Farewell to Albania 再见了，阿尔巴尼亚
May 5, 2026
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Today we finally began our journey back home.
During our travel planning, the stop in Tirana was repeatedly added to and removed from our itinerary. It is not a major tourist hotspot, nor does it boast famous UNESCO landmarks or social-media-famous attractions. Yet it remained one of those places we had long been curious about, partly because we knew a little about it growing up.
In the end, Albania became one of the most memorable parts of the journey. Experiencing a different culture, history, and level of economic development added another layer of diversity to our travels. Even simple things — like paying less than one euro for a cappuccino instead of the five to seven euros common elsewhere in Europe — made the experience feel refreshingly affordable and genuine.
Tirana itself felt like a low-key and relaxed city. The weather was pleasant, the people were friendly, and life seemed to move at a slower pace. It felt like the kind of place where we could happily spend more time simply immersing ourselves in a different environment — without rushing to check off attractions, but instead just relaxing and enjoying everyday life.
Early in the morning, a taxi arranged through the hotel took us to the airport. The airport was small and did not even have jet bridges, so passengers boarded a bus that carried us across the tarmac to the plane. We flew with Wizz Air from Tirana to Milan. Since Wizz is a budget airline, we had kept our expectations modest, but the flight was smooth and the service was perfectly satisfactory.
After arriving at Milan Malpensa Airport, we took the regional S50 train to Lugano. Our hotel was conveniently located just a few minutes’ walk from the station.
After checking in, we crossed the street to order Pad Thai takeaway for lunch. Later, we walked down into the city center to revisit Lugano. The last time we came here was four years ago, during a spell of intense summer heat that made sightseeing uncomfortable. This time, however, the weather had completely changed — rainy, cold, and quiet.
We simply strolled around the lakeside and city center before settling down for an early dinner. We ordered seafood pasta, seafood risotto, and shrimp tartare. Surprisingly, it turned out to be the best Italian-style meal of the entire trip — achieved not in Italy, but in Switzerland.
2026年5月5日
在规划这次欧洲旅行时，地拉那这一站曾多次被加入行程，又被删掉。它并不是热门旅游城市，也没有著名的世界遗产（UNESCO）景点或社交媒体上的“网红打卡地”。但它始终是我们心里一个有些好奇的地方，部分原因是我们从小对它多少有一些模糊的印象和了解。
最终，阿尔巴尼亚却成了这趟旅程中最令人难忘的一部分之一。不同的文化、历史背景，以及经济发展水平，都为这次旅行增添了更多层次与多样性。
而地拉那本身，则给人一种低调而放松的感觉。天气宜人，人们友善，生活节奏似乎也慢了下来。能够悠闲地坐下来喝一杯不到一欧元的卡布奇诺，而不是像欧洲其他地方那样动辄五到七欧元，让人觉得这里既真实又亲切，也让旅行轻松了许多。
这里不像那些必须赶景点、排队打卡的旅游城市，反而更像一个适合慢慢待上一段时间的地方。即使什么都不做，只是置身于这样一个不同的环境里，随意散步、喝杯咖啡、看看街景，也会让人感到轻松而舒服。
正如人们常说的那样，美好的事情终究会结束。今天要和二位同行了三周的好朋友说再见。她们俩先飞维也那再玩几天，然后回美国。我们俩刚绕道瑞士，然后踏上回家的旅程。
大清早，酒店帮我们打包了二份早餐，帮我们预订好的出租车将我们送往机场。地拉那机场很小，甚至连登机廊桥都没有，乘客需要先搭乘摆渡车穿过停机坪，再登上飞机。我们搭乘Wizz Air从地拉那飞往米兰。由于Wizz是一家廉价航空公司，我们原本并没有太高期待，但整个飞行过程相当平稳，服务也令人满意。
抵达米兰马尔彭萨机场后，我们搭乘区域列车S50前往瑞士卢加诺（Lugano)。四年前曾来过这里，那时正值酷暑，炎热得让人几乎无心游览。因为当时觉得这个小城市非常漂亮，所以这次决定再来看看。旅馆距离火车站只有几分钟步行路程，位置非常方便。
办理入住后，我们穿过马路买了份泰式炒河粉外卖作为午餐。稍微休息一下后我们走去市中心。而这一次，天气却完全不同——阴雨、寒冷，不过也格外安静。
我们只是随意地沿着湖边和市中心散步，然后早早找了一家餐厅吃晚餐。我们点了海鲜意面、海鲜烩饭以及虾肉塔塔。令人意外的是，这竟然成了整个旅途中最好吃的一顿意大利风味料理——而且不是在意大利，而是在瑞士。从阿尔巴尼亚来到瑞士，价格吓一跳，差别太大。
卢加诺这城市地势起伏，很多街道非常陡，台阶特别多。我们去市中心时往下走还好些，晚餐后要往上爬觉得有点累。我们没有再爬陡坡，而是坐缆索小火车上坡，省去了最累的一段。