"Background" Top 5 Page for this destination Durres by johnkebab

I lived in Durres for 5 months from November 2001 to April 2002. I worked in support of the KFOR mission at Comm Z West, I experienced a lot of life there, but maybe not as in depth as I had my own car and accommodation provided by my company. I enjoyed my time thoroughly, the people are very friendly, if not a little dodgy, but its a good place to visit just because it is so far off the beaten track, its life at possibly the rawest you will find so close to çivilised Europe (in my humble opinion).

The photo here is of a line of bunkers, during the cold war Albania invested in thousands of them and they can be found dotted along roads, in hills, all over the place, they are quite a teling relic of the past days of cold war Europe, you can imagine the Albanian government preparing for an invasion!!

During my time I got to drive around a bit, especially around Durres, there is a history in Albania that you might not think of, including the largest Roman ampitheatre in Europe, hidden away, not many tourist signs etc, so you can still find real treats here if you know where to look....

This photo is taken from the former Kings palace, which had been commandeered by KFOR as a communications post due to its location on the top of a hill.

• Pros:Gorgeous in summer, friendly, strong Italian influence, good restaurants
• Cons:Mafia, Poverty, Corruption
• In a nutshell:About as 'off the beaten track' you get in Europe