Travel at the weekend (Dhermi)

So the 5 of us (Rali my SAIS fellow roomie, 3 of her intern friends at the US embassy, and me) piled into a Jeep Wrangler Sport (4 seatbelts) at 6 AM Saturday morning and bumped and lumped our way down what would be maybe 120 miles, and it took about 5 hours because of the roads- unbelievable switchbacks and weaving, potholes and narrow mountain passes... reminded me of the path up to Yosemite falls, where you keep coming upon switchbacks and wonder if you're moving anywhere at all. It was kind of unreal because of the beauty of the landscape so I didn't feel worried about falling to my death from the very high mountainsides we were traversing, although I did think about it a few times- we were REALLY high, and there were often no barriers at the many blind turns.... !
But we made it, and found a few beaches where we went swimming, and the water was wonderfully warm- a first for me. The swimming was sooo nice. The Ionian (south of Vlore is the Ionian, north of it is the Adriatic) is very salty, prone to pebbly beaches, and very clear. So watch out for contact wearers or getting any water in your eyes (they tear) or walking barefoot on the shore! The sea reminds me of Greece, Hawaii, pictures of Sicily, even sandy Gallipoli (like the Sphinx part) sometimes... it's so OLD...
ANyway. I'm back in Tirana. There was a moment yesterday (Sunday) when I was walking up to a cafe from a lagoon and I actually smelled the pines and scrub and land, and I felt like I was really absorbing the landscape, but then the next moment I couldn't smell anymore. I may have said this before, but I'm even more sure now that being so blocked up is just my body's defense against the horrible smells and exhaust and fumes of Tirana. I'm taking anti-allergy pills now, but they only last unil about 4 PM, then I start struggling to breathe again. And any attempts to ask for anti-congestion tablets at the local farmaci produces a firmly shaking head- no, there are only nose sprays for anti-congestion, which of course isn't true. *sigh* I tried the big Greek farmaci, where they speak English, and the woman recommended breaking the pill in half, taking the second half later in the day. Enh, I just have to keep busy and forget about my nose, then it's not a problem. Except while dodging dodgy traffic.
Finally cooling off in the capital, going from over 100 back down to a high of 93, 94. And I bought one of the little wooden parasols I see middle-aged ladies with here, to protect themselves from the sun. Hey, I know I'm white, nevermind people squinting at the reflection of the sun, as Jonathan was describing...