I basked in the glory of an air conditioned bus today on my trip from Tirana to Skhodra, Albania. I may have even teared up a little bit (internally). I will never take air conditioning for granted again.
I stayed at the Wanderer’s Hostel, a low key hostel located in the heart of the city. I’m all about the day tours on this trip, so I immediately signed up for an evening tour of the castle. Sunset was the perfect time to see the castle and surrounding lands, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Also, if you go in the summer, expect to see a lot of brides walking around in their dresses taking pictures. And drones following them around.

I met two Aussie girls at the hostel (shoutout to Jenna and Bernie) and we decided to rent bikes and bike to a supposedly beautiful bridge (designed by the same guy who did the famous bridge in Mostar) and go swimming. Most people in Skhodra ride bikes as it is the preferred method of transportation, so we got some from the hostel and set off on our journey. Our unshaded journey I might add.

(Photo cred: Bernie)

We finally arrived at our destination to find this scene:

A completely dried up river. No water. Anywhere. So, my tip is not to go there in the summer when it is dry, otherwise you’ll be as sad as us:

But, it made for a memory, and later that evening the view from the balcony terrace of the restaurant was a good reward: