just watch the video below if you’re concerned. Overall, the bus is a good option. Usually pretty quick and direct and plenty of space.

Again, to see how simple it all is, just watch the video. I’ll even show you exact locations and what’s around them.