Dr. Robert Elsie, Foremost Authority on Albania Checks Us Out

Dr. Robert Elsie, Foremost Authority on Albania Checks Us Out

On my way out of Albania the last time, I discovered (the the shock of my credit card) a sneaky secret resource of the Tirana Airport — its bookstore! In ten minutes in that bookstore I spent more than I had in two weeks in Albania (and then limped my way across several continents, hauling 30 kilos of books) — because there are better books in the Airport bookstore than there are in the most prestigious bookstore on Skanderbeg Square. I KNEW from searching in my own NYC bookstore that some of the books I picked up in the Tirana Airport bookstore were academic authorities, which are simply not findable in the “First World” (so-called, and hah) or on Skanderbeg Square. Half of them are written by Dr. Robert Elsie [www.elsie.de]. So Anyhow, I wrote to him, to ask if we could sponge off his work. Here’s his response:

Dear Catherine,
Feel free to use anything from Driteshkronja, but do note the source, especially for any of the older pictures from the Vienna Photo Archives. They can be a bit sticky.
You have a wonderful website on Valbona. Congratulations. I was last there in the mid-nineties and am already longing to go back. I have noted the hotel and will be a patron of it some day.
Are you sure about the meal prices of the hotel (room 25 euros, meal 300 Euros!!)
I am so happy someone is doing something to promote Valbona. It is a beautiful place.
best wishes,
Robert Elsie