London - Tirana

After a bad sleep we leave the hotel long before they start serving breakfast. We get very lost on the way to the car park at Heathrow Terminal 5, missing the turning and having to do a U-turn a few miles down the road. Even then we enter the wrong car park, which we only realise when we find there is no Level 4. The mistake costs us £7.50, as there is no grace for driving in and straight out again.

We finally find the correct car park, but end up driving all around Level 4 to try and find Row S. David, who is an extremely good driver, and an excellent navigator, is beginning to show a certain amount of stress, when we finally get to the designated area.

Bon Voyage Parking

None of the staff manning the three parking company booths at the car park have heard of Bon Voyage Parking. If it wasn’t so stressful, this morning’s farce so far would be comical. Neither of us are laughing, however. After ringing the number we received on the booking, a parking attendant turns up within a minute or so. Phew.

British Airways Check-in

At the check-in area we are informed that the Special Assistance point is at the other end of the airport. Good move, planners: make sure those people who have mobility issues have to walk to the furthest corner of the airport.

At the Special Assistance counter, we are told the porters are on strike today. There are some that have chosen to work, however, and a young lady pushes me in a wheelchair to the British Airways check-in desk. Check-in is smooth and quick, and we are told to wait in a seating area opposite the desks for someone to collect us. We are entertained by staff opening up an abandoned suitcase to try and find the owner, only to discover that the person’s flight has already departed. Oops.

After half an hour goes by, we are getting anxious that we want to move on to the Lounge and get some breakfast before the flight, so David decides he will push my wheelchair. He follows a porter pushing another passenger, and when this lady is dropped off, the porter takes over pushing me, and takes us directly to the British Airways Lounge.

British Airways Lounge

The atmosphere in the lounge is very relaxed, and soon the stresses and strains of a somewhat frenzied start to the day disappear and we enter holiday mode.

The choice of food here is absolutely amazing – there is definitely something for everyone.

I choose fruit, yogurt and a couple of delicious pastries, whereas David has his usual Full English Breakfast.

At the allotted time, a porter arrives to take us to the gate, where we are deposited in a holding area inside the gate. Just as we are about to board, the comedy of errors continues, as it is discovered that the lift taking us to the ground floor is not working. A single porter is allocated to take all those who are unable to walk to the next gate for the lift and the back across to this gate on the lower floor. Those who are able to, can take the escalator, including me.

British Airway Business Class

Business class on BA short haul is not to the same standard as we have experienced in long haul. The seats are the same as economy class, with the same leg room, but with the middle seat blanked off. While my knees are feeling a little cramped still, it is amazing what a difference having three seats for the two of us makes, and I feel surprisingly comfortable.

On Board Dining

At the beginning of the flight, staff hand out menus for food and drink. By the time they get to us (row five), they have run out of my choice – the Charcuterie Board. I hear at least three others asking for the same thing. The crew member explains that they were only given 2 of this particular dish (there are 20 passengers in Business Class today) – something that he and his colleagues feel strongly about, as it is embarrassing for them and annoying for the passengers.

David is OK, his Full English Breakfast is still available. I choose the same, minus the ‘Full English’ bit – i.e. just the fruit, yogurt and pastries.

David's Full English Breakfast

My Full-English-Less Breakfast, AKA Continental.

We both have some orange juice, and David also enjoys some white wine. The chap in the row in front of us starts knocking back the champagne before we even take off. He continues all through the flight, and is also still holding a glass as we land. He explains to the stewardess that he is going to Albania for dental work. To be fair, even after what must have been a dozen or more glasses of champagne, he does not appear or sound drunk, and never once causes any trouble.

It is never too early to start drinking when you're on holiday

About an hour or so after breakfast, the delightful crew come down the aisle with snacks. I initially refuse, but she is quite persuasive: “"Have something for later to have in your room." I choose a packet of crisps and some Lindor Lindt Chocolates. "Take some more snacks... these waffles are really nice" the girl insists. I oblige. "Would you like some alcohol with that?" "Any mixers?" By the time she goes back to the galley, we have enough snacks and alcohol to have a very decent pre-dinner drink in the room this evening. Other passengers are also filling their pockets and bags with snacks.

Having slept very little for the last few days as a result of the toothache, I am fast asleep when the plane lands in Tirana, and I am woken with jolt. As this flight has several people with mobility issues, a passenger lift is brought out to the plane.

After walking the very short distance across the tarmac from the lift, a wheelchair is waiting for me just inside the door, with a young porter pushing me the even shorter distance through a door leading to a very laid back passport control - basically just one man in a wooden ‘booth’ just inside the door, right next to the luggage carousel. The porter takes our passports before we go through the door, and as David wanders directly over to look for our bags, he doesn’t even realise that we have gone through the immigration check. Our bags are amongst the very last to arrive, and we sail through the customs with no hassle.

Our pre-departure notes explain that a taxi driver will hold a sign – ALBANIA DMC – and will meet us outside KFC.

The porter explains that there is no KFC any more, it closed several months ago. Thankfully, he knows where it used to be and amongst a line of people waiting for arriving passengers, we spot a chap with a sign with our names on it (not ALBANIA DMC, not that that matters). He goes off to collect the car, while the porter returns to the terminal, leaving our luggage on the trolley he paid for. Our driver, Vladimir (who turns out to be our driver-guide for the whole trip, not just a taxi driver for this journey) kindly takes the trolley back for the porter to retrieve his coin.

Hotel Austria

The hotel is very centrally located, just one block from the main drag with lots of restaurants, bars and cafés, and a few hundred metres from the Skandeberg Square. As such there is no parking right outside, so Vladimir just drops us and the cases off close to the hotel, where a female porter takes over and leads us in to the reception.

The hotel has a rather classy look about it, with gold statues, plush sofas and lots of interesting little touches.

Seating area in the lobby

A large gold statue adorns a mosaic-covered table at the entrance to the restaurant

The open area on our floor

An old fashioned telephone by the lift

After a much-needed nap, we enjoy a few of the goodies we took away from the plane.

Thank you British Airways

Later we go out for a little walk in the neighbourhood to look for somewhere to eat. Neither of us are particularly hungry after the snacks, so we just want something small. I’d spent some time before we left home, looking at google maps to find interesting restaurants close to the various hotels we are staying in, and I rather liked the look of a little Greek street food place along the main road.

Some interesting architecture just around the corner from our hotel

OPA Greek Street Food Restaurant

This place is very much a fast food joint, with plastic seating inside, and a few wooden chairs on a built up platform outside overlooking the side street, where we choose to sit.

The menu is very helpfully in English (something we would come to find almost everywhere on this trip), and offers two different sized dishes: small and large.

We both order Cinnamon Iced Coffee which is a very cooling welcome in this heat,

I choose a Schnitzel Pita, which consists of pitta bread, crispy chicken schnitzel, chilli garlic mayonnaise, chilli and tomato. When it comes out, I am grateful I only ordered a small portion. The bread is thankfully soft enough that I can chew it using the teeth on the side where my temporary filling is, the chicken is crispy as described, and the mayo tasty.

David’s Beef Skepasti is described as a pitta bread with a minced beef patty, tomatoes, onions, BBQ sauce, burger mayo, home made pickled cucumbers, fries and paprika. His is also described as small.

We finish with a couple of iced cappuccinos as we sit for a while people watching, before retiring to the hotel for the night.

Thank you Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this Balkan Exploration for us.