Welcome to Albania
Fierce smiled the whole taxi ride until we arrived at Blue Fafa Resort in Durres, Albania. He was so happy to be outside the city and in wide open space. We were all giddy when we pulled up to the resort and realized it was absolutely gorgeous. The entryway sparkles with chandeliers, the outdoor pool looks endless and the spa well, that deserves it’s own sentence. Our room overlooks the pool on one side and has a balcony with views of the Adriatic Sea.
The warm sun drew us to the beach. The sand is drawn up into storm barriers and make excellent battle fields. As we walked the edge of the water, Fierce stopped at one point to draw a battle plan and he played, while I found shells, feathers and sea glass to add to his map. The wind whipped at my face, but I loved every minute.
We headed to the indoor pool next. It stretches out endlessly across the room. There is a sauna and a large hot tub in that same space. It was pretty packed with vacationers, so it was hard to find a lounge chair to set our things down. However, the pool is so large that when we jumped in, we had plenty of room to swim. After a few water Pokemon battles, I convinced Fierce to try out the hot tub. There, he introduced himself to a kid about his age and they hung out in both the hot tub and then the pool for quite a while. The boy was from Albania and spoke perfect English. Fierce was so impressed and they had a blast. Later, we poked out heads into the Turkish Hammam, a Steam Room and a Sauna. Aaaahhhh, so nice.
After our very full day of relaxing, we met up with Andrea again to grab dinner. She ordered a delicious plate of fruit and Fierce got…the usual…pizza. I thought back to our taxi ride and of the 3 sentences that he spoke, he had said that our hotel was super and recommended that we try the fish. Turning the menu to do just that, I tried a sea bass with lemon and a creamy saffron sauce. It was beautifully presented and I basically licked my plate clean. Unprompted, we were totally surprised when the waiter brought us a lemon sorbet with a whipped texture for an after dinner dessert. We ooohhed and ahhhed because it was so good.
To end our lovely day, we went to the lobby and listened to live Albanian music. I thought we would just kind of check it out for a minute. However, the singer had such a deep, soul-like quality, we ended up staying for quite a while enjoying the music and drinking hot tea. The adults clapped along and the children played tag, hide and seek and danced. If this is a glimpse of Albanian culture, I think it is pretty awesome, how family oriented they seem to be.
Hoping for another fantastic day tomorrow!
