June 22, 2018
In Transition
Some flights are longer than others. We knew this one would take its toll because we have such an early departure, at 5:30. This looks like the standard departure time for overseas flights from Tirana, presumably so they can link up to morning departures from Rome. To make our flight, we stayed last night at an airport hotel, an easy two minute walk from the terminal entrance.
We got to the hotel by a three hour taxi ride from Ohrid. We were lucky with the ride, in that the driver was excellent - fast and efficient, but prudent - and his vehicle was new this year and comfortable. Three hours in a taxi is a long time though, especially given that for much of the way the road is narrow, winding, busy, and dangerous. We both arrived in Tirana a bit carsick. As elsewhere though, the situation is changing fast - a new, straighter, mush faster highway is in development and open in places. From the looks of things, by this time next year it will be mostly completed and the drive will be smoother and faster.
There are a few hotels clustered right at the terminal, and we chose the best looking of them, a Best Western, because it was the closest, starts breakfast at 3:30, has a good restaurant, and is still ridiculously cheap by western standards: 50 euros for a palatial room with a mountain (and tarmac) view and a good breakfast. It even has a fitness center, which Rachael made use of in the hopes that she would sleep better.
We did our best to prepare for the early departure by having an early (and excellent) dinner, packing up and turning out the lights at about 9. We scheduled a wake up call for 3:15, so we hoped for a not unreasonable night’s sleep.
Within a minute of turning out the light, the phone rang and we received an accompanying email. It’s our credit card company, asking for confirmation of what looks to them like a possible fraudulent charge. They’re right (it really is impressive how accurate their fraud detection scanner is), and we’ve had two charges from Ireland come in within the last ten minutes. Both were rejected, so the only issue is to cancel the card and schedule a replacement to be mailed out.
Remarkably good timing for something like this, if it was going to happen anyway. The new card will probably arrive Monday. Not the most relaxing bedtime story though.
3:15 rolls around quicker than we’d like, but we’re on top of the situation and are down to breakfast at 3:30. A half hour later we’re rolling our luggage down the sidewalk to the terminal, where we find a somewhat chaotic scene. We’re in plenty of time though, and have no problems. Everyone we interact with is helpful and speaks reasonably good English.
An hour later we’re taxiing down the runway and enjoying the finest sunrise we’ve seen since entering the country. The mountains ride steeply up all along the northeast horizon, in the direction of nearby Montenegro.
The flight is uneventful but of course long. After stopovers in Rome and Dallas, our pilot makes a clean landing at PDX right on schedule at about 7PM. Home!
Well, not quite yet. It takes us another two and a half miles to cover the five miles to the AirBnb we’ve booked for the next two weeks. First we have to collect our luggage, catch the shuttle to the airport motel where our Jetta is waiting patiently for us to rescue it from a stone dead battery. I’ve never had a car battery so completely dead - not a peep when I turn the key. I can’t even open the trunk, which depends on the electrical system. I think our car must have gotten wind of our plans to abandon it later this summer and is punishing us in advance.
It takes about 45 minutes for help to arrive, and another ten minutes to revive the battery. For the first few minutes after the jumper cables are attached there’s still no sign of life. In the end though, it’s just a minor annoyance. We drive to our room, stopping on the way at a Safeway to pick up some groceries and to let me keep the engine running long enough to be sure it’s fully charged again.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 6 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 6 |
Thanks for a wonderful journal!
5 years ago
Sorry to hear about the credit card fraud ... But, yes, I suppose the timing was good. That would be quite a challenge to get a replacement card in the middle of a tour.
Look forward to seeing you both when we're back in PDX.
5 years ago
Thanks for the encouragement on the journal, and for following along. Two months was a long time to keep it up, but I’m glad we saw it through. When I leaf back through it now I’m surprised at things I’d forgotten about already. This was definitely a tour to remember.
5 years ago
Let’s hear it for more tailwinds!
5 years ago
5 years ago
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