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Albania
"Taken" (the movie) and travel safety
Gadling TAKE FIVE-- June 28 - July 4
In the traveler's world it's been a bit of drama this week. Plus, there have been lessons in traveling with a wider perspective and an open heart.
On the drama end:
Iva reported on passengers in China refusing to get off a plane because the flight was canceled.
In ...Letter from Albania: Tirana's impressive recovery
The first time I met Besnik Lame, he sat down at my table where I was having a drink and made a few rather awkward confessions. "You see, I have some overweight," he said. "And so, I sweat a lot. It is a problem." At that moment, two ribbons of water trundled down the side ...Letter from Albania: What's being done to improve the environment
Heading south, I passed the town of Orikum and the road soon climbed steeply into the Llogara Pass, one of those places that makes you feel very small and alone. The road clung to a mountainside so steep that when I craned my neck up I couldn't see it top out. On my left ...Letter from Albania: The brutal custom of blood feuds (Part 2)
When Agim Loci was 23, a good friend of his tried to rape a girl in their hometown of Fruhe Kruje. The girl's two brothers thwarted the attack at the last moment. But the matter did not stop there: The girl's family wanted revenge. Loci did something surprising: He took his ...Letter from Albania: The brutal custom of blood feuds (Part 1)
Agim Loci flashed a smile, and then a revolver, the barrel of which I'd noticed peeking out from beneath his red shirt. "In case of problems," he said. We sat drinking coffee in the Tirana International Hotel. Loci was on and off his cell phone, having already brandished a ...Letter from Albania: Enver Hoxha's legacy, and the question of tourism
They were everywhere: gray domes surrounded by green grass, either in rows or scattershot across the landscape. Viewed from high mountain roads they had the appearance of large rocks; up close, traveling under ones that hugged hillsides, they looked like huge boulders that ...Letter from Albania: Into one of Europe's last dark corners
The car rounded a bend heading south, a bit outside Fier, and there he was in the middle of the road: dressed in a red shirt, a white crusher on his head. He had no legs, just two stumps that poked out of his jeans. The road looked baked in the sun. He lunged at passing ...United Nations report: Balkans the safest region in Europe
When I arrived in Montenegro three months ago, one of the things that struck me first was how safe things felt. What was I expecting? Well, not a lot of armed thugs or anything. But I'd traveled enough in the former communist corners of Europe -- including past trips into ...Traveling where the dollar is strong
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If you're earning a salary in US currency and are unlucky enough to spend it traveling internationally, you know the pain of the depreciating dollar. The rest of the world has become frighteningly expensive as the dollar continues its slide. My recent trip to North Korea, ...Independence days and elephants
I've whipped out my International Calendar to see what might be left to tell about November before it slips away from Eastern Standard Time in a few hours. What I see is a whole lot of independence days and a slew of other politically geared occasions.
Nov. ...The bizarre painted buildings of Tirana, Albania
When Edi Rama was elected Mayor of Tirana, Albania, he inherited a capital which nearly fifty years of isolationism had left horribly dilapidated. Like so many other cities behind the Iron Curtain, the capital of Albania emerged from the oppressive regime bathed in ...Gadling on the Road Archives
Here at Gadling we pride ourselves in putting our money where our mouth is. In other words, we write about travel because we are all travelers. This is our passion, this is our hobby, this is our life. Unfortunately, we can't all travel 100% of the time. But, when we do hit ...What's the Deal with Albanian Teddy Bears?
When researching an upcoming trip to Eastern Europe, I ran across an interesting thread in Lonely Planet's travel forum, Thorn Tree, called "Albanian teddy bears." It reads: "Anyone know why Albanians hang teddy bears from the rooves [sic] of their houses? It seems to be all ...Biografi: Tracking Down a Dictator's Double in Albania
Historical fiction is a popular genre; historical fiction travel writing is not.
And yet, Lloyd Jones has managed to embark on this literary journey and produce a remarkable travel book that expertly combines an insightful travel narrative with a healthy dash of fiction. ...Update: A Town Named WHAT?
Last Friday I put a call-out for readers to share the funny town names they've run across in their travels, and we got a ton of great responses! Without further delay, I give you some of the more interesting results of this captivating geographical research:
Gadling ...Word for the Travel Wise (01/20/07)
Don't let the cat get your tongue when trying to say hello in Albanian. I think you'll find this one fairly easy to say. Today's word is an Albanian word used in Albania: tung - hello Albanian is spoken in Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, and the Republic of ...A town named WHAT?
A recent post on Boing Boing rounded up some funny city names from around the world, including places like Feces (in Spain), Puke (in Albania), and one previously mentioned unmentionable on Gadling a few years back. This got me wondering: how many odd city names can we track ...Albania: New York Times Top Budget Destination for 2007
I was pleased to learn that the New York Times has chosen Albania as its budget destination of the year for 2007.
Having traveled through the country last summer, I have to agree with writer Matt Gross's assessment that Europe's last hermit kingdom has finally emerged as a ...Word for the Travel Wise (11/29/06)
While I've certainly slacked off of giving the Albanian language any real type of love, Neil keeps Albania alive in his Red Corner pieces. If you've forgotten he also explored parts of the country earlier this year, so if you missed his good words of knowledge and travel ...
