Yo!
Coming to you from Sarande in southern Albania this week. It’s super sleepy now that the Balkan summer season has come to an end (I still like the mid-high 20 days though).
Funnily enough ‘yo’ in Albanian means ‘no’. Super confusing when I say yo to randoms 🙂
Sports travel shit with Jub -> October 9th – October 15th.
I started off the week in the chilled capital, Podgorica. As soon as you get outside the downtown area there are few people but there are plenty of cafes and bars to bounce around in the city. The highlight of Podgorica would have to be seeing the Niagara Falls. Not that there was any water really running, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
I was in Podgorica for four nights, before hitching to Shkoder (Northern Albania) on Thursday where I spent the next few days, eventually leaving to Tirana on Sunday avo.
I managed to get in three runs and watch a football game in Shkoder while also finishing up Ricky Ponting’s book.
The Three Runs For The Week
I ran on Monday and Wednesday in Podgorica. Wasn’t feeling the Monday run, and seemed to keep choosing the highly trafficked streets which aren’t the most fun.
Wednesday’s run was also a bit random as I ran back from the Niagara Falls (mentioned above) along the highway. Thankfully there was a dirt road running alongside the highway.
Both runs were right at the same pace and distance. Both runs were in the middle of the day. Should stick to evening runs!
The third run of the week was in Shkoder. I was really taking it easy on the pace. It has always been a struggle for me to run below my comfortable pace (harder than you think), but feel like I nailed it on this run. My phone started playing up on the fourth kilometer so no idea what the final stats really were (I’m going to say about 6 minutes/km and ran about 6.3km).
Watching Vllaznia Shkoder vs. Flamurtari In The Albanian Super Liga
After hitching from Podgorica to Shkoder pretty easily (also, no stamps at the Montenegro/Albanian border???) I dumped my stuff off at the hostel and went straight to the football.
The game started at 2 pm on a Thursday afternoon? Seems a little bit strange to me.
Approaching the stadium, the atmosphere was totally different to what I’ve been used to watching other games in Eastern Europe. There was a few police on their motorbikes who were super friendly. They helped me find the place to buy my ticket and where my gate was.
I think it was 200 lek (maybe 300), less than 2 euro!
The stadium was pretty empty. On the way I’d seen lots of people watching various games of football (more on this next week) in cafes and bars, so was expecting a large crowd.
Perhaps they were burnt out after hosting a couple of International Matches for the World Cup qualifying a couple days earlier. According to Soccerway.com there was just 500 in the crowd (and no ultras!).
The game finished at 1-1 and was a better quality match than I perhaps expected. I think the home side had the better of the play.
The stadium itself was pretty solid! They rebuilt the stadium a couple years back and looked pretty good to me. And you actually buy plastic cups of beer here. Security was relaxed, I brought my backpack and no one checked it at all (slightly concerning).
What I’m Reading
I finished Ricky Ponting: At The Close Of Play on Wednesday. It was a massive book and overall a good read if you have any interest in cricket at all. Otherwise, you’ll probably get lost a little bit too much.
My biggest takeaway from the book was about Ricky’s leadership and how he evolved since debuting as a teen before retiring 17 or so years later. He really made an effort to cat to every player, getting to know them on a personal level beyond the cricket pitch. Basically being as approachable as possible. And holy shit, the extra demands of captaincy should never be underrated.
I’ve now moved started reading Welcome To Paradise, Now Go To Hell: A True Story of Violence, Corruption, and the Soul of Surfing. I’ll expand a bit more once I’ve finished, but let’s just say I’ll never see Hawaii in the same light again..
Posts On The Blog This Week:
Where To This Week?
I’ll be in Albania for the next week. Not sure on exact plans (standard).
Like these posts? Click here to read Sports Travel Weekly 2 and here for Week 4
A Cool Video I Saw This Week:
This looks like a new series featuring golf courses well of the beaten track. This time in Scotland, where they have to travel a long way, just for a game.
Chur
