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Camping Legjenda have everything
We stayed several days at Camping Legjenda. They have camping, hotel, restaurant, bar and a pool. They also offer day trips to different attractions around Shkodër. What else can you wish for? Camping Legjenda is a family business and the owners are a couple, the husband is an artist and the wife was an English teacher.
Camping Legjenda in Shkodër
The hotel, where we stayed
Fruits and art works
Camping Legjenda is very nice with with plenty of lush vegetation all around the area. Apples, kiwis, grapes, olives and blackberries are growing everywhere. The area is also decorated with works of art all made by the husband.
The bar, where they served the breakfast buffet
Rozafa Castle within walking distance on the hilltop in the distant
Locally produced food
They offered a small but very nice breakfast buffet with mostly locally produced food. Fruits, herbs and vegetables fresh from the garden. In the evenings we often ate in the restaurant where the food was excellent. They offered a wide variety of dishes from Albanian specialities to delicious pasta and pizza.
The breakfast buffet
Albanian pancakes with home made blackberry jam and yoghurt sauce
The restaurant
Delicious pizza and pasta
The review on video
Blackberries were growing everywhere
The pool
Camping Legjenda fully recommended!
We had plenty of time to evaluate the hotel, bar and the restaurant. Without any exaggerating we really can recommend Camping Legjenda if you are in Shkodër. Not to mention the owners and the other staff who always were very friendly and helpful. I wish to come back there soon.
Map
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The Puri Restaurant, traditional Albanian food
We went for a short walk down to the city centre in Shkodër. It took only 30 minutes from the Legjenda Camping where we stayed. The walk was nice and we passed lot of restaurants and cafes on our way. In a street corner we saw two (!) fish for sale! However we were heading for the Puri Restaurant which we had been told they serve excellent Albanian food.
They were selling fish on the street
The Puri Restaurant, full of hungry guests
The menu
The food... huge portions!
We were hungry so we ordered Caprese salad as a starter. Father's rice was the bestseller so that one was a must. And with the Father's rice it felt natural to take the Mother's meatball! Father and mother they kind of stick together right? And just to be safe that we wouldn't leave the place hungry we took the Pljeskavica with potatoes. But we didn't have to worry because the portions were huge!
Caprese salad
Father's rice
Pljeskavica with potatoes
Mother's meatball and when they say meatball in Albania then think beef patty!
The review on video
The Puri Restaurant is fully recommendable
The food was excellent. The Puri Restaurant was nice and lively with many hungry customers. We didn't have to wait and the waiter was nice and informative. The total bill was 5.5€ for all our food which felt very reasonable. Conclusion: The Puri Restaurant should be on your bucket list if you are in Shkodër!
Map
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A nice afternoon in Tirana and dinner at restaurant Oda
A nice afternoon in the Albanian capital Tirana. We visited the local market and had a nice dinner at the traditional Albanian restaurant Oda. We took the dessert in a coffee shop just nearby, Italian gelato together with a cappuccino.
The square just adjacent to the local market
Restaurant Oda
The menus
If you are looking for the traditional Albanian cuisine then Restaurant Oda is the right place. Lamb in different ways is the main attraction. For the no meat eater there are a variety of vegetarian dishes. Different salads and of course the traditional burek which is baked, filled pastry, made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach or potatoes.
The food
We ordered eggplant stuffed with vegetables and the lamb cooked in a wooden stove together with rice. You need to order rice separately. The portions were big and generous. The lamb was very tender with a nice taste and the rice was probably cooked in broth which made it very tasty. The stuffed eggplant was nice too.
Eggplant stuffed with vegetables
Miss Zane is ready for the big bite!
Lamb cooked in wooden stove
Video clip
Video clip: The visit to the local market and the review of the traditional restaurant Oda. Eating ice cream and of corse not to mention to see Miss Zane negotiating at the local market. Enjoy!
Conclusion
The food was for sure very traditional and came in tasty and generous portions. The downside was the waiting time. Waiting to order, waiting for the food and waiting for the bill. There were many guests and only one waitress so that was the explanation. The dishes also came one at a time, not served at the same time as would normally be expected. With that in mind I can still recommend Restaurant Oda if you are looking for the traditional Albanian cuisine.
Map
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A perfect day tour if you are in Shkodër
If you are in Shkodër you can easily do this day tour up to Komani Lake and Shala River. First you go by car to Komani Lake and from there you take the boat up to Shala River. Expect 3 hours travel back and forth and 3-4 hours at the destination where you eat lunch. After lunch you can sunbath, swim in ice cold water or just chill under a sun umbrella with a cup of coffee or a beer.
The cost per person was 40€ and lunch was included
Miss Zane is contemplating about the upcoming activities
Going by boat on Komani Lake to Shala River.
I was just enjoying the beautiful scenery
Mountains of Albania
Shala River
Watch the video
Watch Miss C dancing in the boat and Miss Zane giving her verdict of the tour!
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A visit to Dajti Mountain Peak
We visited the Dajti Mountain Peak (in Tirana Albania). We took the local bus to Dajti Ekspres Lower station and from there we went with the cable car up to the peak. Up there you can do lots of activities like horse riding, hiking or just chill at the beautiful restaurant. So join us in the cable car!
The cable car and the city of Tirana in the distant.
You really have a spectacular view from the top
The technical
The gondolas travel with a speed up to 6 m/s and maintain a distance of 300 metres between each other running approximately every 80 seconds. When all the gondolas are in use, the maximum capacity of passengers is 248 persons. The ride with the cable car takes approximately 15 minutes to arrive at the upper station.
There are many activities you can do here and the girls did horse riding.
There are short and long hiking trails in the woods just near, where you can walk, hike or just do some photo shoot!
Going there | Ticket price for the cable car
We took the Porcelan bus which is blue and departs from the tower clock (Sahati) in the centre of Tirana near Skenderbeg square. This bus is probably your best option as it goes direct and stops near the Bunk'art museum. From there it's only a short uphill walk to the cable car station.
The cable car costs 8 Euro up and down for one person.
The cable car costs 8 Euro up and down for one person.
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Rozafa Castle
Rozafa Castle, also known as the Shkodër Castle is located near the city of Shkodër, in northwestern Albania. It rises imposingly on a rocky hill, 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level, surrounded by the Buna and Drin rivers.
A beautiful view, Miss Zane and Skhodër city in the distant
Miss Zane and Claire busy photographing each other
30 minutes walking
Since we stayed at the Camping Legjenda just 30 minutes walking distance from the castle we took a nice walk up the hill to the Rozafa Castle. We passed nice houses with lush gardens full of different kinds of fruits. There were also a couple of souvenir shops on our way where we could buy snacks, drinks and souvenirs.
The castle is located 130 m above the sea level
Beautiful views 360 degrees around
The legend of the Rozafa Castle
Once upon a time, there were three brothers married to three beautiful wives who lived in what now is northern Albania. The three brothers worked very hard, to build a castle to protect their town, but every time they finished the work, the castle’s walls would fall down.
The city Skhodër
The Rozafa Castle is surrounded by the Buna and Drin rivers
The legend...
One day, they met an old man who told them that there was only one way to keep the castle walls from tumbling down: a sacrifice. The sacrifice consisted of burying one of the wives in the wall of the castle, particularly, the first wife to bring lunch to her husband the next day.
The entrance fee to the castle is around 2 Euro
The legend...
The two older brothers, once at home, explained the situation to their wives, while the youngest brother said nothing to his wife. The day after, the three brothers waited anxiously for lunchtime. The wives of the older brothers didn’t come with lunch, but Rozafa, the wife of the youngest brother, came with her box full of delicacies.
Try to visit the castle in the late afternoon so you get the golden light
The legend...
Rozafa’s husband explained to her that she had to be sacrificed and buried in the walls of the castle in order for the castle to be finished. She accepted her fate, but under one condition: the brothers would leave a hole for her right breast so her newborn son could feed, another hole for her right hand to caress him and a third hole for her right foot to move his cradle. The castle never collapsed.
How to get there
The castle is 3.5km south of the city centre. Grab a bicycle (many of the hotels rent them out) and enjoy the ride down here. If cycling is too energetic, take one of the municipal buses that stop near the turn-off to the castle. Or a taxi to the entrance costs 2-3 Euros from the city centre. If you are staying at Camping Legjenda like we did it's just 30 minutes walking distance from there.