Wasn't quite sure what to expect as we hadn't been here in the spring. It turns out that Shëngjin has a really nice beach. There is also a small shipping port. But it's a growing resort area, with a lot of hotels and rental accomodation.
We got to the Leon beachfront restaurant and I went and asked if we could park for the night. It's off season, so there aren't very many people around. The guy says, "yes, of course... and it's free. Just enjoy yourself". Nice guy.
Looking south.
Looking north.
There must be at least a dozen different large hotel and apartment projects on the go. You can tell that this is a really busy spot in the summer months, but at this time of year things are pretty much shut right down. Even most restaurants and stores are simply closed up.
A lot of new apartments being built.
We went for a walk on the beach. It goes for about 3 kms (1.8 miles).
Ruth, getting her feet wet.
Jellyfish are such weird creatures!
Quite a few stray dogs around.
This one found a comfortable spot to rest.
Seconds after I took that photo, the dog jumped up and ran over to say hi. As much as we want to, we hesitate to pet stray dogs (although this one actually had a collar), because once you pet them, they will follow you home and become yours until you either adopt it or drive away with sadness because you have left it behind! He came and walked with us for a while before going off on his own.
More construction projects.
This resort has a mini Statue of Liberty!
It was around this time that I noticed quite a few women wearing Muslim clothing. It's not that odd, because you do see them occasionally in Albania but there was a real concentration of them around this hotel area. And then it clicked... I had read an article a couple of weeks ago about Albania accepting 4,000 Afghan refugees and housing them in beach hotels that would typically be pretty much empty at this time of year.
Sure enough, that's what it was. Most of them are waiting for visas to be approved for onward travel to U.S. and Canada. It's an interesting, and obviously sad story... you can read a New York Times article about it here...
The Albanian government and several American based NGO's are supporting them here. There has been no backlash from the Albanian people because Albanian's themselves still have memories of what its like to live under an oppressive government. Even the opposition parties have quietly agreed with this decision.
Max, parked at GPS 41.8028670, 19.6004863
Max, enjoying a beautiful sunset!
Too bad it happens so early... at 4:15pm!
They're calling for a gorgeous day today... 19C (66F) and sunny. Looks like a perfect day for a bike ride!!
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Nice combo deal on Tide Pods and Tide Antibacterial Laundry Spray. Time to stock up!
And in Canada...
Wow, that IS an early sunset! That was one thing I didn't care for in Belize; the sun set early year-round, so we could never enjoy dinners out on our veranda with natural light. But it was more like 5:30-6, not 4:15!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very early but part of that is because we are at the edge of the time zone in Greece. Once we cross into Greece the sunset will one hour later and then another hour later once we cross into Turkey. We are looking forward to having the sunset even just one hour later. :-)
DeleteGreat sunset and I understand about stray dogs. Hard to do but sometimes you have to walk away.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty sunset but than almost any sunset over the water is pretty. :-)
DeleteYep, it is really hard to do. :-(