Father, it’s been two weeks since my last confession.  Sorry, wrong religion and wrong story!

It’s been two weeks since we arrived in Shkoder, Albania. Now in a campsite with a constant stream of neighbours and conversation opportunities for Steve, I’ve been reflecting on our previous campsites, their locations and our lifestyle experiences.

Spain – Camping Cabopino

We knew we were spending Winter in Spain and had planned to stay and arrive at Cabopino for 1^st November (we arrived a week early with Covid lock downs following us) until February or March.  The Brexit rules, effective 1st January (only agreed a few days earlier), were that we were only allowed to be in Schengen 90 days out of 180. This interfered with our plans to mainly tour Europe, possibly as far as Greece, so it was decided to aim for Croatia by 1^st April and Steve put together a spreadsheet so we could keep track of our dates – It’s called in the Schengen Dance. 

The campsite was mainly British with many residents living in their own homes (static mobile units). We lived in our wobble box and our awning became an additional room which we heated. We became part of the community and got used to ‘living there’ with normal domestic routines, ie shopping, housework, cooking, socialising and of course frequenting the on-site bar. It was a bit reminiscent of the TV programme Cheers, as everyone had their regular spots, and also a little bit of Statler and Waldorf. We had the same neighbours throughout our stay – retired snow birds – with very few comings and goings. Social distancing was in place, everyone wore masks everywhere and due to lock downs we were unable to sight see or travel out of the principality but I compensated with Amazon Prime Spain. We were, however, within reach of Puerto Banús, large supermarkets and shopping centres. Best, was having the opportunity to walk to the beach whenever we wanted and having a choice of beach bars when we got there. We cooked most of our own meals celebrated Christmas on the beach, had the best NYE party for years at a local bar (each of the 40 guests was from the campsite) and left before getting too involved in their social politics.

Croatia – Camping Stobreč Split

We arrived by ferry from Ancona, Italy which was red at the time, with our PCR certificates and travel documents being able to ‘transit’ to Croatia. With Steve checking the most recent rules applicable in Croatia, we were able to explore without any geographic restriction. With most of the places we wished to visit within reasonable driving distance from Stobreč, we made up for lost time since October during our six weeks there. The campsite although accommodating up to 300 units, rarely had over 20 and with everyone spread out along the beach front we didn’t really have any neighbours but we did have a superb view of the bay and direct access to the beach. The campsite was well situated with everything we needed within walking distance; bars, restaurants and supermarkets. We could visit any bar or restaurant, so long as we ate outside. Groups didn’t seem to be restricted and most people wore masks when indoors and shopping.  We were amazed at the number of shopping malls, large supermarkets and that there was a Lidl.  Shopping in Croatia was a doddle. The weather was threatening to get warmer for longer in the middle of the day, but the temperature still dropped at night when we doubled up our winter and summer duvets. Croatia isn’t serviced by Amazon so my spending has reduced. We managed to see everything South of Split, which was our plan, and look forward to returning to tour the north of the country probably next month, August, when we’ll be on our journey back home to the UK.

Montenegro – Autocamp Naluka

The site can hold up to 20 units, a small site so all close to each other, and throughout our eight week stay we had a regular turnover of neighbours, although when we arrived on 9^th May there was only one other resident and Monty.  With most other campers travelling in motorhomes and vans (van life has to be seen to be believed) they rarely stayed for more than a few days and we knew summer was on its way as tourers changed from retirees to little things that run around and need entertaining. The weather was getting better, food no longer got cold when eating outside restaurants and masks were mainly for supermarket shopping. No matter how large a supermarket boasted to be, none was bigger than average, but we did have access to hardware stores and most of what we needed. Not a Lidl or Aldi in sight although there was JYSK a Scandinavian version of IKEA. With the country so small, we were able to visit all of the UNESCO sites and others on our hit list.  Bedding went from combining our winter and summer duvets, to winter duvet and then just our summer one. We really enjoyed Montenegro, especially being on an inlet of Kotor Bay, and felt we were getting more into a lifestyle which we had never experienced before and could get used to very easily.  Again we had bars, restaurants and supermarkets (albeit tiny) within easy walking distance, but it was time to move on.

Albania – Lake Shkodra Resort

Arriving two weeks ago this campsite is at the end of a 1km unmade road and then it’s about 12km to the city.  We have everything we need on site (except a supermarket) and direct access to Lake Shkodra to swim, fish and float the boat.  This is more of a holiday site to me as its in the middle of nowhere, we eat at the restaurant because its cheaper than cooking ourselves, we have a constant turnover of neighbours and the age range is newborn to (still holds a driver’s licence) nearly dead.

The weather has been between the 30’s to 40’s, our duvets redundant, too hot to do anything in the heat through the day and the temperature drops minimally at night. Thank goodness we have Shkodra Lake to cool off in and I have this blog to keep me occupied!

We haven’t really toured yet, just two excursions (I have yet to write up the second one), haven’t really got into the culture of Albania and feel rather cosseted in this well run British style campsite. We intend to tour in the Poacher tomorrow down the south, locally called the Albanian Riviera, stopping at the best archaeological sites,

 

The Albanian Flag confuses me. I only see a Rorschach inkblot psychological test !