//Day 56 /6-05-22 /Tirana-Schröder

Today I left Tirana. I had breakfast , packed Black Horse and said goodbye to Freddy the owner of Freddy’s Hotel…If you ever plan to visit Tirana I can recommend Freddy’s Freddy’s Hotel. Excellent location, clean, not expensive and great service…

Getting out of Tirana was cycling through small but busy morning traffic and crossing a suspension bridge which looked as it could collapse any moment. There was an old guy who called to me “quick, quick,….when I started to cross the bridge. Not sure why, but I did it anyway…..

Once I exited the city center the first 15 K I cycled a big road. On both sides for kilometers long furniture shops in all sizes and state of operation. Whiteout exaggeration I passed at least 100 of these shops. Often big glassy and shiny buildings with a big parking in front. It was clear where the Albanians are buying their furniture. After my overdose of furniture shops I was send onto a smaller road until I reached Schröder.

Not a lot of traffic,  hills nearby and the Albanian and Montenegro mountains in the far distance. Little climbing today, that will be for tomorrow. I met quite some other cyclists all of them cycling the other direction (Always known I’m sometimes a fish against the stream). Somewhere in the middle of nowhere I met a Dutch couple both cycling the same type as bike as Black Horse which was a nice surprise. we swapped our experiences and came to the mutual conclusion that Black Horse is a great bike….

I passed also a nice small city, Lac, where the center was completely renovated, including a beautiful cycleway which crossed the complete small city. Unfortunate the cycleway had been transformed into a perfect parking for the shopping locals….even with a Parking sign…..

The people I met were quiet friendly, all the time waving and giving me the tumps up. All by all a nice and relaxing ride today. An ideal day after 3 days of rest and prepare the climbing today of tomorrow. 

I did not take to many breaks today as I wanted to arrive not to late in Schröder, the capital of Northen Albania which houses the “Marubi” National museum of Photography which I wanted to visit, open only until 16.00. I arrived at Schröder at 14.30, quickly checked in, swapped clothes and headed to the museum. The “Marubbi” museum is build around the photo work of the family Marubi (originally from Italy) who established the first photo studio around 1850. Until 1950,  3 generations of the family photographed Albanian life, history, common and important people,….In 1970 the family archive , existing of around 500.00 negatives (glass, film,…), was donated to the state. In 2016 the museum opened in a modern, renovated, building in the center of town. It’s not a big museum , quite interesting although the interior has a modern concept the presentation of the work does not always help to have a good look at the photographs. The storyline was also rather nationalistic orientated  ; the photo’s (out of the 500.000 in archive) on display covered mostly important milestones and people who have played an important role in Albanian history. I watched later a video that one of Marubbi’s also made great photo’s of the local nature (a little bit like Ansel Adams) but none of that work on display.I spend a good 1 hour and a half in the museum anyway….

After my museum visit I had finally lunch…And strolled briefly though the pedestrian area of town.A lot of tourists, being dropped of by busses and people with backpacks, either going or returning from hikes in the nearby Albanian Alps. Tomorrow my plan is to cycle towards Kotor in Montenegro. I do not think I will reach Kotor as there are about 3000 meters to climb between Schröder and Kotor. There is a small town along the way and some campings. We will see how far the climbing and the rain will bring me tomorrow……

Lessons learned :

• Black Horse is not alone in Albania.

Song of the day : Waiting for the sun - The Jayhawks