On to a New Country

 

Alas, that time has come again.

It's time to leave Portugal.  I am so tired of writing that phrase.

But there’s nothing for it.  I’m still trying to get the store to be profitable.  I published an eBook last month for anyone looking to start their own solo travel journey Amazon.com: Have Fro, Will Travel: Tips for the Solo Female Traveler eBook : Squire, D J: Kindle Store, but still no sales yet.  And until I can get the money coming in, I can’t secure my visa.  I’ll have to remain nomadic for now. 

I have no interest in returning to the states, even for a visit.  All this travel might necessitate one, though.  More on that later.

I told myself that I would not return to Türkiye as my fallback position.  Yes, it’s familiar and comfortable for me to go there, but there are plenty of other places to visit that do not fall within the Schengen Zone.  After already being in my three favorite countries this year (Cyprus, Türkiye, and Portugal), it was time to try somewhere new.

I had heard good things about the capital city of Tirana, Albania.  It was supposedly very supportive of tourists aa English is widely spoken (Americans are so behind the rest of the world in their grasp of other languages).  The country is not in Schengen, no visas are required for Americans, and, at least according to one website, U.S. citizens can remain in the country for up to a year on their passport alone.  Cool!

There were some worries in making my new plans.  I couldn’t get a direct flight from Faro Airport but managed to get one that only took 6 hours with one layover.  The problem with that is the flight was at 8:30 a.m. and Portimão is an hour away from the airport.  I was nervous about finding a ride at 5 a.m. to get me there in time. 

Some of the sites I studied for my upcoming trip said that while I wouldn’t need a visa, Immigration would want to document my housing, check my account balance to make sure I had the roughly 50 euros a day to remain, and they’d want to see my return ticket.  Damn, would they want a blood sample as well?

I prepared as much as I could for the trip, but I was at a loss for the recommended proof of vaccination.  I lost that card from the CDC months ago.  No one has asked for it during my entire journey and I was hoping that would remain the case.

I wasn’t sure if this new country would carry my medication.  For those who don’t know, Albania is located north of Greece (in Schengen, carry my pills) and south of Montenegro (not in Schengen, do not carry my pills) so I wasn’t sure where it would fall in the spectrum. 

I have gotten very spoiled lately as each of my favorite countries carries my pills with no issues.  I’d allowed the supply to dwindle down to less than a month's worth.  I spent my last full day in Portugal stockpiling pills just in case.  I also explored a new part of the boardwalk that I missed out on the last time I was in town.

(I do love this city.  I’ll have to resist the urge to go back any time soon as there are so many other cities to visit in Portugal.)

Moving day arrived and … went off without a hitch.  I easily found an Uber and got to the airport in plenty of time.  I got on the plane (Bye Portugal!  I’ll be back as soon as I can!), headed to Stuttgart, Germany (Hey!  A new country!), made a way too long visit to Passport Control, then boarded the plane to Albania.

Landing in the airport after 1 ½ hours (and no food since they nickel and dime you for everything on Eurowings), it was time to go through Immigration.  After a very long wait that made me nervous … I sailed through with no issues.  The guy just looked at my passport, stamped it, and sent me through.  I didn’t have to answer any questions or provide any other info.  Whew.

I LOVE it when I expect a hassle and don’t get one.  And I still have the ticket I booked to get me back to Portugal in 3 months.

I was immediately reminded of Montenegro upon landing as the same mountain range is shared with Albania.  After being handed over from one taxi guy to another, I finally got a ride into the city.  My driver was from Egypt and spent most of the long trip speaking to someone on the phone in Arabic.

Traffic made the 45-minute trip take over an hour.  Just like in Montenegro, there’s only one major highway and both lanes were completely clogged.  In addition to that, the driver’s phone showed a different route than the one I got from the Airbnb site so we ended up going to the wrong address first.

The streets of Tirana are just as narrow as those in Türkiye.  Multiple times we had to back up on a street because there was another car coming directly into our way.  Add the pedestrians and bikers and parked cars and I was wincing through most of the trip.  I will hand it to these drivers though, they know what they are doing.  They are highly skilled at managing the streets.  I’m also glad that I don’t have to navigate them in a car.  Walking looks dangerous enough.

The host of my new home for the week had another lady meet me at the cab, saving me the trouble of having to contact anyone.  Awesome.  The lady showed me in, very carefully pointing out the features of the place.  This is a nice size apartment.  The pictures did it justice.

After she left, I got unpacked, set up my computer, and headed out for a meal.  I hadn’t eaten all day and was starving.

One thing I will say about Tirana – this city is hopping!  The streets are busy, there are tons of pedestrians, bikes everywhere, and cafes full of people.  This was a warm Wednesday night in late May, but you’d think it was a Saturday with as many people that were around.  Just walking around to get my bearings before it got dark, I found several restaurants, pharmacies, a park, and a mall within just a few blocks of the apartment.

And then there’s this. 

A little touch of Türkiye in Tirana.  There’s even a kitten hanging around and multiple calls to prayer!  Love that!