Saranda region abounds in surprises: vibrant people, exotic cultures, exciting history, beautiful sea, and scenic wonders.

This video captures the uniqueness of a vacation wonderland, going beyond the usual, to sites seldom seen.

It’s a hiker’s paradise, but also a place where you will dive into the ultra blue waters, sail the majestic Ionian Sea and, deep in the forest, dive into the waters of the Blue Eye.

Visit the Monastery Beach, the ancient floor mosaics, the monasteries of Mesopotami, Kostan, Saint Geroge, etc., the ancient town of Foinike, the castles of Ali Pasha, the castle of Lekuresi and that of Borshi and the Bektashi complex at Rusan. Dive along the brand new costal road up to the majestic beaches of Kakome, Bunets, Borshi, etc…from Butriniti National Park down South, jump to the smaller jewels in the string of several cliff hugged beaches of Ksamili.

And there is much more…
Enjoy the Ionian romance of your life!

This video will be the enhanced memory of your journey to Saranda and beyond. Shot it to others as a lovely surprise and, afterwards, producly say to them: “I have been there!”

The DVD guide is in two languages: English and Albanian

We are glad to announce that the latest “third edition” of “Let’s Learn Albanian” the most comprehensive Albanian language methods is out now.

The new version has been expanded and improved based on the feedback and consultation with students, teachers and language experts.

Some of the latest updates and improvements to the method include:

• a larger and more readable font,
• a brand new word stress system to help with proper pronunciation
• improved and simplified language helps and tables
• and many more minor adjustments, corrections, etc.

This new and updated edition took over one year of continued work and improvement so as to set a higher standard in the process of learning and teaching the Albanian language.

The book is now available to be ordered online or at our Tirana bookstore.

A controversy over whether a newspaper was racist in its criticism of the US ambassador has reignited a debate on whether Ismail Kadare, Albania’s most renowned writer, is also racist.

The American embassy in Tirana severed last month ties with the daily newspaper Shekulli following publication of a comment deemed derogatory and racist to ambassador Alexander Arvizu.

The row erupted after the newspaper ran an opinion article by journalist Ilir Yzeri on April 9, entitled “The Little Ambassador of a Great Country.”

The article, which took a critical stance toward Arvizu’s track record as an ambassador, used the term “kinezeri” (Chinese-like) to describe his behaviour as well as appearance. Arvizu is of partly Asian decent.

In the letter to the newspaper the embassy noted that although the ambassador welcomed criticism, the newspaper had stepped beyond a line with a personal attack.

Please read the rest of the article here

this month we’ve been very excited to see the introduction of a new cultural review magazine in Albanian and English. The magazine itself represents a unique publication for Albania and one that we are convinced will contribute much to the cultural heritage of the country. For a greater understanding we invite you to read the following introduction by Prof. Dr. Ardian Marashi, Director of the Centre of Albanological Studies, Tirana.

Waking up the sleeping beauties

Cultural reviews in Albania are a rare occurrence, a sort of luxury in a country that is coming out of poverty. The pressing needs of the past two decades mobilised people’s wills to help rebuild or reinstate cult monuments; the needs of the next two decades are now mobilising us to reinstate the cult of monuments.

Although many of the religious monuments in Albania were forced to change destination or indeed were altogether razed to the ground during the fatal 1967 Enverist cultural revolution, many others stood their ground in the midst of the ideological hurricane, the same as they had survived other blows dealt on them over the centuries by the ‘double act’ of history and climate. The new review Art & Trashëgimi (Art and Heritage) positions itself clearly in this context: by raising the cult of monuments in the Albanian cultural landscape we aim to revive the civilising spirit of generations past that populated this land, give back to Albanians proud memories of countless marvellous works of art by renowned and anonymous artists alike, and provide interested non-Albanians – scholars, friends, tourists and citizens of the world – with a golden key that opens the beautiful gate to the Albanian world.

On this land destined to be a hub of civilisations (the Illyrians, the Greeks and the Romans co-existed here in a prosperous symbiosis for over a millennium), a meeting point of cultures (Albanian, Byzantine, Slavic, Turco-Persian, and later Italian, Germanic and Francophone cultures fruitfully intersected on this fertile environment), a place of coexistence of rival faiths and religions (Christianity, Orthodoxy and Islam have been living and developing together for centuries among the Albanians, nurtured in this historical cradle of harmony and respect for each other), monuments of material and spiritual heritage are not only numerous, they are multifarious.

It has to be said that History has not pampered Albanians with long spells of peace at any given time, so it was only after World War One that the exploration, registration and systematic cataloguing of the national treasures started in the territory contained within the political borders of the Albanian state. Other areas historically inhabited by Albanians, however, did not fare that well: where they did not actively fight this heritage openly and on all fronts, they made sure it was ignored and abused.

We have now reached a new stage, we have entered the third Millennium: a colossal amount of work has been done for the identification, inventorisation and study of national treasures, but deplorably little has been done to properly exhibit, display or otherwise make them available to the general public. A great number of treasures, especially archaeological and ethnological have come to light over the years, but many more are still in a centuries-long slumber: some of them deep in the entrails of the earth, others in inadequate storage annexes and pavilions, often left totally undisturbed in their slumber, either because of lack of attention or because they have been forgotten. Art & Trashëgimi addresses precisely this problem: it aims to awaken the “sleeping beauties” and bring them in the limelight and in full view of the admiring eyes of the public. One thing is for sure, countless people will fall ‘victim’ of their enchanting powers.

In order to ensure the achievement of this goal, the Review has brought together an impressive team of outstanding contributors who are passionate about art and heritage: Ben Andoni, Ilda Mara, Jutta Benzenberg and Bavjola Shatro – without their courage and hard work this initiative would have been archived as ‘case closed,’ just like a number of similar initiatives that went before it. Then there are the present administrators of this Heritage: Genc Pollo, Ardian Marashi and Kastriot Dervishi – theirs is the merit for ‘opening the Sesame.’ Expert researchers such as Aleksandër Meksi, Afërdita Onuzi, Emin Riza, and Luan Përzhita invest the Review with authority and provide it with a unique identity, while cross-disciplinary specialists, including researchers like Kristo Frashëri, Pëllumb Xhufi, Shaban Sinani, and Moikom Zeqo, help establish links among various fields of study and offer precious insights into many important details.

Other quality contributors will undoubtedly join this common effort in the future issues: historians and archivists, authors of archaeological excavations, ethnographers on the ground, private collectors and restorers, ethnologists and numismatists, art historians and culturologists, museum curators and project managers – all of them will help make the Albanian Heritage folder complete with each and every newly published issue.

The editorial line will be the same as the one you will find here: a combination of the beauty of images, accurate information and a tourism-oriented perspective.

With this first issue, the editorial board had the pleasure to present the readers with two gifts at the same time: a new publication entitled Art & Trashëgimi and an ancient town called Berat.

Prof. Dr. Ardian Marashi
Director of the Centre of Albanological Studies, Tirana

The new version was published in Pristina, Kosovo and differs from the old variant published in Tirana that you have already purchased because the language of publication is Geg Albanian, a dialect that comprises the biggest “lingua franca” among Albanians today. (Illustrations are the same as those of the Tirana version).

The book is associated with two CDs with accompanying audio book.

Title: Princi i vogël (The little prince) (audio book w/2 CD)
Original in French: Le Petit Prince
Author: Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Children’s literature in Albanian
Illustrations by the author
Albanian translator: Gjylektin Shehu
Publisher: Rrota
Place & Year: Prishtina, 2008
Pgs. 96
Weight: 0.22 kg
ISBN: 978-9951-509-01-5

The guide is printed in a picture quality paper and can be most useful if you need to find out information about conducting business in Albania as well as finding business contacts for your specific needs.

It is relatively heavy, at almost 2 kg and almost 1,000 pages full of contact information, business sources and adverts aplenty.

Meanwhile, there is also the Albania Business Guide which is the first independent investor’s handbook to this promising country in Southeast Europe and is an initiative of Gazmend Haxhia in cooperation with the Albanian Center for Management Services, Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Tirana Municipality’s Department for City Promotion. The second edition of the Albania Business Guide was published in summer 2009.

The guides are available to be ordered directly online or at our Albanian bookstore whichever best suits your convenience.

P.S. Do not forget to also take a look at: Our guide on: Ordering Albanian books through ShtepiaeLibrit.com

Every day we get many emails from you our customers and visitors on how to order books through our Albanian online bookstore. Though most of our customers buy directly using the bookstore’s PayPal payment system, there are others who prefer to pay through a bank transfer or Western Union.

To help answer your most frequent questions we’ve already prepared an Albanian version, and now the English version of our guide on: Ordering Albanian books through ShtepiaeLibrit.com . You are more than welcome to download this on your desktop as a reference or email-it to your friends.

We always welcome your questions and suggestions on improving our service for you.

Sincere regards,

Elvis & Gjergj
Administrators
Email: admin (at) shtepiaelibrit.com
Online bookstore: ShtepiaeLibrit.com

The book is the product of a talented lady, who was encouraged by her American friend to put her cooking recipes in writing. The result is this book which is going on to its third edition.

Table of Contents

- Salads & Pickles
- Soups
- Pasta & Pastry
- Vegetables
- Fish
- Meats
- Cakes, desserts & jams

If you think this is worth it, then feel free to spread the word.

As was announced back in April, the bookstore is now open and you’re welcome to come and visit us at our new location at:

Galeria Nasional, Rruga e Barrikadave, 1st Floor
Tirana, Albania.

Since we currently have a very limited number of books in English we’re playing with the idea of offering customers the opportunity to sell their used English books so if you’re interested please email us or come by the store to talk to us. This is still an idea that we’re hoping will be viable for all.

View Larger Map for location of the bookstore on Google maps

Please feel free to send us your questions and suggestions by email.

It is with great pleasure that we announce our plans to open a new bookstore in Tirana, Albania. ShtepiaeLibrit.com has been serving you, our customers, for over two years now, but for almost that same length of time, our desire has been to improve our service for customers in Albania and we hope that the opening of this new bookstore will do just that.

At this stage we are still working on getting it ready. The bookstore will be located in an area near the center of Tirana, where we hope you come to visit us in the future. More details and announcement of the opening will follow in the weeks to come.