Home Away From Home

Our room is the upper left two windows.

When we were making our plans for Albania, one major unknown was where we would be staying for the many days we were in Elbasan visiting David. We knew that last year there was another Bethany family adopting from Elbasan who stayed at a nice hotel (they were actually featured on Discovery Health’s “An Adoption Story”), so we knew there was one available. The representatives in Albania gave us the name of the hotel a website. The site promised a pool which excited Ellie and air-conditioning/internet which excited Cydil and I. The one thing we didn’t know was the cost, how far it was from Reni’s orphanage, or if there were other similar quality hotels closer. When we arrived last week, we found a hotel within walking distance that had air-conditioning and internet, but no pool. Knowing how much time we would be spending at the hotel and how much Ellie had been looking forward to a pool convinced us to pick the Univers Hotel and use taxis to travel back and forth to visit David Reni.

Ellie likens the wall sconces above the bed to two eyes. When they're on, the eyes are "open". Her imagination never quits.

Our room is on the top floor and is very comfortable. We think we have the only room in the hotel that has a bathtub. Showers are pretty traumatic for Els, but she still loves bathtime. Still not sure what we think about the floor-to-ceiling windows with no curtains in the bathroom. As I type, Ellie is watching Tom and Jerry (and sometimes Cailliou) on the room’s 12 inch TV. Most of the kids shows are in Italian, but she doesn’t seem to mind. Watching the World Cup on it has proven difficult since the time and titles are so small that they can’t be read. Thankfully, we can go downstairs to the restaurant/bar and watch the games with the hotel staff that all seem to take their breaks during the game! 
Because we are all in the same room, we go to bed kind of early for Ellie’s sake, which is good because the only light fixtures in our room feature red light bulbs. While Ellie falls asleep Nathan and I will watch an episode of Lost (which we downloaded from iTunes). Don’t tell us how it ends!



Our room is about as far as you can get from the ‘action’ at the small hotel. During the wedding parties that go strong until past 3AM, that is a blessing! Unfortunately that also means that the wireless signal doesn’t reach our room, but carrying the computer down to the end of the hallway and holding it close to the window does the trick. Thankfully it is a beautiful view from there. The panoramic in this post is from the ‘internet window.’ The mountains are a lot closer and more plentiful than they appear.
The hotel staff has been great. Apparently laundry services are included in our stay because yesterday a week’s worth of laundry was picked up, cleaned and returned folded. It is really nice not to have to worry about that detail! Breakfast is included as well and has consisted of great ham and cheese omelets and drinks (strong coffee for me, bottled water for Cydil, and cold milk for Ellie). The last couple of mornings we have had more of a buffet style breakfast since there is a conference of some sort taking place here at the hotel. A filling breakfast sure helps our energy levels for playing with all of the kids.
The hotel restaurant has been great too. It has a good variety even though not everything on the menu is always available. The portions are big enough here and at all the restaurants around the hotel that we typically eat breakfast and supper out, and just hold ourselves over lunch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Eating ‘in’ for lunch also gives us time to blog and sometimes nap!
We are thankful for this comfortable place to stay during our time in Elbasan. Not bad for $32 a night!

(above and below) Views from our 'internet window'